Study Guide

Field 020: French
Sample Selected-Response Questions

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Test Directions for the Selected-Response Questions

This section of the test consists of selected-response questions, each of which has four answer choices. Read each question carefully and choose the ONE best answer. Try to answer all questions. Even if you are unsure of an answer, it is better to guess than not to answer a question at all. You will NOT be penalized for guessing.

Sample Selected-Response Questions

Competency 0007
Transform sentences or passages in context according to given instructions.

1. Choose the best transformation of the sentence below into the negative.

Chacun a apporté des fleurs.

1. Personne a apporté de fleurs.
2. Personne n'a pas apporté de fleurs.
3. Personne n'a apporté des fleurs.
4. Personne n'a apporté de fleurs.

Answer

Correct Response: D.

Personne n'a apporté de fleurs is the correct negative transformation of the affirmative sentence given. When personne, the negative counterpart of chacun, is used as the subject of the sentence, ne precedes the verb and pas is not used. The partitive article is omitted in sentences of general negation; therefore, des fleurs in an affirmative sentence should become de fleurs in a negative sentence.

Correct Response: D.
Personne n'a apporté de fleurs is the correct negative transformation of the affirmative sentence given. When personne, the negative counterpart of chacun, is used as the subject of the sentence, ne precedes the verb and pas is not used. The partitive article is omitted in sentences of general negation; therefore, des fleurs in an affirmative sentence should become de fleurs in a negative sentence.

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Competency 0008
Analyze sentences to determine grammatically correct words or phrases to complete them.

2. Choose the correct verb form to complete the sentence below.

Hier nous nous __________ à six heures.

1. avons levé
2. sommes levés
3. levions
4. lèverions

Answer

Correct Response: B.

The passé composé is the appropriate tense to use in this sentence because the action of getting up had a definite beginning and a definite end in the past. The auxiliary être must be used with reflexive verbs such as se lever, and sommes is the first person plural form of être. Similarly, since the past participle of lever, a regular first conjugation verb (except for a spelling change in the present), ends in é, and since past participle agreement is required with verbs conjugated with être, levés is the appropriate form of the verb to use in this passé composé construction.

Correct Response: B.
The passé composé is the appropriate tense to use in this sentence because the action of getting up had a definite beginning and a definite end in the past. The auxiliary être must be used with reflexive verbs such as se lever, and sommes is the first person plural form of être. Similarly, since the past participle of lever, a regular first conjugation verb (except for a spelling change in the present), ends in é, and since past participle agreement is required with verbs conjugated with être, levés is the appropriate form of the verb to use in this passé composé construction.

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Competency 0009
Revise written passages to correct errors in structure and syntax that interfere with accurate communication.

3. The sentence below contains one grammatical error. Choose the correct sequence of words and phrases to replace the underlined words and phrases.

Marcel nous a demandé s'il pouvait emprunter notre voiture parce que le sien était au garage.

1. ont demandé/pouvait/la sienne/au
2. a demandé/pourra/la sienne/au
3. a demandé/pouvait/la sienne/au
4. a demandé/pouvait/le sien/à la

Answer

Correct Response: C.

Like possessive adjectives, possessive pronouns must agree in gender and number with the thing possessed. They must be preceded by the definite article le, la, or les. Since voiture, the thing possessed, is a feminine noun, it must be replaced by la sienne.

Correct Response: A/B/C/D. [Rationale text]

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Competency 0010
Understand the historical development, geographic features, and social characteristics of francophone cultures.

4. The city of Verdun is best known as the:

1. site of a famous Romanesque abbey that dates from the ninth century.
2. birthplace of the poetical art of the troubadours during the Middle Ages.
3. site of a famous battle against the German army during World War I.
4. principal source of resistance to the French Revolution in the eighteenth century.

Answer

Correct Response: C.

Verdun, a city in the former province of Lorraine, which once belonged to Germany, was the scene of one of the most famous battles of World War I and was almost completely destroyed. Between February and December 1916, it was subjected to some of the most violent German offensives of the war. The French repelled the German forces, however, and Lorraine was returned to France by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

Correct Response:C.
Verdun, a city in the former province of Lorraine, which once belonged to Germany, was the scene of one of the most famous battles of World War I and was almost completely destroyed. Between February and December 1916, it was subjected to some of the most violent German offensives of the war. The French repelled the German forces, however, and Lorraine was returned to France by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

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Competency 0010
Understand the historical development, geographic features, and social characteristics of francophone cultures.

5. Under whose administration did Algeria gain its independence from France?

1. Georges Pompidou
2. Charles de Gaulle
3. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
4. Philippe Pétain

Answer

Correct Response: B.

Charles de Gaulle's contributions to the history of France in the twentieth century began during the German occupation of France in World War II, when, after the defeat of his Free French armies, he led the resistance movement, operating from headquarters in London. He emerged from retirement to serve as the first president of the Fifth Republic, established in 1958 after a period of political instability. As leader of the nation, he presided over the granting of independence to the French colony of Algeria, ending years of bloody conflict.

Correct Response: B.
Charles de Gaulle's contributions to the history of France in the twentieth century began during the German occupation of France in World War II, when, after the defeat of his Free French armies, he led the resistance movement, operating from headquarters in London. He emerged from retirement to serve as the first president of the Fifth Republic, established in 1958 after a period of political instability. As leader of the nation, he presided over the granting of independence to the French colony of Algeria, ending years of bloody conflict.

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Competency 0011
Understand the achievements of francophone cultures in the areas of literature, the nonliterary arts, science, and technology.

6. Which of the following authors introduced the stream-of-consciousness style into French literature in the series of novels collected under the title À la recherche du temps perdu?

1. Marcel Proust
2. André Malraux
3. Honoré de Balzac
4. Émile Zola

Answer

Correct Response: A.

Marcel Proust is the author of the monumental 16-volume semiautobiographical novel À la recherche du temps perdu, published between 1913 and 1927. Superficially concerned with the hero's life and development, the novel explores time, memory, society and its hypocrisy and snobbery, and the values found in art. Although some find it difficult to read because of its complexity and long sentences, À la recherche du temps perdu is considered one of the greatest works of fiction of the twentieth century.

Correct Response: A.
Marcel Proust is the author of the monumental 16-volume semiautobiographical novel À la recherche du temps perdu, published between 1913 and 1927. Superficially concerned with the hero's life and development, the novel explores time, memory, society and its hypocrisy and snobbery, and the values found in art. Although some find it difficult to read because of its complexity and long sentences, À la recherche du temps perdu is considered one of the greatest works of fiction of the twentieth century.

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