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TEST DESCRIPTIONS

For descriptions of other exams and more complete descriptions of these exams see the current
CLEP Official Study Guide, published by The College Board, or visit www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/clep/exams.html

All tests consist of a 90-minute question format. Any time candidates spend on tutorials or providing personal information is in addition to the actual testing time.

ENGLISH COMPOSITION

The examination measures students' writing skills both at the sentence level and within the context of passages. Two versions of the exam are offered. One version contains approximately 90 multiple-choice questions. The other version has a 45-minute multiple-choice section with approximately 50 questions and another section with one essay question to be responded to in 45 minutes. The essay is graded by college faculty who teach writing courses.

Approximately 55 percent of the all-multiple-choice version and 30 percent of the multiple-choice question in the version with essay include usage relating to sentence boundaries; economy and clarity of expression; concord/agreement; active/passive voice; diction and idiom; syntax; and sentence variation. Approximately 45 percent of the all-multiple-choice version and 20 percent of the version with essay measures recognition of the following in the context of works in progress or of published prose; main idea; thesis; organization of ideas; relevance; detail and specificity; audience and purpose; logic of argument; coherence within and between paragraphs; rhetorical emphasis; sustaining tense or point of view; and sentence combining/variety.

HUMANITIES

This exam covers literature (50%) [drama, poetry, fiction, non-fiction (including philosophy)] AND Fine Arts (50%) [visual arts, music, performing arts, and architecture]. The exam questions are fairly evenly divided among the following periods: Classical, Medieval and Renaissance, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, nineteenth century, and twentieth century. There are questions that draw on other cultures, such as African and Asian. Some questions cross disciplines and/or chronological periods. Some test knowledge of terminology, genre, and style.

NATURAL SCIENCES

Topics include Biological Science (50%): origin and evolution of life, classification of organisms; cell organization and division, genes, bioenergetics, biosynthesis; structure, function and development in organisms, patterns of heredity; concepts of population biology/ecology. Physical Science (50%): atomic/nuclear structure/properties, elementary particles, nuclear reactions; chemical elements, compounds and reactions, molecular structure/bonding; heat, thermodynamics, states of matter, classical mechanics, relativity; electricity/magnetism, waves, light, sound; the universe; earth science.

SOCIAL SCIENCE/HISTORY

Questions cover 40% history (United States, western civilization, world history), 60 % Social Sciences (government/political science, sociology, psychology, economics, geography, and anthropology).

SPANISH LANGUAGE

This examination consists of two listening sections and one reading section. Subject matter is drawn from the following abilities: 60% reading (discrete sentences, short cloze passages and reading comprehension); 25% listening comprehension through long spoken selections; 15% listening comprehension through short oral exchanges.