Praxis 5001 Practice Exams
Question 1 of 5.
Extract:The following excerpt is from Aesop's The Ants & the Grasshopper. "What!" cried the Ants in surprise, "haven't you stored anything away for the winter? What in the world were you doing all last summer?" "I didn't have time to store up any food," whined the Grasshopper; "I was so busy making music that before I knew it the summer was gone." The Ants shrugged their shoulders in disgust. "Making music, were you?" they cried. "Very well; now dance!" And they turned their backs on the Grasshopper and went on with their work.
Which of the following best summarizes the moral of the fable?
A. Slow and steady wins the race.
B. Do not underestimate yourself.
C. Be prepared for days ahead.
D. Be happy with what you have.
Explanation: The fable contrasts the industrious ants, who work during the summer to store food for the winter, with the carefree grasshopper, who spends the summer making music and fails to prepare. When winter comes, the grasshopper suffers the consequences of his lack of preparation. The moral is explicitly about the importance of hard work and planning for the future. 'Slow and steady wins the race' is the moral of 'The Tortoise and the Hare'. The other options are not supported by the text.
Question 2 of 5.
Which of the following best describes why phonological awareness is predictive of beginning reading success?
A. It is an auditory skill in which understanding of letter-sound relationships is developed.
B. It is a visual skill in which letter recognition skills are developed.
C. It is a speaking skill in which oral production of letter sounds is developed.
D. It is a fine motor skill in which letter formation skills are developed.
Explanation: Phonological awareness involves recognizing and manipulating language sounds (e.g., rhymes, syllables, phonemes), an auditory skill critical for understanding letter-sound relationships (phonics). This supports early reading by enabling word decoding. Option B focuses on visual letter recognition, which is distinct. Option C relates to speech production, not phonological awareness. Option D involves writing, a motor skill unrelated to phonological awareness.
Question 3 of 5.
Which THREE of the following words contain diphthongs?
A. Boy
B. Mother
C. Buy
D. Apple
E. Coin
Explanation: A diphthong is a vowel sound gliding from one vowel to another within a syllable (e.g., /oi/, /ai/). 'Boy' (A) has /oi/, 'Buy' (C) has /ai/, and 'Coin' (E) has /oi/. 'Mother' (B) and 'Apple' (D) have simple vowels (/ʌ/, /ə/ and /æ/, /ə/). The correct choices are A, C, E, corresponding to option C.
Question 4 of 5.
Which two of the following words feature an open syllable pattern?
A. Happen
B. Robot
C. Sunlight
D. Artist
E. Silent
Explanation: An open syllable ends with a vowel, typically producing a long vowel sound (e.g., 'me'). 'Robot' (B) has an open first syllable ('ro', /oÊŠ/). 'Silent' (E) has an open first syllable ('si', /ai/). 'Happen' (A), 'Sunlight' (C), and 'Artist' (D) have closed syllables. The correct choices are B, E, corresponding to option B.
Question 5 of 5.
Which of the following best demonstrates student knowledge of sound matching?
A. A student is able to see an illustration of an object ending in 'g' and identify the ending sound as /g/.
B. A student is able to hear the sounds /d/ /o/ /g/ and can identify the word as 'dog' when asked.
C. A student is able to identify the initial sound of the word 'top' as /t/ and can point to an object identified by a word with the same initial sound.
D. A student can remove the /b/ sound from the word 'bat' and identify the resulting word as 'at.'
Explanation: Sound matching involves identifying words with the same sound, typically at the beginning, middle, or end. Option C demonstrates this by identifying the initial /t/ in 'top' and matching it to another word with the same initial sound. Option A is sound identification, not matching. Option B involves phoneme blending. Option D involves phoneme deletion.