CLEP French Language (Levels 1 and 2) Exam

The CLEP: French Language examination was developed by the College Board as a way for individuals to demonstrate undergraduate-level knowledge and skills in this area. Almost three thousand American colleges give credit to students who pass a CLEP exam; for this reason, many college-bound students take a CLEP exam in order to skip over introductory courses.

The content of the exam is broken down as follows: choosing the best responses to short spoken prompts (15% of the exam); choosing the answers to questions based on longer spoken selections (25%); reading discrete sentences (10%); reading short passages (20%); and reading longer passages and authentic stimulus materials (30%). The French Language exam consists of 121 multiple-choice questions and must be completed within 90 minutes.

After the exam is complete, an unofficial score report will be made available. This score report will include the total score on a scale of 20 to 80; the American Council on Education recommends that students get credit if they score 50 or above on the Level 1 exam, and 62 or above on the Level 2 exam. The total score is the raw score (number of correct answers) adjusted according to the difficulty of the exam version. The College Board does not distinguish between unanswered questions and questions answered incorrectly, so test-takers are encouraged to respond to every question. Some of the questions on the exam are pre-test questions, which are used to develop future versions of the exam and do not contribute to the raw score. It is impossible for test-takers to determine which questions are pre-test questions. The CLEP exams are administered in both computer and paper formats at over a thousand locations throughout the world. To register for an exam, visit the College Board website.

Practice Questions

1. Insert the right preposition: On achète un billet de train _____ gare.

A: au
B: à l'
C: alla
D: à la
E: elle

2. Le magasin _____ à huit heures.

A: ouvre
B: ouvrent
C: ouvres
D: ouvrons
E: ouvrez

3. Which verb tense is used in French to describe completed events that happened in the past?

A: imparfait
B: imperative
C: passé composé
D: conversational past
E: indicative

4. Pierre s'est _____la cheville.

A: foulès
B: foulons
C: foulèe
D: foulent
E: foulè

5. What helping verb do reciprocal verbs take in the passé compose?

A: mange
B: avoir
C: dire
D: être
E: arrive

6. The pronouns me, te, nous, vous, lui, and leur are used to replace _____.

A: prepositional phrases
B: direct objects
C: gerundives
D: adjectival phrases
E: indirect objects

7. Insert the right preposition: J'aime aller _____ cinèma.

A: ella
B: au
C: à la
D: au la
E: à l'

8. Je _____ des bandes dessinèes.

A: lisiez
B: lisaient
C: lisait
D: lisons
E: lisais

9. Marie, Humberto, et Robert se sont ____ vers neuf heures.

A: levès
B: levèes
C: levons
D: levent
E: levè

10. Nous _____ vers 6h30.

A: ouvrez
B: ouvrons
C: ouvre
D: ouvrent
E: ouvres

Answer Key

1. D. Preposition use will depend on the sentence position and succeeding word.
2. A. Use the third person singular form.
3. C. The passé compose is used to narrate particular events of the past.
4. E. Use the third person singular form.
5. D. Reciprocal verbs will always be combined with this verb meaning to be.
6. E. Direct objects are replaced with me, te, nous, vous, le, la, l', and les.
7. B. Preposition use will depend on the sentence position and succeeding word.
8. E. The verb must agree with the first person singular subject.
9. A. Remember to use the third person plural form of the verb.
10. B. The verb should be placed in the present tense.