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Praxis 5002 Reading & Language Arts Practice Test

Unofficial practice questions on the Reading and Language Arts subtest of Elementary Education: Multiple Subjects, spread like the ETS outline.

In the word spectator, which part is the root, the element that carries the main meaning?

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with ETS (Educational Testing Service). Bank checked October 13, 2026.

Next step Praxis 5001: all four subtestsPraxis Teaching Reading practice test

All 50 questions

Reading: foundational skills 11

  • A kindergartner comes to understand that letters and letter combinations stand for the individual sounds in written words. What is this understanding called? IES practice guide, Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, Glossary, "alphabetic principle". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), A.2.a importance of phonics and word analysis.
  • A student hears the word map and works out how to spell it from its sounds. Which process is this? IES practice guide, Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, Glossary, "encoding" and "decoding". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), A.2.b letter-sound correspondences and spelling conventions.
  • A student reads every word of a page correctly, but so slowly that he loses the thread of each sentence. Which part of oral reading fluency needs work? IES practice guide, Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, Glossary, "oral reading fluency". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), A.3.a fluency and related terms (accuracy, rate, prosody).
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Reading: foundational skills, continued

  • A teacher says, "Say sunshine. Now say it without sun." Which unit of sound is the student taking away? IES practice guide, Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, Glossary, "syllable". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), A.1.c deleting phonemes, syllables, onsets and rimes.
  • A teacher sorts word cards by vowel sound. Which card holds a diphthong, a vowel that glides from one sound to another inside a single syllable? IES practice guide, Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, Glossary, "diphthong" and "digraph". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), A.2.b letter-sound correspondences and spelling conventions.
  • Adding -ness to the word dark makes darkness. What has the suffix done? IES practice guide, Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, Glossary, "suffix". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), A.2.d roots and affixes.
  • For early blending practice a teacher picks words that begin with sounds a child can hold without distorting them, such as /m/ and /s/. What are these sounds called? IES practice guide, Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, Glossary, "continuous sound" and "stop sounds". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), A.2.b common letter-sound correspondences.
  • In the word spectator, which part is the root, the element that carries the main meaning? IES practice guide, Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, Glossary, "root". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), A.2.d roots and affixes used to decode unfamiliar words.
  • Which of these words is irregular, with letters whose usual sounds do not add up to its pronunciation? IES practice guide, Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, Glossary, "irregular words". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), A.2.c high-frequency sight words and decodable words.
  • Which pair of words shares the same rime? IES practice guide, Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, Glossary, "onset-rime pairs". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), A.1.b examples of phonemes, syllables, onsets and rimes.
  • Which word follows the silent-e pattern, in which a final e changes how the vowel before it is pronounced? IES practice guide, Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, Glossary, "silent-e pattern". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), A.2.f syllabication patterns (open, closed, CVCe).

Reading: literature and informational texts 12

  • A reader of a long article about frogs wants only the part on what frogs eat. Which text feature lets her find that part without reading every page? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Reading Standards for Informational Text, grade 2, standard 5. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), B.2.b text features in print or digital informational text.
  • A script prints the words (Enter LENA, carrying a lantern) in italics before a line of speech. Which structural element of drama is this? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Reading Standards for Literature, grade 4, standard 5. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), B.2.a structural elements of literature across genres.
  • A teacher judges a book by its levels of meaning, its structure, the clarity of its language and the knowledge it demands of a reader. Which of the three factors of text complexity is she weighing? Common Core State Standards, Measuring Text Complexity: Three Factors, the three factors. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), B.5.a the three factors that measure text complexity.
  • In a picture book the words on one page say, "Sam was not afraid at all." The illustration shows Sam under a blanket with only his eyes showing. What does the picture add to the text? The answer is read from the passage or sentences printed with the question, example of our own. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), B.4.a how visual elements add to the meaning of a literary text.
  • Passage: Dev counted his coins twice. Then he slid them all across the counter and pointed to the small blue kite, the one his sister had stared at all week. What does the passage show about Dev? The answer is read from the passage or sentences printed with the question, passage of our own. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), B.1.e characters, setting and plot of a literary text.
  • Passage: For years the creek flooded Main Street each spring. Then the town replaced a narrow pipe under the road with a wide bridge. Since then, spring storms have filled the creek but have not closed the street. Which organizational structure does the passage use? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Reading Standards for Informational Text, standard 5. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), B.2.c organizational structures of informational text.
  • Passage: For years the creek flooded Main Street each spring. Then the town replaced a narrow pipe under the road with a wide bridge. Since then, spring storms have filled the creek but have not closed the street. Which sentence best summarizes the passage? The answer is read from the passage or sentences printed with the question, passage of our own. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), B.1.d summarizes information from a text.
  • Passage: Mina had practiced her solo for weeks, yet on the night of the concert her hands shook. When the first note cracked, she stopped, took a breath and began again. By the last line the hall was silent, and then it was not. What can a reader infer from the final sentence? The answer is read from the passage or sentences printed with the question, passage of our own. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), B.1.c inferences supported with evidence.
  • Passage: Mina had practiced her solo for weeks, yet on the night of the concert her hands shook. When the first note cracked, she stopped, took a breath and began again. By the last line the hall was silent, and then it was not. Which theme does the passage support? The answer is read from the passage or sentences printed with the question, passage of our own. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), B.1.a key details and theme of a literary text.
  • Passage: Our school should start an hour later. A study of 9,000 students found better attendance after a later start. Besides, everyone knows mornings are awful. Which part of the passage gives evidence for the claim? The answer is read from the passage or sentences printed with the question, passage of our own. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), B.4.f key claims in a text and the reasons and evidence for them.
  • Passage: The council calls the new parking fee "modest." For a nurse who parks downtown six days a week, it comes to a week of groceries every month. What is the author's point of view? The answer is read from the passage or sentences printed with the question, passage of our own. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), B.3.a author's point of view supported with evidence from the text.
  • Stanza: The tide comes in, the tide goes out, / The gulls wheel high and cry; / The children run and laugh and shout / Beneath a silver sky. What is the rhyme scheme? The answer is read from the passage or sentences printed with the question, stanza of our own. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, I. Reading (47%), B.2.a rhyme and meter in poetry.

Writing 11

  • A student is writing to the principal to ask for a longer recess. Which opening best fits the task, purpose and audience? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Writing Standards, standard 4. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), A.2.a appropriateness of writing for a task, purpose and audience.
  • A student restates a paragraph from a library book in her own words for a report. What must she still do? Purdue Online Writing Lab, Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing, opening section. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), A.5.d paraphrasing and plagiarizing.
  • A student studying a 1936 flood has a photograph taken on the day of the flood and a documentary made in 2010. Which is the primary source, and why? Library of Congress research guide, Primary Sources, section "Primary Sources". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), A.5.b primary and secondary sources and their uses.
  • A third grader writes numbered directions for planting a bean seed, with a list of what is needed. Which type of writing is this? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Writing Standards, standard 2. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), A.1.a common types of writing.
  • Before drafting a report on owls, a student lists what she knows, groups her notes under headings and puts the headings in order. Which part of the writing process is this? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Writing Standards, standard 5. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), A.2.e planning, revising and editing in the writing process.
  • Draft: (1) Bees matter to farmers. (2) They carry pollen from flower to flower. (3) My uncle drives a red truck. (4) Without bees, many fruit trees would bear little fruit. Which revision strengthens the paragraph? The answer is read from the passage or sentences printed with the question, draft of our own. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), A.2.c revisions that strengthen a piece of writing.
  • Four students at four computers need to draft one story together and comment on each other's paragraphs as they go. Which digital tool fits the job? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Writing Standards, standard 6. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), A.4.b purposes of digital tools for interacting with others.
  • How does a summary of a chapter differ from a paraphrase of one of its paragraphs? Purdue Online Writing Lab, Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing, opening section. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), A.5.e locating information within sources and citing them.
  • Student paragraph: "I think our class should have a garden. Gardens are good. That is why we should have a garden." What does this opinion piece most need? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Writing Standards, standard 1. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), A.1.c effectiveness of writing samples of each type.
  • Which revision combines these two sentences correctly without changing their meaning? "The dog barked. The dog was hungry." Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Language Standards, grade 5, standard 3a. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), A.2.d writes clearly and coherently.
  • Which transition best fills the blank to show cause and effect? "The pond froze overnight. ___, the class went skating at recess." The answer is read from the passage or sentences printed with the question, sentences of our own. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), A.2.b development, organization and style of a piece of writing.

Language 11

  • A character sighs, "I have told you a thousand times to shut the gate." How should a reader take the number? Purdue Online Writing Lab, Literary Terms, entry "Hyperbole". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), B.2.c interprets figurative language.
  • A story's narrator uses standard English, but one character says, "Y'all come back now, hear?" What does the character's speech bring to the story? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Language Standards, grade 5, standard 3b. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), B.1.d how varieties of English support the overall meaning.
  • A writer changes "The old house stood at the end of the lane" to "The old house crouched at the end of the lane." What does the new verb do? The answer is read from the passage or sentences printed with the question, sentences of our own. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), B.2.d relationship between word choice and tone.
  • In the sentence "Maria said she would bring the map," which word takes the place of a noun? Purdue Online Writing Lab, Parts of Speech Overview, section "Pronouns". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), B.1.a function of different parts of speech.
  • In the sentence "The bus was late, so we walked," what part of speech is the word so? Purdue Online Writing Lab, Parts of Speech Overview, section "Conjunctions". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), B.1.a function of different parts of speech.
  • Passage: The hikers were famished after the long climb. They ate every sandwich in the basket and looked around for more. What does famished most nearly mean? The answer is read from the passage or sentences printed with the question, passage of our own. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), B.2.a literal meaning of unknown words from context.
  • Which sentence contains a metaphor and not a simile? Purdue Online Writing Lab, Literary Terms, entries "Metaphor" and "Simile". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), B.2.b types of figurative language.
  • Which sentence has an error in subject-verb agreement? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Language Standards, grade 3, standard 1f. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), B.1.b errors in usage, mechanics and spelling.
  • Which sentence is compound-complex? Wikipedia, "Sentence clause structure", section on compound-complex sentences. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), B.1.c sentence types (simple, compound, compound-complex).
  • Which set of words is academic vocabulary of the kind that appears in instructions across school subjects but seldom in everyday talk? IES practice guide, Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade, Glossary, "academic vocabulary". Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), B.3.a the three tiers of vocabulary.
  • Which word group is a fragment and not a complete sentence? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Language Standards, grade 4, standard 1f. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), B.1.b errors in usage, mechanics and spelling.

Speaking and listening 5

  • A fifth grader will give the same science talk to a kindergarten class and then to the school board. What should change most between the two talks? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Speaking and Listening Standards, standard 6. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), C.2.a awareness of audience.
  • After a classmate's report, a student says, "So you are saying the river changed course because of the dam?" Which listening behavior is this? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Speaking and Listening Standards, grade 4, standard 2. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), C.1.b characteristics of active listening.
  • After a guest speaker's talk, students list each point she made and what she offered to back it up. Which listening skill are they practicing? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Speaking and Listening Standards, grade 4, standard 3. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), C.1.b characteristics of active listening.
  • By the example in the Common Core speaking and listening standards, which situation calls for formal English? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Speaking and Listening Standards, grade 4, standard 6. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), C.2.a elements of engaging oral presentations.
  • In a small-group discussion of a novel, which contribution builds on another speaker's remark? Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, Speaking and Listening Standards, grade 4, standard 1c. Outline: ETS Study Companion for Praxis 5001, subtest 5002, II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening (53%), C.1.a techniques to communicate with diverse partners.

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the content topics of the ETS Study Companion for Praxis Elementary Education: Multiple Subjects (5001), Reading and Language Arts Subtest (5002) (https://www.ets.org/pdfs/praxis/5001.pdf, read 2026-10-13; test page https://praxis.ets.org/test/5002.html). The subtest has about 80 selected-response questions in 90 minutes: I. Reading 38 (47%), II. Writing, Speaking, and Listening 42 (53%). The bank holds 23 and 27 questions. Every fact was read on 2026-10-13 on the public page the question names: a practice guide of the Institute of Education Sciences, the Common Core State Standards, the Purdue Online Writing Lab, a Library of Congress research guide and one Wikipedia article. Where a question prints a passage, a stanza or sentences of our own, the answer is read from them. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.

How it works

This free Praxis 5002 Reading & Language Arts practice test has 50 questions of our own on the two categories of the subtest, in the ETS outline's proportions. It is unofficial and not affiliated with or endorsed by ETS.

Read the full guide

What the subtest covers

Subtest 5002 has two categories, by the Study Companion read October 13, 2026: reading (47%), which is foundational skills and literature and informational texts, and writing, speaking and listening (53%), which also holds language. This bank has 23 and 27 questions.

Timing

Exam mode asks the 50 questions here in 56 minutes, the pace of the real subtest: about 80 questions in 90 minutes.

Where the answers come from

Passages, stanzas and drafts are our own, and their answers are read from them. Definitions name their public page: a federal practice guide on foundational reading, the Common Core State Standards, the Purdue Online Writing Lab and the Library of Congress.

  • ETS lists 5002 as a test of its own and as one of the four separately timed subtests of test 5001.
  • The outline also lists the developmental stages of writing. No question here asks about them.

Questions and answers

Is Praxis 5002 the same test as Praxis 5001?

It is one part of it. Test 5001, Elementary Education: Multiple Subjects, has four subtests: Reading and Language Arts (5002), Mathematics (5003), Social Studies (5004) and Science (5005). The Praxis 5001 practice test has questions on all four.

Is this Praxis II 5002 practice test the real exam?

No. All 50 questions were written for this site from the ETS content topics for the subtest. None repeats or rewords a real test question or an ETS sample question, and a result here does not forecast a real score.

How many questions are on the Praxis reading 5002 test?

About 80 selected-response questions in 90 minutes: about 38 on reading and 42 on writing, speaking and listening. ETS says the test may contain some questions that will not count toward your score.

Is there a free Praxis 5002 study guide?

ETS publishes a free Study Companion for test 5001 that lists every 5002 topic. The questions here are grouped the same way, from foundational skills to speaking and listening, so you can study one group at a time and read why each answer is right.

What score do I need to pass Praxis 5002?

ETS sets no passing score. Your state or licensing agency sets a qualifying score for each subtest, so look up its requirement before test day. The result here is the number right, with no verdict.

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