ACCUPLACER Practice Test 4

Learning to Float

¹Read the following early draft of an essay and then choose the best answer to the question or the best completion of the statement.

²(1) For most of my life, I kept a secret that seemed ridiculous for an adult who had grown up near a lake: I could not swim. (2) At pool parties I volunteered to watch the grill, and on beach trips I waded only up to my knees, pretending that I simply preferred the sand. (3) When my daughter started swimming lessons, I realized that I did not want my fear to effect her, too. (4) So at thirty-four, I signed up for an adult beginner class that met on Tuesday nights at the community center, and I nearly canceled twice before the first session.

³(5) The first lesson was humbling for all six of us, but especially for me. (6) Our instructor was a retired lifeguard. (7) Her name was Ines, and she asked us to put our faces in the water and blow bubbles. (8) I lasted about two seconds before I came up sputtering and embarrassed. (9) The community center also offers pottery and yoga classes on weekday evenings. (10) Ines did not laugh or sigh; she simply asked me to try again, and then again, until the bubbles came more easily. (11) By the end of the hour, I could keep my face under for a slow count of five, which felt like a small miracle.

⁴(12) Over the next two months, my progress was steady but uneven, and some nights I drove home discouraged. (13) In our final lesson, I swam the full length of the pool without stopping while my daughter cheered from the bleachers. (14) Some weeks I floated easily across the pool's shallow end; other weeks I seemed to forget everything I had learned. (15) Ines kept reminding us that the water was not our enemy: "Relax, and it will hold you up." (16) Gradually, and somewhat to my surprise, I learned to believe her and to let the water do some of the work.