MTEL CLST Practice Questions (2026) — Free Sample Questions with Answers

Answer: A

Visits rose by 25% from March to April.: Correct. (1,750 − 1,400) ÷ 1,400 = 350 ÷ 1,400 = 0.25, or 25%.

Visits increased every month from January to April.: Visits fell from 1,200 in January to 1,050 in February.

April had twice as many visits as January had.: Twice January would be 2,400; April had 1,750.

Visits fell by 15% from January to February.: The drop was 150 ÷ 1,200 = 12.5%, not 15%.

Check each claim against the numbers; compute percent change as (new − old) ÷ old.

Answer: B

Volunteer counts alone are sufficient for studying every bird species.: The passage notes that volunteers miss rare species, so volunteer data alone is not enough for every species.

Volunteer data is most dependable for tracking widespread, common species.: Correct. The comparison found close agreement for common species, and weaker results for rare ones.

Identification training has eliminated all differences between volunteer and expert counts.: The passage says designers try to address the gap, not that training has eliminated it.

Ornithologists now consider bird counts by volunteers more reliable than their own.: The passage reports agreement on common species, not that experts rank volunteers above themselves.

The best-supported conclusion stays within the evidence; reject choices that use absolute words ("all," "every") the text cannot support.

Answer: C

Volunteers identify rare birds more accurately than trained ornithologists do.: Sentence 4 says the opposite: volunteers more often missed rare or hard-to-identify birds.

Universities should stop paying for bird research and depend on volunteers.: The passage never recommends ending university research; this goes beyond the text.

Citizen science yields valuable data, and its weak spots can be addressed.: Correct. The passage presents the value of volunteer data, its limit, and the steps taken to fix it.

Skeptics have shown that data collected by volunteers is too unreliable to use.: The skeptics' view is presented as outdated; the comparison study largely answered it.

The main idea must cover the whole passage: here, both the value of volunteer data and how its limitation is handled.

Answer: A

Neither the coach nor the players were happy with their performance; they had practiced all week.: Correct. The verb agrees with the nearer subject "players," "their" is the possessive, and a semicolon fixes the comma splice.

Neither the coach nor the players were happy with there performance; they had practiced all week.: The comma splice and agreement are fixed, but "there" should be the possessive "their."

Neither the coach nor the players was happy with their performance; they had practiced all week.: With "neither…nor," the verb agrees with the nearer subject, "players," so it must be "were."

Neither the coach nor the players were happy with their performance, they had practiced all week.: The agreement and spelling are fixed, but the comma between two independent clauses is still a splice.

With "either/or" and "neither/nor," the verb agrees with the subject closer to it; then check homophones and clause punctuation.

Answer: B

The teacher's lounge is closed while it's carpet is replaced.: "It's" means "it is"; the possessive pronoun needed before "carpet" is "its," with no apostrophe.

The teachers' lounge is closed while its carpet is replaced.: Correct. "Teachers'" is a plural possessive, and "its" is the possessive pronoun with no apostrophe.

The teachers lounge is closed while its' carpet is replaced.: "Teachers" needs an apostrophe to show possession, and "its'" is never correct.

The teacher's' lounge is closed while its carpet is replaced.: "Teacher's'" uses two apostrophes, which is never a correct possessive form.

Plural possessive: add an apostrophe after the s (teachers'). "Its" (possessive) has no apostrophe; "it's" means "it is."

Answer: B

The museum opens at nine on Saturdays, it closes early on Sundays.: Adding only a comma creates a comma splice, which is still an error.

The museum opens at nine on Saturdays; it closes early on Sundays.: Correct. A semicolon properly joins two related independent clauses.

The museum opens at nine on Saturdays it, closes early on Sundays.: The misplaced comma separates the subject "it" from its verb and leaves the run-on.

The museum opens at nine on Saturdays and, it closes early on Sundays.: A comma belongs before "and," not after it, when joining two independent clauses.

Fix a run-on with a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet).