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Excelling on the AP Italian Language and Culture Exam
About This Book
This book provides an accurate and complete representation of the Advanced Placement Examination in Italian Language and Culture. Our practice tests are based on the format of the most recently administered Advanced Placement Italian Language and Culture exam. Each model exam lasts three hours and includes every type of question that you can expect to encounter on the real test. Following each of our practice exams is an answer key, complete with detailed explanations designed to clarify the material for you.
By using the subject review, completing the practice tests, and studying the explanations that follow, you will pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses and, above all, put yourself in the best possible position to do well on the actual test.
About the Advanced Placement Program
The AP Italian Language and Culture examination is offered each May at participating schools and multi-school centers throughout the world. The Advanced Placement Program is designed to allow high school students to pursue college-level studies while attending high school. The participating colleges, in turn, grant credit and/or advanced placement to students who do well on the examinations.
The Advanced Placement Italian Language and Culture course is designed to be the equivalent of a college introductory Italian language class For registration bulletins or more detailed information about the AP Italian Language and Culture exam, contact:
AP Services Educational Testing Service
P.O. Box 6671
Princeton, NJ 08541-6671
Phone: (609) 771-7300 or (888) 225-5427
E-mail: apexams@ets.org
Website: www.collegeboard.com
Format and Content of the
AP Italian Language and Culture Exam
The AP Italian Language and Culture exam is approximately three hours long. It tests your ability to understand both written and spoken Italian. It also tests the ease and fluency with which you can respond in speaking and writing. The exam is divided into two sections:
Section I: The multiple-choice section of the exam assesses the test-taker’s
listening and reading comprehension.
Part A requires the student to listen to dialogues or short narratives and answer multiple-choice questions based on what the student heard. Students are given time to read the printed questions before listening to the recorded segment. This section contains 30 to 34
questions and 35 minutes is allowed for completion.
Part B, the reading portion, requires the student to read passages and answer multiple-choice questions based on the passages. This 55-minute section can contain up to 48 questions.
Section II: This free-response section assesses the test-taker’s writing and speaking abilities and contains three parts:
Part A assesses the student’s writing ability by requiring the student to complete two fill-in exercises and write a composition. The first fill-in exercise tests verb forms and the second exercise tests other grammar points. The essay portion, which is 30 minutes long, requires the student to write a 150-word essay in Italian on a general topic.
Part B assesses the student’s cultural knowledge by requiring the student to write a 150-word essay on a cultural topic normally covered in an AP Italian Language and Culture course. Students are allowed 30 minutes to complete their composition.
Part C of the exam assesses the student’s speaking skills. Students are required to narrate a story suggested by a series of pictures and also to respond to a series of questions based on a general topic.
Each of the five parts of the exam has the same value for scoring purposes and each part contributes 20 percent to the student’s final AP grade.
About the Multiple-Choice Sections
Listening and reading skills are tested with multiple-choice questions. You will be expected to choose the correct answer from four possibilities for each question. You mark your answer choice (A, B, C or D) on an answer grid that is provided in your test booklet.
In the listening portion of the exam, you will generally hear a series of dialogues between two speakers, or a short narrative. Each dialogue or narration is heard only once. You then answer five multiple-choice questions for each recorded segment. You will be able to read the questions but you will not see the spoken dialogues. You have about 25 minutes to complete this listening portion of the exam.
You will then have approximately 55 minutes to complete the reading segment of the test. The passages vary in length and subject matter. They usually come from Italian media, newspaper or magazine articles, or virtually any non-technical text or literary excerpt. Each passage is followed by a series of questions with four answer choices. Again, mark your answer choice by blackening the corresponding letter on the answer grid in your text booklet.
About the Writing Sections
There are four writing exercises in the AP Italian Language and Culture exam—two fill-in exercises and two essays. The first fill-in exercise is related to supplying verbs. The blank will indicate the infinitive form of the verb you are to use. You must provide the
correct tense. The verb could also be a command form, or you may have to determine whether to use the indicative or the subjunctive. The verb you supply must match its subject. If the verb is reflexive, you will need to include the reflexive pronoun that matches it. If the verb is in a compound tense you will need the correct auxiliary verb, the correct past participle, and possibly agreement.
The second fill-in exercise requires you to write in single words that are missing in the passage provided. The missing words are represented by numbered blanks. You are expected to write out the missing word in a column of blanks to the right of the text. None of the answers in this second fill-in segment will be verbs.
The final writing segment requires you to write two compositions in Italian. There is no choice of topic for the essay questions given. You are expected to write a coherent and well-organized essay in response to the given question. Your answer should showcase your mastery of verbs and grammatical structures. Your vocabulary must be varied, well-chosen, and as idiomatic as possible. That means you should not think in English and
then try to translate into Italian. Being idiomatic means thinking like an Italian, or at least asking yourself how an Italian would express what you mean. Plan to write a minimum of three paragraphs and at least 150 words per essay. You will have one hour and twenty minutes to complete the writing section of the test. Always read over what you have written, check your spelling, accent marks, and agreement.
Don’t be nervous about the essays. The general question essay topic is always very open-ended and usually requires your thoughtful opinion rather than specific facts. You will definitely be able to think of an answer.
Your challenge will be how to express it as best you can. The cultural essay gives you an opportunity to showcase what you know about Italian culture. The range of topics is very broad. You could be asked to discuss an Italian custom of your choice, an industry, a facet of art, architecture, music, literature, film, politics, food, geography, or a well-known tourist destination. Again, there is the same open quality in these questions that will allow you to answer comfortably.
About the Speaking Sections
You will be recording your own voice during the two speaking segments of the exam. These sections are entirely free-response, that is, you may say whatever you think best answers the question. You will have approximately 15 minutes for these segments of the exam.
The first speaking section asks you to comment on a series of six simple sketches. The sketches invariably depict a typical life experience and, in that respect, are not difficult at ...
