What does AP Language and Composition exam TEST?

Here:

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/sub_englang.html?englang

“An AP course in English Language and Composition engages students in becoming skilled readers of prose written in a variety of periods, disciplines, and rhetorical contexts, and in becoming skilled writers who compose for a variety of purposes. Both their writing and their reading should make students aware of the interactions among a writer’s purposes, audience expectations, and subjects as well as the way generic conventions and the resources of language contribute to effectiveness in writing.”

For samples of the types of questions:

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/english_lang/samp.html?englang (page 18 of the Course Description has the multiple-choice sample questions).

What caught me off-guard on the test was five or six questions over citation of sources. Other than that, it was all about analyzing the prose passages, rhetorical devices, determining the meaning of certain things in a passage, and some “what does this word mean in this context” type questions from the passages.

Edit: I did make the assumption that you meant English… it’s the only one titled “Language and Composition,” from what I can tell. If I was mistaken, College Board has info on the foreign language tests too.

It depends on if you mean English or another language. Foreign language AP’s begin with a listening section, followed by questions on passages and finally 2 essays. The English test is the same except no listening part and 3 essays, I believe. The essays on the French and Spanish language tests do not require previous reading, although on the French/Spanish Literature tests, you will be asked about books you have read. However, the English essays are about books you read in the course, so make sure you know several of them really really well.