New Hampshire Foundations of Reading Practice Test 2025 – Complete Exam Preparation

The choice of saying "bet" for "best" clearly indicates an error in decoding consonant blends. In this instance, the student fails to accurately interpret the 'st' blend at the end of the word "best." Consonant blends are combinations of two or more consonants in which each consonant retains its individual sound, as seen in the blend "st" in "best." When "bet" is used instead, the blend is not represented, leading to an incomplete understanding of the word's pronunciation.

In contrast, other options reflect different types of miscues. Omitting "circus" highlights a potential omission error, mispronouncing "clowns" as "clones" indicates vowel misinterpretation, and shortening "funny" to "fun" suggests an issue with affixes or word endings rather than with consonant blending. Each of these illustrates different decoding challenges, but the substitution of "bet" for "best" specifically demonstrates a misunderstanding of the consonant blend, making it the most appropriate choice regarding decoding consonant blends.