diff --git a/packages/language-service/test/completions_spec.ts b/packages/language-service/test/completions_spec.ts
index b1163d93a3..b97f374099 100644
--- a/packages/language-service/test/completions_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/language-service/test/completions_spec.ts
@@ -196,11 +196,8 @@ describe('completions', () => {
   });
 
   function expectContains(fileName: string, locationMarker: string, ...names: string[]) {
-    let location = mockHost.getMarkerLocations(fileName) ![locationMarker];
-    if (location == null) {
-      throw new Error(`No marker ${locationMarker} found.`);
-    }
-    expectEntries(locationMarker, ngService.getCompletionsAt(fileName, location), ...names);
+    const marker = mockHost.getLocationMarkerFor(fileName, locationMarker);
+    expectEntries(locationMarker, ngService.getCompletionsAt(fileName, marker.start), ...names);
   }
 });
 
diff --git a/packages/language-service/test/language_service_spec.ts b/packages/language-service/test/language_service_spec.ts
index 96e01dfee0..1898a22038 100644
--- a/packages/language-service/test/language_service_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/language-service/test/language_service_spec.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ describe('service without angular', () => {
   let ngHost = new TypeScriptServiceHost(mockHost, service);
   let ngService = createLanguageService(ngHost);
   const fileName = '/app/test.ng';
-  let position = mockHost.getMarkerLocations(fileName) !['h1-content'];
+  const position = mockHost.getLocationMarkerFor(fileName, 'h1-content').start;
 
   it('should not crash a get template references',
      () => expect(() => ngService.getTemplateReferences()));
diff --git a/packages/language-service/test/project/app/expression-cases.ts b/packages/language-service/test/project/app/expression-cases.ts
index 84a78f2abb..decc717a62 100644
--- a/packages/language-service/test/project/app/expression-cases.ts
+++ b/packages/language-service/test/project/app/expression-cases.ts
@@ -14,28 +14,28 @@ export interface Person {
 }
 
 @Component({
-  template: '{{~{foo}foo~{foo-end}}}',
+  template: '{{~{start-foo}foo~{end-foo}}}',
 })
 export class WrongFieldReference {
   bar = 'bar';
 }
 
 @Component({
-  template: '{{~{nam}person.nam~{nam-end}}}',
+  template: '{{~{start-nam}person.nam~{end-nam}}}',
 })
 export class WrongSubFieldReference {
   person: Person = {name: 'Bob', age: 23};
 }
 
 @Component({
-  template: '{{~{myField}myField~{myField-end}}}',
+  template: '{{~{start-myField}myField~{end-myField}}}',
 })
 export class PrivateReference {
   private myField = 'My Field';
 }
 
 @Component({
-  template: '{{~{mod}"a" ~{mod-end}% 2}}',
+  template: '{{~{start-mod}"a" ~{end-mod}% 2}}',
 })
 export class ExpectNumericType {
 }
diff --git a/packages/language-service/test/project/app/ng-for-cases.ts b/packages/language-service/test/project/app/ng-for-cases.ts
index 806daf5730..9b46ed5dc3 100644
--- a/packages/language-service/test/project/app/ng-for-cases.ts
+++ b/packages/language-service/test/project/app/ng-for-cases.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ export interface Person {
 
 @Component({
   template: `
-    <div *ngFor="let person of ~{people_1}people_1~{people_1-end}">
+    <div *ngFor="let person of ~{start-people_1}people_1~{end-people_1}">
       <span>{{person.name}}</span>
     </div>`,
 })
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ export class UnknownPeople {
 
 @Component({
   template: `
-    <div ~{even_1}*ngFor="let person of people; let e = even_1"~{even_1-end}>
+    <div ~{start-even_1}*ngFor="let person of people; let e = even_1"~{end-even_1}>
       <span>{{person.name}}</span>
     </div>`,
 })
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ export class UnknownEven {
 
 @Component({
   template: `
-    <div *ngFor="let person of people; trackBy ~{trackBy_1}trackBy_1~{trackBy_1-end}">
+    <div *ngFor="let person of people; trackBy ~{start-trackBy_1}trackBy_1~{end-trackBy_1}">
       <span>{{person.name}}</span>
     </div>`,
 })
diff --git a/packages/language-service/test/project/app/ng-if-cases.ts b/packages/language-service/test/project/app/ng-if-cases.ts
index 9d556235dc..3c9917d772 100644
--- a/packages/language-service/test/project/app/ng-if-cases.ts
+++ b/packages/language-service/test/project/app/ng-if-cases.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import {Component} from '@angular/core';
 
 @Component({
   template: `
-    <div ~{implicit}*ngIf="show; let l=unknown"~{implicit-end}>
+    <div ~{start-implicit}*ngIf="show; let l=unknown"~{end-implicit}>
       Showing now!
     </div>`,
 })
diff --git a/packages/language-service/test/test_utils.ts b/packages/language-service/test/test_utils.ts
index 4bf5074054..82769bd195 100644
--- a/packages/language-service/test/test_utils.ts
+++ b/packages/language-service/test/test_utils.ts
@@ -181,20 +181,6 @@ export class MockTypescriptHost implements ts.LanguageServiceHost {
     }
   }
 
-  getMarkerLocations(fileName: string): {[name: string]: number}|undefined {
-    let content = this.getRawFileContent(fileName);
-    if (content) {
-      return getLocationMarkers(content);
-    }
-  }
-
-  getReferenceMarkers(fileName: string): ReferenceResult|undefined {
-    let content = this.getRawFileContent(fileName);
-    if (content) {
-      return getReferenceMarkers(content);
-    }
-  }
-
   /**
    * Reset the project to its original state, effectively removing all overrides.
    */
@@ -279,61 +265,94 @@ export class MockTypescriptHost implements ts.LanguageServiceHost {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Returns the definition marker ᐱselectorᐱ for the specified 'selector'.
+   * Returns the definition marker `ᐱselectorᐱ` for the specified 'selector'.
    * Asserts that marker exists.
    * @param fileName name of the file
    * @param selector name of the marker
    */
   getDefinitionMarkerFor(fileName: string, selector: string): ts.TextSpan {
-    const markers = this.getReferenceMarkers(fileName);
-    expect(markers).toBeDefined();
-    expect(Object.keys(markers !.definitions)).toContain(selector);
-    expect(markers !.definitions[selector].length).toBe(1);
-    const marker = markers !.definitions[selector][0];
-    expect(marker.start).toBeLessThanOrEqual(marker.end);
+    const content = this.getRawFileContent(fileName);
+    if (!content) {
+      throw new Error(`File does not exist: ${fileName}`);
+    }
+    const markers = getReferenceMarkers(content);
+    const definitions = markers.definitions[selector];
+    if (!definitions || !definitions.length) {
+      throw new Error(`Failed to find marker '${selector}' in ${fileName}`);
+    }
+    if (definitions.length > 1) {
+      throw new Error(`Multiple positions found for '${selector}' in ${fileName}`);
+    }
+    const {start, end} = definitions[0];
+    if (start > end) {
+      throw new Error(`Marker '${selector}' in ${fileName} is invalid: ${start} > ${end}`);
+    }
     return {
-      start: marker.start,
-      length: marker.end - marker.start,
+      start,
+      length: end - start,
     };
   }
 
   /**
-   * Returns the reference marker «selector» for the specified 'selector'.
+   * Returns the reference marker `«selector»` for the specified 'selector'.
    * Asserts that marker exists.
    * @param fileName name of the file
    * @param selector name of the marker
    */
   getReferenceMarkerFor(fileName: string, selector: string): ts.TextSpan {
-    const markers = this.getReferenceMarkers(fileName);
-    expect(markers).toBeDefined();
-    expect(Object.keys(markers !.references)).toContain(selector);
-    expect(markers !.references[selector].length).toBe(1);
-    const marker = markers !.references[selector][0];
-    expect(marker.start).toBeLessThanOrEqual(marker.end);
+    const content = this.getRawFileContent(fileName);
+    if (!content) {
+      throw new Error(`File does not exist: ${fileName}`);
+    }
+    const markers = getReferenceMarkers(content);
+    const references = markers.references[selector];
+    if (!references || !references.length) {
+      throw new Error(`Failed to find marker '${selector}' in ${fileName}`);
+    }
+    if (references.length > 1) {
+      throw new Error(`Multiple positions found for '${selector}' in ${fileName}`);
+    }
+    const {start, end} = references[0];
+    if (start > end) {
+      throw new Error(`Marker '${selector}' in ${fileName} is invalid: ${start} > ${end}`);
+    }
     return {
-      start: marker.start,
-      length: marker.end - marker.start,
+      start,
+      length: end - start,
     };
   }
 
   /**
-   * Returns the location marker ~{selector} for the specified 'selector'.
+   * Returns the location marker `~{selector}` or the marker pair
+   * `~{start-selector}` and `~{end-selector}` for the specified 'selector'.
    * Asserts that marker exists.
    * @param fileName name of the file
    * @param selector name of the marker
    */
   getLocationMarkerFor(fileName: string, selector: string): ts.TextSpan {
-    const markers = this.getMarkerLocations(fileName);
-    expect(markers).toBeDefined();
-    const start = markers ![`start-${selector}`];
-    expect(start).toBeDefined();
-    const end = markers ![`end-${selector}`];
-    expect(end).toBeDefined();
-    expect(start).toBeLessThanOrEqual(end);
-    return {
-      start: start,
-      length: end - start,
-    };
+    const content = this.getRawFileContent(fileName);
+    if (!content) {
+      throw new Error(`File does not exist: ${fileName}`);
+    }
+    const markers = getLocationMarkers(content);
+    // Look for just the selector itself
+    const position = markers[selector];
+    if (position !== undefined) {
+      return {
+        start: position,
+        length: 0,
+      };
+    }
+    // Look for start and end markers for the selector
+    const start = markers[`start-${selector}`];
+    const end = markers[`end-${selector}`];
+    if (start !== undefined && end !== undefined) {
+      return {
+        start,
+        length: end - start,
+      };
+    }
+    throw new Error(`Failed to find marker '${selector}' in ${fileName}`);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/language-service/test/ts_plugin_spec.ts b/packages/language-service/test/ts_plugin_spec.ts
index b7a49bea79..781db1a9fa 100644
--- a/packages/language-service/test/ts_plugin_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/language-service/test/ts_plugin_spec.ts
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ describe('plugin', () => {
             'Identifier \'people_1\' is not defined. The component declaration, template variable declarations, and element references do not contain such a member');
       });
       it('should report an unknown context reference', () => {
-        expectError('even_1', 'The template context does not define a member called \'even_1\'');
+        expectError('even_1', `The template context does not define a member called 'even_1'`);
       });
       it('should report an unknown value in a key expression', () => {
         expectError(
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ describe('plugin', () => {
         expectSemanticError('/app/ng-if-cases.ts', locationMarker, message);
       }
       it('should report an implicit context reference', () => {
-        expectError('implicit', 'The template context does not define a member called \'unknown\'');
+        expectError('implicit', `The template context does not define a member called 'unknown'`);
       });
     });
 
@@ -199,11 +199,10 @@ describe('plugin', () => {
 
       it('should be able to get entity completions', () => {
         const fileName = '/app/app.component.ts';
-        const marker = 'entity-amp';
-        const position = getMarkerLocation(fileName, marker);
-        const results = ngLS.getCompletionsAtPosition(fileName, position, {} /* options */);
+        const marker = mockHost.getLocationMarkerFor(fileName, 'entity-amp');
+        const results = ngLS.getCompletionsAtPosition(fileName, marker.start, {} /* options */);
         expect(results).toBeTruthy();
-        expectEntries(marker, results !, ...['&amp;', '&gt;', '&lt;', '&iota;']);
+        expectEntries('entity-amp', results !, ...['&amp;', '&gt;', '&lt;', '&iota;']);
       });
 
       it('should report template diagnostics', () => {
@@ -231,27 +230,20 @@ describe('plugin', () => {
     });
   }
 
-  function getMarkerLocation(fileName: string, locationMarker: string): number {
-    const location = mockHost.getMarkerLocations(fileName) ![locationMarker];
-    if (location == null) {
-      throw new Error(`No marker ${locationMarker} found.`);
-    }
-    return location;
-  }
   function contains(fileName: string, locationMarker: string, ...names: string[]) {
-    const location = getMarkerLocation(fileName, locationMarker);
+    const marker = mockHost.getLocationMarkerFor(fileName, locationMarker);
     expectEntries(
-        locationMarker, plugin.getCompletionsAtPosition(fileName, location, undefined) !, ...names);
+        locationMarker, plugin.getCompletionsAtPosition(fileName, marker.start, undefined) !,
+        ...names);
   }
 
   function expectSemanticError(fileName: string, locationMarker: string, message: string) {
-    const start = getMarkerLocation(fileName, locationMarker);
-    const end = getMarkerLocation(fileName, locationMarker + '-end');
+    const marker = mockHost.getLocationMarkerFor(fileName, locationMarker);
     const errors = plugin.getSemanticDiagnostics(fileName);
     for (const error of errors) {
       if (error.messageText.toString().indexOf(message) >= 0) {
-        expect(error.start).toEqual(start);
-        expect(error.length).toEqual(end - start);
+        expect(error.start).toEqual(marker.start);
+        expect(error.length).toEqual(marker.length);
         return;
       }
     }