RI Prep, 9th Grade

RI Prep, 9th Grade

How to find the correct answer on the RI

1. Read the selection.

2. Read the question and answer choices.

3. Re-read the selection, looking for the answer.

4. Use syllables and word parts (prefixes, roots, and suffixes) to figure out unfamiliar words.

5. Get rid of two answers that you know are wrong.

6. Choose between the two that are left.

Multiple Choice

4. John had already built three famous suspension bridges. This one across the East River would be the longest one he ever designed, but he was confident that it would work. Unfortunately, the people of New York and Brooklyn didn't agree with him. The idea was new to them, and they were afraid of it.

The people were _____ of his plan.

• reminded

• unsure

• proud

• unaware

Multiple Choice

I spoke to her in Spanish, but she shook her head to let me know that she did not understand. Then I spoke, using the few words I remembered from a song my mother had once sung to me. Those words she might understand, but they meant nothing to her. She spoke back and her words were strange to my ears. We stood helplessly, our hands touching, gazing at each other. She looked like my own mother, as I remembered her, only younger.

I was trying to _____ .

• apologize

• scream

• sleep

• communicate

Multiple Choice

Kenya and Tanzania have set up wild game preserves where animals roam savanna and forest freely. Tourism in these game parks and along the beaches brings in millions of dollars each year and provides much needed jobs. Domesticated herds of cattle, sheep and camels also roam here. Nomadic tribes follow them across the savanna.

The game preserves have many _____ .

• benefits

• risks

• costs

• conveniences

Multiple Choice

When rats encounter a new food, they will not eat it for several days, then a few of them may eat a very small bit of it. If a rat gets sick, the others will avoid that food completely. For this reason, rat poisons have to be either slow-acting or must look and smell like anything but food.

Rats are _____ .

• greedy

• intelligent

• filthy

• impossible

Multiple Choice

Vendors offer snacks called antijitos (an-tee-HE-toes). That means little whims or wishful ideas. The treat might be a piece of watermelon on a stick. Or it could be an ear of fresh corn sprinkled with red pepper and kept hot in its husks. Some vendors roll up a vat of freshly made ice cream dotted with fruit pieces. They sell it quickly before it melts.

There is a _____ .

• mystery

• problem

• variety

• discussion

Multiple Choice

Deep in the pine woods, along a deserted logging road, the boy and dog came to a small open space where there had once been a log ramp. The sun was just beginning to drive its first splinters of light through the pines, bouncing against tree trunks and earth. At the foot of one of the trees the boy's father sat, the lantern still burning by his side.

The boy had _____ his father.

• embraced

• angered

• forgotten

• located

Multiple Choice

Most of the army's sled dogs were Alaskan huskies and malamutes. These breeds were best suited for the Arctic regions, where they did most of their work. These draft animals worked in teams. The sled dogs pulled sledges, or sleighs, over snowy and icy terrain. Their goal was usually the rescue of downed pilots. Pack dogs carried packs weighing as much as sixty-five pounds on their backs. In their packs they carried anything from food to first-aid supplies to ammunition.

These dogs were _____ .

• lazy

• strong

• curious

• hungry

Multiple Choice

BMX bikes have either spoked or mag wheels. Spoked wheels are made of steel or aluminum. They are very light and usually used for racing. Mag wheels are made from a tough, molded plastic. They are heavier and tougher than spoked wheels, and used more often for tricks.

The two kinds of BMX wheels _____ .

• differ

• flatten

• reverse

• break

Multiple Choice

On a crowded beach, people or dogs can easily hurt seal pups. People can even hurt seals without meaning to. Curious people may walk very close to a seal pup. When the mother seal returns, she may get scared away if she sees a crowd around her pup. She might never come back.

This human activity can be _____ .

• clumsy

• harmful

• gentle

• desperate

Multiple Choice

He heard a faint rumble in the distance. At first, he thought it was heat thunder, and then he began to wonder if it was the beginning of an earthquake. He was halfway out of bed, about to dive under his desk, when the distant whistle sounded. He realized that the growing rumble was a train.

The noise had _____ him.

• amused

• fooled

• disgusted

• relaxed

Multiple Choice

They were all excited as they divided up the jobs. Kotchko would talk to Mr. Reber down at the bank. Bud would do the grocery shopping for their supper and breakfast. And Neil would get the hatchet they would need for setting up camp and making their campfire. Each of them would get his own gear together, their pup tents, bedrolls, and cooking equipment. They agreed to start out right after lunch the next day.

They were _____

• forgiving

• lucky

• organized

• staggering

Multiple Choice

Howard Carter was a real slowpoke. He spent ten years searching for the tomb. Then he took eight years to clear out over 5,000 objects and another ten years to list them all in detail. Carter was so thorough and patient that he didn't even open the first coffin until almost three years after he had found it!

He wanted to be _____ .

• understood

• careless

• critical

• precise

Multiple Choice

Baby ducks, or ducklings, are hatched from an egg. They poke their beaks against the shell. When the shell cracks, the duckling uses its beak to make the hole larger. Once it is big and strong enough, the duckling pushes its entire body out of its shell!

Finally, the duckling _____ .

• emerges

• dies

• hibernates

• burrows

Multiple Choice

In the past, fire spotters watched from high lookout towers in the forest for wisps of smoke rising above the trees. Today, people often use airplanes to help them survey forests for fires. Satellites are also used to monitor Earth for forest fires. Wildfires usually start when the weather is hot and dry. During summer plants are often very dry, so they catch fire easily. Lightning, a natural cause, starts many wildfires. Sometimes people accidentally start fires.

Now, technology helps people _____ fires.

• decompose

• enclose

• smother

• detect

Multiple Choice

Around the far turn, she went wide. She urged her horse on, and he responded. Colonial Affair thundered down the track, surging past Wild Gate, past Sliver of Silver, past Cherokee Run, past the whole field at 40 miles an hour.

Colonial Affair was racing _____ .

• hilariously

• furiously

• dangerously

• faintly

Multiple Choice

While his back was turned, I pushed the hair away from my eyes and took another quick look around the room. It was his study, but I already knew that. There were books and old scrolls in piles on the shelves. There was a scarred bench piled with amphoras and other clay containers. There were glass bottles as well.

His study was _____ .

• large

• secure

• misunderstood

• disorganized

Multiple Choice

Jamie fell only once, and it was right at the very end, just as he approached the edge of the pond and was thinking about not skating, about getting the skates off and his boots back on. That's what tripped him up—thinking about going back to normal, walking, boots, ground. His skates came up from under him and he fell on his backside hard. It surprised him and hurt some, but mostly he was embarrassed. Jamie looked around quickly to see if anyone had seen him fall.

He had stopped _____ .

• boasting

• entertaining

• concentrating

• resting

Multiple Choice

The pupfish that live in Death Valley National Park are called Devils Hole pupfish. They are 1-1/2 inches to 2-1/2 inches (4 to 6 centimeters) long and can survive in water up to 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44 degrees Celsius). The females are brown and white colored; the males are blue and purple colored. Pupfish can flip from one small pool to another, and some are able to hibernate in mud during the winter.

Pupfish are _____ .

• artificial

• graceful

• overpopulated

• adaptable

Multiple Choice

After the 12th century there was a flood of stories, poems, and songs about Arthur, not only from Britain but from France and other parts of Europe as well. There was something about the Arthur story that had enormous appeal. Arthur was a just and wise king and a victorious war leader who protected his people from wild and violent invaders.

People _____ Arthur.

• understood

• suspected

• idolized

• warned

Multiple Choice

The Mogho Naba maintained grand pomp and ceremony in his court, which was imitated on a much smaller scale by the other Nabas. It was forbidden to touch his hand or to speak to him without kneeling with one's forehead on the ground. People were expected to hesitate before pronouncing his name, and no one else was allowed to have his name.

The Mogho Naba was _____ .

• exonerated

• exalted

• exhausted

• excited