RL 8.1 #7 What is suggested by Jim’s observations in paragraph 2?

B. He considers the grass a force in the landscape.

A. He worries about the fate of the box-elder trees.

C. He is indifferent to the expansive fields.

D. He is curious about the chicken house.

RL 8.3 #9 What change in Jim made him decide to stay in the garden when his grandmother left?

C. discovering a new set of feelings

A. becoming curious about the wildlife

B. knowing he could find his way back

RL 8.9 #10 The grandmother fits the model of folklore’s “wise helper” character because she___________, tells the main character about*****, and then********.

guides the main character to a destination

. . is elderly and inspires respect

has watched the main character from afar

RL 8.1 #11 Which two details from the passage support the idea that the grandmother might feel lonely?

E. “‘In a new country a body feels friendly to the animals. I like to have him come out and watch me when I’m at work.’” (paragraph 11)

B. “Everywhere, as far as the eye could reach, there was nothing but rough, shaggy, red grass, most of it as tall as I.” (paragraph 1)

C. “Alone, I should never have found the garden—except, perhaps, for the big yellow pumpkins that lay about unprotected by their withering vines—and I felt very little interest in it when I got there.” (paragraph 7)

D. “‘Well, if you see one, don’t have anything to do with him.’” (paragraph 11)

RI 8.2 #12. Select four of the sentence options to create a summary of the passage. Chronologically order the four selected options from Sentence 1 to Sentence 4. The summary should only include essential information.

In 1932, an environmental disaster hit the Great Plains. Poor farming practices had destroyed the land’s ability to hold on to its topsoil. When strong winds blew in, they picked up the soil and carried it away in a huge cloud of dust. The cloud moved across several states, coating everything in its path with a thick layer of dust.

In 1932, an environmental disaster hit the Great Plains. Poor farming practices had destroyed the land’s ability to hold on to its topsoil.The disaster affected Plains residents in a number of different ways.When strong winds blew in, they picked up the soil and carried it away in a huge cloud of dust.

The disaster affected Plains residents in a number of different ways. When the land was healthy, plants and wildlife thrived on the Plains. When strong winds blew in, they picked up the soil and carried it away in a huge cloud of dust. The cloud moved across several states, coating everything in its path with a thick layer of dust.

Other. (Meaning your answer is not listed in any other answer choices) Choose this for your answer

RI 8.8 #14 Part A The following question has two parts. First, answer Part A. Then, answer Part B. Part A What is the main claim the passage makes about the cause of the Dust Bowl disaster?

B. Farmers plowed up the native prairie grasses and thus destroyed the land’s natural balance and ability to care for itself.

A. Because the prairies had lost their natural ability to withstand drought, plowing for farmland caused even greater destruction.

C. Government involvement in agriculture led to poor farming practices that destroyed the land’s ability to restore itself.

D. Hot, dry conditions and high winds combined to turn both farmland and prairies into a cloud of dust.

RI 8.8 #14 Part B: Which detail from the passage gives evidence supporting the claim in Part A?

C. “Through the driest years, the web of life held. When a farmer tore out the sod and then walked away, leaving the land naked, however, that barren patch posed a threat to neighbors. It could not revert to grass, because the roots were gone.” (paragraph 3)

A. “The sky, choked with topsoil, frightened him. And the heat—nobody alive had ever seen the sky like this, day after day, the white bowl overhead.” (paragraph 1)

B. “Wind blew twenty, thirty, forty miles an hour, as always. Droughts came and went. Prairie fires, many of them started deliberately by Indians or cowboys trying to scare nesters off, took a great gulp of grass in a few days.” (paragraph 3)

D. “But this was not something farmers argued about in meetings where they clamored for price support from the government. Nor was it the topic of scientists or government specialists, at least not early on.” (paragraph 3)

RI 8.8 #15 Select the two details from paragraph 4 that are irrelevant to the claim that the storm of January 21, 1932, was extremely unusual.

B “ It was not a rain cloud. Nor was it a cloud holding ice pellets.”

E “ After hovering near Amarillo, the cloud moved north up the Texas Panhandle, toward Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas.”

A “The winds had been fierce all day, clocked at sixty miles an hour when the curtain dropped over the Panhandle.”

C “ It was thick like coarse animal hair; it was alive. People close to it described a feeling of being in a blizzard—a black blizzard, they called it—with an edge like steel wool.”

D “ As sunlight came through the lighter edge of the big cloud, it appeared greenish.”

RI 8.3 #16 Choose a word or phrase for each blank to complete the sentence below. It can be inferred that Lawrence Svobida’s failure to make money did not come from ignorance about farming, since Svobida_________and his first crop was********.

became frightened by a dust storm

L 8.5 #17 What two characteristics of prairie fires are suggested by the statement that they “took a great gulp of grass” (paragraph 3)? .

A. They happened suddenly and all at once.

B. They destroyed a large area of grass.

C.The smoke made breathing difficult

D. The grass hindered their progress.

E. They were fueled by the grass

RI 8.3 #18 Read the two excerpts from paragraph 3. The grass could look brown and dead, but beneath the surface, the roots held the soil in place; it was alive and dormant. It could not revert to grass, because the roots were gone. It was empty, dead, and transient. Which sentence best describes the connection between these two excerpts?

A These excerpts contrast the healthy grass of the past with the dead soil resulting from the farmers’ destruction.

B The first excerpt describes the situatems described in the second excerpt.

C The second excerpt provides an example of a problem described in the first excerpt. ion that caused the probl

D These excerpts emphasize the natural changes and cycles that occur on the land every year from spring to winter.

RI 8.6 #19 Select two sentences from paragraph 3 that support the idea that the author felt sympathy for some farmers.

D “ They were struggling to stay alive, to find enough money to buy shoes, fuel, goods that could not be made by hand at home.”

C “ People were frantically trying to find a way out of the hole of an economy without light.r price support from the government.”

A “ When a farmer tore out the sod and then walked away, leaving the land naked, however, that barren patch posed a threat to neighbors.” ”

B “ But this was not something farmers argued about in meetings where they clamored for price support from the government.”

E “ What was happening to the land in the early 1930s was nearly unnoticed at first.”

RI 8.6 #21 According to the author, why did the rest of the country at first pay little attention to the dust storms?

A .They were distracted by severe financial problems.

B. They thought scientists would quickly resolve the problem.

C. They believed the government would warn them of danger.

D. They assumed it was just another dry spell that would pass quickly.

RI 8.1 #22 Read this sentence from paragraph 2. “This was something new and different from anything I had ever experienced before—a destroying force beyond my wildest imagination,” he wrote. What is the force that the speaker references in this sentence?

A the dust storms on the Great Plains

B the raging prairie fires set to scare off nesters

C the damaging hailstorms that hit the landscape

D the invasive grass that spread over the Great Plains

RI 8.5 #23 Which two statements best describe the structure of the fourth paragraph in relation to the text as a whole?

D It provides important facts relevant to the text.

E It describes a general threat by focusing on a certain time and place.

A It provides scientific background for the events in other paragraphs.

B It reveals the author’s opinion about the events being described.

C It uses exaggeration to stress the unique nature of the events.

RI 8.5 #24 What key concept presented earlier in the text is reinforced by the last paragraph?

A Specific farming practices contributed to the disaster. .

B Before the disaster, the land was healthy and balanced.

C People at the time had no idea what caused the dust cloud.

D The cloud was made up of soil dust carried from other places

Willis-ELA Practice Test-Block 3

Authored by Anntaurica Jones-Willis

English

7th - 8th Grade

CCSS covered

Used 11+ times

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MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

15 mins • 1 pt

RL 8.2
The following question has two parts. First, answer Part A.

Part A: What is the main theme of the passage?

A. People had to learn to live with the endless prairie.

B. Connecting with the environment was a pathway to peace

C. The grass had a kind of power that shaped everything else.

D. Life on the Nebraska prairie was hard and sometimes dangerous.

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RI. 9-10.9

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

15 mins • 1 pt

RL 8.2
Part B: Which sentence from the passage best supports the theme in Part A?

A. “As I looked about me I felt that the grass was the country, as the water is the sea.” (paragraph 3)

B. “And there was so much motion in it; the whole country seemed, somehow, to be running.” (paragraph 3)

C. “. . . I kept looking up at the hawks that were doing what I might so easily do.” (paragraph 7)

D. “. . “I was left alone with this new feeling of lightness and content.” (paragraph 12

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RI. 9-10.9

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

MULTIPLE SELECT QUESTION

15 mins • 1 pt

RL 8.2
#2 Read this beginning for a summary of the passage.
Summary
Ten-year-old Jim gives his first impressions of the landscape surrounding his grandparents’ home.

Choose the two sentences that best complete the summary.

A. Having just endured a very long train ride affects his reactions to what he observes.

B. At his request, his grandmother leaves him alone in the garden and returns to the house.

C. Going outside early on his first morning, he is amazed by the grass, which seems to go on forever.

D.He notes the different unfamiliar features that make up his grandparents’ farm, such as a windmill and corncribs.

E. After walking to the family garden, he has overwhelming feelings of being where the earth and sky touch.

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

15 mins • 1 pt

L 8.4a
#3 Read the sentences from paragraph 1.
The road from the post-office came directly by our door, crossed the farmyard, and curved round this little pond, beyond which it began to climb the gentle swell of unbroken prairie to the west. There, along the western sky-line it skirted a great cornfield, much larger than any field I had ever seen .

Which meaning of skirted is used in the sentence?

A. A missed by a narrow margin

B. went around rather than across

C.bordered or formed the edge of

D. avoided because of unpleasantness

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

15 mins • 1 pt

RL 8.3
#4. Why is the information provided in paragraph 11 significant to the character development in this passage?

A. It hints to the reader Jim is uncertain about taking on new tasks.

B. The reader learns that Jim’s grandmother is a kind-hearted person.

C. The reader learns that Jim does not want to work around animals.

D. It reveals to the reader that Jim’s grandmother is starting to rely on him.

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

15 mins • 1 pt

L 8.4a
#5. What is the meaning of the word insignificant as it is used in paragraph 2?

A. unimportant

B. unnoticeable

C unreachable

D unsatisfactory

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RI.6.4

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

15 mins • 1 pt

RL 8.6
#6. Because of the difference in their viewpoints, which is a dramatic irony that the reader can see but that Jim doesn’t seem to notice?

A. Jim thinks about the meeting of earth and sky while digging potatoes from one and looking up at hawks in the other.

B. Jim is fascinated by the grass and yet uninterested in the plants growing right in front of him in the garden.

C. Jim is thinking about floating away at the very moment that the hawks are passing overhead.

D. Jim is unable to find his own way to the garden, yet he wants to stay there by himself.

Tags

CCSS.RL.2.2

CCSS.RL.2.10

CCSS.RL.2.3

CCSS.RL.4.3

CCSS.RL.4.4

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Willis-ELA Practice Test-Block 3

RL 8.2The following question has two parts. First, answer Part A.Part A: What is the main theme of the passage?

RL 8.2Part B: Which sentence from the passage best supports the theme in Part A?

RL 8.2#2 Read this beginning for a summary of the passage.SummaryTen-year-old Jim gives his first impressions of the landscape surrounding his grandparents’ home.Choose the two sentences that best complete the summary.

RL 8.3#4. Why is the information provided in paragraph 11 significant to the character development in this passage?

L 8.4a #5. What is the meaning of the word insignificant as it is used in paragraph 2?

RL 8.6#6. Because of the difference in their viewpoints, which is a dramatic irony that the reader can see but that Jim doesn’t seem to notice?

RL 8.1#7 What is suggested by Jim’s observations in paragraph 2?

L 8.5c #8 Read this part of a sentence from paragraph 7. . . . one would float off into them, like the tawny hawks which sailed over our heads making slow shadows on the grass. Which word is similar in connotation to sailed as it is used in the sentence?

RL 8.3#9 What change in Jim made him decide to stay in the garden when his grandmother left?

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RL 8.2
The following question has two parts. First, answer Part A.

Part A: What is the main theme of the passage?

RL 8.2
Part B: Which sentence from the passage best supports the theme in Part A?

RL 8.2
#2 Read this beginning for a summary of the passage.
Summary
Ten-year-old Jim gives his first impressions of the landscape surrounding his grandparents’ home.

Choose the two sentences that best complete the summary.

RL 8.3
#4. Why is the information provided in paragraph 11 significant to the character development in this passage?

L 8.4a
#5. What is the meaning of the word insignificant as it is used in paragraph 2?

RL 8.6
#6. Because of the difference in their viewpoints, which is a dramatic irony that the reader can see but that Jim doesn’t seem to notice?

RL 8.1
#7 What is suggested by Jim’s observations in paragraph 2?

L 8.5c
#8 Read this part of a sentence from paragraph 7.

. . . one would float off into them, like the tawny hawks which sailed over our heads making slow shadows on the grass.
Which word is similar in connotation to sailed as it is used in the sentence?

RL 8.3
#9 What change in Jim made him decide to stay in the garden when his grandmother left?