STAAR Practice "I Believe ..." & "A School For..."

Use “I Believe in the Also-Rans” to answer the following questions...

What is the author’s purpose for mentioning the children’s race through the house?

• To illustrate that some children value fun above competition

• To emphasize that his child is athletically superior to her friends

• To highlight that children often disregard household rules

• To show that children lack concerns about safety when competing

Based on the information presented in the essay, what is one message the reader can infer?

• Avoiding competition is better than participating when failure is certain.

• Being rewarded simply for participating belittles the efforts of the winners.

• Persistence ensures that a loser will eventually become a winner.

• Satisfaction comes from being dedicated and doing your best.

Which quotation best expresses the author’s viewpoint about being an “also-ran”?

• At school I was fortunate to win enough to balance all the times I lost, and I began to believe in this idea.

• Our family enjoys a large house with a great running track.

• Naomi and Kean have always been fast runners and very evenly matched, too.

• I believe in celebrating those that finish third in a three-horse race.

What is the main idea of the selection?

• Children usually develop friendships with others who have similar abilities

• Parents should encourage their children to be active because fitness is important.

• People should celebrate their best efforts even if they don’t always succeed.

• People who consistently win competitions as children have lifelong advantages over those who don't.

Use “I Believe in the Also-Rans” & “A Baseball School for Big-League Dreamers” to answer the following questions.

Read this sentence from paragraph 2 of “I Believe in the Also-Rans.”

“As an English teenager I was schooled in an

elite school where I was fed the idea that I was

better than others and that achievement and

winning were all-important.”

Which sentence from “A Baseball School for Big-League Dreamers” contrasts with the attitude

expressed in the sentence from “I Believe in the Also-Rans”?

• “You kind of just don’t want to leave the field at the end of the night,” he says.

• “We are not sending the message that every one of our players are going to wind up playing shortstop for the Mets.”

• Bolek, who has coached in the minors, the majors and college, says his job is not always about baseball.

• And there’s something else: Many of the coaches have given years to the game.

What is the purpose of paragraph 32 in “A Baseball School for Big-League Dreamers” and

paragraph 3 in “I Believe in the Also-Rans”?

• To explain that early disappointment can often lead to long-term failure

• To point out the educational advantages of attending elite schools

• To emphasize that the realities of adult life often differ from early experiences

• To specify the most important qualities needed to become a successful adult

What do Ketchum Marsh in “A Baseball School for Big-League Dreamers” and Cyrus in “I Believe in the Also-Rans” have in common?

• Neither is a natural-born athlete.

• Both become easily frustrated by failure.

• .Neither has supportive adults in his life.

• Both hope to play professional sports.

Which sentence correctly describes the organizational pattern used by the authors of the two

selections?

• Both selections provide definitions of key terms to add meaning to the texts.

• Both selections include anecdotes as examples to support their main ideas.

• Both selections use quotations from experts to support the main ideas in the texts.

• Both selections use cause-and-effect to highlight the relationships between key ideas.