STAAR Text Evidence

"The wind was strong and the rain was heavy, but the foreigner held up one of his massive hands to protect the small gift, safely tucked onto the palm of the other."

What is the most likely reason why the author includes this description of the foreigner’s actions?

• To demonstrate how valuable the gift is to him.

• To reveal that he is hesitant to accept the gift.

• To suggest that the wind and rain have isolated him.

• To illustrate how much he wants to be accepted.

Tags

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

I am four in this photograph, standing /On a wide strip of Mississippi beach, / My hands on the flowered hips /Of a bright bikini

In these lines, the poet’s tone can best be described as-

• Nostalgic

• Strident

• Apologetic

• Reverent

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

In paragraph 2, the author uses the figurative language, “their tails flipping up to gleam like wands in the early sunlight” to illustrate the--

• Mystical allure of the morning

• Tranquility of the morning setting

• Magical beauty of the otters

• Cheerful nature of the otters

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

"The leather soles of my shoes felt insecure and slippery on the rungs."

The author's use of the 1st person point of view--

• reveals Jimmy's youthful idealism

• shows Jimmy's fearless determination

• helps the reader understand that Jimmy is unreliable

• allows the reader to identify with Jimmy's vulnerability

Tags

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Which line suggests that Alejandro is sensitive to the feelings of others?

• And she looks a lot worse than she did yesterday, he didn't say.

• Why an old lady would come to ski or practice extreme sports was beyond him.

• Dr. Alejandro Benetti shook his head in frustration.

• "Well, I know what kills them, and how to keep that from happening."

Tags

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

CCSS.W.9-10.9

"In the 1940s there was no such thing as a "secure line". All talk had to go out onto the public airwaves."

The author includes this information to --

• demonstrate the technological advances during the twentieth century

• establish a need for an unbreakable secret code

• explain why Pearl Harbor was vulnerable to attack

• question whether the right to free speech should be protected during wartime

Tags

CCSS.RI.9-10.6

"The Inughuits thought they were the world's only inhabitants until an expedition led by the Scottish explorer John Ross came across them in 1818."

The author's purpose in including this information in the selection is most likely to--

• describe the history of Europeans traveling to Greenland in order to study the Inughuits.

• suggest that Ross's expedition indirectly caused the destruction of Inughuit culture.

• support the claim that Inughuits have a strong cultural heritage.

• emphasize how geographically and culturally isolated the Inughuits once were.

Tags

CCSS.RI.9-10.6

Believe that bees/ by the billions find unidentified flowers/ on unmapped marshes and mountains.

The reader can conclude that the speaker is--

• awestruck by nature

• fearful of nature

• confused by nature

• intimidated by nature

Tags

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Which quotation best illustrates the author's yearning for connection with the world?

• Science had complicated her vision without lessoning her delight in other creatures.

• We had been canoeing in the Boundary Waters Wilderness for several days, long enough for the men's faces to stubble with beards, for the women's faces to burnish from wind and sun.

• I am a poor sort of shaman. My shape never changes, except, year by year, to winkle and sag.

• I desired their instruction-- as if, by watching them, I might learn to belong somewhere as they so thoroughly belonged here.

Tags

CCSS.L.9-10.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Helping Others to See- "After the presentation, all three generations hang out together and discuss the way they can put into practice the values brought forth in the presenteation."

A Ball to Roll Around- "At Philadelphia's Overbrook School for the Blind, I invented a successful variation of baseball. We called it groundball."

The quotations are similar in that they both discuss--

• a sudden change in thinking

• the value adults place on the contributions of others

• an activity that depends on group participation

• why people enjoy being together

Tags

CCSS.SL.9-10.1

CCSS.SL.9-10.1D