ELA 9 Benchmark Practice

What is the main idea of the passage?

• The effects of water pollution

• The importance of the water cycle

• The history of the water cycle

• The science of cloud formation

Which process in the water cycle involves water changing from a liquid to a gas?

• Evaporation

• Condensation

• Precipitation

• Transpiration

What does the word "replenishes" mean in the passage?

• Pollutes

• Refills

• Reduces

• Reserves

What is the purpose of transpiration in the water cycle?

• To form clouds

• To release water vapor into the air

• To create precipitation

• To melt ice

How does water move through the water cycle?

• Evaporation, condensation, melting

• Evaporation, precipitation, transpiration

• Melting, condensation, precipitation

• Precipitation, evaporation, transpiration

Why is understanding the water cycle important?

• To study space exploration

• To comprehend weather patterns and climate

• To learn about ocean life

• To understand the formation of mountains

Which of the following is NOT a state in which water exists in the water cycle?

• Solid

• Gas

• Plasma

• Liquid

Which of these inferences about the speaker is best supported by the following passage (lines 3–9)?

"I’d like to welcome you to the one and only,
the greatest America." Says the lady
in the white shirt behind a desk.

"Now honey, please fill out all these papers,
and don’t forget to send us your story,
why you came here, your hopes and expectations.
We wish you a happy life."

• She is grateful to be welcomed to America by such a kind lady.

• She is annoyed by the tone of the woman welcoming her.

• She may be being processed by an immigration agency as she enters the United States.

• She is afraid she will be denied entry to America.

Which of the following inferences about the speaker’s father is best supported by the following passage (lines 40–45)?

Trust me, I know what loss smells like:
the way fear and revolution play tug of war
on doorsteps, uproot loved ones from
framed pictures on walls, steal a father
from the dinner table – I can only hope
mine hears me now.

• The civil war took her father away from the family.

• The speaker is afraid to speak to her father.

• The speaker never knew her father; she just saw a photograph of him.

• The speaker’s father was not allowed to immigrate with his family to the United States.

The author most likely uses the following (lines 38–39) to show___________ .

And no, I don’t celebrate the death of children,
I don’t wish to destroy homes and churches.

• the stereotypes Muslims face in the United States

• some of the questions the speaker was asked by immigration before being allowed into the country

• the speaker’s reflection on her previous attitudes toward Westerners

• that the speaker’s house, church, and siblings were lost in the war