The LAST STAAR Review

Dear Ms. Langston,

Ever since I hit your car in the parking lot last week, I've felt really bad. I know that my accident inconvenienced you and ruined your plans for a vacation. I hope that you can forgive me. From now on, I promise to be more careful when driving through a busy parking lot. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you or your family.

What is the tone of the letter?

• Affectionate

• Scornful

• Irreverent

• Apologetic

Me

I'm captain of the soccer team

And scored the winning goal.

I'm strong and smart and good at math

And I'm on the honor roll.

I have perfect, chiseled cheekbones,

And I dress the latest fads.

You can see my flawless, handsome face

On several TV ads.

This year, I won the talent show

And was homecoming king

And got the lead in the school play

And won lots of other things.

The girls think I'm the coolest guy.

My rank is understood.

Do you wonder why I always win?

It's cuz I'm just that good.

What is the tone of the poem?

• Arrogant

• Dejected

• Inspirational

• Exciting

The Chicago Cubs are a baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The team has a longer history than most other professional teams—including basketball, football, and hockey. What most sets them apart from other professional sports franchises, however, is that the Chicago Cubs have had the longest championship drought of any franchise in all professional sports. In fact, the last time the Chicago Cubs won a World Series was in 1908. They are often referred to as The Cubbies or as The Lovable Losers by their significant national fan following.

What is the purpose to the encyclopedia article above?

• to persuade the reader that the Cubs are due for a championship

• to entertain the reader with a story about a win less baseball team

• to instruct the reader on how not to have a losing baseball season

• to inform the reader about a historic, yet luckless, baseball team

The fact is, teenagers who are still growing need 9 or 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night. Do most children get that much? It's highly unlikely. In the United States alone, an estimated 30% to 40% don't get adequate sleep. Most teenagers try to stay up later than they're allowed—to watch a favorite TV show or chat online. Parents often give in to the teenager's plea, and the cycle begins. The teen goes to sleep progressively later every night, and pretty soon, he or she is sleep deprived.

How does the underlined sentence help to advance the author's point of view?

• The statistic makes it clear that most kids in the United States get plenty of sleep.

• The statistic is meant to show that sleep deprivation only affects a few people.

• The statistic gives weight to the author's claim that kids don't get enough sleep.

• The statistic compares kids in the United States to those in other countries.

ORME, Tennessee (Reuters) - A small town tucked away in the mountains of southern Tennessee is getting by on just a few hours of water a day. Its spring has run dry in the drought sweeping the Southeast. Each evening, residents wait for Mayor Tony Reames to make the short drive from his home up to a water tower on a wooded hill above the town to open a valve. When the water is flowing families can fill buckets and water jars, do laundry, take showers and wash dishes before the faucets run dry and they wait for the next evening. Resident Julie Hoover described Orme as a "hideaway" and a "piece of heaven." It was safe and everyone knew each other, but she said the water shortage had created serious problems.

Which best describes the main theme of this passage?

• People need to remember the past.

• People need to take shorter showers.

• People need to try to resist change.

• People need to adapt for survival.

Wherever he goes, the esteemed Dr. Sanchez is applauded for his life saving research.

Based on the context, what does “esteemed” mean?

• the vapor created by heating water

• very old

• greatly admired

• powerful

Solo Spring

by Patricia Clements

Staring out my kitchen window

I view the ageless, golden sun,

sky spotted with heavenly clouds,

trees reaching tall and proud with

tender, emerald shoots of spring leaves.

Daffodils poke through the ground

announcing spring’s arrival;

they look like gentle soldiers

evenly rowed up

their saffron bells calling to me.

Fat-gutted robins parade around

the dripping, dew-dampened lawn,

tearing pink-gray worms

from safe shelter,

chirping salutations to friends

who wintered elsewhere.

Spring beckons me,

entices me into its intimate embrace.

Though my eyes rest on this eternal wonder,

I know you’re gone,

and nothing is the same,

now that it’s different.

A simile is used to compare flowers to

• even rows

• saffron bells

• spring's arrival

• gentle soldiers

Solo Spring

by Patricia Clements

Staring out my kitchen window

I view the ageless, golden sun,

sky spotted with heavenly clouds,

trees reaching tall and proud with

tender, emerald shoots of spring leaves.

Daffodils poke through the ground

announcing spring’s arrival;

they look like gentle soldiers

evenly rowed up

their saffron bells calling to me.

Fat-gutted robins parade around

the dripping, dew-dampened lawn,

tearing pink-gray worms

from safe shelter,

chirping salutations to friends

who wintered elsewhere.

Spring beckons me,

entices me into its intimate embrace.

Though my eyes rest on this eternal wonder,

I know you’re gone,

and nothing is the same,

now that it’s different.

Which of the following statements best describes the theme of the poem?

• The world is a better place during the spring.

• Springtime's arrival makes lost love less painful.

• Lost love changes a person's view of the world.

• All people feel pain during the springtime.

Look at the attached image of a STAAR prompt.

What type of essay would you need to write for this prompt? How many paragraphs should you have?

• Expository essay with 4 paragraphs

• Persuasive essay with 5 paragraphs

• Informational essay with 3 paragraphs

• Persuasive letter with 5 paragraphs

A counterargument is a viewpoint that opposes the author's thesis and is used in order to appear unbiased on the topic. There are two parts:

Concession - acknowledging the valid parts of the opposing argument

Refutation - ___________________________________

• by supporting the concession with evidence

• disprove the ideas of the concession by proving they are unimportant or invalid

• giving some reasons why people would believe the concession

• by using ethos, pathos, and logos to prove a point