Milestones ELA

Read this sentence:
The throb of their alien-sounding, high-pitched screeches filled the air.
What does the author's word choice suggest about the sound the cicadas make?

• It is so fascinating that everyone should hear it.
• The sounds are rhythmic and musical.
• The noise is both awful and annoying
• The screeches are dangerous enough to lead to hearing loss.

Read this sentence:
Cicadas appear only in this part of the world, and they appear every 17 years, ON THE DOT.
Why does the author choose the figurative phrase ON THE DOT?

• To describe the small holes made by cicadas when they hatch.
• To highlight their extraordinary life cycles
• To highlight the precise location where they can be seen
• To suggest the regularity of when they will emerge

Read this sentence:
The park's ISOLATION is part of the allure.
What does the word ISOLATION mean in the sentence?

• beauty
• popularity
• vastness
• separatness

Read the sentences below:
And because there was only daylight, it was hot, so hot that sleep was impossible. The people, already tired from long hours of work, became short tempered and irritable. Everyone was ON EDGE.
What does the phrase ON EDGE mean in the last sentence?

• touchy & grumpy
• hot & sweaty
• tired & overworked
• scared & worried

Read the sentences below:
And because there was only daylight, it was hot, so hot that sleep was impossible. The people, already tired from long hours of work, became short tempered and irritable. Everyone was ON EDGE.
What context clues in the sentences helped you determine the meaning of the phrase ON EDGE? 

• it was so hot
• so hot that sleep was impossible
• tired from long hours of work
• tempered and irritable

Read this sentence:
From the age of nine through her teens, she was employed as a worker in a textile mill in Manchester, New Hampshire.
What phrase can be taken out of the sentence without changing the meaning?

• through her teens
• as a worker
• in a textile mill
• in Manchester, New Hampshire

Read this sentence:
Here, Mattie put her creative resources to work again, discovered a new way to make paper bags that wouldn't be flimsy.
What is the best revision of the sentence?

• Here, Mattie put her creative resources to work again and, she discovered a new way to make paper bags that wouldn't be flimsy.
• Here. Mattie put her creative resources to work again. And she discovered a new way to make paper bags that wouldn't be flimsy.
• Mattie put her creative resources to work again, here discovering a new way to make paper bags that wouldn't be flimsy.
• Here, Mattie put her creative resources to work again, and she discovered a new way to make paper bags that wouldn't be flimsy.

What sentence below is evidence of author bias?

• Horses are the most magnificent animals to own.
• Horses have 205 bones in their skeleton.
• Horses can sleep both lying down and standing up.
• Domestic horses have a lifespan of around 25 years.

Read the sentence below:
Women's suffrage organizations faced determined resistance from groups who argued that a woman's place was in the home, not in the political arena.
What does the word resistance mean?

• opposition
• agreement
• question
• approval

Read the sentences below:
Women's suffrage organizations faced determined resistance from groups who argued that a woman's place was in the home, not in the political arena.
Which words provide a clue to the meaning of resistance?

• in the political arena
• in the home
• groups who argued
• in the government