Reading STAAR Review Passages

What detail is left unresolved at the end of the selection?

• Whether the cabin will be secured after Jimmy and his father leave

• Whether Jimmy can fully accept his father’s authority

• Whether Jimmy can fully accept his father’s authority

• The final destination for Jimmy and his father

The author most likely includes the anecdote about the bat in paragraph 9 to develop the theme of —

• protecting the natural environment

• showing respect for the older generation

• cherishing particular memories

• gaining personal freedom

Read this sentence from paragraph 26.

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

The author’s use of the first-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

What is Jimmy’s primary dilemma?

• He must choose between being obedient to his father and being true to himself.

• He must reconcile the difference between his father’s cynical worldview and his own beliefs.

• He must accept that he has to leave the cabin despite his strong desire to stay.

• He must resolve his conflicted feelings about what will happen after he leaves the cabin.

Read the dialogue in paragraphs 11 through 24. When considered with this dialogue, which sentence reveals that Jimmy is hiding his true feelings from his father?

• I wished we were just going on a fishing trip and not going away.

• I looked all around the kitchen to remember it and I was awfully fond of it.

• It was still dark but along the edge of the hills it was lightening.

• It was lighter than when I started to climb the ladder and it was cold and very early in the

  morning.

In paragraph 9, the description of the kitchen serves to —

• emphasize the unpleasantness of Jimmy’s living conditions

• reveal Jimmy’s strong emotional attachment to the cabin

• show that Jimmy feels lonely in this remote setting

• imply that Jimmy hopes his circumstances are improving

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Read the following dictionary entry.

tender \ıten-d r\ e adj

1. showing gentleness and concern or sympathy 2. sensitive to pain 3. young, immature, and vulnerable 4. requiring tact or careful handling

Which definition best matches the use of the word tender in paragraph 3?

• Definition 1

• Definition 2

• Definition 3

• Definition 4

In paragraph 8, the author uses glass as a metaphor to show her —

• intense anger

• deep personal regret

• vision problems

• extreme physical agony

In paragraph 4, the author’s attitude about being near wildlife is —

• terrified

• pleased

• cautious

• irritated

In which quotation does the author use descriptive language to show her unexpected awe?

• I crawled out of my tent and stood slowly, my muscles stiff from yesterday’s hike, my bare feet tender on the rocky dirt.

• My pack’s frame creaked behind me with each step, straining from the weight. The muscles of my upper back and shoulders were bound in tense, hot knots.

• I knew it was the top because there was snow. Not on the ground, but falling from the sky, in thin flakes that swirled in mad patterns, pushed by the wind.

• By noon I was up over 6,000 feet and the air had cooled, the sun suddenly disappearing behind clouds.

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