ELA PSSAS

. Read the paragraph. (1) James Pollard Espy was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1785. (2) He is remembered today as a pioneering scientist who discovered how clouds are formed. (3) Espy spent much of his career working for the United States government, specializing in creating weather maps. (4) If he had not made these advancements, he is still remembered as one of the first scientists to use the telegraph to obtain weather reports from different parts of the country. Which change should be made to the paragraph to correct the error in verb usage?

• Change was born to had been born in sentence 1.

• Change is to would be in sentence 2.

• Change spent to would be spending in sentence 3

• Change is still to would still be in sentence 4.

Tags

CCSS.L.2.1D

CCSS.L.3.1E

CCSS.L.4.1B

CCSS.L.5.1.B-D

0. Read the paragraph. (1) Louisa May Alcott, a 19th-century author, used her life experiences as material in her work. (2) In her novel Little Women, Alcott relates childhood experiences that she and her sisters shared growing up in Massachusetts. (3) The story follows the lives of Jo March and her sisters, characters based on Alcott’s own family. (4) Set in New England, the novel shows the difficulties the sisters faced during the American Civil War a time of great change. Which revision corrects an error in punctuation?

• Remove the commas after Alcott and author in sentence 1.

• Add a comma after experiences in sentence 2.

• Remove the comma after sisters in sentence 3.

• Add a comma after War in sentence 4.

Tags

CCSS.L.4.2C

CCSS.L.6.2A

Read the paragraph. (1) The student council itself, concerned that older students hardly know the younger students in the school, want to start a program called Reading Buddies. (2) Once a week, students in sixth, seventh, or eighth grade have the option to spend time reading with a kindergartner or first grader. (3) Members of the student council believe that the program will promote a stronger school community. (4) No one has to be a Reading Buddy, but the program will be more successful if the majority of students take part. Which change should be made to correct the error in the paragraph?

• Change want to wants in sentence 1.

• Change have to has in sentence 2.

• Change believe to believes in sentence 3

• Change take to takes in sentence 4.

Tags

CCSS.L.3.1F

Read the paragraph. (1) The Willis Tower, located in Chicago, is the second tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at 1,450 feet. (2) On a clear day, a tourist can see four different states Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. (3) The building uses approximately 25,000 miles of electric cable, enough to circle the entire Earth at the equator. Which revision would correct the mistake in punctuation?

• Remove the comma after Tower in sentence 1.

• Add a dash after at in sentence 1.

• Add a dash after states in sentence 2.

• Remove the comma after cable in sentence 3.

Tags

CCSS.L.4.2C

CCSS.L.6.2A

Read the sentences. “Located on the Volga River, Kazan is known as the third capital of Russia,” the professor told his students. “In 2005, Kazan turned let me check my notes 1,000 years old.” Which is the correct way to write the underlined part of the sentence to indicate a break?

• turned. Let me check my notes. 1,000 years old

• turned—let me check my notes—1,000 years old

• turned let me check my notes, 1,000 years old

• turned, let me check my notes 1,000 years old

Tags

CCSS.L.6.2A

Read the paragraph. (1) Every school should have a good citizen award for actions that improve the school, show leadership, or demonstrate thoughtfulness toward others. (2) Our teacher asked our class to decide on the best, fairest, and clearest, standards for choosing candidates for the award. (3) Some of us discussed it in large groups some of us worked in pairs, and a few students worked alone. (4) Eventually the student council considered our ideas, rejected a few, and used the rest, to write the rules for a good citizen award. Which sentence uses commas correctly?

• sentence 1

• sentence 2

• sentence 3

• sentence 4

Tags

CCSS.L.4.2C

CCSS.L.6.2A

. Read the sentence. Opening the door to the shed, I felt great surprise when I found a raccoon that was in a box filled with rags. Which revision of the sentence uses the most descriptive language?

• Opening the shed door, I was surprised to find a raccoon that was nestled in a box of rags.

• When I pulled the door to the shed open, my heart raced because I discovered a raccoon nestled in a box of rags.

• When I opened the shed door, my heart raced as I came face-to-face with a beady-eyed raccoon nestled in a box of rags.

• Pulling the door to the shed open, I was really, really surprised at the discovery of a beady-eyed raccoon in a box with a lot of rags.

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

CCSS.RI.9-10.5

What do the Egyptian pyramids look like when they were first built? (2) Today, they have an attractive shape, but the stonework’s appearance is rather dull. (3) When the pyramids were first built, they had siding of white limestone and sometimes capstones of glittering gold. (4) Just imagine what they must have looked like back then!

Which sentence in the paragraph contains an error in verb usage?

• sentence 1

• sentence 2

• sentence 3

• sentence 4

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

CCSS.RI.9-10.5