SBAC: Performance Task

This question has two parts. First, answer part A. Then, answer part B. Part A: Which of the following best describes the wife in the story?

• smart

• demanding

• understanding

• simple

Part B: Which sentence from the story best supports the answer to part A?

• "Release me, and anything you wish, I will grant."

• "When I told my wife my story, she astonished me with her reply."

• "For many months, my wife was content with the riches granted us."

• "Go back to your fish, and tell him I wish to be the queen."

Which sentence from the story best shows that the fisherman was content with his life before he met the wish fish?

• "Feeling embarrassed, I returned to the fish and explained what my wife had requested."

• "For my part, I fished every day as I had always done."

• "When she reached the water’s edge, the sky was black and the sea was churning."

• "With a threatening look and one swipe of a huge fin, the fish sent my wife running for her life, never to be seen again."

The chart shows how the setting changes throughout the story. Beginning: small hut, very little food. Middle: fine stone house, plenty of food. Which detail best completes the chart?

• small hut, very little food

• small hut, plenty of food

• fine stone house, no food

• fine hut, some food

What is the theme of the story? Use details from the story to support your answer.

Read the following sentences from another story called “Yeh-Shen: The Chinese Cinderella,” which is about a young girl who befriends a fish.

As soon as her stepmother and stepsister had left for the festival, Yeh-Shen asked the fish for beautiful clothes to wear to the festival. Magically, silken robes and golden slippers appeared!

Which sentence tells how the fish in “The Wish Fish” and the fish in “Yeh-Shen: The Chinese Cinderella” are alike?

• Both fish are tricked into giving away wishes to greedy people.

• Both fish grant wishes to people who have been kind to them.

• Both fish are forced to grant wishes in order to save their own lives.

• Both fish provide poor people with beautiful clothes and new