6th Grade ELA Semester Exam

Shiloh was

• a beagle

• a small collie

• a German shepherd

When he first saw the dog, Marty was

• going into town

• walking near the old Shiloh school

• hunting

When the story ended, Marty was happy because

• his parents had not punished him for hiding Shiloh

• he had saved Shiloh and opened his own eyes some

• he had learned to like Judd Travers.

What type of figurative language is represented: He was so strong, he could chop the tree down with one swing of his axe.

• Hyperbole

• Simile

• Personification

• Onomatopoeia

• Metaphor

What type of figurative language is represented: “Boom!” The thunder echoed through the sky.

• Hyperbole

• Personification

• Metaphor

• Simile

• Onomatopoeia

What type of figurative language is represented: After a long day of hiking, he slept like a log.

• Simile

• Personification

• Hyperbole

• Onomatopoeia

• Metaphor

Which of the following sentences is written correctly?

• The tomatoes in my grandma’s garden are beginning to turn red.

• The books in my backpack weighs a ton.

• Will don’t like it when people call him Willy.

Sheba was anxious to hear the pertinent news about her friend's health, not the latest gossip. What does pertinent mean?

• A. determined by age

• B. relevant to a particular matter

• C. subject to interpretation

• D. humorous details

Read the passage from 'Food Web' from National Geographic. Food webs connect many different food chains, and many different trophic levels. Food webs can support food chains that are long and complicated, or very short. For example, grass in a forest clearing produces its own food through photosynthesis. A rabbit eats the grass. A fox eats the rabbit. When the fox dies, decomposers such as worms and mushrooms break down its body, returning it to the soil where it provides nutrients for plants like grass. This short food chain is one part of the forest's food web. Another food chain in the same ecosystem might involve completely different organisms. A caterpillar may eat the leaves of a tree in the forest. A bird such as a sparrow may eat the caterpillar. A snake may then prey on the sparrow. An eagle, an apex1 predator, may prey on the snake. A hawk, another apex predator, may prey on the eagle. Yet another bird, a vulture, consumes the body of the dead hawk. Finally, bacteria in the soil decompose the remains. In a desert ecosystem, an autotroph2 such as a cactus produces fruit. Herbivorous insects, such as flies, consume the cactus fruit. Birds such as the roadrunner consume these insects. Detritivores3 such as termites eat the roadrunner after it dies. Bacteria and fungi help decompose the remaining bones of the roadrunner. The carbon in the bones enriches the desert soil, helping plants like cactuses develop.

• A. Both long and short food chains make up food webs.

• B. Food webs connect different food chains and trophic levels.

• C. Food webs consist of many different food chains, the shortest of which involves grass, rabbits, foxes, and decomposers.

• D. The food chains that make up food webs stay in balance naturally as long as humans don't interfere.

What is the author's tone in this passage?

• Aggressive

• Evasive

• Defensive

• Condescending