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WorksheetsSTAAR English II Reading Review
Total questions: 15
Worksheet time: 4hrs 45mins
Read this quotation from paragraph 17 of the excerpt from The Piano Shop on the Left Bank.
I thought, this is a kind of love; and, as in love, my senses amplified and enhanced the love object, all with an insouciance and willing enthusiasm.
Why does the narrator use a metaphor to describe his response to playing the piano?
To explain how he is able to remember a piece of music
To show how sharing music increases enjoyment
To suggest that owning a piano can spark enthusiasm
To reveal the depth of his feelings towards the piano
Read this quotation from paragraph 16 of the excerpt from The Piano Shop on the Left Bank.
“Think of it as an investment in personal expression.”
What can the reader infer about the narrator’s wife based on her words?
The wife believes it is more important to invest in the arts than in other things.
The wife does not believe people should deny themselves things that they want
The wife views the piano as an attractive addition to their living room.
The wife sees music as a necessary outlet for her husband’s creativity.
Read this quotation from paragraph 1 of the excerpt from The Piano Shop on the Left Bank.
I was nervous, almost spellbound; suddenly this great impractical hulk was the gateway to a territory from which I had been absent for too long. Something said “Yes!” before I even touched the keyboard.
What is the narrator’s purpose for including this description?
To explain where he is shopping for a piano
To highlight his doubts about wanting a piano
To show how he exaggerates when describing events
To reveal the strength of his desire to play the piano again
Read this quotation from paragraph 2 of the excerpt from the article “Those Old Piano Blues.”
Then a slow, downward sales arpeggio started.
What does the author’s use of musical terminology convey in the quotation?
How the popularity of the piano has shifted like notes in a song
How piano dealers use musical language when they speak
How piano tones affect the price of the instruments
How piano music will persist despite its decrease in popularity
Read this quotation from paragraph 10.
What could happen if you allowed yourself to step outside the cages and breathe in the fresh air of your freedom?
Based on the quotation, the author views her high-school years as a source of —
transition
confinement
order
discipline
Which sentence from paragraph 5 best illustrates the author’s feeling that her life experiences have made her more confident?
During our visit we commented to each other how the colors, unlike the desert’s browns and dull greens, were an elegant mix of reds, pinks, and yellows.
In high school, I was standing on top of the rocks, but no incisions had been made—no canyon had been formed.
There was a river and it was flowing, but I did not see the layers beneath.
I have faith that in the end that process will reveal magnificent layers that inspire rather than repress and remain buried.
Which quotation best suggests that Kevin probably feels increasing pressure from external expectations?
When he was four he was better than the five-year-olds, and when he was five he was better than the seven-year-olds. (paragraph 1)
Year after year they have heard the boy’s body grow—the banging becoming harder and harder, faster and faster. (paragraph 3)
“Kevin? He’s the real deal,” Peter Andersson, general manager of the club, always says, and he ought to know. . . . (paragraph 4)
Kevin knows what it takes; everyone’s been telling him ever since he first stood on a pair of skates. (paragraph 5)
Read this quotation from paragraph 7.
He’s a Beartown man, his dad’s a Beartown man, and that may not mean a thing anywhere else, but it means something here.
Based on the quotation, the reader can infer that Kevin feels —
appreciated
trapped
loyal
embarrassed
Read lines 26 and 27 from the poem.
when the sky is a surreal sea
in which you drown . . .
This image can best be interpreted as meaning that —
a child sees the sky as a magical ocean full of mysterious creatures
the speaker hopes to save his daughter from a terrible future
artists experience a sea of wild and unpredictable emotions
there is a danger that artists may get lost in their own creations
Read paragraph 15.
His old scaly hand crawls over to touch my knee. His fingers are white, the nails cracking and dull, like old silver.
In this paragraph, the author uses imagery to —
show the son’s fear of being touched by his father
imply that the father may not really be dying after all
emphasize how aged and decrepit the father appears to his son
suggest that the son has little respect for his father
Which line of dialogue provides the best evidence that the father is questioning his priorities?
“Now all that seems so unimportant, you know?”
“Remembering a man’s stories makes him immortal, did you know that?”
“I had dinner with a prime minister once, William.”
“I wasn’t going to tell you about the two-headed lady, Mr. Smarty-pants,” he says.
Read these quotations from the two selections
To a Daughter with Artistic Talent
And you never know why (I was lying before when I said I knew).
Big Fish
I don’t know what makes a man great. I’ve never thought about it before.
These quotations provide evidence that both the speaker in “To a Daughter with Artistic Talent” and the narrator in the excerpt from Big Fish feel —
as though they must prove something
embarrassed by their ignorance
compelled to admit their mistakes
challenged to explain something difficult
Read these quotations.
To a Daughter with Artistic Talent
You have painted every day
for as long as I can remember
and will be painting still
when you read this, some cold
and distant December when the child
is old and the trees no longer silver
but black fingers scratching a grey sky.
Big Fish
“No,” he says. Then, “Yes. I don’t know. At least you remembered. The point is, I think—the point is I tried to get home more. I did. Things happened, though. Natural disasters. The earth split once I think, the sky opened several times. Sometimes I barely made it out alive.”
Both quotations use imagery that conveys a sense of —
inner turmoil
stubbornness
guilt
exaggerated self-confidence
Read this quotation from paragraph 9.
You’d be surprised at the places where these stories crop up. In Silicon Valley, for instance, a family of foxes decided to make a home on the Facebook campus in Menlo Park along with 2,500 employees, and Mark Zuckerberg himself took an interest in the skulk.
Why does the author include this idea?
To emphasize that wildlife living in urban areas is more common than people think
To compare the wildlife found in different regions of California
To describe Mark Zuckerberg’s disapproval of the foxes living on the Facebook campus
To question whether the foxes are safe living in Menlo Park
Read this quotation from paragraph 4.
This is why we love the movies: it’s like going on a roller coaster for the brain.
Why does the author use this comparison?
To illustrate the level of excitement a movie can provide
To explain the filmmaking techniques used by movie directors
To show how movies help people cope with real-world worries
To describe the mental processes involved with making a movie
