Reading
Read the sentences below.
Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.
What is the most likely meaning of the figurative language in the sentences?
A. The author now spends more time reading.
B. The author used to be confused by difficult texts.
C. The author now feels overwhelmed by information.
D. The author used to engage with language more deeply.
D. The author used to engage with language more deeply.
Which source would provide the most information
for a research report on ancient coins?
A. a publication on the history of the U.S. Mint
B. an article on early coin collecting
C. a brochure on the office of the U.S.Treasury
D. an article on coins through the ages
D. an article on coins through the ages
Which question would be the best topic for a five-page research paper?
A. During what years did the Underground Railroad operate?
B. How did the Underground Railroad get started and develop its methods?
C. How many former slaves made it to Canada by the Underground Railroad?
D. Through what means did African Americans escape enslavement before the Civil War?
B. How did the Underground Railroad get started and develop its methods?
Read this paragraph from a student’s research report.
1 Submersibles are small submarines used for deep-water ocean research. 2 While a scuba diver can dive as deep as 165 feet below the surface, not nearly deep enough to reach many important sites. 3 Submersibles can go down several miles. 4 The famous Titanic was explored by a submersible, for example.
Which is a fragment?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
B. 2
Which of the following sentences correctly uses a semicolon?
A. The rain began to pour during the game; the spectators were soaked.
B. The rain began to pour; during the game; the spectators were soaked.
A. The rain began to pour during the game the spectators were; soaked.
A. The rain; began to pour during the game; the spectators were soaked.
A. The rain began to pour during the game; the spectators were soaked.
Read these lines from the poem.
I am four in this photograph, standing
on a wide strip of Mississippi beach,
my hands on the flowered hips
of a bright bikini. . . .
In these lines, the poet’s tone can best be described as
A. nostalgic, sentimental
B. strident, forceful, persuasive
C. apologetic, regretful
D. reverent, respectful
A. nostalgic, sentimental
Thomas wants to conduct an online search to
find information about the California Gold Rush,
which began at Sutter’s Mill on January 24, 1848.
Which keywords would yield the most relevant
information for his search?
A. January 1848
B. gold mining
C. Sutter’s Mill
D. California Gold Rush
D. California Gold Rush
Which website would likely be the best source of information on camping in Louisiana State Parks?
What is the ellipsis doing in this sentence?
The last sentence of her essay said, in part, "Whatever you want to do, you should . . . get out there and try it."
A. showing a pause in speech
B. showing that a portion of a quote has been removed
B. showing that a portion of a quote has been removed
What is the colon doing in this sentence?
If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: I hate beef jerky.
A. It’s linking two clauses, showing a connection between the 1st and the 2nd.
B. It’s introducing a list of items.
A. It’s linking two clauses, showing a connection between the 1st and the 2nd.
Read the sentences below.
Father's family set store on ancestry. Mother's side was more practical.
What does set store on mean in this context?
A. valued
B. negotiated
C. left behind
D. traded for
A. valued
Which research topic would most benefit from the creation of a timeline?
A. dealing with common pests in the garden
B. the principles of modern painting and sculpture
C. the expansion of voting rights in the United
States
D. methods for preserving the North American wilderness
C. the expansion of voting rights in the United
States
Jonah is writing down ideas for a research paper on the Civil Rights Movement. Which is the best question for him to ask to guide his research?
A. When and where did the Freedom Rides take place?
B. How many people participated in the March on Washington?
C. What were the methods and goals of civil rights activists?
D. What was the most important event in the Civil Rights Movement?
C. What were the methods and goals of civil rights activists?
Which sentence is written correctly?
A. One of the players sprained their ankle.
B. Many of the girls made her own costume.
C. The girls had trouble remembering to bring their lunches.
D. Neither coach were pleased with how the teams played that day.
C. The girls had trouble remembering to bring their lunches.
Which one of these sentences uses grammatical punctuation?
Jax hadn't as far as I'm aware already seen the movie before we went to see it together.
A. Jax hadn't as-far-as-I'm-aware-already seen the movie before we went to see it together.
B. Jax hadn't—as far as I'm aware—already seen the movie before we went to see it together.
C. Jax hadn't as far as I'm aware already seen the movie—before we went to see it together.
B. Jax hadn't—as far as I'm aware—already seen the movie before we went to see it together.
The love of money has ruined friendships, caused divorces, and even led to death. This intense avariciousness can be blamed for one nation invading another, the ravaging of our natural resources, and the discovery of America.
The word avariciousness in the sentence above most likely means which of the following?
A. Collected
B. Disagreeements
C. Greed for wealth
D. Separation
C. Greed for wealth
Which source is a secondary source?
A. a diary kept by Abraham Lincoln
B. a letter written to Abraham Lincoln
C. a speech written by Abraham Lincoln
D. a biography written about Abraham Lincoln
D. a biography written about Abraham Lincoln
Terrell is writing a report on crime and punishment in early pilgrim colonies. Which set of results from a library catalog search will likely supply the most relevant titles for his research?
A. Pilgrims (New Plymouth Colony)—religious practices [8 titles]
B. Pilgrims (New Plymouth Colony)—genealogy and lineage [4 titles]
C. Pilgrims (New Plymouth Colony)—society and customs [5 titles]
D. Pilgrims (New Plymouth Colony)—history [7 titles]
C. Pilgrims (New Plymouth Colony)—society and customs [5 titles]
Which underlined word is spelled incorrectly?
A. The visiting team suffered a humiliating defeat.
B. The fire chief took desisive action to save the
building.
C. Sometimes people rely on intuition rather than
facts.
D. A boisterous crowd cheered the players as they
ran onto the field.
B. The fire chief took desisive action to save the
building.
Decisive
What is the bold punctuation doing in this sentence?
I wear my dirt-covered shoes every day, no matter what people tell me.
A. It's a hyphen! It's combining two words.
B. It's a dash! It's separating sentence elements.
A. It's a hyphen! It's combining two words.
A great deal of money will be transferred from parents, upon their deaths, to their children, normally a natural transfer of assets.
The word assets in the sentence above most likely means which of the following?
A. Lawsuits
B. Possessions
C. Separation
D. Agreement
B. Possessions
For a report, Joshua wants to include paraphrased information from page 33 of the book Founding Father of Jazz without using the author’s name, Geoff Sylvan, directly in the text. Which is an acceptable way to write a parenthetical citation?
A. Armstrong’s first instrument was modest: a guitar made from a cigar box (33).
B.Armstrong’s first instrument was modest: a guitar made from a cigar box (Sylvan 33).
C. Armstrong’s first instrument was modest: a guitar made from a cigar box (Founding Father of Jazz 33).
D. Armstrong’s first instrument was modest: a guitar made from a cigar box (Sylvan, Founding Father of Jazz p. 33).
B.Armstrong’s first instrument was modest: a guitar made from a cigar box (Sylvan 33).
For her report on the growth of America’s railroads, Faye used the book To Span the Continent, by Roger S. Lowell and Sandra Wolfe, published in San Francisco in 2003 by Pacific Books. Which is an acceptable way to write a bibliographic entry for this book?
A. Lowell, Roger S., and Sandra Wolfe. To Span the Continent. Pacific Books, 2003.
B. To Span the Continent, by Roger S. Lowell and Sandra Wolfe, San Francisco, 2003: Pacific Books.
C. To Span the Continent, by Lowell, Roger S., and Wolfe, Sandra, 2003: Pacific Books.
D. Lowell, Roger S., and Wolfe, Sandra. To Span the Continent. San Francisco: Pacific Books, 2003. Print.
A. Lowell, Roger S., and Sandra Wolfe. To Span the Continent. Pacific Books, 2003.
Read the sentence from paragraph 2 in the box below.
In 2005, Gerba and his team reported trawling more than 1,000 public surfaces in four U.S. cities, . . . looking for biochemical markers of substances that would carry pathogens—blood, saliva, feces, urine, mucus, etc.
What does the dash in the sentence mainly introduce?
A. supporting data
B. specific examples
C. common definitions
D. alternate viewpoints
B. specific examples
What is the ellipsis doing in this sentence?
"I don't think I've ever eaten snails . . ." Bobby said, looking curious.
A. showing that part of a quote has been removed
B. showing a pause in speech
B. showing a pause in speech