Vocabulary
Theme
Informational Texts
Literature
Grammar
100

Former members of uncontacted groups have said that after friends and family were attacked or killed by outsiders, they avoided any kind of contact. Even peaceful contact can have devastating effects. Many uncontacted groups have never been exposed to diseases, not even the common cold or the flu.

What does devastating mean?

A. Helpful or useful 

B. Tending to cause war or violence

C. Highly destructive or distressing

C. Highly destructive or distressing 

100

Which quotation best matches the following theme: 


Appearances can be deceiving. 


1) "How can you explain sight on a world where no one has ever seen and where there is no need of eyes?" 


2) "She realized with a fresh shock that it was not Mrs. Whatsist herself that she was seeing at all...What she saw was only the game Mrs. Whatsit was playing."

3) "She had been so certain that the moment she found her father everything would be all right... She would no longer be responsibile for anything."

2) "She realized with a fresh shock that it was not Mrs. Whatsist herself that she was seeing at all...What she saw was only the game Mrs. Whatsit was playing."

100

Read the text.

George Lucas directed and co-wrote the 1973 film American Graffiti, a classic coming-of-age tale set in Northern California. The film cost less than eight hundred thousand dollars to produce but earned more than two hundred million dollars. Because the film was such a huge success, 20th Century Fox agreed to finance Lucas's next project. Star Wars was released on May 25, 1977, and became an instant box-office hit. The film's huge success resulted in the production of two sequels in the original Star Wars trilogy: The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

What caused 20th Century Fox to commit money to Lucas for his next film project? 

American Graffiti was a hit. 

100

Select the best evidence to support the statement that the letters contain bad news.

Clara's mother read the letters aloud, barely able to hold back her tears and skipping paragraphs that her daughter sensed without needing to hear them. Later, as her mother slept, Clara would convince her cousin Claudette to reread her father's letter from start to finish. That is how Clara read, with borrowed eyes. Nobody ever saw her shed a tear, not even when the letters from the lawyer stopped coming, not even when news of the war made them all fear the worst. 

Clara's mother read the letters aloud, barely able to hold back her tears and skipping paragraphs that her daughter sensed without needing to hear them.

100

Flight data recorders, also known as black boxes, are required on all commercial flights. (BLANK) main purpose is to record important flight information that can be used to investigate crashes. 

Choose the correct word: There / They're / Their 

Their 

200

For many species of birds, migration is often fraught with danger. For example, the average songbird may weigh just half an ounce, but this tiny creature travels thousands of miles along routes that are filled with wind turbines, communication towers, buildings, and other potential collision hazards. 

What is the best synonym for the word fraught in the passage

Filled 

200

Which quotation best matches the following theme:

Considering others' perspectives helps us look at the world differently. 

1) The first time I brought Annemarie home... a weird thing happened. After living there almost every day of my life, I saw our apartment as if it were the first time.

2) Her bringing the chips and cookies is supposed to help somehow. It's not really the cookies, she says. It's the fact that someone brings them. 

3) He says that when he's trying to solve a problem at work, he takes out the ropes, ties them into knots, unties them, and then ties them again. 

1) The first time I brought Annemarie home... a weird thing happened. After living there almost every day of my life, I saw our apartment as if it were the first time.

200

Read the text: 

Before British scientist Alexander Fleming discovered antibiotics in the 1920s, bacterial infections could be deadly. After antibiotics were developed, though, doctors were able to treat infections and save lives. Over the years, however, antibiotics were overused. As a result, antibiotic-resistant bacteria—also known as superbugs—have appeared. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about two million people become infected with superbugs every year. Canadian scientists may have stumbled on a surprising tool to combat the overuse of the drugs. By mixing maple syrup extract with antibiotics, the researchers were able to increase their effectiveness while reducing the dose amount.

What was the solution when superbugs emerged? 

Scientists mixes maple syrup with medication. 

200

Select the hyberbole in the passage. 

Ann brought George along to see Paul perform. George was older than the century, older than time. To Paul, George's date with Ann represented Hollywood's last grasp of glamour. The star of Kitten With a Whip also liked Paul. "I remember someone had said something about me," Ann would explain in her Hollywood-mystic whisper, "and he got after that person. And I said thank you for standing up for me." 

Hyperbole: George was older than the century, older than time.

200

We're out of eggs, so we should go to the market. Beside, we need to buy something for dinner. 

Fix the one word that is used incorrectly. 

Besides 

300

Aiden is a new addition to the Greenpoint High School baseball team. After much practice, he improved quickly and has become an adept hitter. On defense, however, he is still somewhat clumsy and frequently misses easy catches. 

What is the antonym of the word adept in the passage? 

clumsy 

300

Which quotation best matches the following theme:

Land is more dependable than man-made things. 


1) So would also their house sometime return into the earth, their bodies also. Each had his turn at this earth. 


2) If I had silver, they would have taken it. If I had bought with the silver to store it, they would have taken it all. I have the land still, and it is mine.

 

3) "Hunger makes a thief of any man." 


2) If I had silver, they would have taken it. If I had bought with the silver to store it, they would have taken it all. I have the land still, and it is mine.

300

The following passage is about wildlife in Australia. Select the best evidence to support the statement that many new species have been discovered in Australia.

There was no place in the world like it. There still isn't. Eighty percent of all that lives in Australia, plant and animal, exists nowhere else. More than this, it exists in an abundance that seems incompatible with the harhness of the environment. Australia is the driest, flattest, hottest... of all the inhabited continents. (Only Antarctica is more hostile to life.) ... And yet it teems with life in numbers uncounted. For insects alone, scientists haven't the faintest idea whether the total number of species is 100,000 or more than twice that. As many as a third of those species remain entirely unknown to science. For spiders, the proportion rises to 80 percent.

Eighty percent of all that lives in Australia, plant and animal, exists nowhere else.

300

Which point of view does the narrator use in the passage?

Jessica stepped into the room, closed the door and stood with her back to it. My son lives, she thought. My sons lives and is . . . human. . . .

Paul looked at his mother. She told the truth. He wanted to get away alone and think this experience through, but he knew he could not leave until he was dismissed.

Third person 

300

Great white sharks cannot remain (BLANK), as they depend on movement to push water over their gills. 

What is the correct word to use in the sentence? 

stationary OR stationery 

stationary 

400

For spring allergy sufferers, the botanical garden is as pleasant as a traffic jam. 

Name the figure of speech and explain what it suggests.  

Verbal irony or simile 

The botanical garden is unpleasant for allergy sufferers. 

400

Which quotation best matches the following theme:

It is important to carry on even in the face of obstacles. 

1) "Even in this gloom hope gleams again... The accursed darkness itself has been a cloak to us."

2) "It is not our part to master all the tides of this world, but to do what is in us...uprooting the evil in the fields that we know." 

3) "I'll get there, if I leave everything but my bones behind," said Sam. "And I'll carry Mr. Frodo up myself, if it breaks my back and heart."

3) "I'll get there, if I leave everything but my bones behind," said Sam. "And I'll carry Mr. Frodo up myself, if it breaks my back and heart."

400

Read the text.

During World War I, British and American warships were at grave risk of German U-boat, or submarine, attacks. Warships were easily visible against the surrounding ocean. So British artist Norman Wilkinson proposed a scheme to address this concern. Rather than trying to hide the ships, he suggested painting them with bright shapes to confuse the enemy. More than a thousand ships were painted with bold patterns, including complex patterns on the bow and stern to confuse onlookers about which end was which. This technique, called dazzle camouflage, may not have actually confused the enemy, but it was effective in making the crews of the "dazzle boats" feel safer.

Which text structure does this text primarily use?  (Hint: Do not choose description) 

Problem - Solution

400

Identify the tone of the following excerpt. 

I had begun to watch the bird out of boredom; I ended in keen excitement. The sight of it seemed to open up my eyes. I realized the zest of liberty, the passion of life again. I felt that beyond this dim underworld there was the great joyous earth, and I longed for it. I wanted to live forever. 

Hopeful or any synonym. 

400

Find the error. 

Bird-watcher's can find the red-winged blackbird in marshes and fields throughout North America. The bird's distinctive oak-a-lee call makes it easy to identify. 

Bird-watchers 

500

Which phrase has a negative connotation

A. A box filled with documents 

B. A box crammed with documents

A. A box crammed with documents 

500

Which quotation best matches the following theme:

Responsibility can be a burden. 

1) "If everything's the same, then there aren't any choices! I want to wake up in the morning and decide things! A blue tunic, or a red one."

2) Even trained for years as they all had been in precision of language, what words could you use which would give another the experience of sunshine?

3) He...didn't want the honor, didn't want the wisdom, didn't want the pain. He wanted his childhood again, his scraped knees and ball games.

4) Once he had yearned for choice. Then, when he had had a choice, he had made the wrong ones. 

3) He...didn't want the honor, didn't want the wisdom, didn't want the pain. He wanted his childhood again, his scraped knees and ball games.

500
Read the text. 


In March 2018, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, known as the "Met," began charging admission to non-New York residents. Until this time, entry into the Met was free, though voluntary donations were encouraged for visitors. The museum said the change was necessary, but many people were outraged. The Met was criticized for charging a fee for access to culture and the arts. In a perfect world, all museums would be free to the public. However, the reality is that museums often rely on funds from admission fees, and these fees don't necessarily stop people from visiting. Therefore, it is perfectly acceptable for museums to charge admission. 

What is the author's argument in your own words? 

It is okay for museums to charge admission fees to visitors. 

500

Read the text.

Mallory smacked a fastball inside the Douglas Park batting cage. In between pitches, she glanced up at the skyscrapers towering over the park. She imagined all the people living and working in those tall toweres--families, friends, bosses, and workers. She thought about the crowded sidewalks, full of friends chatting and window shopping, and parents searching for birthday presents. She thought about all the cars carrying friends to parties, families to their homes, and busy people to important meetings. Everyone was hurrying. Everyone had somewhere to go, something to do, and someone to meet. Everyone, that is, except her. In the batting cage, it was just Mallory and the pitching machine. She loosely gripped the baseball bat and hit a line drive. 

How does Mallory feel? 

Mallory feels lonley. 

500

Which sentence is correct: 

1) When grown in the shade of trees, coffee plants can coexist with birds, and coffee farmers can feel good about maintaining a vital natural habitat.

2) When grown in the shade of trees, birds can coexist with coffee plants, and coffee farmers can feel good about maintaining a vital habitat.  

Sentence 1) When grown in the shade of trees, coffee plants can coexist with birds, and coffee farmers can feel good about maintaining a vital natural habitat.