Instructions to the Parents:
This test covers materials typically presented through the end of the
ninth grade. It is recommended that you print a copy of
this test. Then read each item to your child. Record their responses on paper
then
submit the student responses when the test is completed. This is
not a timed test.
2. Read the following portion of a paragraph and decide which one
of
the sentences would make the best topic sentence.
Milton was imprisoned for his support of
the Commonwealth. He
had difficulties supporting his large family
and yet wrote a brilliant
epic. In the same way, Bunyan was imprisoned,
became
impoverished, and yet was strengthened
to write a great allegory.
a. John Milton
was poor, but wrote a great epic
b. John Bunyan
was poor, but wrote a great allegory.
c. The puritan
writers, John Milton and John Bunyan, had
much in common.
d. The writers,
John Milton and John Bunyan, had very
little in
common.
3. Read the following portion of a paragraph and decide which one
of
the four possible answers would make the best
topic sentence.
It may be a participle, which is used only
as an adjective. It may
be a gerund, which always ends in -ing
and functions as a noun.
Finally, it may be an infinitive, which
is preceded by to and
functions as a noun, adjective, or even
as an adverb.
a. Yet verbals
still look very much like verbs.
b. A verbal
may belong to one of three categories.
c. Participles
are the most common verbals.
d. Infinitives
are the most common verbals.
4. Which situation does not require the writer to begin a new
paragraph?
a. a change
in time
b. a change
in place
c. a new
sentence
d. a new
speaker
5. The condition that does not necessarily require the writer
to
begin a new paragraph is _____.
a. a change
in subject
b. an explanation
c. a different
mood
d. another
step
6. A change from talking to singing would probably be a change
in _____.
a. time
b. speaker
c. place
d. action
7. The method that would not help to connect ideas in sentences
or paragraphs is to ____.
a. repeat
key words or patterns from previous sentences or
paragraphs
b. refer
to the topic being discussed with words such as this,
that, such,
and those
c. use pronouns
with antecedents in previous sentences or
paragraphs
d. use many
periods and no semicolons
8. The word or phrase that would best introduce an example is _____.
a. therefore
b. in summary
c. for instance
d. later
9. The word or phrase that would best show a result or conclusion
is _____.
a. therefore
b. beneath
c. too
d. however
10. The methods by which a paragraph is developed include ______.
a. time, mood,
speaker, idea
b. expository,
descriptive, narrative, argumentative
c. examples,
comparisons and contrasts, definitions (or
explanations),
reasons (or arguments)
d. this,
that, these, and those
11. If you want to write a paragraph which examines two things to
determine similarities and differences,
you will probably develop
your paragraph by using _____.
a. examples
b. comparisons
or contrasts
c. explanations
d. arguments
12. The method by which the following paragraph was developed is _____.
A family album of photographs can
be a record as full of
events and emotions as a diary. Pictures
of wedding or
birthday celebrations can recall
through facial expressions
the hope a sister felt or the pride
that a father showed.
Snapshots of a child at play record
an innocent past that will
never return. Even pictures of animals
or plants can tell us
what we valued or what touched us
at the time the pictures
were taken.
a. examples
b. comparisons or contrasts
c. explanations
d. arguments
13. The main types of prose composition include expository, narrative, persuasive, and _____.
a. process
b. illustrative
c. descriptive
d. definition
14. The type of writing that is not expository is ______.
a. recipes
b. instruction
sheets
c. descriptions
d. process
analysis
15. What should you do when writing instruction sheets or "how to" articles?
a. Assume
that your instructions are being written for
someone who
is well informed about the process already.
b. Avoid
examples and comparisons because they require
too much
space.
c. Avoid
explaining why steps are necessary since
explanations
would probably be confusing.
d. Organize
the steps carefully according to the order you
reader will
have to use.
Read the following paragraphs and answer the questions at the end.
A.
A stone had smashed into Jimmie's mouth. Blood was bubbling
over his chin and down upon his ragged shirt. Tears made furrows
on his dirt-stained cheeks. His thin legs had begun to tremble
and
turn weak, causing his small body to reel. His roaring curses
of
the first part of the fight had changed to a blasphemous chatter.
B.
On the east edge of the Land of Oz, in the Munchkin Country, is
a
big, tall hill called Mount Munch. One one side, the bottom
of this
hill just touches the Deadly Sandy Desert that separates the
Fairyland of Oz from all the rest of the world, but on the other
side, the hill touches the beautiful, fertile Country of the Munchkins.
C.
It would appear as though October is the correct month for John
Paul's
birth date as all reliable documents mention it. The year 1912 which
appears on John Paul's first marriage certificate and on his delayed
birth
certificate, however, cannot be substantiated because the birth
record for John Paul in Paducah, Kentucky (his place of birth), was compiled
three decades later. Moreover, Twitchell's eating habits left much to be
desired. Nevertheless, these two documents do summarily indicate
that the "1922" birth date was a fabrication made years later by Paul,
presumably to convince his young wife, Gail, that he was not too much older
than herself.
16. What is the topic sentence of paragraph A?
17. What is the topic sentence of paragraph B?
18. What is the topic sentence of paragraph C?
19. What is the sentence that does not belong in paragraph
C?
20. What is the concluding sentence of paragraph A?