[MCAS logo]
Release of Spring 2005 Test Items

June 2005
Massachusetts Department of Education

Massachusetts Department of Education
[MCAS logo]
This document was prepared by the Massachusetts Department of Education.
Dr. David P. Driscoll, Commissioner of Education


Copyright © 2005 Massachusetts Department of Education Permission is hereby granted to copy any or all parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes. Please credit the “Massachusetts Department of Education.”




This document is printed on recycled paper.

350 Main Street, Malden, Massachusetts 02148-5023
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Commissioner’s Foreword


Dear Colleagues:

The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) is the Commonwealth’s statewide testing program for public school students. Designed to meet the provisions of the Education Reform Law of 1993, MCAS is based exclusively on the learning standards contained in the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. The MCAS program was developed with the active involvement of educators from across the state and with the support of the Board of Education. Together, the Frameworks and MCAS are continuing to help schools and districts raise the academic achievement of all students in the Commonwealth.

One of the goals of the Department of Education is to help schools acquire the capacity to plan for and meet the accountability requirements of both state and federal law. In keeping with this goal, the Department regularly releases MCAS test items to provide information regarding the kinds of knowledge and skills that students are expected to demonstrate. Local educators are encouraged to use this document together with their school’s Test Item Analysis Reports as a guide for planning changes in curriculum and instruction that may be needed to ensure that schools and districts make regular progress in improving student performance.

This document, which includes all of the test items on which the spring 2005 MCAS student results are based, is available on the Internet at www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/testitems.html. Also available from this site is the new MCAS Question Search tool, which allows interested parties to browse and search through MCAS test items administered to students from 1998 to 2004. New 2005 items will be added later this year.

Thank you for your support as we work together to strengthen education for our students in Massachusetts.

Sincerely,


David P. Driscoll
Commissioner of Education




Table of Contents

Commissioner’s Foreword
I. Document Purpose and Structure	 		1
II. Reading, Grade 3				 	4
III. English Language Arts, Grade 4			36
  A. Composition						37
  B. Language and Literature				40
IV. English Language Arts, Grade 7			69
  A. Composition						70
  B. Language and Literature				72
V. English Language Arts, Grade 10			99
  A. Composition			     			100
  B. Language and Literature	     			102
VI. Mathematics, Grade 4		    		127
VII. Mathematics, Grade 6		    		155
VIII. Mathematics, Grade 8		    		178
IX. Mathematics, Grade 10		    		202
X. Science and Technology/Engineering, Grade 5	230
XI. Science and Technology/Engineering, Grade 8	250
XII. Biology, Grade 10					273
XIII. Chemistry, Grade 10				289
XIV. Introductory Physics, Grade 9/10		307
XV. Technology/Engineering, Grade 9/10		322





I. Document Purpose and Structure

Document Purpose and Structure
Purpose
The purpose of this document is to share with educators and the public all of the test items on which the spring 2005 MCAS student results are based. Local educators will be able to use this information to identify strengths and weaknesses in their curriculum and instruction, and to guide the changes necessary to more effectively meet their students’ needs.
This document is also intended to be used by school and district personnel as a companion document to the school- and district-level Test Item Analysis Reports. Each school receives a fall 2005 Test Item Analysis Report for each content area at each grade level tested (e.g., grade 10 Mathematics). These reports provide data generated from student responses. Each report lists, for the school receiving the report, the names of all enrolled students in the grade covered by the report and shows how each student answered each common item in that report’s content area. The report labels each item as multiple-choice, open-response, short-answer, or writing prompt and identifies the item’s MCAS reporting category. Item numbers in this document correlate directly to the “Item Numbers” in the Test Item Analysis Reports.
Structure
Each subsequent chapter of this document contains information and materials for one MCAS test (one grade level and one content area). For example, chapter II contains information for the Grade 3 Reading Test; chapter IX contains information for the Grade 10 Mathematics Test. Note that chapters III through V contain information for both the ELA Composition (Part A) and the ELA Language and Literature (Part B) tests for the relevant grade.
Beginning with chapter II, each chapter has three main sections. The first section introduces the chapter by listing the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework content strands assessed by MCAS in that chapter’s content area. These content strands are identical to the MCAS reporting categories under which test results are reported to schools and districts. The first section also provides the Internet address for the relevant Framework and the page numbers on which the learning standards assessed by the test items in the chapter can be found. In addition, there is a brief overview of the test (number of test sessions, types of items, reference materials allowed, and cross-referencing information).
The second section contains the common test items used to generate spring 2005 MCAS student results for that chapter’s grade level and content area. With the exception of the ELA Composition writing prompt, the test questions in this document are shown in the same order and basic format in which they were presented in the test booklets. The mathematics reference tools used by students during MCAS Mathematics test sessions (Mathematics Tool Kit for grade 4; Mathematics Reference Sheets for grades 6, 8, and 10) are inserted immediately following the last question in the second section of each Mathematics chapter. Students in grades 4, 6, and 8 were also provided with plastic rulers. Images of these rulers are not presented in this document. 

Due to copyright restrictions, certain English Language Arts reading passages that appear in the printed version of this document are not included in the version available on the Department’s Internet site. Copyright information for all common reading passages is provided in both versions of the document.
The final section of each chapter is a table that cross-references each common item with its MCAS reporting category and with the Framework standard it assesses. Correct answers to multiple-choice questions and, for the Mathematics tests, short-answer questions are also listed in the table. 
Responses to open-response items and compositions written in response to writing prompts are scored individually. An overview of procedures for scoring these responses and compositions is presented in the MCAS fact sheet, “Scoring Student Answers to Open-Response Questions and Writing Prompts,” which is available on the Department’s Internet site at www.doe.mass.edu/mcas. Scoring procedures will also be explained further in the MCAS document, Guide to Interpreting the Spring 2005 MCAS Reports for Schools and Districts, due for release in fall 2005. Similar guides are currently available on the Department’s Internet site for previous years’ MCAS School Reports and District Reports. Sample student responses and compositions from previous MCAS administrations may also be viewed on the Department’s Internet site.
Materials presented in this document are not formatted exactly as they appeared in Student Test Booklets. For example, in order to present items most efficiently in this document, the following modifications have been made:
	
Some fonts and/or font sizes may have been changed and/or reduced.
	
Some graphics may have been reduced in size from their appearance in Student Test Booklets; however, they maintain the same proportions in each case.
	

The English Language Arts Composition writing prompt is presented on the same page of this document as the make-up writing prompt, and the four lined pages provided for students’ initial drafts are omitted. 
	

All references to page numbers in answer booklets have been deleted from the directions that accompany test items. 




II. Reading, Grade 3
Reading, Grade 3


The spring 2005 Grade 3 MCAS Reading Test was based on learning standards in the two content strands of the Massachusetts English Language Arts Curriculum Framework (2001) listed below. Page numbers for the learning standards appear in parentheses.
	Language (Framework, pages 19–26)
	Reading and Literature (Framework, pages 35–64)

The English Language Arts Curriculum Framework is available on the Department Web site at www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/ela/0601.pdf.

In Test Item Analysis Reports and on the Subject Area Subscore pages of the MCAS School Reports and District Reports, Grade 3 Reading test results are reported under two MCAS reporting categories: Language and Reading and Literature, which are identical to the two Framework content strands listed above.

Test Sessions and Content Overview
The MCAS Grade 3 Reading Test included three separate test sessions. Each session included selected readings, followed by multiple-choice and open-response questions. Common reading passages and test items are shown on the following pages as they appeared in Grade 3 Test & Answer Booklets. Due to copyright restrictions, certain reading passages cannot be released to the public on the Web site. All of these passages appear in the printed version of this document.

Reference Materials and Tools
The use of bilingual word-to-word dictionaries was allowed for current and former limited English proficient students only, during all three Grade 3 Reading test sessions. No other reference materials were allowed during any Grade 3 Reading test session. 

Cross-Reference Information
The table at the conclusion of this chapter indicates each item’s reporting category and the Framework general standard it assesses. The correct answers for multiple-choice questions are also displayed in the table. 


Reading
SESSION 1
DIRECTIONS 
This session contains one reading selection with eight multiple-choice questions. For multiple-choice questions, mark your answers by filling in the circle next to the best answer. 

Three animal friends, Harry Cat, Tucker Mouse, and Chester Cricket, are hiding in some tall grass when Ellen and a group of children walk by. Harry Cat sticks his head out to get a better look. Ellen sees him and decides she wants to meet him. What will Harry do? What will Tucker and Chester do? Read “Ellen” and answer the questions that follow. 

Ellen
by George Selden Thompson 
[picture of a cat, a mouse, and a cricket hiding in tall grass]
1 Ellen heard the rustling and saw Harry’s whiskered face peeking out. “Shh! No one move,” she said to the children. “There’s the kitty. Now I’m going to take you all home—” 
2 “We just got here!” exclaimed Jaspar. 
3 “I know,” said Ellen. “But it’s almost lunchtime anyway. And I’ll bring you back this afternoon—I promise! I want to come back by myself and see if I can make friends with the kitty. He’ll never come out with Ruff and all of you here. Come on now—please.” 
4 She led the children up the hill and over to the edge of the road. “Everyone take hands.” The children fell into formation—two on each side of her—and all took hands. Ellen took a long look up and down the road. “Quick now—over!” 
5 “You, too!” shouted Jaspar at Ruff. 
6 And the six of them, Ruff included, hurried across the road. From there, since there were no more roads to cross, the children could find their way home by themselves. But Ellen came back and sat down again in her Special Place. 
Sometimes she liked being there alone even more than with the children. 
7 “Here, kitty!” she called. “Come on. I won’t hurt you.” 
8 “You made a big hit with her,” said Tucker to Harry Cat. 
9 “I’m going over and say hello,” said Harry. “It’ll make her happy.” 
10 “It’ll make you happy!” said Tucker Mouse disgustedly. “You’re just looking for a little free admiration. Mister Kitty!” 
11 Harry padded out over the grass and sat down beside Ellen. “Well, hello!” she said, and began stroking Harry’s head. “You’re a nice kitty, aren’t you? Yes! You’re a beautiful kitty!” 
12 Tucker Mouse grimaced at Chester. “I wonder what she’d say if she knew that that ‘beautiful kitty’ lived in a drain pipe in the subway station!” 
13 “I don’t think it makes any difference where you live,” said Chester. “If you’re nice, you’re nice. And Harry is a nice kitty.” 
14 “Cat! He’s a cat!” shouted Tucker Mouse, who was actually a little jealous of all the attention his friend was getting. “Don’t use that obnoxious baby talk!” Chester tried not to laugh, and Tucker went on ranting. “Just look at the way he’s buttering up to her, arching his head up under her hand like that! And miaowing like a movie star! I never thought I’d see the day!” 
15 Ellen had taken Harry into her lap and was stroking his back from his head all the way down to his tail. And, in fact, Harry Cat was enjoying the whole thing very much. With each new stroke he let out a loud purr of pleasure. 
16 “You have no collar, do you, kitty?” said Ellen. Harry purred. “And I’ve never seen you in this neighborhood before. Are you lost?” Harry purred. “Would you like to come home with me? I’d fix you up a bed of blankets in my room. And I’d give you all delicious things to eat. Would you like to be my kitty?” Harry purred and rolled over to have his stomach rubbed. 
17 “Come on then!” said Ellen. She picked Harry up and began to walk up the hill. 
18 “Hey! What’s she doing?” shouted Tucker Mouse. “Chester—look! Do something! Stop her! Quick!” 
19 “What can I do?” said Chester. 
20 “But she’s kidnapping Harry Cat!” said Tucker. 
21 “He doesn’t look too unhappy about it,” said the cricket. 
22 And that certainly was true. For Harry Cat was lying over one of Ellen’s arms, as limp and content as laundry on the line. 
Excerpt from “Ellen” from TUCKER’S COUNTRYSIDE by George Selden Thompson, pictures by Garth Williams. Copyright © 1969 by George Selden Thompson. Copyright renewed 1998 by Sarah Sawtelle Thompson. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.

Mark your choices for multiple-choice questions 1 through 8 by filling in the circle next to the best answer.

1. Which of the following BEST shows that this story is fiction?
A. It teaches a lesson.
B. 	It tells events in order.
C. 	It has animals that talk.
D. 	It is about a real person.




2. At the beginning of the story, why does Ellen want Ruff and the children to go home?
A. 	She knows the children want to have lunch.
B. 	She thinks Harry will come out if they leave.
C. 	She believes the children should go home to rest.
D. 	She thinks that it is too late for them to walk home alone.


3. According to the story, where is Harry’s real home?
A. a park 
B. a farm 
C. a pet store 
D. a subway station



4. Reread paragraphs 15 and 16. Why does the author repeat Harry purred three times?
A. 	so the reader knows the sound Harry makes
B. 	so the reader knows how happy Harry is
C. 	so the reader knows how often Ellen hears Harry
D. 	so the reader knows how much Ellen likes Harry


5. 	In the story, what is the MOST LIKELY reason Ellen thinks she might keep Harry?
A. 	She can tell he needs food and water.
B. 	She is sure Tucker will not miss him.
C. 	She thinks he is lost and has no owner.
D. 	She knows that the children will like him.


6. Why is Tucker upset at the end of the story?
A. 	Harry is getting a new collar.
B. 	Ellen is carrying Harry away.
C. 	Chester is making fun of him.
D. 	Jaspar and Ruff are coming back.


7. According to the story, how can Chester tell that Harry does not mind going with Ellen?
A. 	Harry waves at Chester as he leaves.
B. 	Harry goes with her without a struggle.
C. 	Harry follows her without looking back.
D. 	Harry smiles at Ellen and licks her hand.


Read the sentence from paragraph 4 in the box below.
The children fell into formation—two on each side of her—and all took hands.
8. What does formation mean in the sentence?
A. 	the way the children are lined up
B. 	the speed the children are walking
C. 	the height of the edge of the road
D. 	the direction the road turns at the corner

Reading
SESSION 2 
DIRECTIONS 
This session contains three reading selections with sixteen multiple-choice questions and one open-response question. For multiple-choice questions, mark your answers by filling in the circle next to the best answer. For the open-response question, write your answer below the question in the space provided. 
[drawing of a boy climbing a tree]
From EVERY TIME I CLIMB A TREE by David McCord. Copyright © 1952 by David McCord (Text); Copyright © 1967 by Marc Simont (Illustration). By permission of Little, Brown and Company, Inc. 

Is there something special about being up in the branches of a tree? What happens up there? Is a tree the perfect place to be? The speaker in this poem has some answers. Read the poem and answer the questions that follow. 
EVERY TIME I CLIMB A TREE

	Every time I climb a tree 
	Every time I climb a tree 
	Every time I climb a tree 
	I scrape a leg 
5	Or skin a knee 
	And every time I climb a tree 
	I find some ants 
	Or dodge a bee 
	And get the ants 
10	All over me 
	And every time I climb a tree 
	Where have you been? 
	They say to me 
	But don’t they know that I am free 
15	Every time I climb a tree? 
	I like it best 
	To spot a nest 
	That has an egg 
	Or maybe three 
20	And then I skin 
	The other leg 
	But every time I climb a tree 
	I see a lot of things to see 
	Swallows, rooftops and TV 
25	And all the fields and farms there be 
	Every time I climb a tree 
	Though climbing may be good for ants 
	It isn’t awfully good for pants 
	But still it’s pretty good for me 
30	Every time I climb a tree 
	—David McCord 

9. Why does the speaker like to climb a tree?
A. to take honey from bees
B. to take eggs from a bird’s nest
C. to get away from the ants’ nest
D. to get a look at the world around


10. What do other people ask when the speaker has been out tree climbing?
A. Where have you been?
B. Why do you climb trees?
C. How did you hurt yourself?
D. How long have you been gone?


11. What does the speaker MOST enjoy finding while in a tree?
A. a trail of ants
B. a beehive full of honey
C. a nest with eggs in it
D. a flock of birds sitting on the branches


12. What does the word spot mean as it is used in line 17?
A. move to a better place
B. hold up as support
C. mark with dots
D. find by seeing

Imagine being in a bicycle race if you had never raced before! Marshall Taylor did just that about a hundred years ago. He was not the only one surprised by what happened. Read the selection and answer the questions that follow.
Bicycle Rider 
by Mary Scioscia

1 About a hundred years ago, a boy named Marshall Taylor got his first job in Mr. Hay’s bicycle shop. There was a big bicycle race in Indianapolis each year. On the day of the big race, Mr. Hay asked Marshall to help him sell bicycles at the bicycle track.
2 As this true story begins, Marshall is watching excitedly while more than a hundred bicycle racers gather near the starting line.
3 “Attention everyone! All those in the first one-mile race line up at the starting line,” a loud voice called.
4 “First one-mile race?” asked Marshall. “How many races will there be?”
5 “There will be several one-mile races before the main ten-mile race,” said Mr. Hay. “Marshall, you just gave me an idea. You should ride in one of the one-mile races. I’ll ask the judges if you can,” said Mr. Hay.
6 When Mr. Hay came back, he said, “You can ride in the next one-mile race. Pick any of the bikes we brought.”
7 At the starting line, Mr. Hay said, “Each time around the track is one lap. Five laps make a mile. Don’t worry if you forget how many laps you’ve gone. When you hear the bell ring, you will know it is the bell lap. That means one lap left to go for the mile.”
8 Marshall got on the bicycle and strapped his feet onto the pedals. . . .
9 All the racers leaned over their handlebars. Their helpers held the bicycles steady. The starter raised his starting gun. “One! Two! Three!” the starter shouted. Bang!
 . . .
10 Around and around the racers went. Now there were seven people ahead of Marshall. Ding, ding, ding, the bell rang. Marshall knew that there was one more lap to go for the mile.
11 Marshall speeded up. One racer crossed the finish line . . . two more . . . another. Next was the boy in the red shirt. Right after him came the tall boy. Then Marshall crossed the line. Mr. Hay hurried over to help him stop.
12 “You came in number seven. That’s great!” said Mr. Hay.
13 “It wasn’t very good,” said Marshall. “Six people beat me.”
14 “You beat over forty people. You’ve never been in a race before. You’re good enough to try the ten-mile race.”
15 “Oh, no,” said Marshall. “I could never win that.”
16 “No,” said Mr. Hay. “You couldn’t win, but I think you could finish. Try it, Marshall. If you get tired, just stop. Many racers will drop out before the fifty laps are done.”
17 During the last one-mile race, Mr. Hay spoke to the judges again. . . .
18 “Good news,” said Mr. Hay, joining Marshall. “You can try the ten-mile race.”
19 When the ten-mile race was called, Marshall wheeled his bicycle over to the starting line.
20 “Don’t try to go too fast at first,” said Mr. Hay. “Just keep up with the others, if you can.”
 . . .
21 Marshall could feel his heart thumping hard. His hands felt slippery on the handlebars. His legs felt shaky. “One!” shouted the starter. “Two! Three!” Bang!
 . . .
22 The riders rode in a close pack. Two bicycles bumped, and one fell. Marshall rode around the fallen bicycle and rider.
23 Marshall pulled ahead of the pack. The boy in the red shirt passed him. Three more riders passed him, then two more.
24 Marshall could hear the crowd cheering. It was hard to know who was ahead, because the riders kept going around and around the track. . . .
25 Marshall’s mouth tasted dusty. “I want to drop out,” he thought. “I can’t make the halfway mark.”
26 Someone shouted, “Hooray for Marshall Taylor!” It made Marshall feel stronger. “Maybe I can finish a few more laps,” he thought.
27 His bicycle went faster and faster around the track. His wet shirt stuck to his back, and his back hurt from being bent over. His legs hurt, too.
28 The people in the crowd stamped their feet and cheered. Marshall heard Mr. Hay, standing at the edge of the track, shout, “Last lap coming up next!”
29 Marshall pushed as hard as he could. The wheels seemed to say, “Got to finish, got to finish.”

[picture of a bicycle rider crossing a finish line]
30 Marshall speeded over the finish line. His bicycle was going so fast he couldn’t stop. He went around another lap to slow down.
31 Marshall heard the crowd shout something that sounded like, “Marshall Taylor! Marshall Taylor!” Hats flew into the air.
32 Mr. Hay hurried over to Marshall. He hugged him. “You won, Marshall. You won the race!”

33 “Who, me?” asked Marshall.
34 The judges held up their hands to quiet the crowd. Then one shouted, “Marshall Taylor is the winner!”
35 Marshall Taylor became the fastest bicycle rider in the world. . . . He was the first black American to ride in bicycle races that had both black and white racers. From 1896 to 1910, Marshall Taylor raced in the United States and in many other countries. He held both American and world racing titles.
 . . .
36 Marshall Taylor was loved by his fans for his riding skills, his fairness, and his good sportsmanship.
  
“Bicycle Rider” by Mary Scioscia. Text copyright © 1983 by Mary Hershey Scioscia; Illustration copyright © 1983 by Ed Young. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

Mark your choices for multiple-choice questions 13 through 19 by filling in the circle next to the best answer. 

13. Which of the following BEST shows that the selection is a biography?
A. It describes a well-known race.
B. It explains how to ride a bicycle.
C. It is a true story about a famous bicycle rider.
D. It takes place about a hundred years ago.


14. According to the selection, what did Marshall think he was going to do when he went to the bicycle race?
A. look for a new bicycle
B. sell bicycles for Mr. Hay
C. win as many races as he could
D. ask Mr. Hay for a job in a bicycle shop


15. In paragraph 28, why did the people stamp their feet?
A. They wanted to show their alarm.
B. They thought that the riders were going too fast.
C. They were trying to confuse the bicycle racers.
D. They wanted to show their excitement and support.


16. According to the selection, Marshall was about to give up during the ten-mile race. What helped him to keep on going?
A. He heard a voice from the crowd cheer for him.
B. Mr. Hay signaled to him that it was the last lap.
C. He suddenly pulled ahead of several other riders.
D. The pain in his legs and back started going away.


17. According to the selection, why did Marshall go around the track one more time after the ten-mile race was over?
A. to help a fallen rider
B. to wave to the crowd
C. to slow his bicycle down
D. to show how fast he could go


18. According to the selection, why did Marshall Taylor’s fans like him?
A. He was fast, fair, and a good sport.
B. He held many world racing titles.
C. He was tall, thin, and good-looking.
D. He traveled all around the world.


19. In paragraph 35, what does the word titles mean?
A. fans
B. bicycles
C. businesses
D. championships

Write your answer to open-response question 20 in the lined space provided below.

20. According to the selection, Mr. Hay helped Marshall become a bicycle racer. List FOUR things that Mr. Hay did to help Marshall. Use important details from the selection in your answer.
1.

2.

3.

4.


How would it be to see an orangutan in the wild? Read “A Day with the Orangutans” to find out. Answer the questions that follow. 

Students read a selection titled “A Day with the Orangutans” and then answered questions 21 through 25 that follow on the next pages of this document. Due to copyright restrictions, the selection cannot be released to the public over the Internet. 

However, the selection is printed in the publication Release of Spring 2005 Test Items, which has been sent to schools and libraries across the state. For more information, see the copyright citation below. 

“A Day with the Orangutans” by Jeannie W. Berger from TROPHIES, Intervention Readers (Pupil Edition), Moving Ahead (Grade 4)(2003 Edition), copyright © by Harcourt, Inc., reprinted by permission of the publisher. Photo 1: Gerry Ellis/Minden Pictures. Photo 2: Daniel J. Cox/Natural Exposures.com.


Mark your choices for multiple-choice questions 21 through 25 by filling in the circle next to the best answer.

21. According to the selection, what is the first sign that an orangutan is nearby?

A. 	the scent of an animal
B. 	the sound of a tree shaking
C. 	an orangutan mom calling her baby
D. 	an orangutan swinging in the trees


22. What does the author of the selection say to do if the reader sees a baby orangutan in the wild?
A. 	have a camera ready
B. 	leave some food nearby
C. 	make friends with its mother
D. 	just watch without getting too close


23. According to the selection, why do baby orangutans stay close to their moms for as long as eight years?
A. Baby orangutans must learn not to be shy.
B. Baby orangutans love their moms very much.
C. Their moms need to teach the babies how to live when they are grown.
D. Their moms do not send the babies away until they are too big for the nest.


24. Which phrase from the selection tells what orangutan and human babies do when they lose their tempers?
A. shake again
B. throw a tantrum
C. take a good look
D. stay close to their moms


25. According to the selection, how does a baby orangutan learn to make its own nest?
A. 	It sees other baby orangutans making nests.
B. 	It watches its mother make a new nest every night.
C. 	It makes play nests with other baby orangutans.
D. 	It sleeps in a nest with its mother every night.

Reading
SESSION 3 
DIRECTIONS 
This session contains three reading selections with sixteen multiple-choice questions and one open-response question. For multiple-choice questions, mark your answers by filling in the circle next to the best answer. For the open-response question, write your answer below the question in the space provided. 

Henry and his friend agree that they both want to go to Fitchburg, but they do not agree on the best way to get there. Read Henry Hikes to Fitchburg to find out what the journey is like for the two friends. After you read the story answer the questions that follow. 

Henry Hikes to Fitchburg
by D. B. Johnson

[cartoon drawing of two bears dressed as people standing near a signpost pointing to Fitchburg, 30 miles]

1	One summer day, Henry and his friend decided to go to Fitchburg to see the country. 
2	“I’ll walk,” said Henry. “It’s the fastest way to travel.” 
3	“I’ll work,” Henry’s friend said, “until I have the money to buy a ticket to ride the train to Fitchburg. We’ll see who gets there first!” 

[cartoon bear wiping sweat from his brow and holding a broom in his other hand]

4 	His friend waved. “Enjoy your walk,” he said. 
5 	Henry walked down the road to Fitchburg. “Enjoy your work,” he called back. 
6 	Henry’s friend filled the woodbox in Mrs. Alcott’s kitchen. 10 cents. 
7 	Henry hopped from rock to rock across the Sudbury River. 
8 	His friend swept out the post office. 5 cents. 
9 	Henry carved a walking stick. 25 miles to Fitchburg.
10 	Henry’s friend pulled all the weeds in Mr. Hawthorne’s garden. 15 cents. 
11 	Henry put ferns and flowers in a book and pressed them. 
12 	His friend painted the fence in front of the courthouse. 10 cents. 
13 	Henry walked on stone walls. 
14 	Henry’s friend moved the bookcases in Mr. Emerson’s study. 15 cents. 
15 	Henry climbed a tree. 18 miles to Fitchburg. 
16 	His friend carried water to the cows grazing on the grass in town. 5 cents. 
17 	Henry made a raft and paddled up the Nashua River. 
18 	Henry’s friend cleaned out Mrs. Thoreau’s chicken house. 10 cents. 

[cartoon bear diving into a pond]

19 	Henry crossed a swamp and found a bird’s nest in the grass. 12 miles to Fitchburg. 
20 	His friend carried flour from the mill to the village baker. 20 cents. 
21 	Henry found a honey tree. 
22 	Henry’s friend ran to the train station to buy his ticket to Fitchburg. 90 cents. 
23 	Henry jumped into a pond. 7 miles to Fitchburg. 
24 	His friend sat on the train in a tangle of people. 
25 	Henry ate his way through a blackberry patch. 
26 	Henry’s friend got off the train at Fitchburg Station just as the sun was setting. 
27 	Henry took a shortcut. 1 mile to Fitchburg. 
28 	His friend was sitting in the moonlight when Henry arrived. “The train was 
 faster,” he said. 
29 	Henry took a small pail from his pack. “I know,” he smiled. “I stopped for 
blackberries.”

From HENRY HIKES TO FITCHBURG by D. B. Johnson. Copyright © 2000 by D. B. Johnson. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 

Mark your choices for multiple-choice questions 26 through 33 by filling in the circle next to the best answer.

26. Which of the following sentences BEST tells what this story is about?
A. Henry decides to walk to Fitchburg and has many adventures along the way.
B. Henry’s friend wants to go to Fitchburg and decides to earn the money for a train ticket.
C. Henry and his friend enjoy walking to the railroad station, where they take the train to Fitchburg.
D. Henry and his friend want to go to Fitchburg, and each decides to get there differently.


27. Where does most of this story take place?
A. 	in a village and on a train
B. 	in a pond and in the post office
C. 	in a town and in the countryside
D. 	in front of a courthouse and on a road


28. According to the story, Henry’s friend earns money doing all of these EXCEPT
A. planting a garden.
B. moving a bookcase.
C. sweeping the post office.
D. cleaning a chicken house.


29. According to the story, how much does a train ticket to Fitchburg cost?
A. 10 cents
B. 15 cents
C. 20 cents
D. 90 cents


Read the sentence from the story in the box below.
His friend sat on the train in a tangle of people.
30. What does the sentence tell the reader about the train ride?
A. There were many passengers on the train.
B. There were not enough train tickets.
C. Henry’s friend got on the wrong train.
D. Henry’s friend could not find his seat on the train.


31. Throughout the story, how does the reader know that BOTH Henry and his friend are getting closer to their goal?
A. 	Henry and his friend are glad to see each other at the train station.
B. 	Henry jumps into a pond while his friend paddles up the river.
C. 	Henry and his friend plan each step of the journey together.
D. 	Henry has fewer miles to travel while his friend is earning money.


Read the sentence from the story in the box below.
Henry walked on stone walls.
32. Which word in the sentence is an ADJECTIVE?
A. Henry
B. walked
C. stone
D. walls


Read the sentence from the story in the box below.
Henry made a raft and paddled up the Nashua River.

33. Which word means ALMOST THE SAME as raft as it is used in the sentence?
A. boat
B. cap
C. map
D. wagon

Write your answer to open-response question 34 in the lined space provided below. 

34. In this story, the reader can tell what the characters are like through their actions. Read the sentences in the chart below about Henry and his friend. Complete the chart with examples from the story that support the sentences. Give TWO examples for each character.
  Henry enjoys the outdoors.
  For example:
  He hops on rocks to get across a river.
  1.
  2.
  Henry’s friend is hard working.
  For example:
  Mr. Hawthorne hires him to pull weeds.
  1.
  2.


The games children play today have changed from the games children played long ago. This selection explains how some games were played. It also explains how some have changed. Read the selection. Use information from the selection to answer the questions that follow. 
 Schoolyard toys 
1	At school, children were allowed to play during recess and lunchtime. Many brought toys to school so they could share them with their friends. Hoops, marbles, jacks, and tops were all favorite schoolyard toys.

Marbles 
2	Marbles were made of stone, pottery, clay, or china. Some had colorful swirls or strange designs. Children who had no marbles used musketballs, nuts, or hard berries to play instead. 
3	Marble collections were always changing, as children won, lost, and traded their marbles. A big bag of marbles was considered a treasure. Losing at marbles was very disappointing. Perhaps the expression “lost their marbles” began as a description of an angry loser! 

Jacks 
4	The game of jacks was played with small, six-pronged objects called jackstones, or jacks. The first player started the game by throwing the jackstones on the ground. The other players then took turns tossing one jack into the air, picking up another jack from the ground, and then catching the flying jack as it came back down—all with the same hand! 

5	In the next rounds, players tried to grab two jacks, then three, then four. If someone failed to pick up enough jacks, or allowed the flying jack to hit the ground, that person was out of the game. In the late 1800s, players bounced a rubber ball instead of throwing a jack in the air. 

[drawing of jacks and a rubber ball]
Jacks, played with or without a rubber ball, was a favorite schoolyard game. It required skill and good reflexes.


 Tops 
6	Tops were favorite toys with both boys and girls. They came in many different styles. Some were wound up with a string. Others had a long, round stem for spinning. Peg tops were the most common kind of top. They were made of a single carved piece of wood. A humming top was hollow and had a hole in one side. When it spun, it made a whistling or humming noise. 
. . . 

 Hoops 

7	A wooden or metal hoop could provide hours of fun. Boys and girls raced their hoops across the schoolyard. In order to keep the hoops upright, children guided them with a stick. Contests were held to test hoop-rolling skills. Sometimes participants had to guide their hoops through obstacle courses. In other contests, children tried to keep several hoops rolling at once. 
[drawing of a boy running alongside a barrel hoop]
The village cooper made hoops to hold his barrels together. When a barrel wore out, children used the hoops for their games. 
Materials from ‘Old-Time Toys’ have been reprinted with the permission of Bobbie Kalman of Crabtree Publishing Company, Ltd. 

Mark your choices for multiple-choice questions 35 through 38 by filling in the circle next to the best answer.
35. What is the MAIN IDEA of this selection?
A. Marble collections were always changing.
B. Boys and girls had hoop-racing contests at school.
C. Hoops, marbles, jacks, and tops used to be popular with children.
D. Children brought tops and jacks to school to share with their friends.


36. According to the selection, what would cause a player to lose in the game of jacks?
A. using only one hand
B. not picking up enough jacks
C. throwing the ball up too high
D. not tossing up all of the jacks


37. What is paragraph 6 MOSTLY about?
A. different kinds of tops
B. how tops were wound up with string
C. the most common kind of top
D. how tops make noise


Read the sentence in the box below.
In order to keep the hoops upright, children guided them with a stick.
38. According to the selection, the children kept the hoop upright so that it would
A. flip.
B. bounce.
C. keep rolling.
D. start humming.


This story is about a turtle who wants to go south for the winter. Will he get there? Read the story to see what happens. Use what you read to answer the questions that follow. 

 How Turtle Flew South for the Winter 
by Joseph Bruchac 

1 It was the time of year when the leaves start to fall from the aspens. 
2 Turtle was walking around when he saw many birds gathering together in the trees. They were making a lot of noise and Turtle was curious. “Hey,” Turtle said, “What is happening?”
3 “Don’t you know?” the birds said. “We’re getting ready to fly to the south for the winter.”
4 “Why are you going to do that?” Turtle said. 
5 “Don’t you know anything?” the birds said. “Soon it’s going to be very cold here and the snow will fall. There won’t be much food to eat. Down south it will be warm. Summer lives there all of the time and there’s plenty of food.” 
6 As soon as they mentioned the food, Turtle became even more interested. “Can I come with you?” he said.
7 “You have to fly to go south,” said the birds. “You are a turtle and you can’t fly.”
8 But Turtle would not give up. “Isn’t there some way you could take me along?” He begged and pleaded. Finally the birds agreed just to get him to stop asking. 
9 “Look here,” the birds said, “can you hold onto a stick hard with your mouth?” 
10 “That’s no problem at all,” Turtle said. “Once I grab onto something no one can make me let go until I am ready.” 
11 “Good,” said the birds. “Then you hold on hard to this stick. These two birds here will each grab one end of it in their claws. That way they can carry you along. But remember, you have to keep your mouth shut!” 
12 “That’s easy,” said Turtle. “Now let’s go south where Summer keeps all that food.” Turtle grabbed onto the middle of the stick and two big birds came and grabbed each end. They flapped their wings hard and lifted Turtle off the ground. Soon they were high in the sky and headed toward the south. 

[drawing of a turtle and two birds flying over hills and trees]

13 Turtle had never been so high off the ground before, but he liked it. He could look down and see how small everything looked. But before they had gone too far, he began to wonder where they were. He wondered what the lake was down below him and what those hills were. He wondered how far they had come and how far they would have to go to get to the south where Summer lived. He wanted to ask the two birds who were carrying him, but he couldn’t talk with his mouth closed. 
14 Turtle rolled his eyes. But the two birds just kept on flying. Then Turtle tried waving his legs at them, but they acted as if they didn’t even notice. Now Turtle was getting upset. If they were going to take him south, then the least they could do was tell him where they were now! “Mmmph,” Turtle said, trying to get their attention. It didn’t work. Finally Turtle lost his temper. 
15 “Why don’t you listen to . . .” but that was all he said, for as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, he had to let go of the stick and he started to fall. Down and down he fell, a long, long way. He was so frightened that he pulled his legs and his head in to protect himself! When he hit the ground he hit so hard that his shell cracked. He was lucky that he hadn’t been killed, but he ached all over. He ached so much that he crawled into a nearby pond, swam down to the bottom and dug into the mud to get as far away from the sky as he possibly could. Then he fell asleep and he slept all through the winter and didn’t wake up until the spring. 
16 So it is that today only the birds fly south to the land where Summer lives while turtles, who all have cracked shells now, sleep through the winter. 
From Native American Stories told by Joseph Bruchac. Fulcrum Publishing. Text copyright ©1991 by Joseph Bruchac. Art copyright ©1991 by John Kahionhes Fadden. Reprinted by permission of the publisher and artist.

Mark your choices for multiple-choice questions 39 through 42 by filling in the circle next to the best answer. 

39. According to the story, Turtle wants to go south MOSTLY because he wants to
A. be with the birds.
B. have food to eat.
C. see what it is like to fly.
D. visit a new place.


40. In the story, Turtle learns that bad things can happen when he

A. sleeps too long.
B. always stays home.
C. has mean friends.
D. loses his temper.


41. According to the story, what does Turtle do AFTER he lands on the ground?
A. He crawls all the way back to his home.
B. He pulls his legs and head into his shell to hide.
C. He yells up at the birds to listen to him.
D. He goes to sleep in the muddy bottom of a pond.


42. According to the story, because of Turtle’s fall from the sky all turtles now
A. have cracked shells.
B. know how to swim.
C. hide inside their shells.
D. have strong, hard backs.


Grade 3 
Reading 

Spring 2005 Released Items:
Reporting Categories, Standards, and Correct Answers?

Item No.	Page No.	Reporting Category 	Standard	Correct Answer (MC)*
1 
8
Reading and Literature / Genre 
10 
C 
2 
8
Reading and Literature / Fiction 
12 
B 
3 
8
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text 
8 
D 
4 
8
Reading and Literature / Style and Language 
15 
B 
5 
9
Reading and Literature / Fiction 
12 
C 
6 
9
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text 
8 
B 
7 
9
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text 
8 
B 
8 
9
Language / Vocabulary and Concept Development 
4 
A 
9
12
Reading and Literature / Poetry 
14
D
10
12
Reading and Literature / Poetry
14
A
11
12
Reading and Literature / Poetry
14
C
12

12
Language / Vocabulary and Concept Development
4
D
13
17
Reading and Literature / Genre
10
C
14
17
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text 
8 
B 
15 
17
Reading and Literature / Nonfiction 
13 
D 
16 
17
Reading and Literature / Nonfiction 
13 
A 
17
18
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text 
8 
C 
18
18
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
A
19
18
Language / Vocabulary and Concept Development
4
D
20
19
Reading and Literature / Nonfiction
13
21
21
Reading and Literature / Nonfiction
13
B

22
21
Reading and Literature / Nonfiction
13
D
23
21
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
C
24
22
Language / Vocabulary and Concept Development
4
B
25
22
Reading and Literature / Nonfiction
13
B
26
26
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
D
27
26
Reading and Literature / Fiction
12
C
28
26
Reading and Literature / Fiction
12
A
29
26
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
D
30
27
Reading and Literature / Style and Language
15
A
31
27
Reading and Literature / Fiction
12
D
32
27
Language / Structure and Origins of Modern English
5
C
33
27
Language / Vocabulary and Concept Development
4
A
34
28
Reading and Literature / Fiction
12
35
31
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
C
36
31
Reading and Literature / Nonfiction
13
B
37
31
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
A
38
31
Language / Vocabulary and Concept Development
4
C
39

34
Reading and Literature / Myth, Traditional Narrative, and Classical Literature 16
B
40
34
Reading and Literature / Theme
11
D
41
34
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
D
42
34
Reading and Literature / Myth, Traditional Narrative, and Classical Literature 16
A

* Answers are provided here for multiple-choice items only. Sample responses and scoring guidelines for open-response items, which are indicated by shaded cells, will be posted to the Department’s Web site later this year.




III. English Language Arts, Grade 4
A. Composition
B. Language and Literature
Grade 4 English Language Arts Test

Test Structure

The Grade 4 MCAS English Language Arts Test was presented in the following two parts:
* the ELA Composition Test, which used a writing prompt to assess learning
standards from the Massachusetts English Language Arts Curriculum Framework’s
Composition strand
* the ELA Language and Literature Test, which used multiple-choice and open-response
questions (items) to assess learning standards from the Curriculum
Framework’s Language and Reading and Literature strands

A. Composition
The spring 2005 Grade 4 MCAS English Language Arts Composition Test and Make-Up
Test were based on learning standards in the Composition strand of the Massachusetts
English Language Arts Curriculum Framework (2001). The learning standards for the
Composition strand appear on pages 72–83 of the Framework, which is available on the
Department Web site at www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/ela/0601.pdf.
In Test Item Analysis Reports and on the Subject Area Subscore pages of the MCAS
School Reports and District Reports, ELA Composition test results are reported under the
Composition reporting category.

Test Sessions and Content Overview
The MCAS ELA Composition Test included two separate test sessions, administered on
the same day with a short break between sessions. During the first session, each student
wrote an initial draft of a composition in response to the appropriate writing prompt
on the next two pages. During the second session, each student revised his/her draft and
submitted a final composition, which was scored in the areas of Topic Development and
Standard English Conventions. The MCAS Writing Score Guide (Composition Grade 4) is
available at www.doe.mass.edu/MCAS/student/2004/scoring4.doc.

Reference Materials and Tools
At least one English-language dictionary per classroom was provided for student use
during ELA Composition test sessions. The use of bilingual word-to-word dictionaries
was allowed for limited English proficient students only. No other reference materials or
tools were allowed during either ELA Composition test session.

Cross-Reference Information
Framework general standards 19–22 are assessed by the ELA Composition.

English Language Arts Composition, Grade 4
Grade 4 Writing Prompt
WRITING PROMPT
Think about a time you tried something new. Maybe it was your first day of school,
your first time on a bike or bus, the first time you tried a skill learned in class, or the
first time you tried a new sport.
Write a story about when you did something for the first time. Give enough details to
show the reader what happened.
You may use the space below to plan what you are going to write (notes, outlines, other
pre-writing activities).

English Language Arts Composition, Grade 4
Grade 4 Make-Up Writing Prompt
WRITING PROMPT
Think about a special day you had at school. Perhaps you won an award, went on
a field trip, played a fun game, or learned something really interesting.
Write a story about this special day at school. Give enough details to show the
reader what happened, and why it made the day special.
You may use the space below to plan what you are going to write (notes, outlines, other
pre-writing activities).


B. Language and Literature
The spring 2005 Grade 4 MCAS English Language Arts Language and Literature Test
was based on learning standards in the two content strands of the Massachusetts English
Language Arts Curriculum Framework (2001) listed below. Page numbers for the
learning standards appear in parentheses.
* Language (Framework, pages 19–26)
* Reading and Literature (Framework, pages 35–64)
The English Language Arts Curriculum Framework is available on the Department
Web site at www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/ela/0601.pdf.
In Test Item Analysis Reports and on the Subject Area Subscore pages of the MCAS
School Reports and District Reports, ELA Language and Literature test results are
reported under two MCAS reporting categories: Language and Reading and Literature,
which are identical to the two Framework content strands listed above.

Test Sessions and Content Overview
The MCAS Grade 4 ELA Language and Literature Test included three separate test

sessions. Each session included selected readings, followed by multiple-choice and open-response
questions. Common reading passages and test items are shown on the following
pages as they appeared in test booklets. Due to copyright restrictions, certain reading
passages cannot be released to the public on the Web site. All of these passages appear in
the printed version of this document.

Reference Materials and Tools
The use of bilingual word-to-word dictionaries was allowed for limited English proficient
students only, during all three ELA Language and Literature test sessions. No other
reference materials were allowed during any ELA Language and Literature test session.

Cross-Reference Information
The table at the conclusion of this chapter indicates each item’s reporting category and
the Framework general standard it assesses. The correct answers for multiple-choice
questions are also displayed in the table.

English Language Arts
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: SESSION 1
DIRECTIONS
This session contains three reading selections with sixteen multiple-choice questions and two open-response questions. Mark your answers to these questions in the spaces provided in your Student Answer Booklet.


Earl Weber lived on a small farm during the Great Depression, a time when many people in the United States did not have jobs or much money. Read how the Weber family lived through these hard times. Answer the questions that follow.

[old photograph of a family in front of a barn]
Our family poses in front of the barn after returning from church. My brother and sister stand on a barrel, which will become the support for a seesaw later in the morning.

[another old photograph of two young boys sitting on the ground]
My younger brother (right) and I model nightgowns that Momma made from feed sacks.


Waste Not,Want Not
By Earl M. Weber


1 When I was growing up in the 1930s, the period of the Great Depression, I didn’t think of our family as poor, even though we never seemed to have money. I lived on a small farm in Pennsylvania with my parents, two older sisters, and younger brother. We had an old horse, a cow, a few pigs, a flock of chickens, and a big garden. Food was not a problem. We had our own supply of milk, meat, eggs, fresh vegetables, and Momma’s homemade bread. But money was scarce.
2 On Sunday mornings, Momma would give each of us two pennies for our
Sunday School offerings. Carefully knotting my two cents in the corner of a
handkerchief, she would hand it to me and caution me to “be careful not to lose it.” Today, two pennies won’t buy much of anything, but in the 1930s every penny was important.
3 As a boy of nine, I had only a vague idea of what it meant to live during hard times. The weekly newspaper would carry pictures of people standing in line for bread, and the evening newscast on our tabletop Crosley radio would tell about the huge number of jobless people and their hardships. But these reports referred to people in the cities, and we lived in the country. We never went to bed hungry, and we didn’t stand in line for bread.

[old photograph of four children in their “Sunday Best”]
The four of us dressed up for Sunday School on a spring morning. We had to wear garters, which were a nuisance, to hold up our long stockings.


4 Although my father was fortunate to have a job at the feed mill, his salary of eighteen dollars a week was barely enough to pay the farm mortgage and the electric bill, and to buy necessities like the flour and yeast Momma needed to bake her bread.
5 Momma earned a few dollars baking pies and bread, which she sold at the
local market. Twenty cents for a pie and ten cents for a loaf of bread! Sometimes I helped at the market, and if we had a good day, Momma would give me a nickel for an ice-cream cone.
6 Momma used the market money to buy clothing for the family. With four children and two adults to clothe, she seldom bought anything new. One day when I walked to the mailbox at the end of our lane, I was excited to see a package from Sears, Roebuck and Company. That usually meant new clothing for one of us. As it turned out, I was the lucky one this time, with a brand-new pair of brown tweed kneelength knickers. Although we always went to school looking neat and clean, most of our clothing was patched, darned*, or mended. So to me, a new pair of knickers was very special.
7 Christmas was special, too, because then we got new socks, and for a little while we wouldn’t have to wear socks darned in the toes and heels. 
8 Momma made some of our clothing, using a treadle (foot-powered) sewing machine. To make nightgowns, she used the muslin sacks that our chicken feed came in. I wore a nightgown with “PRATT’S CHICKEN FEED” printed in big black letters on the front. (It wasn’t until years later when my high-school class went on an overnight trip that I got my first store-bought pajamas.) Some companies actually put their feed in sacks made of colorfully patterned calico. Momma liked this material for making aprons and dresses. 
9 When a piece of clothing was worn out, it wasn’t thrown away. First, all the buttons were removed, sorted by size and color, and put in cans or glass jars. Then the clothing was examined, and the best parts were cut into strips and saved for making rugs.
10 Almost nothing in our house was thrown away. Store parcels were generally tied with string. We saved this string by winding it on a ball. One of my jobs was to wash and flatten used tin cans. We nailed these pieces of tin over holes in the barn roof to stop the leaks and over holes in the corncrib to stop the mice and rats from eating the corn.
11 A wooden crate was considered a real prize. We would take it apart for future projects, being careful not to split the boards. We even straightened the bent nails and stored them in a tin can.
12 Although we tend to think of recycling as something fairly new, in the 1930s it was part of everyday life. “Waste not, want not” was a familiar and often repeated phrase during those Depression years.


* darned — repaired with thread or yarn



Yesterday and Today
In the 1930s, a chocolate bar cost five cents. A single-dip ice-cream cone was also five cents. If that sounds good, consider that children living in the country, if they were lucky enough to have a job, earned only ten cents an hour for farm labor. Kids today pay around a dollar for an ice-cream cone and about the same for a chocolate bar. But some can earn five dollars an hour baby-sitting or mowing lawns.


Copyright © 2001 by Highlights for Children, Inc., Columbus, Ohio.



1. According to the article, why did many people who lived in the country have enough food during the Great Depression?
A. They waited in long bread lines for hours to get food. 
B. They could buy the food they needed at the feed mill.
C. They had plenty of money to buy food at the market.
D. They could grow many kinds of food on their farms.


2. According to the article, how did the author’s mother help the family?
A. She washed and flattened tins to repair holes in the roof.
B. She stood in line for bread for the family’s food every day.
C. She baked pies and bread to sell and made the family’s clothes.
D. She had a job at the feed mill and grew vegetables.


3. Which word BEST describes the author when he noticed a package in the mailbox?
A. proud
B. bored
C. thrilled
D. concerned


4. According to the article, how did the author’s mother use feed sacks?
A. She mended socks with them.
B. She repaired leaks in the roof with them.
C. She patched holes in the corncrib with them.
D. She made nightgowns, dresses, and aprons with them.


5. According to the article, when did the author get his first pair of store-bought pajamas?
A. in high school
B. at the age of nine
C. on Christmas morning
D. on the day the package came


6. In paragraph 10, what does the author MOST LIKELY mean when he says, “Almost nothing in our house was thrown away”?
A. The family used very little.
B. The family sold things they made.
C. The family ate everything they grew.
D. The family reused almost everything.


7. According to the article, how much did a child earn working on a farm in the 1930s?
A. five cents an hour
B. ten cents an hour
C. one dollar an hour
D. five dollars an hour


Read the sentence from paragraph 3 in the box below.
The weekly newspaper would carry pictures of people standing in line for bread, and the evening newscast on our tabletop Crosley radio would tell about the huge number of jobless people and their hardships.
8. Which of the following could replace the word hardships?
A. farms
B. difficulties
C. families
D. savings

Write your answer to open-response question 9 in the space provided in your Student Answer Booklet. 
9. Based on the article, describe FOUR ways the author’s family benefited from reusing items. Use important and specific information from the article to support your answer.


Have you ever wondered why your shadow seems to come and go? Read to find out how one child feels about his shadow. Answer the questions that follow.

[sequence of illustrations of a boy playing with his shadow]
My Shadow

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.
5 The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And sometimes gets so little that there’s none of him at all.
He hasn’t got a notion of how children ought to play,
10 And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he’s a coward you can see;
I’d think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!
One morning very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
15 But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.
—Robert Louis Stevenson

In the public domain.

Read line 2 from the poem in the box below.
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
10. What does this line mean?
A. The speaker does not know how to talk to his shadow.
B. The shadow does not know how to jump for the speaker.
C. The shadow does not understand how to behave like a child.
D. The speaker does not understand the purpose of his shadow.


11. Based on the poem, what about the shadow is MOST unlike a child?
A. the way he hides
B. the way he grows
C. the way he jumps 
D. the way he sleeps


12. Why does the speaker call his shadow a coward in line 11 of the poem?
A. His shadow stays asleep in bed.
B. His shadow stays with him.
C. His shadow imagines how he feels.
D. His shadow shows him how to play.


13. Which of the following lines from the poem is an example of a simile?
A. I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
B. For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
C. And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
D. Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.


The Buddha is a wise teacher. In this story, he tries to help an old woman. As you read this classic story, notice how the Buddha guides the old woman to discover for herself the answer she seeks. As it turns out, she was simply looking for the wrong thing! Answer the questions that follow.

The Mustard Seed

Retold by Marilyn McFarlane


1 The Buddha was walking on a dusty country road one day when he stopped at the edge of a river to splash cooling water on his face.When he finished washing, he looked up and saw an old woman kneeling beside him. Her clothes were ragged and her face was worn. Her arms were covered with sores. 
2 “Oh, Master,” she wailed.“I suffer so. Please help me.”
3 “What troubles you?” the Buddha asked, looking at her with compassion in his eyes.
4 “Look at me! See my sad lot!” She touched her rags, and she pointed with skinny fingers to her blistered arms.“I am poor,my clothes are torn, I am ill. Once I was prosperous, with a farm, and now I am old and have only a bowl of rice to eat.Won’t you heal me and bring back my riches?”
5 “You have described life as it is,” the Buddha answered.“We are all born to suffering.” 
6 The old woman shook her head,weeping.“No, no, I won’t listen. I was not born to suffer.”
7 The Buddha saw that she could not understand.“Very well, I will help you,” he said.“You must do as I say.”
8 “Anything, anything!” she gasped.
9 “Bring me a mustard seed.”
10 She stared in astonishment.“Only a mustard seed?”
11 “Yes. But the seed must come from a house that has never known sorrow, trouble, or suffering. I will take the seed and use it to banish all your misery.”
12 “Thank you, Master, thank you!”
13 The old woman hobbled away, her bare feet shuffling in the dust. She was on her way to find a house without sorrow. The Buddha continued down the road.

[illustration of an old woman washing clothes in a river and smiling]

14 Weeks later, he returned along the same road and came to the same place by the river, and there he saw the old woman again. She was scrubbing clothes in the river water and spreading them on rocks to dry in the sun, and while she washed, she sang a tune.
15 “Greetings,” the Buddha said.“Have you found the mustard seed?”
16 “No, Blessed One. Every house I visited had far more troubles than I have.”
17 “And are you still seeking?”
18 “I’ll do that later. I have met so many people who are less fortunate than I, I have to stop and help them. Right now I’m washing clothes for a poor family with sick children.” Gently she placed a wet piece of cloth on a rock.
19 The Buddha smiled. He said,“You no longer need the mustard seed. Helping others is a great virtue. You are on the road to becoming a Buddha yourself.”


from “The Mustard Seed” by Marilyn McFarlane from “Sacred Myths: Stories of World Religions” published by Sibyl Publications, ISBN 0-9638327-78.

14. What is troubling the old woman in the story?
A. She needs help for her children.
B. She needs rest and warmth.
C. She has too much work to do.
D. She is sick and penniless.


15. In the story, what does the Buddha mean by the phrase “We are all born to suffering”?
A. All people must face hard times in life.
B. All people should ask for help with sorrow.
C. All people should look for ways to be happy.
D. All people must help others whenever possible.


16. Which of the following BEST describes the Buddha in the story?
A. a leader who has difficulty answering questions
B. a traveler who avoids talking to people along his way
C. a guide to help the old woman find out what life is like
D. a friend of the old woman from the time she was rich and healthy


17. What does the Buddha teach the old woman in the story?
A. how to plant seeds 
B. how to find happiness
C. how to forgive others 
D. how to regain her farm

Write your answer to open-response question 18 in the space provided in your Student Answer Booklet. 

18. Explain what the old woman learns in this story. Use important and specific information from the story to support your answer.


English Language Arts
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: SESSION 2
DIRECTIONS
This session contains one reading selection with eight multiple-choice questions and one open-response question. Mark your answers to these questions in the spaces provided in your Student Answer Booklet.

This story is told by Nicodemus, the leader of the rats of NIMH. Read as he describes how he and the other rats were surprised one day at the marketplace. Pay attention as the seemingly calm events lead to a thrilling end. Answer the questions that follow.


The Marketplace
from Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
by Robert C. O’Brien 

1 . . . It was called the Farmers’ Market, a great square of a place with a roof over part of it and no walls to speak of. There early every morning the farmers arrived from all over the surrounding countryside, with trucks full of tomatoes, corn, cabbages, potatoes, eggs, chickens, hams, food for the city. One part of it was reserved for the fishermen who brought crabs and oysters and bass and flounders. It was a fine place, noisy and full of smells.
2 We lived near this market—my father, my mother, my nine sisters and brothers and I—underground in a big pipe that had once been part of a storm sewer, but was no longer used. There were hundreds of other rats in the neighborhood. It was a rough life, but not so hard as you might think, because of the market.
3 Every evening at five o’clock the farmers and the fishermen would close up their stalls, pack their trucks, and go home. At night, hours later, the cleanup men would arrive with brooms and hoses. But in between, the market was ours. The food the farmers left behind! Peas and beans that fell from the trucks, tomatoes and squashes, pieces of meat and fish trimmed as waste— they lay on the sidewalks and in the gutters; they filled great cans that were supposed to be covered but seldom were. There was always ten times more than we could eat, and so there was never any need for fighting over it.
4 Fighting? Quite the contrary, the marketplace was a perfect place for playing, and so we did, the young rats at least, as soon as we had finished eating. There were empty boxes for hide-and-seek, there were walls to climb, tin cans to roll, and pieces of twine to tie and swing on. There was even, in the middle of the square, a fountain to swim in when the weather was hot. Then, at the first clang of the cleanup men in the distance, one of the older rats would sound a warning, and everyone would pick up as much food as he could to carry home. All of us kept a reserve supply, because some days—Sundays and holidays—the market would be closed, and we were never quite sure when this would happen. 
5 When I went to the market, it was usually with two companions, my older brother Gerald and a friend of ours named Jenner. These were my two closest friends; we liked the same games, the same jokes, the same topics of conversation—even the same kinds of food. I particularly admired Jenner, who was extremely quick and intelligent.
6 One evening in early fall Jenner and I set out for the marketplace. It must have been September, for the leaves were just turning yellow and some children were throwing a football in a vacant lot. Gerald had to stay home that night; he had caught a cold, and since the air was chilly, my mother thought he should not go out. So Jenner and I went without him. I remember we promised to bring him back some of his favorite food, beef liver, if we could find any.
7 We took our usual route to the market, not along the streets but through the narrow walkways between the buildings, mostly commercial warehouses and garages, that bordered the square. As we walked, we were joined by more rats; at that time of day they converged on the marketplace from all directions. When we reached the square, I noticed that there was a white truck of an odd, square shape parked on the street bordering it, perhaps a block away. I say I noticed it—I did not pay any particular attention to it, for trucks were common enough in that part of town; but if I had, I would have noticed that printed on each side of it were four small letters: NIMH. I would not have known what they were, of course, for at that time neither I nor any of the other rats knew how to read.
8 It was growing dark when we reached the market, but through the dusk we could see that there was an unusually large supply of food—a great mound of it—near the center of the square, away from the roofed-over portion. I suppose that should have served as a warning, but it didn’t. I remember Jenner’s saying, “They must have had a really busy day,” and we ran joyfully toward the pile along with several dozen other rats.
9 Just as we reached the food it happened. All around us suddenly there was shouting. Bright, blinding searchlights flashed on, aimed at us and at the mound of food, so that when we tried to run away from it, we could not see where we were going. Between and behind the lights there were shadows moving swiftly, and as they came toward us I could see that they were men—men in white uniforms carrying nets, round nets with long handles.
10 “Look out!” cried Jenner. “They’re trying to catch us.” He darted in one direction, I in another, and I lost sight of him.

[a drawing of men running after rats with nets]

11 We all ran—straight toward the men with the nets. There was no other way to run; they had us encircled. The nets flailed down, scooped, flailed again. I suppose some rats made it through, slipping between the men and past the lights. I felt a swish—a net just missed me. I turned and ran back toward the mound, thinking I might hide myself in it. But then came another swish, and that time I felt the enveloping fibers fall over me. They entangled my legs, then my neck. I was lifted from the ground along with three other rats, and the net closed around us.


Reprinted with the permission of Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division from MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien. Copyright © 1971 Robert C. O’Brien; copyright renewed © 1999 Christopher Conly, Jane Leslie Conly, Kate Conly and Sarah Conly.


19. The details in paragraph 1 are MOSTLY used to
A. describe a setting.
B. introduce a character.
C. present the problem.
D. create suspense.


Read the sentence from the story in the box below.
Then, at the first clang of the cleanup men in the distance, one of the older rats would sound a warning, and everyone would pick up as much food as he could to carry home.

20. What does this show about the rats?
A. The rats are neat.
B. The rats are silent.
C. The rats are careful.
D. The rats are thankful.





21. Reread paragraph 7 in the story. Based on this paragraph, what MOST LIKELY happens to the narrator in the future?
A. 	He learns how to read.
B. 	He rescues his friends.
C. 	He escapes from danger.
D. 	He returns to the market.


22. Reread paragraph 8 of the story. What warning do the rats miss?
A. The weather is bad.
B. The market smells funny.
C. The food pile is extra large.
D. The truck races down the street.


23. Reread paragraph 9. Which of the following BEST describes how the rats in the story feel when they see the searchlights?
A. angered
B. confused
C. prepared
D. relieved


24. Which of the following BEST explains what happens to the rats at the end of the story?
A. The rats scare away the men.
B. Many of the rats are saved by the farmers.
C. The rats hide in the mound of food.
D. Many of the rats are caught in the nets.

Read the phrase from the story in the box below.
The food the farmers left behind!
25. Why does the author end this phrase with an exclamation point?
A. to show that the food is scarce
B. to show that the food is spoiled
C. to show that the rats are excited about the food
D. to show that the rats are angry about the wasted food


Read the sentence from paragraph 11 in the box below.
There was no other way to run; they had us encircled.
26. What does encircled mean?
A. crowded
B. fooled
C. protected
D. surrounded


Write your answer to open-response question 27 in the space provided in your Student Answer Booklet. 

Read the sentence from the story in the box below.
It was a rough life, but not so hard as you might think, because of the market.

27. Explain how the Farmers’ Market makes life easier for the rats that live in the neighborhood. Provide important and specific details from the story to help support your explanation.


English Language Arts
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: SESSION 3
DIRECTIONS
This session contains two reading selections with twelve multiple-choice questions and one open-response question. Mark your answers to these questions in the spaces provided in your Student Answer Booklet.

Some insects are able to blend into their surroundings. Read to discover how walking sticks are able to hide—even though they are in plain sight. Pay special attention to the changes that walking sticks experience throughout life. Answer the questions that follow.

Students read a selection titled “Sticks That Move” and then answered questions 28 through 35 that follow on the next pages of this document. 

Due to copyright restrictions, the selection cannot be released to the public over the Internet. However, the selection is printed in the publication Release of Spring 2005 Test Items, which has been sent to schools and libraries across the state. For more information, see the copyright citation below. 

Reprinted by permission of SPIDER magazine, 2001, August, copyright © 2001 by Margo Myler. Photographs: ANIMALS ANIMALS © Color-Pic; ANIMALS ANIMALS © John Pontier.


28. Reread paragraph 3 of the article. Which of the following is the topic sentence of the paragraph?
A. The smallest species of stick insects lives on the ground.
B. In the United States they’re as long as your forefinger.
C. Walking sticks look different depending on where they live.
D. When standing up, they look like blades of grass.


29. Based on the article, which of the following might cause a walking stick to fall on the ground and pretend it is dead?
A. A bird tries to eat the walking stick.
B. A female needs to lay her eggs.
C. A walking stick needs to molt.
D. A young walking stick hatches early.

30. According to the article, what is one way a walking stick defends itself?
A. It sleeps through the winter.
B. It has strong legs for fast movement. 
C. It pokes attackers with its prickly legs.
D. It can grow new body parts.


31. According to paragraph 8, what can happen if more eggs than usual survive?
A. The walking sticks can ruin many trees.
B. The walking sticks will scare away attackers.
C. The walking sticks can destroy the nests in trees.
D. The walking sticks will lay fewer eggs the next summer.


32. According to the article, why do young walking sticks shed their outer layer?
A. They get too large for their own skin.
B. They need to protect their unhatched eggs.
C. They are attempting to frighten their attackers.
D. They are trying to blend into their surroundings.


33. How does the reader know that this article is nonfiction?
A. 	The article has factual information.
B. 	The article uses real animals to tell a story.
C. 	The article is a story about nature.
D. 	The article tells about life long ago.



34. Based on paragraph 10 of the article, what is another way to say molt?
A. walk slowly
B. hide out
C. disappear quickly
D. take off

Write your answer to open-response question 35 in the space provided in your Student Answer Booklet. 

35. Describe the different stages walking sticks go through from egg to adult. Use important and specific information from the article to support your answer.


Manuel the baker creates wonderful cakes and pies. However, he is very greedy. Manuel wants his neighbor, Pablo, to pay him for enjoying the delicious smells that come from his bakery. When Pablo refuses, Manuel goes to a judge to solve the problem. Read how the judge teaches a lesson in this traditional play from Peru. Answer the questions that follow.

The Baker’s Neighbor
by Adele Thane

CHARACTERS
Manuel Gonzales, a baker
Pablo Perez, his neighbor
Carlos, a boy
Carlos’ sisters: Ramona, Inez, and Isabel.
Judge
Three women
Three villagers

[drawing of a woman enjoying a scent coming in through the window]

(Three women enter right. They come downstage and question the children.)


1st Woman: What’s the matter with Manuel?
2nd Woman: Will he be back soon? I want to buy
a cake.
3rd Woman: So do I. What happened?
5 1st Woman: He looked so angry. Where’s
he gone?
Girls (excitedly, ad lib): He’s gone to get the judge!
He is angry! He is furious! (etc.)
1st Woman: The judge! What for?
10 Carlos: He says Pablo will have to pay for smelling
his cakes and pies.
2nd Woman (to Pablo): He wants you to pay him
for doing that?

3rd Woman: He can’t be serious!
15 Pablo: Oh, yes, he is! But I think it’s very funny. (He
laughs, and the women join in.)
1st Woman: It’s ridiculous! Everyone who goes by
the shop smells his pastry.
2nd Woman: Is he going to take everyone in town
20 to court?

[drawing of a man with a chef’s hat standing with his arms folded across his chest, looking angry.]
(They are all in gales of laughter when Manuel
returns with the judge, followed by several villagers.)
Manuel (to the judge): There he is! (He points to
Pablo.) There’s the thief!
25 Judge: Calm yourself, Manuel. It has not yet been
proved that Pablo is a thief. First he must have a
fair trial.
(The judge sits down at the table and motions for
two chairs to be placed facing him. Villagers and the
30 three women gather under the tree and on the patio
with the children. They whisper and talk together as
they seat themselves.)
1st Villager: In all my days, I’ve never heard of a
case like this before.
35 2nd Villager: How can a man steal the smell of
anything?
3rd Villager: I’m surprised the judge would even
listen to the baker’s story. Money for smelling his
cakes! How absurd!
40 2nd Woman: He sells as much bread and pastry as
he can bake. What more does he want?
3rd Villager: Manuel loves money and he figures this
is a way to get more of it.
Judge (rapping table with his gavel): Quiet,
45 everyone! Court is in session. I am ready to hear
Manuel Gonzales, baker, against Pablo Perez,
neighbor. I will hear the baker first. Manuel, tell
your story.
Manuel (rising): This man,
50 Pablo Perez, comes and stands
outside my bakery every day.
Judge: Does he block the way?
Manuel: Not exactly.
Judge: Does he keep other
55 people from going into your
bakery?
Manuel: No, sir but—
Judge: Then what does he do?
Manuel: He stands there,
60 looking at my pies and cakes and
smelling them.
Judge: That pleases you,
doesn’t it?
Manuel: Pleases me! Far from it!
65 Look here, Your Honor—every
night, I mix the flour and knead
the dough and slave over a hot
oven while that shiftless, goodfor-
nothing Pablo sleeps. Then
70 he gets up in the morning, fresh
as a daisy, and comes out here to
smell the fine, sweet pastry I’ve
baked. He takes full value of this
free daily luxury. He acts as if it’s
75 his privilege. Now I ask you,
Judge—is it right that I should
work so hard to provide him
with this luxury, without charge?
No! He should pay for it!
80 Judge: I see. You may sit down,

Manuel. Now, Pablo Perez, it is
your turn. (Pablo stands.) Is it
true that you stand in front of
Manuel’s bakery and smell his
85 cakes and pies?
Pablo: I can’t help smelling them,
Your Honor. Their spicy
fragrance fills the air.
Judge: Would you say you
90 enjoy it?
Pablo: Oh, yes, sir. I am a man
of simple pleasures. Just
the smell of a bakery makes
me happy.
95 Judge: But did you ever pay the
baker for this pleasure?
Pablo: Well, no, sir. It never
occurred to me that I had to
pay him.

100 Judge: Pablo Perez, you will now
put ten gold pieces on this
table—for Manuel Gonzales.
(The villagers gasp. Manuel looks
surprised and delighted.)
105 Pablo (stunned): Ten gold pieces!
For smelling the air near my own
house?
Judge: Do you have that
amount?
110 Pablo: I—I guess so, but it’s my
life’s savings.
Judge: Where is it?
Pablo: In my house.
Judge: Get it and bring it here.
115 (Slowly Pablo crosses patio and
exits left. The villagers talk to
each other disapprovingly.)
1st Villager: The judge shouldn’t
make Pablo pay.

120 1st Woman: Pablo is an honest
man.
2nd Villager: I don’t see how
the judge could rule in the
baker’s favor.
125 3rd Villager: Why, he’s richer
than the judge himself.
2nd Woman: And now he’s
going to get poor Pablo’s savings.
3rd Woman: It’s not fair!
130 Judge (rapping with his gavel):
Silence in the court!
(Pablo returns sadly with a purse
and puts it on the table before
the judge. Manuel, elated, rubs
135 his hands together greedily.)
Manuel (to the judge): I knew
Your Honor would do the right
thing by me. Thank you, Judge.
(He picks up the purse and starts
140 to put it into his cash box.)
Judge (rising): Not so fast,
Manuel! Empty that purse on the
table and count the gold pieces,
one by one.
145 Manuel (grinning craftily): Ah,

yes, Your Honor. I must make
sure I haven’t been cheated. How
kind of you to remind me!
(He empties the purse and begins
150 to count, excitedly. The judge
watches Manuel as he lovingly
fingers each coin.)
Judge: It gives you great pleasure
to touch that gold, doesn’t it,
155 Manuel? You enjoy it.
Manuel: Oh, I do, I do! . . .
Eight . . . nine . . . ten. It’s all
here, your honor, and none of
it false.
160 Judge: Please put it back in the
purse.
(Manuel does so.) Now return it
to Pablo.
Manuel (in disbelief): Return it!
165 But—but you just told Pablo to
pay it to me.
Judge: No, I did not tell him to
pay it to you. I told him to put it
on this table. Then I instructed
170 you to count the money, which
you did. In doing so, you enjoyed
Pablo’s money—the way he has
enjoyed your cakes and pies. In
other words, he has smelled your
175 pastry and you have touched his
gold. Therefore, I hereby declare
that the case is now settled. (He
raps twice with his gavel. Manuel
shamefacedly shoves the purse
180 across the table to Pablo and
turns to leave. The judge stops
him.) Just a moment, Manuel! I
hope this has been a lesson to
you. In the future, think less
185 about making money and more
about making friends. Good
friends and neighbors are better
than gold. And now, if you
please—my fee!
190 Manuel: Yes, Your Honor. (He
opens his cash box willingly, but
the judge closes the lid.)
Judge: Put away your money.
There’s been enough fuss over
195 money already today. The fee
I am asking is this—pies and
cakes for everyone here—free

of charge!
(Manuel nods his head vigorously
200 in assent. The villagers and
children cheer; then they rush to
the pastry counter and help
themselves. Manuel goes into the
bakery and reappears with more
205 pastry piled high on a tray. Pablo
and the judge hold a whole pie
between them and start to eat
from opposite edges toward the
center of the pie. Fade out.)

Copyright © 1970 PLAYS Magazine, used with permission. Illustrations: from SCOPE ENGLISH ANTHOLOGY, Level 6. Copyright © 1984 by Scholastic Inc. Reprinted by permission of Scholastic Inc.

36. Which of the following shows that “The Baker’s Neighbor” is a play?
A. It tells a true story.
B. It has talking animals.
C. It has stage directions.
D. It gives facts and information.


37. Why is Manuel angry with Pablo in the play?
A. Pablo takes ten gold pieces from Manuel.
B. Pablo steals some pastry from Manuel’s bakery.
C. Pablo eats too many of Manuel’s pies and cakes. 
D. Pablo refuses to pay for something Manuel has worked hard to make.


38. In the play, why does the judge have Manuel count the gold pieces?
A. to make sure Pablo gets punished
B. so that Manuel is sure they are all there
C. so that Manuel can enjoy touching the money
D. to make sure that Pablo has counted correctly


39. How does Manuel pay the judge’s fee at the end of the play?
A. by giving him ten gold pieces
B. by giving him free pastry for a year
C. by letting him smell his pies and cakes
D. by giving free pies and cakes to everyone


Read the sentence in the box below.
First he must have a fair trial.
40. In the sentence, what part of speech is the word fair?
A. adjective
B. adverb
C. noun
D. verb


Grade 4 
English Language Arts 
Language and Literature 
Spring 2005 Released Items: 
Reporting Categories, Standards, and Correct Answers

Item No.	Page No.	Reporting Category	Correct Answer (MC)*
1
43
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
D
2
43
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
C
3
44
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
C
4
44
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
D
5
44
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
A
6
44
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
D
7
45
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
B
8
45
Language / Vocabulary and Concept Development
4
B
9
45
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
10
47
Reading and Literature / Poetry
14
D
11
47
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
B
12
47
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
B
13
47
Reading and Literature / Poetry
14
B
14
50
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
D
15
50
Reading and Literature / Style and Language
15
A
16
50
Reading and Literature / Myth, Traditional Narrative, and Classical Literature 16
C
17
50
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
B
18
51
Reading and Literature / Theme
11
19
55
Reading and Literature / Style and Language
15
A
20
55
Reading and Literature / Fiction
12
C
21
55
Reading and Literature / Fiction
12
A
22
55
Reading and Literature / Fiction
12
C
23
56
Reading and Literature / Fiction
12
B
24
56
Reading and Literature / Fiction
12
D
25
56
Language / Structure and Origins of Modern English
5
C
26
56
Language / Vocabulary and Concept Development
4
D
27
57
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
28
59
Reading and Literature / Nonfiction
13
C
29
59
Reading and Literature / Nonfiction
13
A
30
60
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
C
31
60
Reading and Literature / Nonfiction
13
A
32
60
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
A
33
60
Reading and Literature / Genre
10
A
34
60
Language / Vocabulary and Concept Development
4
D
35
61
Reading and Literature / Nonfiction
13
36
66
Reading and Literature / Genre
10
C
37
66
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
D
38
67
Reading and Literature / Dramatic Literature
17
C
39
67
Reading and Literature / Dramatic Literature
17
D
40
67
Language / Structure and Origins of Modern English
5
A

* Answers are provided here for multiple-choice items only. Sample responses and scoring guidelines for open-response items, which are indicated by shaded cells, will be posted to the Department’s Web site later this year.



IV. English Language Arts, Grade 7

A. Composition
B. Language and Literature

Grade 7 English Language Arts Test
Test Structure
The Grade 7 MCAS English Language Arts Test was presented in the following two parts:
	

the ELA Composition Test, which used a writing prompt to assess learning standards from the Massachusetts English Language Arts Curriculum Framework’s Composition strand

the ELA Language and Literature Test, which used multiple-choice and open-response questions (items) to assess learning standards from the Curriculum Framework’s Language and Reading and Literature strands


A. Composition
The spring 2005 Grade 7 MCAS English Language Arts Composition Test and Make-Up Test were based on learning standards in the Composition strand of the Massachusetts English Language Arts Curriculum Framework (2001). The learning standards for the Composition strand appear on pages 72–83 of the Framework, which is available on the Department Web site at www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/ela/0601.pdf.
In Test Item Analysis Reports and on the Subject Area Subscore pages of the MCAS School Reports and District Reports, ELA Composition test results are reported under the Composition reporting category. 
Test Sessions and Content Overview
The MCAS ELA Composition Test included two separate test sessions, administered on the same day with a short break between sessions. During the first session, each student wrote an initial draft of a composition in response to the appropriate writing prompt on the next page. During the second session, each student revised his/her draft and submitted a final composition, which was scored in the areas of Topic Development and Standard English Conventions. The MCAS Writing Score Guide (Composition Grade 7) is available at www.doe.mass.edu/MCAS/student/2004/scoring7.doc.
Reference Materials and Tools
At least one English-language dictionary per classroom was provided for student use during ELA Composition test sessions. The use of bilingual word-to-word dictionaries was allowed for limited English proficient students only. No other reference materials or tools were allowed during either ELA Composition test session. 
Cross-Reference Information
Framework general standards 19–22 are assessed by the ELA Composition.

English Language Arts Composition, Grade 7
Grade 7 Writing Prompt
WRITING PROMPT
Seventh grade is an important year. Learning new things and having new experiences may have changed you.
Your English teacher would like you to write about how you have changed since the beginning of the year. In a well-developed composition, describe two ways in which you have changed and explain what effect they have had on your life.

Grade 7 Make-Up Writing Prompt

WRITING PROMPT
Many people like to have a place where they can go to relax or unwind. It could be indoors or outdoors. Some people prefer quiet surroundings, while others like a busier atmosphere.
Think about a place you like to go to relax or unwind. In a well-developed composition, describe the place and explain why it is relaxing.

B. Language and Literature
The spring 2005 Grade 7 MCAS English Language Arts Language and Literature Test was based on learning standards in the two content strands of the Massachusetts English Language Arts Curriculum Framework (2001) listed below. Page numbers for the learning standards appear in parentheses.
	
Language (Framework, pages 19–26)
	
Reading and Literature (Framework, pages 35–64)
The English Language Arts Curriculum Framework is available on the Department
Web site at www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/ela/0601.pdf.

In Test Item Analysis Reports and on the Subject Area Subscore pages of the MCAS School Reports and District Reports, ELA Language and Literature test results are reported under two MCAS reporting categories: Language and Reading and Literature, which are identical to the two Framework content strands listed above.
Test Sessions and Content Overview
The MCAS Grade 7 ELA Language and Literature Test included three separate test sessions. Each session included selected readings, followed by multiple-choice and open-response questions. Common reading passages and test items are shown on the following pages as they appeared in test booklets. Due to copyright restrictions, certain reading passages cannot be released to the public on the Web site. All of these passages appear in the printed version of this document.
Reference Materials and Tools

The use of bilingual word-to-word dictionaries was allowed for limited English proficient students only, during all three ELA Language and Literature test sessions. No other reference materials were allowed during any ELA Language and Literature test session. 
Cross-Reference Information
The table at the conclusion of this chapter indicates each item’s reporting category and the Framework general standard it assesses. The correct answers for multiple-choice questions are also displayed in the table.



English Language Arts
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: SESSION 1
DIRECTIONS
This session contains three reading selections with sixteen multiple-choice questions and two open-response questions. Mark your answers to these questions in the spaces provided in your Student Answer Booklet.

Which animals are the smartest? Are horses smarter than dogs, and are dogs smarter than cats? Are monkeys smarter than all three? Scientists have long wondered how to measure an animal’s intelligence. Read the article to see why determining animal intelligence is so difficult. Use information from the article to answer the questions that follow

Are Dogs Dumb?
by Karen Hopkin

1 Chimps can use sign language to talk to their trainers. Monkeys can learn to count. A crow can figure out how to use a stick to get at that hard-to-reach grub. Chickens can learn to play checkers. Even worms can be taught to run mazes. So which animal is the smartest? You’re probably thinking that chimps are smarter than chickens. And that crows are smarter than worms. And that you’re smarter than all of them.
2 But where do those rankings come from? Okay, you probably are smarter than the average worm. But why do we assume that bigger beasts are smarter than smaller ones? Or that furry critters are brainier than slithering wrigglers that are coated in slime?
3 And how come we think dogs are so smart? Sure, a dog might be clever enough to fetch his leash when he wants to go out. But the same mutt might also bark at the vacuum cleaner and spend a whole hour chasing his own tail. Is Rover really any brighter than a hamster, a chicken, or that kid who’s always eating Play-Doh? How can you measure an animal’s brain power?
4 The hardest part is coming up with the right test. A dog can’t sit down with a No. 2 pencil and take a multiple choice exam. So the test has to be something the dog can learn to do: select a block by nudging it with a nose or a paw, for example. The test also has to be something the dog wants to do: a dog might stare at that block all day without budging—until she figures out that there’s a treat hidden underneath.
5 Norton Milgram and his co-workers at the University of Toronto at Scarborough use treats to give dogs a Canine IQ test. The dog is presented with a tray with a blue block on it; underneath the block is a treat. The animal moves the block and gets the treat. So far, so good. Now the test gets tricky. The dog is presented with the same tray, but this time it has both a blue block and a yellow coffee can lid (or white bowl or black square of cloth) on it; the treat is now under the yellow lid (or white bowl, etc.). The test: how long does it take for the dog to learn that the treat is always under the new item on the tray? The smarter the dog, the quicker she’ll find the treat.
6 That seems simple enough, but things become more complicated when you try to compare different kinds of animals. Monkeys wipe the floor with dogs on this test. Dogs may have to try hundreds of times before they select the yellow lid nine out of ten times. Monkeys learn much more quickly to find the hidden treat. Does that mean monkeys are smarter than dogs?
7 Not necessarily. The test was originally designed for monkeys, and it gives them an unfair advantage: by nature monkeys are curious and like to check out new things. Dogs, on the other hand, tend to be wary about approaching new things. As Stephen Budiansky reports in his book The Truth about Dogs, one pooch was so scared of the yellow lid that he had to be excused from the study.
8 If the test is made more dog-friendly, on the other hand, canines do just fine. Instead of introducing a yellow lid, the treat is put under another blue block on the opposite side of the tray. Dogs learn as quickly as any monkey that the treat is always on the side opposite the first block they saw.
9 Even if you could find a test that was perfectly fair to all animals, in a way it’s silly to ask whether one kind of animal is smarter than another. All animals have the ability to learn things that are important to them. Otherwise they wouldn’t survive. A chicken doesn’t need to be a chess champion to figure out where to get food or how to run from a predator. So a chicken is as smart as it needs to be to earn a living as a chicken.
10 If you still believe that dogs are much smarter than chickens, it’s probably because dogs are good at learning the things we want them to learn: fetching the newspaper, for example. Try to convince a chicken to do that! The truth is, most dog tricks take advantage of dogs’ built-in behavior patterns—things that dogs are born knowing how to do or learn easily. Chasing and retrieving are leftover hunting behaviors. For a dog, fetching the paper or a tennis ball is not a reflection of intelligence. It’s basically a demonstration that dogs will be dogs.
11 Canines may not be the deepest thinkers in the world. But perhaps that’s for the best. The life of a dog—sitting alone all day, waiting for everyone to come home—can be pretty boring. Super-smart animals would probably get totally stressed out, says Serpell. Look at it this way: if dogs were any smarter, they probably wouldn’t choose to hang around with us.

Reprinted by permission of MUSE magazine, November/December 2002, Vol. 6, No. 9, © 2002 by Karen Hopkin.


1. What is the main idea of this article?
A. 	Scientists have proven that monkeys are smarter than dogs because monkeys can count.
B. 	A University of Toronto research group discovered how to accurately measure animal intelligence.
C. 	Dogs are smarter than other animals because dogs think more like humans.
D. Animals have different levels of intelligence that can be measured only with the right tests.


2. According to paragraph 4, what is a requirement for a test of animal intelligence?
A. 	The test must be given while the animal is in obedience training.
B. 	The test must include a block-like object.
C. 	The test must compare two different animals.
D. The test must be something that can be taught to an animal.


3. According to paragraph 7, how are monkeys and dogs different?
A. 	Monkeys learn quickly, but dogs learn slowly.
B. 	Monkeys are willing to take tests, but dogs dislike taking them.
C. 	Monkeys investigate new things, but dogs shy away from them.
D. 	Monkeys do not like working with humans, but dogs do.


4. Which of the following most nearly means the same as the phrase “to earn a living as a chicken” in paragraph 9?
A. to purchase
B. to survive
C. to perform
D. to learn



5. According to the article, what makes humans think that dogs are smart?
A. 	Dogs do things that humans want them to do.
B. 	Dogs perform well on tests designed for humans.
C. 	Dogs are able to communicate with humans.
D. 	Dogs wait patiently for humans to come home.


6. According to the article, which of the following statements is true?
A. 	Bigger animals are smarter than smaller animals.
B. 	Animals cannot learn to do anything they are not born knowing how to do.
C. 	The smartest animals make the best pets.
D. 	Most animals are as smart as they need to be.


7. What does the phrase “Monkeys wipe the floor with dogs . . .” in paragraph 6 mean?
A. 	Monkeys have learned to clean floors.
B. 	Monkeys are neater than dogs.
C. 	Monkeys perform better than dogs.
D. 	Monkeys like to compete with dogs.




Write your answer to open-response question 8 in the space provided in your Student Answer Booklet.

8. Describe some problems that scientists face when designing intelligence tests for animals. Use relevant and specific information from the article to support your answer.


For centuries, different civilizations have created stories about the origin of the Earth. Read the following myth from the tradition of Australian Aborigines to find out how they believe the Earth was created. Use information from the myth to answer the questions that follow.

Students read a selection titled “Baiame, the Great Spirit” and then answered questions 9 through 13 that follow on the next page of this document.

Due to copyright restrictions, the selection cannot be released to the public over the Internet. However, the selection is printed in the publication Release of Spring 2005 Test Items, which has been sent to schools and libraries across the state. For more information, see the copyright citation below.

“Baiame, the Great Spirit” from OUT OF THE ARK: STORIES FROM THE WORLD’S RELIGIONS, copyright © 1996 by Anita Ganeri, reprinted by permission of Harcourt, Inc.  


9. Which of these quotes from the myth helps the reader identify the story as a myth?
A. 	“This was when the spirits lived on Earth with the people and animals, and the landscape took its shape.”
B. 	“The dry, brown earth bloomed with grass, flowers, and trees.”
C. 	“The bees couldn’t find any flower pollen, so they couldn’t make any honey.”
D. 	“It was steep and jagged, and many a time they nearly gave up.”


10. According to the myth, why were animals and humans very small long ago?
A. 	They were frequently sick.
B. 	They had no room to grow.
C. 	They had to be smaller than Baiame.
D. 	They were cursed by a magic spell.


11. According to the myth, the people see Baiame as
A. a conquering hero.
B. a fellow human.
C. a powerful being.
D. a selfish ruler.


12. In the myth, what surprises the men on their return from seeing Baiame?
A. 	The village is deserted by the people.
B. 	The people have changed their minds about the flowers.
C. 	The flowers they picked have not wilted.
D. 	The journey takes longer than they expected.


13. What is the meaning of the word consternation as it is used in paragraph 5?
A. confusion
B. happiness
C. boredom
D. peacefulness


Sometimes pets and their owners have different views about the same things. Read the exchange between an owner and her cat in the poem “On A Night of Snow.” Answer the questions that follow.

On a Night of Snow

Cat, if you go outdoors you must walk in the snow.
You will come back with little white shoes on your feet,
little white slippers of snow that have heels of sleet.
Stay by the fire, my cat. Lie still, do not go.
5 See how the flames are leaping and hissing low;
I will bring you a saucer of milk like a marguerite,1
so white and so smooth, so spherical and so sweet—
stay with me, Cat. Outdoors the wild winds blow.
Outdoors the wild winds blow, Mistress, and dark is the
10 night,
strange voices cry in the trees, intoning2 strange lore;
and more than cats move, lit by our eyes’ green light,
on silent feet where the meadow grasses hang hoar3—
Mistress, there are portents4 abroad of magic and might
15 and things that are yet to be done. Open the door!

ELIZABETH COATSWORTH

1 marguerite — daisy
2 intoning — singing
3 hoar — covered with frost


4 portents — signs of things to come
Paterson Marsh Ltd on behalf of the Estate of Elizabeth Coatsworth.


14. What mood is conveyed by the phrase, “wild winds blow” in stanza 1?
A. hope
B. danger
C. comfort
D. adventure


15. Which of the following best describes the character of Mistress in the poem?
A. protective
B. carefree
C. forceful
D. understanding


16. What is the effect of line 5 in the poem?
A. The fire seems to be alive.
B. The fire has gone out.
C. The fire looks out of control.
D. The fire is unimportant.


17. Which of the following best explains why an exclamation mark is used at the end of the last sentence of the poem?
A. 	to emphasize that Mistress insists that Cat stay inside
B. 	to emphasize that Mistress does not care about Cat’s needs
C. 	to emphasize that Cat does not want to be around Mistress
D. 	to emphasize that Cat really wants Mistress to let him outside



Write your answer to open-response question 18 in the space provided in your Student Answer Booklet.

18. Explain the two contrasting points of view presented by Mistress and Cat in the poem. Use relevant and specific information from the poem to support your answer.


English Language Arts
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: SESSION 2
DIRECTIONS
This session contains one reading selection with seven multiple-choice questions and one open-response question. Mark your answers to these questions in the spaces provided in your Student Answer Booklet.

A teenage girl from the island of Antigua is being sent to live with relatives in England where she will attend nursing school. As she walks with her parents along the jetty where a boat awaits her, she remembers the walks to the jetty she used to take with her father in years past. This young girl has mixed feelings about leaving. Read this excerpt from the novel Annie John to see what happens. Answer the questions that follow.


A WALK TO THE JETTY

by Jamaica Kincaid


1  My heart now beat fast, and no matter how hard I tried, I
couldn’t keep my mouth from falling open and my nostrils
from spreading to the ends of my face. My old fear of slipping
between the boards of the jetty and falling into the dark-green
water where the dark-green eels lived came over me. When my
father’s stomach started to go bad, the doctor had recommended
a walk every evening right after he ate his dinner.
Sometimes he would take me with him. When he took me with
him, we usually went to the jetty, and there he would sit and
talk to the night watchman about cricket1 or some other thing
that didn’t interest me, because it was not personal; they didn’t
talk about their wives, or their children, or their parents, or
about any of their likes and dislikes. They talked about things
in such a strange way, and I didn’t see what they found funny,
but sometimes they made each other laugh so much that their
guffaws2 would bound out to sea and send back an echo. I was
always sorry when we got to the jetty and saw that the night
watchman on duty was the one he enjoyed speaking to; it was
like being locked up in a book filled with numbers and diagrams
and what-ifs. For the thing about not being able to
understand and enjoy what they were saying was I had nothing
to take my mind off my fear of slipping in between the
boards of the jetty.
2  Now, too, I had nothing to take my mind off what was
happening to me. My mother and my father—I was leaving
them forever. My home on an island—I was leaving it forever.
What to make of everything? I felt a familiar hollow space
inside. I felt I was being held down against my will. I felt I was
burning up from head to toe. I felt that someone was tearing
me up into little pieces and soon I would be able to see all the
little pieces as they floated out into nothing in the deep blue
sea. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I could see that it
would be better not to think too clearly about any one thing.
The launch was being made ready to take me, along with some
other passengers, out to the ship that was anchored in the sea.
My father paid our fares, and we joined a line of people waiting
to board. My mother checked my bag to make sure that I had
my passport, the money she had given me, and a sheet of paper
placed between some pages in my Bible on which were written

the names of the relatives—people I had not known existed—
with whom I would live in England. Across from the jetty was a
wharf, and some stevedores3 were loading and unloading
barges. I don’t know why seeing that struck me so, but suddenly
a wave of strong feeling came over me, and my heart swelled
with a great gladness as the words “I shall never see this again”
spilled out inside me. But then, just as quickly, my heart shriveled
up and the words “I shall never see this again” stabbed at
me. I don’t know what stopped me from falling in a heap at my
parents’ feet.
3  When we were all on board, the launch headed out to sea.
Away from the jetty, the water became the customary blue, and
the launch left a wide path in it that looked like a road. I passed
by sounds and smells that were so familiar that I had long ago
stopped paying any attention to them. But now here they were,
and the ever-present “I shall never see this again” bobbed up
and down inside me. There was the sound of the seagull diving
down into the water and coming up with something silverish in
its mouth. There was the smell of the sea and the sight of small
pieces of rubbish floating around in it. There were boats filled
with fishermen coming in early. There was the sound of their
voices as they shouted greetings to each other. There was the
hot sun, there was the blue sea, there was the blue sky. Not
very far away, there was the white sand of the shore, with the
run-down houses all crowded in next to each other, for in some
places only poor people lived near the shore. I was seated in
the launch between my parents, and when I realized that I was
gripping their hands tightly I glanced quickly to see if they were
looking at me with scorn, for I felt sure that they must have
known of my never-see-this-again feelings. But instead my
father kissed me on the forehead and my mother kissed me on
the mouth, and they both gave over their hands to me, so that I
could grip them as much as I wanted. I was on the verge of
feeling that it had all been a mistake, but I remembered that I
wasn’t a child anymore, and that now when I made up my mind
about something I had to see it through. At that moment, we
came to the ship, and that was that.


1 cricket — an outdoor game played with bats, a ball, and wickets by two teams of eleven each
2 guffaw — a hearty burst of laughter

3 stevedore — one who loads or unloads ships or barges


Excerpt from “A Walk to the Jetty” from ANNIE JOHN by Jamaica Kincaid. Copyright © 1985 by Jamaica Kincaid. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.


19. Which sentence best expresses the main idea of this excerpt?
A. 	Long journeys require advanced planning.
B. 	Success is the result of hard work.
C. 	Growing up involves overcoming one’s fears.
D. 	One person’s loss is another’s gain.


20. In paragraph 1, what had originally brought the speaker to the jetty?
A. 	The speaker was a young girl who liked cricket.
B. 	The speaker’s family was going on a voyage.
C. 	The speaker’s father had an illness.
D. 	The speaker was a fisherman’s daughter.


Read the sentence from paragraph 2 in the box below.
I felt a familiar hollow space inside.
21. Which word best describes the speaker’s emotion?
A. joy
B. guilt
C. appreciation
D. fear



Read the sentence from paragraph 3 in the box below.
There was the hot sun, there was the blue sea, there was the blue sky.
22. What is the effect of the repetition of the phrase “There was”?
A. 	It conveys the speaker’s eagerness to go to England.
B. 	It captures how boring the speaker’s life has become.
C. 	It shows that these things are unusual to the speaker.
D. 	It emphasizes the power of the speaker’s connection to her home. 


23. Why does the speaker finally decide that leaving Antigua to live in England is not a mistake?
A. 	She dislikes living near the jetty and the overcrowded housing.
B. 	She feels she has to grow up and must stick to her decisions.
C. 	She dislikes the smell of the sea and the sight of floating rubbish.
D. 	She is angry with her parents for making her leave home.


Read the phrase from the beginning of paragraph 3 in the box below.
Away from the jetty, the water became the customary blue . . .
24. What does the word customary tell the reader about the water?
A. 	The water looks as it does before a storm.
B. 	The water looks as it usually does away from the shoreline.
C. 	The water looks as it does during high tide.
D. 	The water looks as it does during sunset.



Read the excerpt from paragraph 3 in the box below.
. . . I felt sure that they must have known of my never-see-this-again feelings.
25. The phrase “never-see-this-again” is used as which part of speech in this excerpt? 
A. a noun
B. a verb
C. an adjective
D. an adverb



Write your answer to open-response question 26 in the space provided in your Student Answer Booklet.

26. Identify and explain the mixed feelings the speaker has about leaving her home. Use relevant and specific information from the excerpt to support your answer.

English Language Arts
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: SESSION 3

DIRECTIONS

This session contains two reading selections with thirteen multiple-choice questions and one open-response question. Mark your answers to these questions in the spaces provided in your Student Answer Booklet.

What happens when exotic species of life are transported to a place where they have no natural predators? These biological invaders can cause problems around the world. Read the excerpt from the article, “Stopping the Alien Invaders,” to find out how the government in Hawaii takes steps to prevent alien invaders from destroying native plants and animals. Use information from the excerpt to answer the questions that follow.

Stopping the Alien Invaders

by Sneed B. Collard III

1 What are these organisms? They can
be plants, animals, fungi, viruses,
bacteria, or any other life form you can
think of. The one thing they all have in
common is that they are living in places
where they don’t belong.
2 A 1993 study by the U.S. Congress
Office of Technology Assessment
reported that at least 4,500 exotic
species have established themselves in
the United States. Over 600 of these
cause serious problems. Exotic diseases
such as AIDS and Lyme disease
endanger human health. Exotic insects
such as fire ants damage farm
equipment, sting people, and kill native
animals. Exotic weeds of many kinds
take over farmland. Some, such as the
paperbark tree from Australia, threaten
to take over Everglades National Park
and other natural areas.
3 Since the turn of the century, 79
biological invaders alone have cost the
U.S. economy 97 billion dollars. Every
state has been affected, but some have
been hit especially hard. These include
California, Florida, and—more than
anywhere else—Hawaii.
4 Hawaii is an important trading
center and home to over a dozen
military bases. About six million tourists
visit the Hawaiian islands every year.
With all that traffic in and out, exotic
species have plenty of opportunities to
reach the islands. Some invaders, such
as pets and garden plants, are brought in
on purpose. Others, like the brown tree
snake, sneak in with food, military
equipment, furniture, and even the
U.S. mail.
5 According to biologists who work in
Hawaii, exotic species are the number
one threat to the state’s economy,
environment, and way of life. Exotic
agricultural pests damage crops and
prevent farmers from selling millions of
dollars’ worth of fruits and vegetables to
the mainland. Exotic goats, pigs, and
other mammals rip up Hawaii’s rain
forests. Exotic parasites* such as
mosquitoes spread deadly diseases to
native birds.
6 The question in Hawaii and other
places is, can the invaders be stopped?
7 Despite our best efforts, many exotic
species will continue to reach new
places around the world. Some will be
imported intentionally. Others will be
brought in by accident. However, there
is a lot we can do to slow the rate of
biological invasions.
8 Quarantines are one way to do this.
Quarantine is the process of isolating
animals or products. In Hawaii, pet dogs
and cats coming into the state remain in
a special holding facility for four
months to make sure they don’t have
rabies. Many agricultural products are
also quarantined to see if they are
carrying insect pests or plant diseases.
9 Inspection is a second way to stop
biological invaders. At airports, borders,
and shipping ports, inspectors examine
passengers and their baggage to see if
they are carrying exotic species. The
inspectors confiscate and destroy fruits,
vegetables, or other goods that might be
carrying harmful pests or diseases.
Specially trained dogs also sniff cargo
for exotic species, such as the brown
tree snake.
10 What if an exotic species slips by
inspectors? Then efforts are made to
control the invader. In Hawaii,
government agencies control invaders
by setting livetraps around wildlife
refuges and other places. The traps catch
exotic cats, rats, and mongooses that eat
native birds and their eggs. At Haleakala
National Park employees have built
miles of fences to keep out exotic pigs
and goats. For years these animals ate
and trampled native rain forest plants,
but the fences have helped reverse this
damage. Now native plants grow in
places that were bare rock only a short
time ago.
11 In some cases biological control
helps to solve the exotic species
problem. Biological control or
“biocontrol” is the science of controlling
one invader with another. In the early
1900s, several exotic predators were
imported to Hawaii to eat a harmful
exotic pest called the sugarcane
leafhopper. The insect was destroying
70,000 tons of sugar a year, but the
predators brought it under control. More
recently, a parasite from Bolivia has
been used to kill another sugarcane pest,
the lesser cornstalk borer.
12 Biological control efforts have
sometimes backfired. The mongoose
was originally brought to Hawaii to eat
rats. Instead, it wound up dining on
endangered honeycreepers and other
native birds. Because of the mongoose
and other biocontrol disasters, scientists
all over the world now carefully test
biocontrol agents before releasing them
into the wild.
13 The efforts of these scientists and
other people are vitally important. In
Hawaii alone, 10,000 different species
of native plants and animals still need to
be protected. Many of these are found
nowhere else on earth. By stopping the
spread of the brown tree snake and other
biological invaders, we not only protect
ourselves, but we also protect the many
other native species that make our planet
such a special place to live.


*parasite — an organism that feeds on a living host but does not contribute to the host


Reprinted by permission of CRICKET magazine, 1997, January, copyright © 1997 by Sneed B. Collard.

27. What is this excerpt mainly about?
A. 	the hazards of the brown tree snake
B. 	the dangers of non-native species
C. 	problems faced by the Hawaiian economy
D. 	the importance of biologists


28. How do paragraphs 2 and 3 contribute to the development of the excerpt?
A. 	They pose questions to be answered later in the article.
B. 	They provide background for the main idea of the article.
C. 	They preview the major points of the article.
D. 	They give definitions of terms that will be used in the article.


29. Based on the excerpt, which of the following best explains why Hawaii is at a great risk of invasion by exotic species?
A. 	Over 4500 exotic species exist in the United States.
B. 	Hawaii is made up of several islands.
C. 	Millions of people go to Hawaii each year.
D. 	Biological control efforts have not worked.


30. How are paragraphs 6 and 7 organized to help the reader understand the information presented in the excerpt?
A. 	They ask a question and provide an answer.
B. 	They show a cause and a resulting effect.
C. 	They list comparisons and contrasts.
D. 	They give descriptions and furnish explanations.


31. Which of the following provides the best evidence that future attempts to use biological controls will need to be more carefully planned?
A. 	The brown tree snake sneaked into Hawaii aboard air cargo.
B. 	Pets coming to Hawaii from the mainland are quarantined for four months.
C. 	Hawaii had to introduce a Bolivian parasite to save sugar crops.
D. 	The mongoose ate more native Hawaiian birds than it did rats.


32. What argument does the author make in the final paragraph?
A. 	Hawaii has the most unknown species of plants on earth.

B. 	Humans have a responsibility to control “alien” species.
C. 	The brown tree snake is the most dangerous of all species.
D. 	Species should be allowed to exist without human interference.


33. Based on the excerpt, if scientists in Hawaii cannot control biological invaders, what will be the most likely result?
A. 	Hawaii’s farmers will lose millions of dollars in livestock trade.
B. 	Quarantine times for incoming pets may be extended.
C. 	Many of Hawaii’s native species may no longer exist.
D. 	Exotic species will no longer spread to other countries.


34. At the end of paragraph 3, what is the purpose of setting apart the phrase “—more than anywhere else—” with dashes? 
A. 	to compare Florida and California
B. 	to indicate that Hawaii is typical

C. 	to emphasize that Hawaii is most affected
D. 	to illustrate the problems of three states


Write your answer to open-response question 35 in the space provided in your Student Answer Booklet.

35. Based on information from the excerpt, choose two methods of dealing with the threat of “alien” species. Explain why these methods are effective. Use relevant and specific information from the excerpt to support your answer.

This excerpt is from a play based on Mark Twain’s classic novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Tom lives with his Aunt Polly and his cousin Sid. One morning, Tom attempts his mischief on his aunt and cousin. Read the excerpt below. Use information from the excerpt to answer the questions that follow.

Tom Sawyer
by Sara Spencer

[drawing of a boy sitting on a bed holding his foot]

ACT ONE

SCENE 1. Tom’s bedroom. A double bed, a wash stand, a motto
on the wall.
(Tom and Sid are asleep, Tom snoring vociferously,* Sid snoring
like a steam whistle.)
AUNT POLLY: (Offstage.) Tom! Oh, Tom! Monday!
TOM: (Opens his eyes dazedly, yawns, then comes alert.)
Monday! (He sighs drearily, then begins to plan. Feels around
over his body for ailments, coughing experimentally, rejecting a
5 loose tooth, etc. Finally he unties the rag around his sore toe, and
falls to groaning.). Oh-h-h! (But Sid snores on.) Ohh-h-h-h!
Oooh-h-h! (No response from Sid. Tom reaches over and shakes
him.) Sid! Sid! Ohhhhh-h-h-h! Ooooh-h-h-h!
SID: (Waking up.) Tom! Say, Tom!
10 TOM: Ohhhhhh-h-h-h-h! Ooooooh-h-h-h!
SID: (Shaking him.) Here, Tom. Tom! What’s the matter, Tom?
TOM: Oh, don’t, Sid. Don’t joggle me.
SID: Why, what’s the matter, Tom? I must call Auntie.
TOM: No, never mind. It’ll be over by and by, maybe. Don’t
15 call any-body. Ohhhhhhhhh-h-h-h-h-h!
SID: But I must. Don’t groan so, Tom. It’s awful! How long
you been this way?
TOM: Hours. Ouch! Don’t stir so, Sid. You’ll kill me.
Ohhhhhh-h-h-h!
20 SID: Tom, why didn’t you wake me sooner? Oh, Tom,
don’t! It makes my flesh crawl to hear you.
TOM: I forgive you everything, Sid. Ohhh-h-h-h-h! Everything
you ever done to me.
SID: Oh, Tom, you ain’t dying, are you? Don’t, Tom. Oh,
25 don’t! Maybe—
TOM: I forgive everybody, Sid. Tell ’em so, Sid. And Sid, you
give my brass knob and my cat with one eye to Joe Harper.
And tell him—Ohhh-h-h-h!
SID: (Making for the door.) Oh, Aunt Polly! Come quick!
30 Tom’s dying!
AUNT POLLY: (Offstage.) Dying?
SID: Yes’m. Don’t wait. Come quick!
AUNT POLLY: (Still offstage.) Rubbage! I don’t believe it. (But
she rushes in, just the same, and finds Tom on the bed, writhing.)
35 You, Tom! Tom, what’s the matter with you?
TOM: Oh, Auntie, I’m—Oh-h-h-h!
AUNT POLLY: What’s the matter? What is the matter with
you, child?
TOM: Oh, Auntie—my sore toe’s mortified!
40 AUNT POLLY: (Sinking on the bed with relief, and chuckling.)
Tom, what a turn you did give me! Now you shut up that
nonsense and climb out of this.
TOM: (Quite subdued.) Aunt Polly, it seemed mortified.
And—and it hurt so, I never minded my tooth at all.
45 AUNT POLLY: Your tooth, indeed. What’s the matter with
your tooth?
TOM: One of ’em’s loose, and it aches perfectly awful.
Oh-h-h-h-h!
AUNT POLLY: There, now, don’t begin that groaning again.
50 Open your mouth. Well, your tooth is loose, but you’re not
going to die about that. Sid, get me a hot iron off the
kitchen stove. (Sid gleefully rushes off, as Aunt Polly pulls a
spool of thread from her apron pocket, and attaches one end of it to
the bedpost. The other end she attached to Tom’s tooth.)
55 TOM: (Shrinking away.) Oh, please, Auntie, don’t pull it out.
It don’t hurt anymore. I wish I may never stir if it does.
Please don’t, Auntie. I don’t want to stay home from school.
AUNT POLLY: Oh, you don’t, don’t you? So all this was
because you thought you’d get to stay home from school
60 and go a-fishing. Oh, Tom, you’ll be the death of me yet.
Here, Sid. (Sid has reentered with the iron, and gives it to her,
gloating at Tom’s misery. Aunt Polly thrusts the iron close to

Tom’s face. Tom jerks back, and the tooth is dangling by the
bedpost.)
65 SID: Goody, that’s what you get.
AUNT POLLY: Now you boys get your clothes on, and come
on here to breakfast. I have an errand for you, Tom, before
you go to school. (Aunt Polly goes out.)

*vociferously — loudly

. . .
Permission granted for limited use by Anchorage Press Plays, Inc. of Louisville Ky USA for MCAS only.


36. What does Tom begin to “plan” in line 3 of the excerpt?
A. 	to get Sid into trouble
B. 	to get permission to go fishing
C. 	to get rid of his loose tooth
D. 	to get out of going to school


37. Why is Tom making so much noise at the opening of the excerpt?
A. He has a toothache.
B. 	He is unable to sleep.
C. 	He is dressing in the dark.
D. 	He wants to wake up Sid.


38. According to the play, why is Sid happy when Aunt Polly is about to remove Tom’s tooth?
A. 	Sid thinks he will also get a day off.
B. 	Sid thinks Tom has fooled Aunt Polly.

C. 	Sid thinks Tom is getting what he deserves.
D. 	Sid thinks Tom will get well.


39. What is the best characterization of Tom in this excerpt?
A. 	He is a comical prankster.
B. 	He is a hardworking student.
C. 	He is an obedient nephew.
D. 	He is an absent-minded dreamer.


40. The word gloating as used in line 62 shows that Sid is expressing
A. anger.
B. surprise.
C. pleasure.
D. frustration.


Grade 7
English Language Arts Language and Literature
Spring 2005 Released Items:
Reporting Categories, Standards, and Correct Answers

Item No.	Page No.	Reporting Category	Standard Correct Answer (MC)*
1
75
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
D
2
75
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
D
3
75
Reading and Literature / Nonfiction
13
C
4
75
Reading and Literature / Nonfiction
13
B
5
76
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
A
6
76
Reading and Literature / Nonfiction
13
D
7
76
Language / Vocabulary and Concept Development
4
C
8
77
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
9
79
Reading and Literature / Myth, Traditional Narrative, and Classical Literature 16
A
10
79
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
B
11
79
Reading and Literature / Myth, Traditional Narrative, and Classical Literature 16
C
12
79
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
C
13
79
Language / Vocabulary and Concept Development
4
A
14
81
Reading and Literature / Style and Language
15
B
15
81
Reading and Literature / Poetry
14
A
16
81
Reading and Literature / Poetry
14
A
17
81
Language / Structure and Origins of Modern English
5
D
18
82
Reading and Literature / Poetry
14
19
85
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
C
20
85
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8

C
21
85
Reading and Literature / Style and Language
15
D
22
86
Reading and Literature / Style and Language
15
D
23
86
Reading and Literature / Understanding a Text
8
B
24
86
Language