Assessment/Accountability
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System

Grade 8

IV. English Language Arts Sample Assessment
Materials

February 1998

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Sample Assessment Materials

Language and Literature Component

Directions:

As you read this excerpt about the endangered mountain lion, look for evidence that suggests what the big cat's future holds. Then answer the questions that follow.

Reading Passage:

MOUNTAIN LION
Felis concolor

1. In primitive days the mountain lion ranged through all the forested and mountainous areas of the New World, from northwestern Canada to the Straits of Magellan. Early settlers knew it by many names: panther, painter, catamount, cougar, American lion, mountain lion, puma, and others. Its principal prey was deer and smaller game, but when it had the chance it sometimes fed on domestic stock as well. Pioneers feared and hated the mountain lion and killed it whenever they could.
2. Long before 1900 the big, tawny cat had been exterminated nearly everywhere in the East. The last certain record of its presence in Pennsylvania, where it had once been common, was in 1893; the last record for New York, 1900. Soon thereafter the eastern race of the mountain lion (F.c. cougar) was considered extinct. A small population of another subspecies, the Florida lion (F.c. coryi), still survived in the Everglades and neighboring pockets of wild country.
3. The western race of the mountain lion (F.c. hippolestes) was a fairly common and much hated predator in all the Rocky Mountain and far western states, where it was usually classified as vermin. Many of these states offered bounties, and it was hunted and trapped relentlessly by ranchers, stockmen, and government hunters. As a result, it gradually disappeared, and by the 1950s and 1960s its population had reached an all-time low--perhaps four or five thousand animals in all.
4. In subsequent years, state after state withdrew its bounties and reclassified the lion as a game animal, protected from all but regulated and limited hunting. In consequence, the population of the big cat rebounded nearly everywhere, and about 16,000 lions now roam our western states. "Today, every state with lions except Texas regulates the killing of the animal," Maurice Hornocker, the country's leading expert on the big cat, stated in 1992. Hornocker began his mountain lion research in 1963, while he was pursuing his doctoral degree at the University of Idaho, and he has added a great deal to our knowledge of the animal. At present he is conducting long-term research on the lion in New Mexico's San Andres Mountains.
5. California, which paid bounties on the mountain lion until 1963, designated it as a big game animal in 1970. Seven years later the state gave it complete protection, banning all lion hunting until 1986, when a limited hunt was permitted. In 1990, however, voters approved a law banning all sport-hunting of the species. The state's lion population is now estimated at more than 5,000. There have been livestock losses as a result, and an increasing number of encounters with people.
6. There is no question that the lion can, on rare occasions, be a threat to human beings. In the hundred years between 1890 and 1990, there have been fifty-eight documented attacks on people, ten of them fatal, throughout the animal's range in North America. Thirty of these attacks occurred in British Columbia, twenty of them on Vancouver Island.
7. On the other side of the continent, the Florida lion clings to survival, with an estimated population of perhaps forty or fifty animals in Big Cypress Swamp and the Everglades. In 1989 the Department of the Interior created a 30,000 acre national wildlife refuge adjacent to Big Cypress National Preserve to safeguard the panther habitat. Threats to the Florida panther's survival are illegal shooting and car kills. Since 1972 eighteen have been struck down by cars on the highway that cuts through the panther habitat.
8. Some twenty Florida panthers have been captured and fitted with radio collars in order to monitor their travels and activities. Six Florida kittens were captured in 1991 to form the nucleus of a captive breeding stock for eventual release.
9. To the north, the eastern mountain lion has been considered extinct for the past century, and the Fish and Wildlife Service so designates it on its endangered and threatened wildlife list. However, there have been many reports in recent years of tawny, long-tailed cats sighted in forested and mountainous regions from New Brunswick to the southern Appalachians. Most mammalogists are now willing to concede the possibility that a few individuals may have survived in remote areas. Given protection, these may in time reoccupy remaining wilderness areas of their former range.

from Lost Wild America: The Story of Our Extinct and Vanishing Wildlife by Robert M. McClung © 1993. Reprinted with permission of Linnett Books, North Haven, Connecticut.

Sample Assessment Materials

Multiple-choice Questions:

1. In paragraph 1, why did the author provide a list of different names given to the mountain lion?

A. because there are many different kinds of mountain lions

B. because people cannot agree on what to call the mountain lion

*C. because mountain lions were known by many names in many places

D. because the names refer to different characteristics of mountain lions

2. Why did early settlers kill mountain lions?

*A. out of fear for themselves and their livestock

B. to get their hides to make blankets and coats

C. to preserve wild game for themselves

D. because they wanted the bounty from the government

3. In paragraph 2 the author states, "Long before 1900 the big, tawny cat had been exterminated nearly everywhere in the East." What does exterminated mean?

A. hunted

B. discovered

*C. destroyed

D. caught

4. Paragraph 4 begins by stating, "In subsequent years, state after state withdrew its bounties . . ." What does subsequent mean?

*A. following

B. preceding

C. early

D. many

5. The population of mountain lions increased only after

A. predators were removed from their habitat.

B. national parks set them loose in the parks.

*C. states began passing laws to protect them.

D. long-term research showed how to save them.

6. In paragraph 3 the author says that mountain lions were "usually classified as vermin." What does vermin mean?

A. peculiar animals

*B. harmful animals

C. stubborn animals

D. helpful animals

7. Why does the author most likely describe the disadvantages of having mountain lions near populated areas?

A. to warn the reader about the dangers of visiting national parks

*B. to inform the reader about both sides of the issue

C. to persuade the reader to protest their existence near cities

D. to entertain the reader with stories about lion hunting

8. What is the main idea of paragraphs 7 and 8?

A. how protection can help the mountain lion

*B. special efforts to aid the Florida panther

C. places where the Florida panther is becoming common

D. reasons for the mountain lion's extinction

9. This excerpt is mostly about

*A. protecting the mountain lion from extinction.

B. learning about the mountain lion's behavior.

C. the mountain lion's habitat and range.

D. the future of the mountain lion in North America.

10. This excerpt could be best included in a book on the subject of

A. Florida wildlife.

B. animal behavior.

C. mountain lion folklore.

*D. endangered animals.

Open-response Questions:

11. This excerpt discusses the endangered status of mountain lions.

• What are the two sides of the issue of protecting mountain lions?
• Does the author express a point of view on the issue?

Support your position with information from the excerpt. Be sure to answer both parts of the question.

12. Do you think that mountain lions will ever be as numerous and widespread as they were before settlers came to North America? Why or why not? Explain your answer using information from the article.

Sample Assessment Materials

Composition Component -- Short Session

Directions:

Read the speech below entitled "A Tribute To The Dog." This speech was delivered by Senator George Graham Vest in the late 19th century. As you read the speech, think about how the speaker expresses his feelings about dogs. When you have finished reading the speech, read the writing prompt that follows the passage.

Reading Passage:

A Tribute To The Dog

Gentlemen of the jury:
The best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads.

The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog. A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer: he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings, and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.

If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him, to guard him against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes his master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by the graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad, but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even in death.

"A Tribute To The Dog," a speech by George Graham Vest reprinted from Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History, selected and introduced by William Safire, New York, London: W.W. Norton & Co. © 1992 The Cobbett Corporation. Used with permission.

Sample Assessment Materials

Writing Prompt:

• Read the text in the box above.
• Jot down any notes or ideas that would help you write your response. Use the area below labeled "Notes."
• Write your response in the space provided. You may wish to refer to the directions provided before the Reading Passage as you write.

You will not have time to revise your writing. Your response should be a few paragraphs long. When you are finished, you may check your work and make corrections.

Notes:

Sample Assessment Materials

Composition Component -- Long Session

Student Directions:

You may use a dictionary during Sessions 1 and 2.

Session 1: This session will be approximately 45 minutes long. During this session, you should

• plan what you are going to write (take notes or make an outline if you like), and
• write a first draft on the paper provided by your teacher.

If you have not finished your rough draft by the end of Session 1, you should be close to finishing. Most of your time during Session 2 should be spent revising your draft and producing your final composition.

Session 2: You will have another 45 minutes for this session. During this time, make revisions that improve your composition, and write your final composition on the pages that follow in this test booklet. When you revise your draft, keep in mind the things the scorer will be looking for in your composition (see below).

Scoring Guidelines

Your composition will be given two scores.

The first score will be for your ideas and how well you develop them. This first score will be based on the following criteria:

• clarity of focus,
• organization,
• use of logically-related ideas to develop the topic,
• use of supporting detail, and
• effectiveness of language (for example, tone and word choice).

The second score will be based on your correct use of standard English writing conventions, including:

• grammar and usage, and
• capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

After you have written your first draft, these are things you should check, and improve if necessary, as you write your final composition.

Reading Passage:

Many parents, teachers, and members of your community are in favor of requiring students at your school to wear uniforms. Many of these people think that if all students wear uniforms, they will study more and fight less. There are a number of students, however, who feel that uniforms will take away their chance to express their individuality. You have been chosen to be a member of a study group to investigate this issue and make a recommendation to the School Committee. Your recommendation will influence whether or not the students in your school will wear school uniforms.

Writing Prompt:

Write the first draft of your composition on the paper provided by your teacher. You have the remainder of Session 1 to complete your draft. You may wish to refer to the Student Directions and Scoring Guidelines as you write.

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