Massachusetts English Proficiency Assessment 
Locator Test
Reading/Writing 

Grade Span 3–4

Student Name
School Name
District Name

[Massachusetts Department of Elementary 
and Secondary Education Logo]





How to Answer
Multiple-Choice Questions

• Read all parts of each question.

• Read each of the four answer choices (A, B, C, D).

• Choose the best answer to each question.

• Mark your answer to each question by filling in the circle 
next to the best answer.



Reading

DIRECTIONS
This session contains three passages and fourteen multiple-choice questions. For each question, fill in 
the circle next to the best answer. 

Marie and her mother are moving to a new home, but Marie cannot find her cat! Read the story to find 
out what happens. Then answer the questions that follow.

Marie’s Missing Cat
by Margaret Lannamann

“Callie! Callie, where are you?” called Marie.
It was time to go. The moving truck was ready to leave. But Marie couldn’t 
find her little gray-and-white cat.
“Don’t worry,” said Mom. “Callie will be all right.”
“But Mom, who will feed her?” asked Marie. She blinked back tears. 
“Where will she sleep?”
5 Mom started the car. “The Jensons next door will find her,” she said. 
“When they do, we’ll come back and get her.”
The car began to follow the moving truck down the road. Marie pressed her 
face to the window. Soon she couldn’t see her old house anymore.
In less than an hour, Mom pulled up in front of the new house.
“Here we are,” she said.
She unlocked the front door. The moving men started to unload the truck.
10 Marie ran inside the house. She went upstairs. She stood in her empty room 
and thought about Callie.
Thud, thud. Marie could hear the men carrying things into the house. She 
went outside to help.
Soon Marie’s room was full of boxes. The moving men set up her bed.
Marie wanted to call the Jensons. She wanted to know if they had found 
Callie. But the telephone wasn’t hooked up yet.
Marie looked at all the boxes. She did not feel like unpacking. She did not 
feel like doing anything.
15 But Mom needed help. Marie took a deep breath and sat down by one of 
the boxes. The label said “Dolls and Stuffed Animals.” She opened the lid.
There was Bruno, her favorite bear, right on top. Next to Bruno was 
Mandy, her old rag doll.
All of a sudden, something in the box moved.
Marie’s heart started to race. She looked closer.
It was Callie!
20 The little cat sat up and yawned. Marie reached down and picked her up. 
“Callie, I was so worried about you,” she cried.
She rubbed the cat’s head. Callie began to purr.
“Mom!” called Marie. “Come and look!”
Mom came to the door. She saw Marie with the cat in her arms.
“Goodness!” she said. “Where did you find her?”
25 “In the box,” said Marie. She pointed to the carton. “She must have jumped in 
while we were packing.”
“And we never saw her,” said Mom. “I’m glad you opened that box right 
away.”
Marie let out a long, happy breath. “Me too,” she said.
And she kissed Callie on top of her soft gray head. 

“Marie’s Missing Cat” by Margaret Lannamann, from U.S. Kids. Copyright © 1997 by Children’s Better Health Institute, The 
Saturday Evening Post Society, Inc. Illustration copyright © 2004 by Measured Progress.

[Image of a girl and woman with a cat and some boxes.]


1
Read the sentence from paragraph 9 in the 
box below.

The moving men started to unload the truck.

What does unload mean?

A. drive
B. park
C. unlock
D. empty


2
Read the sentence from paragraph 12 in the 
box below.

The moving men set up her bed.

What does set up mean?

A. put together 
B. talked about
C. broke down
D. ran over


3
According to the story, why did Marie decide 
not to call the Jensons?  

A. She did not think that they were home.
B. The telephone was not working. 
C. Her mother told her not to call them.
D. They told her that they would call her.


4
Read the sentence from paragraph 18 in the 
box below.

Marie’s heart started to race.

What does the word race mean?

A. turn on
B. fall back
C. speed up
D. move forward


5
In the story, who is Callie?

A. the mother
B. the bear
C. the neighbor
D. the cat



People all over the world depend on farmers for food. Read the passage below to learn more about what 
farmers do. Then answer the questions that follow.

Farmers
by Dee Ready

Farmers
1 Farmers work many hours so that people will have food. Some farmers grow crops 
of fruits, vegetables, and grains. Other farmers raise livestock such as cows, pigs, 
and chickens.

What Farmers Do
2 Some farmers plow the ground and plant seeds. Crops grow from the seeds. Other 
farmers raise cows and sell the milk and meat. Some farmers grow fruits.

Tools Farmers Use
3 Farmers use many different tools. Crop farmers use machinery to plant and harvest 
crops. Dairy farmers use machines to milk their cows. All farmers use small tools 
such as shovels and rakes.

Farmers and School
4 Farmers need to know how to use their land well. Many farmers study at 
agricultural college. They study plants and animals. They learn how to make 
money from their farm work.

People Who Help Farmers
5 Livestock farmers need veterinarians. A vet helps keep the farmer’s animals 
healthy. Farmers depend on business people. The business people buy the crops or 
animals and sell them.

Farmers Help Others
6 Without farmers, there would not be any food. Farmers grow a lot of the food that 
people eat. Farmers do not just help the people in their own communities. They 
help people all around the world.


Hands On: Plant and Grow Beans
7 Farmers grow food for everyone in the world. You can grow crops, too. All you 
need are seeds, soil, water, and sunshine.

How to Grow Your Own Crop
1 Fill paper cups about half full with dark, moist soil.
2 Use your finger to make a hole. Put the hole in the center of the soil in 
each cup.
3 Plant one bean seed in each of the holes.
4 Cover the seeds with soil. Sprinkle the soil with water.
5 Put the cups where they will get plenty of sun. Water your seeds a little 
each day.


Farmers by Dee Ready. Copyright © 1997 by Capstone Press. Reprinted by permission of Capstone Press. 


6
Based on the passage, dairy farmers work 
mostly with

A. beans. 
B. seeds. 
C. pigs. 
D. cows. 


7
Based on the passage, what is a tool?

A. a kind of livestock  
B. a crop that farmers grow 
C. a thing that is used for work 
D. a building on a farm 


8
A veterinarian is a kind of

A. teacher. 
B. livestock. 
C. farmer. 
D. doctor.


9
Based on the passage, what is one way that 
business people help farmers? 

A. by raising plants 
B. by buying crops 
C. by watching animals 
D. by studying the land 



10
Farming is a very important job. Which part 
of the passage best supports this statement?

A. What Farmers Do 
B. Tools Farmers Use 
C. Farmers and School 
D. Farmers Help Others 



Did you ever wonder how spiders spin their webs? Read this passage. Then answer the questions that follow.

Spinning a Web
by Richard Platt

Spinning a new web is hard work for me, but it’s fun to watch for you. You’ll 
see me at my busiest early on a misty fall morning in a field or park. I am an 
orb-web spider and my web is a clever trap. “Orb” means a ring or circle, which 
describes my web’s shape. The fine silk threads are coated with sticky goo to 
snare my insect food. Dewdrops on my web help you to see the threads.

1. To make my web I fix the first thread between two twigs. I tighten the 
thread and spin a looser one below. From its middle, I lower myself down.
2. I fix the thread that lowered me to a twig below. Then I run up and down, 
adding to the web to make a kind of frame.
3. Next, I spin threads from the center, out to the edges. These look like the 
spokes of a wheel.
4. I climb from spoke to spoke, laying a spiral that adds strength. Then I lay 
another spiral coated with gluey drops to make the web sticky.

If webs lasted forever, it would be an easy life, but lots of things spoil them. 
Rain, wind, and animals break webs. Dust takes the stickiness away. So each day, 
I have to start building and repairing my web again! Luckily, not all of my effort 
is wasted. I can eat up the threads and recycle them into fresh silk, which I spin 
from the spinnerets on my back.
But please don’t touch our webs unless you are a fly. Then you are VERY 
welcome!

“Spinning a Web” by Richard Platt, from Spiders’ Secrets. Copyright © 2002 by Dorling Kindersley Limited, London. Reprinted by permission of Dorling Kindersley Limited Publishing. 


11
Read the sentence in the box below. 

The fine silk threads are coated with sticky 
goo to snare my insect food.

What does the word snare mean? 

A. break 
B. hide 
C. spin 
D. catch 


12
In which step does the spider build the web’s 
frame? 

A. Step 1 
B. Step 2 
C. Step 3 
D. Step 4 


13
Read the sentence in the box below. 

If webs lasted forever, it would be an easy 
life, but lots of things spoil them.

What does the word spoil mean? 

A. begin 
B. destroy 
C. make 
D. see 


14
According to the passage, how often does 
an orb-web spider repair its web? 

A. every day  
B. every week 
C. every summer 
D. every year  



Writing

DIRECTIONS
This session contains twelve multiple-choice questions. For each question, fill in the circle next to the 
best answer.


1
Which sentence is correct?

A. Where is your sister. 
B. Where is your sister? 
C. Where is your sister, 
D. Where is your sister! 


2
Which word in this sentence should begin 
with a capital letter? 

the school was closed on weekends. 

A. the 
B. school 
C. closed 
D. weekends 


3
Which word correctly completes the 
sentence?

One of my friends _____ named Henry.

A. is 
B. are 
C. were 
D. am 


4
Which sentence has a spelling mistake?

A. We mayd cards in class. 
B. Father has a new hat. 
C. The boy saw the train. 
D. I went to the party. 


5
Which word in this sentence should begin 
with a capital letter?

I live close to boston.

A. live 
B. close 
C. to 
D. boston 


6
Which sentence has a spelling mistake?

A. My birthday is next week. 
B. Jenny likes her new school. 
C. I saw a pretty flower. 
D. He tried to cacht the ball. 


7
Which word correctly completes the sentence 
below? 

The two boys and I _____ leaving. 

A. am  
B. is  
C. are  
D. was  


8
Which sentence is correct?

A. Julia, Chris, and Felipe went to the park. 
B. Julia, Chris, and, Felipe went to the park. 
C. Julia Chris, and Felipe, went to the park. 
D. Julia Chris and Felipe, went, to the park. 


9
Which sentence has a spelling mistake?

A. The girls and I like the park. 
B. We bothe want to go. 
C. We can play games there. 
D. It is always fun. 


10
Read the sentence in the box below.  
 
Amy lives in Worcester on chestnut Street.

Which is the correct way to write the sentence?

A. Amy lives in worcester on Chestnut Street.
B. Amy lives in worcester on chestnut Street.
C. Amy Lives in Worcester on Chestnut Street.
D. Amy lives in Worcester on Chestnut Street.


11
Which is not a complete sentence?

A. Kai visits his brother every year.
B. Even in the middle of winter.
C. Hot lava comes out of the volcanoes.
D. Amy hopes to visit Hawaii some day.


12
Read the sentence in the box below. 

Their are volcanoes on some of them.    

Which is the correct way to write the 
underlined part of the sentence?

A. They’re
B. They are
C. There are
D. Theyre