Massachusetts English Proficiency Assessment Locator Test Reading/Writing Grade Span 7–8 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 in the space provided on your Locator Test Answer Sheet at the end of this test booklet. Reading DIRECTIONS This session contains three passages and thirteen multiple-choice questions. Mark your answers to these questions in the spaces provided on your Locator Test Answer Sheet at the end of this test booklet. Many people love chocolate cake. The speaker in this poem, however, really loves chocolate cake. Read the poem. Then answer the questions that follow. The Chocolate Cake by William Jay Smith Mother decided once to bake A huge delicious chocolate cake. How nice of Mother to prepare it! I asked my friends to come and share it. 5 They said they would, but they were late, And so I had to sit and wait. Their forks were laid out on the table, And round the cake each empty chair Sat in gloomy silence there 10 Until at last I thought I might Dare to take a little bite. And so I did, and then another . . . And moments later, still another . . . Then when my friends knocked at the door, 15 The cake that was was there no more. “The Chocolate Cake” by William Jay Smith, from Food Fight. Copyright © 1996 by William Jay Smith. Reprinted by permission of Michael J. Rosen. 1 In line 2, what does the word delicious mean? A. enormous B. tasty C. warm D. terrible 2 In line 3, what does the word prepare mean? A. eat B. think C. make D. lose 3 Based on the poem, how does the speaker feel in the first three lines? A. friendly B. lonely C. excited D. sad 4 According to the poem, who ate the cake? A. the speaker B. the mother C. the friends D. the dog This is a story from Vietnam. It is about a boy named Yang and a girl named Chun-se, who fall in love. Read the story. Then answer the questions that follow. Basket of Love adapted by Phillis Gershator [Illustration of Vietnamese boy and girl] 1 WHEN YANG SAW Chun-se threshing rice, swinging the stalks of grain against a log, he fell in love. 2 He’d pass by her house on one errand or another, until one morning he felt courageous enough to talk to her. 3 “I have so many fish in my rice field,” he said. “You’re welcome to go fishing there whenever you wish.” 4 “Thank you,” she answered politely, thinking, What a nice young man! 5 That same day she took her net and scooped up fish from his rice paddy.* Each time she scooped, she tipped the net into her bamboo basket until it was filled to the brim with fish. Then she grilled the fish over a fire. 6 “I have enough for two,” Chun-se told Yang, and she offered him grilled fish and a basket of sticky rice. 7 “Tomorrow I’m going into the hills to herd cattle,” he told her. “I’ll take this feast along with me.” 8 In the morning, Chun-se thought about Yang up in the hills, eating his grilled fish and sticky rice. What will he drink? she wondered. I hope he remembered to take something to drink with his fish and rice. 9 She put a jug of rice wine in her basket and walked into the hills where Yang guarded his grazing cattle. 10 Chun-se and Yang waved to each other. 11 “I brought you something to drink,” Chun-se said. 12 She sat down on the grass with him. They talked and sang — and forgot about the cattle. 13 The cattle grew restless and ran back down the hill, tromping through Yang’s rice field. 14 At last Yang tore his eyes from Chun-se’s face and looked around. “Where are the cattle?” he cried. 15 When they caught up with the cattle rolling about in the flooded rice field, Yang could hardly believe his eyes. All his rice seedlings were crushed and broken! 16 Yang was beside himself with worry. No rice crop! he thought in desperation. What will I do now? 17 Chun-se’s family field was crowded with seedlings. She gently plucked some for Yang and placed them in a bamboo basket. There were not enough seedlings in the basket to replant his whole paddy, but it was a gift of caring — and love. 18 Miraculously, the crop Yang harvested in the fall was bigger and better than ever before. Golden stalks, heavy with grain, filled his drying racks. He had so much grain to dry, he needed a pole ladder to reach its topmost rungs. 19 Yang and Chun-se were married the next spring. And they were so happy together that other Dong girls were inspired to imitate Chun-se by sending the boys they loved a basket of rice seedlings. 20 And so it went, generation after generation. At the beginning of the third month of the lunar calendar, the girls offered baskets of seedlings to the boys. If there were no rice seedlings, scallions and garlic sprouts would do, for they were also tender and green, like young love. *rice paddy — wet land where rice is grown “Basket of Love” adapted by Phillis Gershator, from Cricket magazine, February 2003. Text copyright © 2003 by Phillis Gershator. Reprinted by permission of Cricket magazine. Illustration copyright © 2003 by YongSheng Xuan. Reprinted by permission of Cricket magazine. 5 Paragraph 2 states that Yang “felt courageous enough to talk to” Chun-se. The word courageous means A. brave. B. shy. C. hungry. D. upset. 6 In paragraph 16, why is Yang worried? A. His cattle ran away. B. The rice was too heavy to carry. C. His rice field was ruined. D. The cattle scared the fish away. 7 Which word best describes Chun-se? A. kind B. restless C. worried D. careful 8 Paragraph 19 says that other girls were “inspired to imitate” Chun-se. This means that they wanted to A. act like Chun-se. B. be friends with Chun-se. C. grow rice for Chun-se. D. catch fish for Chun-se. 9 Based on the story, girls offer baskets of seedlings to show A. sadness. B. love. C. anger. D. humor. To the author, life is a series of poetic moments. Read the passage to see how ordinary things inspire the author. Then answer the questions that follow. I Was Sitting at Lunch by Kalli Dakos 1 I was sitting at lunch with a group of students when Tony looked down at his sandwich and yelled, “Someone took a bite out of my peanut butter and potato chips sandwich and it wasn’t me!” 2 I was a tired teacher that day and didn’t want to deal with problems, but the poet inside of me began to bubble up in excitement. There was a story here, a mystery, and I had to check it out. We never did figure out where that bite went, but together we wrote the poem “Who Took a Bite Out of Tony’s Sandwich?” And later that week I tried my first peanut butter and potato chips sandwich. 3 It’s the poet inside of me who knows how to live. It’s the poet inside of me who is wide awake, and ready to embrace the beauty, the challenges, and the mysteries in life. It’s the poet inside of me who celebrates living on a daily basis, and finds extraordinary joys in very ordinary moments. 4 Take pencils, for example. Who would think there might be a gold mine of writing possibilities in plain old pencils? But pencils, like the one I found in my driveway, have stories too, and some of them are tragic: Under a car squished out flat awful to end life like that. 5 Or the poor pencil that ended up in the toilet. My pencil is a mess, Because I heard it drop, Into the toilet With a plip, plip, plop! 6 If I weren’t a poet, I would have missed the little girl who had glued a rainbow of colored yarn to the top of her pencil so it would be as pretty as the fancy ones her friends had purchased in the stores, and I would have definitely missed the problem that the bright yellow five-foot styrofoam pencil had: I may be pretty; I may be smart. But I am a pencil without a part. I may be lovely; I may be bright, But I’m a pencil that just can’t write. 7 If there is a gold mine of poetry in pencils, then there must be buried treasures all around us: in the book bags we lug to school, the snowflakes that fall, the trees outside classroom windows, the games we play in gym, the stories we tell at lunch, and the secrets we hide in our hearts. 8 As I write this letter, I am looking outside my study window at the bank of my river. A man is throwing a ball to a dog, and by accident, he throws it in the water. The dog runs to the water’s edge, stops, and looks at the ball floating away. I watch in awe. Will the dog jump in the water or not? A strange thought crosses my mind—at least he doesn’t have to worry about a bathing suit. 9 The water is cold, but the dog makes the courageous choice and jumps in. He paddles to the ball and brings it back to the owner, ready to play the game again. 10 I begin to write my next poem: 11 “Dogs Don’t Have to Wear Bathing Suits” “I Was Sitting at Lunch” by Kalli Dakos, from Seeing the Blue Between: Advice and Inspiration for Young Poets. Copyright © 2002 by Kalli Dakos. Reprinted by permission of the author. 10 What is the main idea of the passage? A. Poems are difficult to write. B. Poetry can be written about anything. C. Poetry can be written by adults only. D. Poems should be about beautiful things. 11 In paragraph 3, the word embrace means A. welcome. B. create. C. avoid. D. hide. 12 In paragraph 4, the author uses the phrase “a gold mine of writing possibilities.” What does she mean by that? A. many good ideas for writing B. ways to get rich by writing C. places to buy books about writing D. tools to use when writing 13 Based on the passage, why was the author excited that someone took a bite from Tony’s sandwich? A. She was afraid that someone would get sick. B. She thought that it was a good idea for a poem. C. She thought that it would cause problems. D. She was upset that someone would do that. Writing DIRECTIONS This session contains twelve multiple-choice questions. Mark your answers to these questions in the spaces provided on your Locator Test Answer Sheet at the end of this test booklet. 1 Choose the word that correctly completes the sentence. The students came from many _________ . A. country B. countrys C. countries D. countryes 2 Which sentence is written correctly? A. After dinner Karen, went for an evening walk. B. After, dinner Karen went for an evening walk. C. After dinner, Karen went for an evening walk. D. After dinner Karen went, for an evening walk. 3 Choose the word that correctly completes the sentence. _____ hair is red. A. Paco B. Pacos C. Paco’s D. Pacos’ 4 Which sentence(s) is written correctly? A. We looked for the cat it was hiding under the bed. B. We looked for the cat. It was hiding under the bed. C. We looked for the cat it was hiding. Under the bed. D. We looked for the cat it. Was hiding under the bed. 5 Choose the word that correctly completes the sentence. We studied the book and _____ author. A. our B. its C. their D. my 6 Which sentence is written correctly? A. At the end of the session, the president signed the bill into law. B. At the end of the session the president, signed the bill into law. C. At the end, of the session the president signed the bill into law. D. At the end of the session the president signed, the bill into law. 7 In which sentence are quotation marks used correctly? A. “There’s a fly in my soup!” she screamed. B. There’s a fly in my soup! “she screamed.” C. “There’s a fly in my soup! she” screamed. D. “There’s a fly in my soup! she screamed.” 8 Choose the word that correctly completes the sentence. In the early 1900s, many ____ in the United States fought for the right to vote. A. woman B. women C. womans D. womens You are about to read text that contains errors. The questions that follow the text will ask you to correct these errors. Roses 1 Roses are old flowers. The Greeks grew roses and sold them with violets and lilies. 2 They said that the name of the rose came from a beautiful woman. Named Rhodanthe. 3 Many men loved Rhodanthe. She ran from them; but they caught her. Goddess Diana got 4 angry with the men. She made Rhodanthe become a rose. She made the men become 5 thorns on the rose. 6 In Roman times, everyone wore roses. The Romans eat rose pudding and rose 7 honey. He drank rose wine. They washed with rose water. People grew 8 thousands of roses for the Emperor. The Emperor put rose petals in his bed and 9 bath. Today, we see roses in gardens and their images on dinner plates, wallpaper, 10 rugs, and clothes. 9 Which change is needed to correct the error in the underlined portion of line 2? A. They said that the name of the rose came from a beautiful woman named Rhodanthe. B. They said. That the name of the rose came from a beautiful woman named Rhodanthe. C. They said that the name of the rose came. From a beautiful woman named Rhodanthe. D. They said that the name of the rose. Came from a beautiful woman named Rhodanthe. 10 Which change is needed to correct the error in the underlined portion of line 3? A. She ran from them but; they caught her. B. She ran, from them but they caught her. C. She ran from them, but they caught her. D. She ran from them but, they caught her. 11 Which change is needed to correct the error in the underlined portion of line 6? A. eats B. ates C. ate D. eaten 12 Which change is needed to correct the error in the underlined portion of line 7? A. We B. She C. They D. It Locator Test Answer Sheet READING 1. ABCD 4. ABCD 7. ABCD 10. ABCD 13. ABCD 2. ABCD 5. ABCD 8. ABCD 11. ABCD 3. ABCD 6. ABCD 9. ABCD 12. ABCD WRITING 1. ABCD 4. ABCD 7. ABCD 10. ABCD 2. ABCD 5. ABCD 8. ABCD 11. ABCD 3. ABCD 6. ABCD 9. ABCD 12. ABCD