Questions forReading Selection One
For Better of For Worse
by Lynn Johnston
1.In comic strip 1, frame 4, the cartoonist exaggerates Mom’s reaction in order to show that she
A.has great plans for the holidays
B.resents having tidied the house
C.expects to be criticizing Michael again
D.looks forward to Michael’s homecoming
2.In comic strip 2, frame 4, the cartoonist’s close-up of Michael serves to
A.stress the children’s excitement
B.emphasize the reality of his experience
C.illustrate how much he has been missed
D.contrast with the man who gave him a ride
3.That the mother suggests a shower and shave for Michael (comic strip 3, frame 2) implies that she is
A.concerned for his well-being
B.bewildered by his experience
C.anxious about his personal hygiene
D.disappointed that she hadn’t recognized him
4.In comic strip 4, frame 4, when Michael says, “Hey, Mom! – When you haven’t seen kids for a while, they sure change, don’t they!!!” the cartoonist creates humor by using a literary technique known as
A.irony
B.flashback
C.exaggeration
D.foreshadowing
5.The mother perceives that her relationship with her son Michael is changing. This change is suggested most strongly in the statement
A.“And I can’t wait!” (comic strip 1, frame 4)
B.“He’s looked like that for 6 weeks?!” (comic strip 3, frame 4)
C. “I can’t believe how he looks! I didn’t expect Michael to come home looking like that”
(comic strip 4, frame 2)
D.“When he left home, he was a typical clean-cut teenager… but now –”
(comic strip 4, frame 3)
6.Which statement best summarizes comic strip 5?
A.Friendship fades as people change.
B.Relationships are threatened by change
C.Appearances reflect personality change
D.Affection overshadows the effects of change
7.These five comic strips are effective mainly because the
A.dialogue is personal
B.drawings are realistic
C.family’s reactions are intolerant
D.family situations are recognizable
Questions forReading Selection One
My Left Foot
by Christy Brown
8.In the context of the opening paragraph, Christy Brown’s description of himself as “a tense, silent, great-eyed creature” (lines 3-4) refers mainly to his
A.fatigue
B.resentment
C.withdrawal
D.nervousness
9.When Christy says that he discovered ‘a new way to communicate” (line 44), he means that he discovered the
A.joy of family discussions
B.freedom from dependence
C.pleasure of conversation with friends
D.ability to express himself in another manner
10.This excerpt best illustrates the idea that
A.disabilities are easily overcome
B.success requires determination and support
C.people respond to each other in many ways
D.personal commitment may result in loneliness
11.Christy is best described as being a person who becomes
A.happy and carefree
B.quiet and restrained
C.accepting and purposeful
D.considerate and forgiving
12.The quotation that indicates the turning point for Christy is
A.“It works!” I managed to exclaim, and I could feel my face hot with excitement (line 31)
B.“There was no sweating or shaking this time. I did it quite smoothly” (line 42)
C. “Slowly I began to lose my early depression”(line 66)
D.“thinking it would give me less time to become unhappy” (line 70)
Questions forReading Selection Three
How to Survive Fad Fadeout
fromZillions Magazine
13.This article suggests that a “fad” is best defined as a craze that
A.everyone finds appealing at the same time
B.some people follow temporarily
C.everyone is required to follow
D.entertainers adopt briefly
14.The term “savvy” as it is used in line 12, means
A.bored
B.confused
C.interested
D.knowledgeable
15.According to a psychologist (lines 55-56), kids who feel “pressured to follow fads” are trying mainly to
A.get attention
B.become popular
C.understand themselves
D.show off their spending power
16.The article concludes that the best way to avoid being controlled by fads is to
A.buy at a discount store
B.recognize our individual style
C.check the popularity of the fads
D.refrain from buying what the “in” crowd buys
17.The main purpose of this article is to
A.offer information to teenagers
B.describe school life for teenagers
C. offer financial advice for teenagers
D.present entertaining stories for teenagers
Questions forReading Selection Four
Ex-Basketball Player
by John Updike
18.The second stanza suggests that in Flick’s imagination, the “idiot pumps” (line 7)
A.customers
B.old friends
C.cheering friends
D.basketball players
19.The image that best suggests Flick’s ability as a basketball player is
A.“Flick stands tall among the idiot pumps” (line 7)
B.“Their rubber elbows hanging loose and low” (line 9)
C.“His hands were like wild birds” (line 18)
D.“It makes not difference to the lug wrench, though” (line 24)
20.The line that most clearly reveals that Flick was a star basketball player is
A.“Once Flick played for the high-school team, the Wizards” (line 13)
B.“A country record still” (line 16)
C.“But most of us remember anyway” (line 22)
D.“bright applauding tiers” (line 29)
21.“The ball loved Flick” (line 16) is an example of
A.personification
B.hyperbole
C.metaphor
D.simile
22.In the content of lines 19-24, the statement “As a gag, he dribbles an inner tube” (line 21) suggests that Flick
A.is lazy
B.is incompetent
C. is a natural performer
D.relies on his basketball skills to do his job well
23.In the last stanza, Flick’s behaviour suggest that he is
A.preoccupied
B.conceited
C. sociable
D.fearful
Questions forReading Selection Five
The Scream
by Diana J. Wieler
24.The reason that Eliza fears an “empty room that didn’t have any desks” (line 26) is that she
A.feels threatened by an open space
B.will be closer to the teacher
C.dislikes sitting on the floor
D.does not want to exercise
25.The statements “Eliza flinched but pretended she didn’t hear. She had practice at pretending like that”(line 28-29) suggest that Eliza was
A.attempting to be superior
B.trying to hide her feelings
C.afraid of having to perform
D.preoccupied with her homework
26.When Mrs. Draginda says “I told you grade sevens were inhibited” (line 82), she means that grade seven students are
A.rude
B.unruly
C.old-fashioned
D.self-conscious
27.When Mrs. Draginda asks for “a good primal scream” (line 84), she means that she wants a scream that is
A.shrill
B.hesitant
C.aggressive
D.distracting
28.The power of Eliza’s scream reveals
A.her fear of Mrs. Draginda
B.her delight in self-expression
C. the intensity of her inner feelings
D.her need to impress her classmates
29.“The teacher stopped talking, but her eyes held Eliza’s for a long moment. For the first time, they didn’t look cold” (lines 109-110). At this moment, Eliza realizes that Mrs. Draginda
A.doubts Eliza’s talents
B.feels pity for Eliza’s shyness
C. fears that Eliza will control the class
D.understands what Eliza has experienced
30.When Eliza overhears the fragments “’Did you ever?’” and “’Who would’ve thought…’” (line 114), she realizes that her classmates now regard her with
A.awe
B.scorn
C. kindness
D.apprehension
Poetry and Figurative Language – Match the literal sentence in the first column with the figurative sentences in the second column. Be Careful! There are more choices in the second column. Mark the appropriate letter on your scantron.
Grade 8 English Language Arts Final Exam 1 Response Booklet
Grade 8 English Language Arts Final Exam 1 Response Booklet
31. It made him cross to think about it.
32. He compared the little he had done with the
much still unfinished.
33. He turned around as though it were hard to do
and exaggerated every movement.
A. He compared the insignificant white-washed
streak with the far-reaching continent of
unwhite-washed fence.
B. The boys would be going on all sorts of
delicious expeditions.
C. The very thought of it burned him like fire.
D. He rounded – too ponderously and with
laborious pomp and circumstance.
Grade 8 English Language Arts Final Exam 1 Response Booklet
Identify the figure of speech in each of the following questions:
34.An example of alliteration is:
A.“Across the lonely beach we flit”
B.“The tempest rushes through the sky”
C.“I see the close-reefed vessels fly”
D.“The wild wind raves, the tide runs high”
35.An example of a simile is
A.“As up and down the beach we flit”
B.“As fast we flit along the beach”
C.“The wild waves reach their hands for it”
D.“Clouds…like silent ghosts in misty shrouds”
36.An example of personification is
A.“One little sandpiper and I”
B.“For are we not God’s children both”
C.“Above our heads the sullen clouds”
D.“The scattered driftwood, bleached and dry”
37.An example of a simile can be found in
A.“Through the transparent parts you can see their guts”
B.“Their feet are round and roll on diagrams”
C.“they all hiss as they glide, like inches, down the marked tapes”
D.“Those soft, shapes, shadowy inside…”
Read the following poem “The Rainbow” and answer questions 38-42.
Grade 8 English Language Arts Final Exam 1 Response Booklet
The Rainbow
Rainbows are lovely things
The bird, that shakes a cold, wet wing
Chatters with ecstasy
But has no breath to sing:
No wonder, when the air
Has a double – rainbow there!
Look, there’s a rainbow now!
See how that lovely rainbow throws
Her jewelled arm around
This world, when the rain goes!
And how I wish the rain
Would come again and again!
Grade 8 English Language Arts Final Exam 1 Response Booklet
38.Which of the following pairs of phrases are examples of alliteration?
A.“lovely things” “lovely rainbow”
B.“rainbow there!” “a rainbow now!”
C.“with ecstasy” “no breath”
D.“wet wing” “arm around”
39.The bird in the poem cannot sing because
A.it is chattering in the cold
B.the rainbow’s beauty is stunning
C.the rain makes it miserable
D.it has no reason to sing
40.The two figures of speech in line 3 of stanza 2 are
A.simile, metaphor
B.personification, simile
C.personification, metaphor
D.simile, alliteration
41.The author wishes the rain would come again because
A.the air would have a double-rainbow
B.he likes the sound of the rain
C.a rainbow appears when the rain stops
D.he feels the rain is refreshing
42.The mood of the poem is
A.amusing
B.wistful
C.joyful
D.wondering
VISUAL COMPREHENSION
Examine the cartoon below and answer questions 43-45
43.The OVERALL message of the cartoon is that teenagers
A.speak a unique language
B.live a different lifestyle
C.confuse their parents
D.hold different opinions
44.The parents are requesting assistance because they are
A.anxious about their child’s welfare
B.interested in improving themselves
C.concerned with family communication
D.frustrated by the courses offered
45.Teenagese is a course in
A.a foreign language
B.the teenage slang
C.surviving parenthood
D.handling teenagers
BASIC SKILLS
Proofread the following paragraph and identify the errors.
1) Mother was a trim little woman. 2) Even shorter than my father. 3) Her eyes were big
and blue her pink and white face round and smiling. 4) She had tiny hands and feet and a
quick energetic way of walking that gave her tiny figure a look of eager importance. 5)
She looked far to young to be the mother of three children before we moved to Canada. 6)
The decision to leave England hadn’t been either sudden or easy. 7) All our relatives and
friends were their. 8) Our ancestors, who now slept under the big Oaks in the old
churchyard, had walked on the narrow cobbled streets and had lived their lives in the stone
houses that stood companionably side by side. 9) Dad, however, had never really liked the
elbow-to-elbow way of living. 10) As soon as he could he departted for the farm at castle
hill. 11) There were five houses there. 12) But they were surrounded by feilds and we had
a feeling of space. 13) The field, of course, were small, and badly in need of fertilizer, but
my father seemed content with them until the summer before Jack was born.
46.The sentence that is incomplete is
A.1
B.2
C.6
D.11
47.A homonym error is found in sentence
A.2
B.4
C.5
D.8
48.A punctuation error is found in sentence
A.4
B.6
C.7
D.10
49.A spelling error is found in sentence
A.4
B.8
C.12
D.13
50.Capitalization errors are found in sentence
A.2
B.6
C.9
D.10
51.A subject-verb agreement error is found in sentence
A.3
B.7
C.9
D.13
52.The sentence that is run-on is
A.3
B.4
C.10
D.13
53.A homonym error is found in sentence
A.3
B.7
C.9
D.11
54.A capitalization error is found in sentence
A.7
B.8
C.12
D.13
55.A spelling error is found in sentence
A.2
B.6
C.10
D.11
Grade 8 English Language Arts Final Exam 1 Response Booklet