8th Grade ELA Cumulative Exam

Read the excerpt from "Home Front Diary." Jimmy Simmons stopped by today to tell me that he had enlisted in the army. He asked me if I would write to him, and I said I would. I told him that I've been writing to my Uncle Arthur and Susan's cousin John for about a year, and as an experienced correspondent I had some advice about all the censorship. "Don't write down any information about your location or the number of soldiers in your unit because the censors will cut all of that away," I said. "In my experience, loose lips not only sink ships, they make letters look like snowflake decorations!" Well, he belly laughed over that one. How is the author's perspective different from Jimmy's?

The author has experience writing to soldiers but Jimmy does not.

Read the excerpt from "Flight into Yesterday." This leg was also the most dangerous of the entire trip. Howland, 2,600 miles to the east, was a tiny speck of land in the middle of the vast Pacific. It would take all of her skill as a pilot and Fred's as a navigator to find the island. But danger did not worry her. She knew that flying carried risks. She faced them and accepted them. What mattered was setting herself a challenge and meeting it. What mattered was showing that women could do what men could do and encouraging other women to do what they were capable of. That was why she was flying over the Pacific, looking for a speck of land. Fame was never her goal. The important thing was to do what she had set out to do and to do it as well as she knew how. She had been that way all her life. Amelia Earhart, world-famous flier, was very much like the young girl who once lived in Atchison, Kansas. What best describes the author's purpose?

The author wants readers to understand why Earhart would go on such a dangerous trip.

Read the sentence. Never trust a smiling vampire. Which statement correctly describes the verb function in this sentence?

The word "smiling" is a verb that functions as an adjective.

Read the excerpt from The Diary of Anne Frank. Mr. Frank. First let us take off some of these clothes. (They all start to take off garment after garment. On each of their coats, sweaters, blouses, suits, dresses, is another yellow Star of David. Mr. and Mrs. Frank are underdressed quite simply. The others wear several things, sweaters, extra dresses, bathrobes, aprons, nightgowns, etc.) Why did Anne and her sister most likely wear so many layers of clothing?

They could bring into hiding only what they could carry.

Read the excerpt from "Raymond's Run. "So they just stand there and Gretchen shifts from one leg to the other and so do they. Then Gretchen puts her hands on her hips and is about to say something with her freckle-face self but doesn't. Then she walks around me looking me up and down but keeps walking up Broadway, and her sidekicks follow her. Based on this excerpt, what conclusion can the reader make about the girls?

They pretend to be tougher and stronger than they are.

Which sentence is in the subjunctive mood?

If I were braver, I would learn to walk a tightrope.

Which sentence is in the subjunctive mood?

If I weren't so tired, I'd go out tonight.

Read the following sentence. The newspaper reporter was dispatched to cover the breaking news story taking place in Seattle, Washington. Which answer choice best describes the connotation of dispatched?

It contains a neutral connotation.

Read the excerpt from "Flight into Yesterday." Amelia pushed both throttles forward. The plane moved slowly, heavy with fuel for the long ocean flight that lay ahead. At last it began to gather speed. It went fast and faster, hurtling toward the cliff. Almost at the very edge she felt it leave the ground. They were safely off, flying low over the ocean, but flying. Now she could concentrate on gaining altitude. She could start picking out the islands that would serve as landmarks for the early part of the flight. How does this excerpt help develop the central idea of the passage?

It explains the process of flying the plane.

Read this excerpt from "The Medicine Bag." "He carefully prepared for his quest with a purifying sweat bath, and then he went alone to a high butte top to fast and pray. After three days he received his sacred dream—in which he found, after long searching, the white man's iron. He did not understand his vision of finding something belonging to the white people, for in that time they were the enemy. When he came down from the butte to cleanse himself at the stream below, he found the remains of a campfire and the broken shell of an iron kettle. This was a sign that reinforced his dream. He took a piece of the iron for his medicine bag, which he had made of elk skin years before, to prepare for his quest. "He returned to his village, where he told his dream to the wise old men of the tribe. They gave him the name Iron Shell, but neither did they understand the meaning of the dream. The first Iron Shell kept the piece of iron with him at all times and believed it gave him protection from the evils of those unhappy days. "Then a terrible thing happened to Iron Shell. He and several other young men were taken from their homes by the soldiers and sent far away to a white man's boarding school. He was angry and lonesome for his parents and the young girl he had wed before he was taken away. At first Iron Shell resisted the teacher's attempts to change him, and he did not try to learn. One day it was his turn to work in the school's blacksmith shop. As he walked into the place, he knew that his medicine had brought him there to learn and work with the white man's iron. "Iron Shell became a blacksmith and worked at the trade when he returned to the reservation. All of his life he treasured the medicine bag." What is symbolic about the piece of the iron that Iron Shell keeps in his medicine bag?

It represents a mixing of two cultures.

Read the paragraph from Sasha's personal narrative. 1. In 6th grade, I sang in the school choir, and we often traveled to different places for our performances. 2. I didn't mind traveling short distances, but I was nervous about going out-of-town. 3. Going out-of-town meant being away from home for a few days. 4. I had never been away from home before. 5. Before the first out-of-town trip, she sat me down and shared her own story about leaving home for the first time. Which is the best sentence to add between sentence 4 and sentence 5?

Luckily, Mrs. Greene, the choir director, understood my nervousness.

Read the excerpt from "Mary Louise" by Edith van Dyne. "It's positively cruel!" pouted Jennie Allen, one of a group of girls occupying a garden bench in the ample grounds of Miss Stearne's School for Girls, at Beverly. "It's worse than that; it's insulting," declared Mable Westervelt, her big dark eyes flashing indignantly. "Doesn't it seem to reflect on our characters?" timidly asked Dorothy Knerr. "Indeed it does!" asserted Sue Finley. "But here comes Mary Louise; let's ask her opinion." "Phoo! Mary Louise is only a day scholar," said Jennie. "The restriction doesn't apply to her at all." "I'd like to hear what she says, anyhow," remarked Dorothy. "Mary Louise has a way of untangling things, you know. "She's rather too officious to suit me," Mable Westervelt retorted, "and she's younger than any of us. One would think, the way she poses as monitor at this second-rate, run-down boarding school, that Mary Louise Burrows made the world." "Oh, Mable! I've never known her to pose at all," said Sue. "But, hush; she mustn't overhear us and, besides, if we want her to intercede with Miss Stearne we must not offend her." Which statement correctly describes the characterization in this excerpt?

Mary Louise is characterized in a positive way through Dorothy Knerr's words.

Which line from "Raymond's Run" best illustrates the theme "Being yourself is more important than impressing others"?

Maybe we too busy being flowers or fairies or strawberries instead of something honest and worthy of respect . . . you know . . . like being people.

Read the excerpt from Matilda by Roald Dahl. "What about something much harder, like two times four hundred and eighty-seven? Could you tell me that?" "I think so, yes," Matilda said. "Are you sure?" "Why yes, Miss Honey, I'm fairly sure." "What is it then, two times four hundred and eighty-seven?" Which statement is best supported by the dialogue?

Miss Honey is stunned by Matilda's ability to multiply high numbers.

Rowena is terribly nervous about a class discussion scheduled for the next day. She would rather not participate, but her teacher has made it clear that he is expecting every student to make a meaningful contribution to the discussion. What is the best way for Rowena to be a good participant?

Rowena should decide what about the topic is meaningful to her, and find a good time to speak up.

Read the excerpt from "Broken Chain." He asked his mother if he could have braces, like Frankie Molina, her godson, but he asked at the wrong time. She was at the kitchen table licking the envelope to the house payment. She glared up at him. "Do you think money grows on trees?" His mother clipped coupons from magazines and newspapers, kept a vegetable garden in the summer, and shopped at Penney's and Kmart. What is a theme expressed in this excerpt?

Spending money is not always an option.

Read the excerpt from "Home Front Diary." I was helping Mom clean the dishes from Sunday dinner, and Dad had the radio tuned in to "The Great Inspector" as usual. Midway through the program the announcer broke in with the news that Pearl Harbor had been attacked, and I felt my heart sink to my shoes. It was like time stopped as I stood there staring at the soap bubbles. I don't even remember how the rest of the cleanup got finished. Which word best describes the mood of this excerpt?

disbelief

Which statement best describes a difference between the poem "Ellis Island" and the essay "Thanksgiving: A Native American View" ?

The poem shows the mixed feelings of a person with mixed heritage, and the essay is from the viewpoint of a writer who identifies only as American Indian.

Which sentence from "Broken Chain" contains the most descriptive language?

"At four he decided to get it over with and started walking to Sandra's house, trudging slowly, as if he were waist-deep in water."

Read this excerpt from Anne Frank Remembered. He didn't get angry, he just shrugged and shook his head at me. "Go upstairs to my boss." He told me the room number and continued to shake his head. Determined not to let my knees tremble, I forced myself up the steps to the room where I had been directed. I knocked on the door. No one answered, so I opened it. As the door swung open, I saw a round table filled with high-ranking Nazis. Their caps were on the table, and in the middle of the table was a radio. The radio was playing an English broadcast. Right away, I recognized the BBC. All their eyes burned into me. I realized that I had accidentally witnessed them committing a crime of treason, for which the penalty was death. Which line from the passage supports the theme "People overcome their fears to follow their beliefs"?

"Determined not to let my knees tremble, I forced myself up the steps to the room where I had been directed."

Which excerpt from Matilda is an implicit detail that best demonstrates Miss Honey's concern for all her students?

"Don't worry, Lavender, you'll soon catch up," Miss Honey said, lying through her teeth.

Which quotation from Matilda by Roald Dahl shows Miss Honey's commitment to teaching?

"I myself," Miss Honey went on, "want to help you to learn as much as possible while you are in this class. That is because I know it will make things easier for you later on."

Which detail from The Diary of a Young Girl supports the idea that Anne's voice is optimistic?

"It may be damp and lopsided, but there's probably not a more comfortable hiding place in all of Amsterdam."

Which statement is the best definition of theme in a text?

A theme is a message that a story conveys about a topic.

Which excerpt best develops the central idea of The Evolution of Useful Things?

Again, it is not that form follows function but, rather, that the form of one thing follows from the failure of another thing to function as we would like.

Read the following excerpt from "Woman Who Helped Hide Anne Frank Dies at 100" by Teri Schultz. TERI SCHULTZ: Miep Gies said she did not like being called a hero. Yet, she risked her life many times over to help the Frank family during the two years they hid from the Nazis in a secret annex built into the Trading Company office in Amsterdam where she'd worked for Otto Frank almost a decade.Providing refuge to Jews, she noted later, carried a punishment of at least six months in a concentration camp. Still, the Austrian-born Dutch woman, knighted by the governments of Germany and the Netherlands, recipient of a medal from Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, always insisted she had done nothing extraordinary. Which answer best summarizes the central idea of the excerpt?

Although Miep Gies never considered herself a hero; after the war, many other people did.

What statement best describes the central conflict in this passage from The Diary of Anne Frank?

Because they are Jewish, the Franks, the Van Daans, and Mr. Dussel are in hiding to avoid being discovered by the Nazi party.

What is the most accurate statement about the purposes of the poem "Ellis Island" and the essay "Thanksgiving: A Native American View"?

Both help readers reflect on the complexity of Europeans coming to America.

Which allusion from "A Poem for My Librarian, Mrs. Long" best shows how reading fueled the speaker's imagination?

But there was a world Somewhere Out there And Mrs. Long opened that wardrobe

Read the excerpt from "Flight into Yesterday." The plane reached the end of the runway, and Amelia swung it around. Home was 7,000 miles away, on the far side of the Pacific Ocean, and she yearned to be there. But one thing at a time. At this moment her job was to get the plane safely off the ground. The runway stretching ahead was a strip carved out of the jungle. About 3,000 feet long, it ended at a cliff that dropped away into the ocean. Amelia pushed both throttles forward. The plane moved slowly, heavy with fuel for the long ocean flight that lay ahead. At last it began to gather speed. It went fast and faster, hurtling toward the cliff. Almost at the very edge she felt it leave the ground. They were safely off, flying low over the ocean, but flying. Now she could concentrate on gaining altitude. She could start picking out the islands that would serve as landmarks for the early part of the flight. Now, read a list that shows a sequence of events based on the excerpt. A. Earhart tried to identify places that could help guide her. B. The plane moved slowly because it was loaded with fuel. C. The plane moved quickly as it headed toward the cliff. D. Earhart turned the plane around on the runway. What is the correct order of events?

D, B, C, A

Which statement best expresses one theme of "Escape"?

Discovering your self identity is a challenging process.

Read the excerpt from a student's essay. From the beginning, Rainsford is an individual who enjoys the hunt and wastes no thought on the animals he kills. On the boat, Whitney expresses some empathy for the animals they hunt, while Rainsford scoffs at the notion that animals feel fear or any other emotion. In fact, Rainsford belittles Whitney, telling him that "[t]he world is made up of two classes—the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are the hunters." Which revision of the first sentence most effectively incorporates the literary term characterized?

From the onset of the story, Rainsford is characterized as an experienced hunter who feels no remorse.

Read the excerpt from "The Most Dangerous Game." A man, who had been hiding in the curtains of the bed, was standing there. "Rainsford!" screamed the general. "How in God's name did you get here?" "Swam," said Rainsford. "I found it quicker than walking through the jungle." The general sucked in his breath and smiled. "I congratulate you," he said. "You have won the game." Rainsford did not smile. "I am still a beast at bay," he said, in a low, hoarse voice. "Get ready, General Zaroff." The general made one of his deepest bows. "I see," he said. "Splendid! One of us is to furnish a repast for the hounds. The other will sleep in this very excellent bed. On guard, Rainsford." . . . He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford decided. Adrian is writing an essay about "The Most Dangerous Game." Which detail from the excerpt best supports his idea that Rainsford is unchanged and still feels that the hunter is justified in killing the hunted?

He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford decided.

Which sentence is written correctly?

Kino said that if play practice does not start on time, the director "will be mad."

Read the excerpt from We Shall Not Be Moved. In other words, the League had agreed to build a large and complex machine, to fit all its parts together, then set the whole in motion although they had never seen such a machine. Nobody had, since this was the first "general strike" in the garment trades, also the largest strike of women workers ever known in the United States until that moment. Which historical detail can best help clarify a reader's understanding of the information in the excerpt?

More than twenty thousand workers, made up of many different ethnicities, took part in the general strike.

Which excerpt from Last Lecture best supports the idea that the process of setting and pursuing goals can be rewarding?

No, I did not make it to the National Football League, but I probably got more from that dream and not accomplishing it than I got from any of the ones that I did accomplish.

In The Diary of Anne Frank, the characters feel sadness after reading the hopeful message written on the cake. Which theme does this best illustrate?

Peace is often most appreciated after it has been lost.

Read the excerpt from "Flight into Yesterday." This leg was also the most dangerous of the entire trip. Howland, 2,600 miles to the east, was a tiny speck of land in the middle of the vast Pacific. It would take all of her skill as a pilot and Fred's as a navigator to find the island. But danger did not worry her. She knew that flying carried risks. She faced them and accepted them. What mattered was setting herself a challenge and meeting it. What mattered was showing that women could do what men could do and encouraging other women to do what they were capable of. That was why she was flying over the Pacific, looking for a speck of land. Fame was never her goal. The important thing was to do what she had set out to do and to do it as well as she knew how. She had been that way all her life. Amelia Earhart, world-famous flier, was very much like the young girl who once lived in Atchison, Kansas Which detail in the excerpt supports the central idea that Amelia Earhart was a pioneer?

She wanted to show that women could do what men could do.

Which statement correctly compares Steve's journal entry and the screenplay in Monster?

The journal includes Steve writing about himself in the first person. The screenplay includes Steve writing about himself in the third person.

Read the excerpt from We Shall Not Be Moved. The union men were amazed. "There never was anything like it," one ILGWU official declared. "An equal number of men never would hold together under what these girls are enduring." What conclusion can be drawn by connecting knowledge of the historical time period with information in the text?

Women's abilities were often underestimated in the early twentieth century.

Nikolai is participating in a group discussion. Several of his peers have spoken before it is his turn, and he completely disagrees with them. Which is a positive way of responding to them?

asking his peers to explain their reasoning, listening closely, and then giving his view

Read this excerpt from "Collision Course." Now I felt like a friendless alien in this wide-open suburb. The openness of it just made me feel small and more alone. In our apartment in the Richmond District, there were always people walking around, and the neighborhood was always humming with fruit sellers, taquerias, and restaurants, especially Chinese restaurants and my favorite, dim sum bakeries. And you could rely on the street noise and interesting smells. The Geary and Clement bus lines ran late into the night and started up again early in the morning. Something was always happening. Our neighborhood was alive. It was my dream childhood. In this excerpt, the author uses descriptive language mainly to

explain many of the things he misses.

In "Home Front Diary," which are examples of activities that supported the war effort?

food rationing, letter writing, bandage making

Which can a reader learn from "Sugihara"as opposed to "Home Front Diary"?

how Jewish people were discriminated against during the war

Read the excerpt from "To Live." learning how to live without a textbook without a teacher to correct grammar to live to learn myself to live to know myself to live to be somebody who's learned how to live The speaker most likely repeats the phrase "to live" to show

how much she wants to figure out who she is in life.

Which can a reader learn from "Home Front Diary" as opposed to "Sugihara"?

how teenagers supported the war effort

Look at the public service advertisement. What type of multimedia does this PSA use to enhance its message?

images

Read the excerpt from "Gawayne." "What is it?" asked Sir Gawayne." Can I help you to perform your vow?" "Yes, you can, fair nephew Gawayne, but I will never ask you to do a thing so terrible," said King Arthur. "I am ready to do it, uncle, were it to wed the loathly lady herself." "That is what she asks, that a fair young knight should marry her. But she is too hideous and deformed; no man could make her his wife." "If that is all your grief," replied Sir Gawayne, "things shall soon be settled; I will wed this ill-favoured (favored) dame, and will be your ransom." Sir Gawayne's words in this excerpt show that he

is deeply devoted to his uncle.

Read the sentence. Carl had eaten the last piece of cake. What is the verb tense and aspect?

past perfect

Fill in the blank. My teacher heaped _______ on me for my research project about the civil rights movement.

praise

The use of both narrative and dramatic text structures in Monster is entertaining for the reader because the different structures

provide different perspectives.

What needs to be included in the middle section of a personal narrative?

some strong examples that show why the subject is important to the narrator

Read the excerpt from The Diary of Anne Frank. (Peter appears in the doorway of his room, with a saucer in his hand. He is carrying his cat.)Peter. I . . . I . . . I thought I'd better get some water for Mouschi before . . .Mr. Frank. Of course. This piece of dialogue reveals that Peter is

somewhat nervous around other people.

Look at this public service advertisement What is the purpose of this PSA?

to convince people not to litter

Read the excerpt from "Fish Cheeks." Then my father poked his chopsticks just below the fish eye and plucked out the soft meat. "Amy, your favorite," he said, offering me the tender fish cheek. I wanted to disappear. What is Amy Tan's purpose?

to entertain readers by expressing how embarrassed she felt

Read this excerpt from "Collision Course." I also didn't have words like sprawling. What I had was "bolshoy" - big in Russian. That's what this school was: spread out like a miniature town with its own buildings, streets, alleys, athletic fields, and parking lots. And everything was neatly trimmed, freshly scrubbed, or otherwise perfect. It did not resemble any school I'd ever seen in the ten years I'd been in school in the United States. There was no graffiti, no peeling paint or linoleum, no flickering fluorescent lights, no plywood covering broken windows, and no metal detector at the entrance. What is the author's purpose in this excerpt?

to provide a vivid image of the author's school settings

An author writes the following sentences and plans to use them in an informative text .Generally found at a depth of less than 150 feet, coral reefs are home to some of the most ____ forms of life in the world. Thousands of different plants and animals have been found living among them. Which word best completes the sentence for the author's purpose?

varied