Name Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments-Modified Reading Item Sampler Grade 6 ITEM SAMPLERS ARE NOT SECURE TEST MATERIALS. THIS ITEM SAMPLER TEST BOOK MAY BE COPIED OR DUPLICATED. 1 18 Point
State of Minnesota Copyright Minnesota Department of Education Roseville, MN 55113-4266
Reading Test General Directions This test contains four segments. You may take notes and highlight in this test book or use scratch paper. All answers must be marked in this test book. Read each passage, article, or poem, and answer the questions. For each question, choose the answer you think is best. This test has multiple-choice questions. Answer each question by circling your answer. The sample shows how to do this. Sample Question Answered in Test Book: In the article, what does the word sprout mean? A. To dig B. To weed C. To grow When you nish a segment of the test, stop and check your answers. Then use the sticker given to you to seal it. Once you seal a segment, you cannot go back to it. Each segment must be sealed before you move on to the next segment. 3 STOP
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Put sticker here 1 Segment 1 You will be told when to begin this segment. 5
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Reading Test Segment 1 1 Farms for Turtles Sea turtles need a special environment to reproduce and survive. This article is about how one turtle farm is helping sea turtles on Grand Cayman Island. Read the article and answer questions 1 8. The questions appear in boxes inserted in the article and at the end of the article. Some questions may ask you about certain paragraphs. The paragraphs are numbered on the left side. ITEM SAMPLER MAY BE DUPLICATED. 7
1 Farms for Turtles by Barbara Fischer 1 In the darkness of night, the green sea turtle crawls out of the ocean and drags herself along the ground sniffing the sand for just the right place to lay her eggs, all 150 of them. She finds the perfect spot and scoops a hole to lay her soft, round eggs that look like Ping-Pong balls. 2 Danger lurks everywhere. She cannot see well out of water. Unlike land turtles, sea turtles cannot tuck their heads or flippers inside their shells for protection. When the last egg is in the nest, she covers the hole with sand to keep animals and people from finding it. She leaves the ocean only to lay eggs and will not return to the nest again. When the tiny turtles hatch, they scurry to the ocean by themselves. 1. What does scoops mean in paragraph 1? A. Digs out B. Takes over C. Lifts toward 2. Which sense does a green sea turtle use to find a place to lay her eggs? A. Sight B. Touch C. Smell 3 People and animals have hunted sea turtles for so long that they are now endangered almost gone forever. But people like Kenneth Hydes, head of the Cayman Turtle Farm, care about them. This farm is south of Florida on the Grand Cayman Island. ITEM SAMPLER MAY BE DUPLICATED. 8
1 4 Imagine! A farm just for sea turtles. Instead of barns and fences, this farm has big pools everywhere for the turtles. It is a safe place for them to live and to lay eggs without fear of being hunted. Kenneth Hydes and the farm crew work hard to take care of the turtles. They make sure they have clean water to swim in and the right food to eat. There is even a man-made beach for turtles to lay their eggs. Workers gather the eggs and carefully place them in a layer of sand in a Styrofoam box. This box is put in a heated room until the eggs hatch. Mr. Hydes says that protecting the eggs this way gives the turtles a head start. 3. What do both the Cayman Turtle Farm and a natural beach provide for turtles? A. A place to find food B. A place to hide C. A place to lay eggs 4. According to paragraph 4, what do turtle eggs need to survive? A. Warmth B. Mother C. Water 5 When they are a year old, some of the turtles take part in the yearly Release Me, Cayman Style program. November 1 finds Kenneth Hydes on the Cayman Island public beach with a huge crowd. They have gathered there to help the turtles return to their ocean home. Excited children eagerly wait as a turtle is placed in their hands. They carry the turtles down to the beach and gently place them in the rippling water. Little flippers pull like oars as the turtles swim out to sea. 6 Mr. Hydes is happy when children visit the farm to learn about turtles. He sees many of these same children at the turtle releases. The best part about working on the farm, he says, is seeing the care and concern that children have for the turtles. ITEM SAMPLER MAY BE DUPLICATED. 9
1 7 You can learn more about these fascinating turtles and how to protect them by visiting an aquarium. Caring children like you could make it possible for the green sea turtles to live freely in the ocean and to lay eggs on sandy beaches in the darkness of night. 5. What does the author compare the turtles to in paragraph 5? A. Boats B. Land C. People 6. Which idea from paragraph 7 summarizes how sea turtles will survive? A. The ocean must be clean. B. People must protect them. C. Aquariums must stay open. 7. What is the main goal of the workers on the Cayman Turtle Farm? A. To keep the baby turtles for years B. To give the baby turtles to children C. To send the baby turtles out to sea ITEM SAMPLER MAY BE DUPLICATED. 10
1 Use the whole article to answer question 8. 8. Which statement from the article is an opinion? A. This farm is south of Florida on the Grand Cayman Island. B. Kenneth Hydes and the farm crew work hard to take care of the turtles. C. November 1 finds Kenneth Hydes on the Cayman Island public beach with a huge crowd. ITEM SAMPLER MAY BE DUPLICATED. 11
1 Short Paragraph Vocabulary Questions Questions 9 10 each follow a short paragraph. Read each paragraph and answer the questions. Jane had many problems with her science project. She had a hard time selecting an experiment, tried three times before her bean plants sprouted, and then had several of the plants die before she could collect all the data she needed. Her project was laden with problems from start to finish. 9. What does laden mean? A. Filled B. Broken C. Unsuccessful ITEM SAMPLER MAY BE DUPLICATED. 12
1 The author Lynne Reid Banks thought she would become an actress. She studied drama at a famous school in London. She studied acting as well as singing and dancing. Then, she spent five years working in theaters. 10. What does drama mean? A. Learning B. Drawing C. Performing ITEM SAMPLER MAY BE DUPLICATED. 13
Put sticker here This is the end of Segment 1. Check your work. Then seal this segment. 14 STOP
2 Put sticker here Segment 2 You will be told when to begin this segment. 15
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Reading Test Segment 2 The Honest Woodman This passage is about a woodman that makes his living in the forest. Read to find out what happens when he loses his axe. 2 Read the passage and answer questions 11 16. The questions appear in boxes inserted in the passage and at the end of the passage. Some questions may ask you about certain paragraphs. The paragraphs are numbered on the left side. ITEM SAMPLER MAY BE DUPLICATED. 17
The Honest Woodman by Emilie Poulsson 1 Once upon a time, out in the green, silent woods near a rushing river that foamed and sparkled as it hurried along, there lived a poor woodcutter who worked hard to make a living for his family. Every day he would trudge into the forest with his strong, sharp axe over his shoulder. He always whistled happily as he went, because he was thinking that as long as he had his health and his axe, he could earn enough to buy all the bread his family needed. 2 11. In paragraph 1, what does trudge mean? A. Walk heavily B. Climb swiftly C. Turn quickly 2 One day he was cutting a large oak tree near the riverside. The chips flew fast at every stroke, and the sound of the ringing axe echoed through the forest so clearly you might have thought a dozen wood choppers were at work that day. 3 By and by the woodman thought he would rest awhile. He leaned his axe against the tree and turned to sit down, but he tripped over an old, gnarled root, and before he could catch it, his axe slid down the bank and into the river! 4 The poor woodman gazed into the stream, trying to see the bottom, but it was far too deep there. The river flowed over the lost treasure just as merrily as before. ITEM SAMPLER MAY BE DUPLICATED. 18
12. Which of these does the woodman do first in the passage? A. He loses his axe. B. He trips over a root. C. He cuts a large oak tree. 13. In paragraph 4, why does the author refer to the woodman s lost axe as the lost treasure? A. The axe had great value. B. The axe had a sharp blade. 2 C. The axe had musical qualities. 5 What will I do? the woodman cried. I ve lost my axe! How will I feed my children now? 6 Just as he finished speaking, up from the lake rose a beautiful lady. She was the water fairy of the river, and came to the surface when she heard his sad voice. 7 What is your sorrow? she asked kindly. The woodman told her about his trouble, and at once she sank beneath the surface, and reappeared in a moment with an axe made of silver. 8 Is this the axe you lost? she asked. 9 The woodman thought of all the fine things he could buy for his children with that silver! But the axe wasn t his, so he shook his head, and answered, My axe was only made of steel. 10 The water fairy lay the silver axe on the bank, and sank into the river again. In a moment she rose and showed the woodman another axe. Perhaps this one is yours? she asked. 11 The woodman looked. Oh, no! he replied. This one is made of gold! It s worth many times more than mine. ITEM SAMPLER MAY BE DUPLICATED. 19
12 The water fairy lay the golden axe on the bank. Once again she sank. Up she rose. This time she held the missing axe. 13 That is mine! the woodman cried. That is surely my old axe! 14 It is yours, said the water fairy, and so are these other two now. They are gifts from the river, because you have told the truth. 15 And that evening the woodman trudged home with all three axes on his shoulder, whistling happily as he thought of all the good things they would bring for his family. 2 14. Why does the woodman always whistle happily when he goes into the forest? A. He hears the river rushing. B. He likes peacefulness. C. He knows he can feed his family. 15. The woodman s original axe is made of which material? A. Gold B. Steel C. Silver ITEM SAMPLER MAY BE DUPLICATED. 20
Use the whole passage to answer question 16. 16. What information about the passage does the title give the reader? A. A hint that something will be lost B. A problem that will happen C. A quality of the main character 2 ITEM SAMPLER MAY BE DUPLICATED. 21
Put sticker here This is the end of Segment 2. Check your work. Then seal this segment. 22 STOP
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Reproduction of these passages was granted by permission from the following: Farms for Turtles by Barbara Fischer. BOYS QUEST, April/May 2003, 2003, Bluffton News Printing and Publishing Company. The Honest Woodman by Emilie Poulsson from THE CHILDREN S BOOK OF VIRTUES edited by William J. Bennett, Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1995 William J. Bennett. 23
ITEM SAMPLERS ARE NOT SECURE TEST MATERIALS. THIS ITEM SAMPLER TEST BOOK MAY BE COPIED OR DUPLICATED. Grade 6 MCA-Modified Reading Item Sampler 18pt