Literacy 5-3 Assessment
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: _____________________
Here is a passage from Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis. Read the passage. Then answer questions 1 through 7.
BUD, NOT BUDDY
Here we go again. We were all standing in line waiting for breakfast when one of the caseworker came in and tap-tap-tapped down the line. Uh-oh, this meant bad news, either they’d found a foster home for somebody or somebody was about to get paddled. All the kids watched the woman as she moved along the line, her high-heeled shoes sounding like little fire-crackers going off on the wooden floor.
Shoot! She stopped at me and said, “Are you Buddy Caldwell?”
I said, “It’s Bud, not Buddy, ma’am.”
She put her hand on my shoulder and took me out of the line. Then she pulled Jerry, one of the littler boys, over.
“Aren’t you Jerry Clark?” He nodded.
“Boys, good news! Now that the school year has ended, you both have been accepted in new temporary-care homes starting this afternoon!”
Jerry asked the same thing I was thinking, “Together?”
She said, “Why no, Jerry, you’ll be in a family with three little girls…”
Jerry looked like he’d just found out they were going to dip him in a pot of boiling milk. “…and Bud…” She looked at some papers she was holding. “Oh, yes, the Amoses, you’ll be with Mr. and Mrs. Amos, and their son, who’s twelve years old, that makes him just two years older than you, doesn’t it, Bud?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She said, “I’m sure you’ll both be very happy.”
Me and Jerry looked at each other.
The woman said, “Now, now, boys, no need to look so glum, I know you don’t understand what it means, but there’s a depression going on all over this country. People can’t find jobs and these are very, very difficult times for everybody. We’ve been lucky enough to find two wonderful families who’ve opened their doors for you. I think it’s best that we show our new foster families that we’re very…”
She dragged out the word very, waiting for us to finish her sentence for her.
Jerry said, “Cheerful, helpful and grateful.” I moved my lips and mumbled.
1. What is this passage mostly about?
a. Bud learns he will be moving to a new foster home
b. Bud and Jerry never get to have breakfast
c. A caseworker makes a mistake
d. Jerry finds out that he has to live with three foster sisters
2. Which line best demonstrates a difference between Bud and Jerry?
a. “Me and Jerry looked at each other.”
b. “Jerry said, ‘Cheerful, helpful and grateful.’ I moved my lips and mumbled.”
c. “Jerry looked like he’d just found out they were going to dip him in a pot of boiling milk.”
d. She said, “Why no, Jerry, you’ll be in a family with three little girls…”
3. The structure of this passage can best be described as…
a. a character has a flashback to a happier time.
b. a conflict between two characters comes to a head and is resolved.
c. a conflict is introduced and is unresolved.
d. a span of a few months is encapsulated in a brief description.
4. Bud says, “Jerry looked like he’d just found out they were going to dip him in a pot of boiling milk.” This means that
a. Jerry is glad to hear that the foster family will take him.
b. Jerry does not want to leave the place where he and Bud have been living.
c. Jerry is still disappointed about being pulled out of the line for breakfast.
d. Jerry does not like the idea of living with three little girls.
5. The line, “All the kids watched the woman as she moved along the line, her high-heeled shoes sounding like little fire-crackers going off on the wooden floor” helps build an atmosphere of…
a. excitement.
b. nervousness.
c. anger.
d. adventure.
6. Which of these lines from the passage best reveals Bud’s point of view?
a. “Cheerful, helpful and grateful.”
b. “It’s Bud, not Buddy, ma’am.”
c. “Either they’d found a foster home for somebody or somebody was about to get paddled.”
d. “She put her hand on my shoulder and took me out of line.”
7. Which of these best describes the meaning of the word “depression” in the following passage?
“Now, now, boys, no need to look so glum, I know you don’t understand what it means, but there’s a depression going on all over this country. People can’t find jobs and these are very, very difficult times for everybody. We’ve been lucky enough to find two wonderful families who’ve opened their doors for you.”
a. Sadness
b. A time when families do not want any more children
c. A time when families don’t have much money
d. A national competition
8. The purpose of this passage is probably to
a. show how caseworkers try to help children in need.
b. show how hard it is for a child to move to a new home.
c. show that generous families can make a difference.
d. show that every child needs a loving family.
9. Writing Task – In Bud, Not Buddy, Bud finds out that he will be moving to a new home. In The Secret Garden, you read about Mary Lennox, another character who has to move to a new home. How are Bud and Mary’s reactions to having to move to new homes similar? How are their reactions different? Please cite specific line evidence from both Bud, Not Buddy and The Secret Garden to support your answer.
[NO REPRESENTATIVE INCORRECT ANSWER IS PROVIDED]
Bailey is in the 5th grade. Her class was reading about the history of some common foods. Bailey wanted to find out more about chocolate. She looked in the encyclopedia and took notes on what she found. Then she organized her notes and used them to write a rough draft of a report about chocolate. Now she needs your help editing and revising her report. Here is the draft of the report. Read the report and use it to answer questions 9 through 15.
(1) Did you know that chocolate is made from cocoa beans? (2) People first found cocoa beans growing to South America 4,000 years ago. (3) Several thousand years later, a Spanish explorer landed. (4) Their name was Hernan Cortes. (5) He was offered a drink made from ground cocoa beans and water. (6) Cortes then became a hot chocolate fan. (7) When he returned to Spain, he took some of the brown beans back to Spain with him. (8) Other Spanish people became hot chocolate fans, too. (9) They introduced the drink to their friends in other countries and the drink was soon popular all over Europe.
(10) As hot chocolate became popular in new countries, the drink changed in many ways. (11) People began to make it with milk instead of water. (12) More people like it this way. (13) In fact, in the 1700s, hot chocolate shops were built in many places. (14) Then they ground the beans into a powder, and the first chocolate candy is invented! (15) Since then, chocolate was more popular than ever.
10. What is the best way to write sentence 2 (“People first…ago.”)?
a. People first found Cocoa Beans growing of South America 4,000 years ago.
b. People first found cocoa beans growing at South America 4,000 years ago.
c. People first found cocoa beans growing in South America 4,000 years ago.
d. Best as it is
11. What is the best way to write sentence 14 (“Then they…invented!”)?
a. Then they ground the beans into a powder, and the first chocolate candy would be invented!
b. Then they ground the beans into a powder, and the first chocolate candy was invented!
c. Then they ground the beans into a powder, and the first chocolate candy were invented!
d. Best as it is.
12. What is the best way to write sentence 15 (“Since then, hot chocolate…ever.”)?
a. Since then, hot chocolate had been more popular than ever.
b. Since then, hot chocolate has being more popular than ever.
c. Since then, hot chocolate has been more popular than ever.
d. Best as it is
13. What is the best way to write sentence 8 (“Other Spanish…too.”)?
a. Other Spanish people became hot chocolate fans, two.
b. Other Spanish people became hot chocolate fans to.
c. Two other Spanish people became hot chocolate fans.
d. Best as is
14. What is the best way to re-write sentence 4 (“Their name…Cortes.”)?
a. Their names were Hernan Cortes.
b. His name was Hernan Cortes.
c. Its name was Hernan Cortes.
d. Best as it is
15. What would be the best sentence to describe the kinds of chocolate candy that have been invented since people first ground cocoa beans into powder?
a. Now, we have chocolate chips, M&M’s, and fudge.
b. Now, we have chocolate chips, M&M’s and we also have fudge.
c. Now, we have chocolate chips and M&M’s, and we also have fudge.
d. Now, we have chocolate chips and M&M’s, and fudge.
The following article tells about the eruption of the volcano Mount Saint Helens and what scientists learned from it. Read the passage, and answer the questions that follow.
“THE MOUNT SAINT HELENS VOLCANIC ERUPTION”
History of Mount Saint Helens
Mount St. Helens is a volcano located in the Cascade Range in Western North America. It lies within the state of Washington. People called it “The Fuji of America” because its symmetrical beauty was similar to the famous Japanese volcano named Fuji.
When Indians lived in the area, they called the mountain “Lady of Fire” or “Smoking Mountain”. Some tribes even thought the lake on the mountain was haunted with spirits and would not go near it. Tales told by the Indians included many stories of rumblings made by the spirits on the mountain.
Eruption of the Volcano
The first hint of trouble occurred on March 20, 1980, when the mountain gave a violent shudder. An earthquake measuring 4+ on the Richter scale had occurred. On March 27, another eruption opened a crater on the mountain and sent a plume of ash and steam 7,000 feet into the air. This was followed by days of small quakes.
The government warned nearby residents that a large eruption might occur in the near future and asked them to take appropriate precautions. The number of tourists allowed onto the mountain was also limited. These warnings resulted in thousands of lives being saved when the major eruption occurred two months later.
During March and April, small earthquakes continued to occur and were followed by small eruptions. These consisted only of steam and ash. In April, geologists noticed that one side of the mountain was beginning to expand. They theorized it was filling with magma being forced up from below.
But by mid-May, the number of earthquakes lessened considerably and people felt the danger of a major eruption had decreased significantly. Then on Sunday morning, May 18, an earthquake of 5+ on the Richter scale occurred and the volcano erupted. Within seconds the whole north side of the mountain exploded in a cloud of ash, rock fragments, and hot gases that rushed downhill at speeds of up to 120 miles per hour. In an instant, the top 1,303 feet of the mountain disappeared. The blast was equal to 500 times the power of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
A geologist near the top of the mountain gave the first indication of the eruption. At 8:32 a.m., he sent the message by two-way radio, “Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!” He was never seen or heard from again.
The initial explosion was followed by steam coming from the heated ice and snow on top of the mountain. The water from this steam combined with the ash from the eruption to form rapidly flowing mudflows. These mudflows washed away everything in their paths. The superheated ash was over 500 degrees Celsius and burned everything it touched.
Within minutes of the first big eruption, a second one occurred, spewing ashes and gas into the sky. This continued for nine hours, creating an oblong cloud 40 miles long, 30 miles wide and more than 6 miles deep. Towns and fields were drenched with tons of ash from this cloud over the next several days. Whole towns found themselves being buried by this ash. By June 5, some of the ash from Mount St. Helens had traveled all around the globe. Removal of this ash was a very difficult and expensive job.
The total destruction of the area around Mount St. Helens was overwhelming. A total of 57 people were killed and over 1,000 evacuated. Nearly 370,000 lost their jobs because businesses were either destroyed or forced to close down. The farms and forests on and near the mountain were totally destroyed. Trees as far as the eye could see were flattened, all pointing away from the blast. Officials estimated the total cost of the Mount St. Helens eruption at almost three billion dollars.
Today, the area is quiet and scientists think the mountain is in another dormant period. Will there be another eruption of the Mount St. Helens volcano? Scientists say the answer to this question is probably yes. But, they do not know when the next big one will occur. More pressing is the danger of landslides and mudslides because of the formation of new ponds and lakes where debris clogged the mountain gullies and passes. While the Army Corps of Engineers has strengthened these dams, there is still a danger one will give way resulting in a flood.
16. What is this passage mostly about?
a. How scientists figure out when volcanic eruptions are going to occur
b. How the Mount St. Helens eruption affected the area surrounding it
c. Why no one should ever live near a volcano
d. What happens when people do not pay attention to government warnings