Cecil County Public Schools
Division of Education Services
Please Note: Materials used in this assessment are copyright © by McDougal Littell / Houghton Mifflin Inc. Cecil County Public Schools is recreating and printing with written permission from Houghton Mifflin Inc.
Grade 8 Unit 1
Plot and Conflict
Unit Assessment
Student Test Booklet
Part I – Comprehension & Vocabulary
Part II –Writing & Grammar
2010-2011
Do not write in this Test Book.
Grade 8 Unit 1
Part I: Comprehension and Vocabulary
Directions
Read the excerpt from The Best Bedroom in Brooklyn by Carol Snyder on pages 1-3 in the Assessment Selections Booklet and then answer questions 1-16.
1. The flashback that takes place in lines 17–21 helps you understand why Lisa
A. is so impressed by Phyllis.
B. likes to talk about clothes.
C. enjoys visiting her mother at work.
D. wants to go shopping with her friends.
2. In lines 19–23, Lisa reveals an internal conflict between her desire to
A. accept her mother as she is and her wish that her mother were more like Phyllis.
B. improve her relationship with Phyllis and her hopes of spending time with her mother.
C. get along well with her friends and her feelings of embarrassment about her mother.
D. teach her mother to sew well and her need to protect her mother’s feelings.
3. Which event happens first in the story?
A. Phyllis cooks the best roast the family has ever had.
B. Lisa goes to her room to play with her stuffed animals.
C. Charlie takes Lisa’s family to a nice restaurant.
D. Phyllis gives Lisa a home permanent.
4. The statement in line 32, “It seemed like Phyllis and Charlie would be with us forever” best creates suspense in the plot by
A. suggesting that Phyllis and Charlie will never leave.
B. revealing tension among all of the characters.
C. building interest in the narrator’s situation.
D. listing scary details about Phyllis and Charlie.
5. In lines 35-37, make an inference as to how Lisa feels about Phyllis’s personal items on her dresser.
A. excited
B. understanding
C. annoyed
D. interested
6. The climax of the story occurs when
A. Phyllis compliments Lisa’s mother on her ability to juggle tasks.
B. Lisa notices several customers hugging her mother in the store.
C. Lisa realizes that she can learn from Phyllis and from her mother.
D. Phyllis and Charlie leave the narrator’s apartment and travel to Peru.
7. During the story’s falling action, the narrator explains the important detail that
A. Phyllis and Charlie have left.
B. Lisa’s mother is happy.
C. her family orders Chinese food.
D. Lisa’s mother works very hard.
8. From lines 92-98, you can conclude that Lisa is thankful because she
A. has regained her room and privacy.
B. appreciates her mother for who she is.
C. can finally have her friends back.
D. enjoys receiving expensive gifts from visitors.
9. What causes Charlie and Phyllis to leave Lisa’s home?
A. Phyllis and Charlie want a large apartment.
B. Lisa’s parents recommend Charlie for a sales job in Peru.
C. Charlie and Phyllis feel unwelcome as a result of Lisa’s behavior.
D. Lisa’s mother is too busy to take care of house guests.
10. Which event occurs during the story’s resolution?
A. Lisa’s family shares a take-out dinner and talks.
B. Lisa and Phyllis talk out their differences.
C. Lisa and Phyllis go to the city by train.
D. Lisa talks about boys to Phyllis.
11. In lines 60-64, Phyllis experiences a conflict between
A. character vs. character.
B. character vs. self.
C. character vs. force of nature.
D. character vs. society.
12. Which inference could you make based on line 45 starting with “I don’t even think my friends would have noticed if I was missing”?
Lisa felt her friends
A. were ignoring her on purpose.
B. admired Phyllis’ many talents.
C. treated her like she didn’t matter.
D. were hungry and concerned with eating.
13. Go back and reread lines 65-71. Why do you think the author included these details in the story?
A. to show how Lisa comes to appreciate her mother
B. to explain what Lisa’s mother does for work
C. to describe the relationship Lisa’s mother has with her customers
D. to express Phyllis’s desire to be like Lisa’s mother
14. We crunched cookies and talked about boys and how they’re actually shy sometimes, but that’s when they usually do something gross so you won’t know it. (lines 3-5)
The lines above are an example of which stage of the plot?
A. rising action
B. exposition
C. climax
D. resolution
15. From lines 95-98, Lisa’s mother is best portrayed as
A. truthful.
B. worried.
C. creative.
D. proud.
16. Lines 17-25 best emphasize Lisa’s mother’s
A. ambitions.
B. skills.
C. flaws.
D. hobbies.
BCR
Directions:
Answer the following question about the excerpt from The Best Bedroom in Brooklyn. Write two or more paragraphs for your response on the provided BCR Answer Sheet.
From the excerpt, explain the events that lead to the resolution of Lisa’s internal conflict. Support your response with details from the text.
Comprehension
Directions:
Read the excerpt from Garrett A. Morgan by Glinnette Turner on pages 4-6 in the Assessment Selections Booklet and then answer questions 17-28.
17. In lines 8-12, the author foreshadows Morgan’s role in life as a
A. good husband and father.
B. curious amateur chemist.
C. successful inventor and businessman.
D. volunteer who saved trapped workmen.
18. The prejudice described in lines 38–39 is an example of conflict between a person and
A. himself.
B. society.
C. nature.
D. one other person.
19. What caused orders for Morgan’s gas masks to decrease?
A. a poor economy
B. the lack of supply
C. racial discrimination
D. product failure
20. In the sequence of events in the selection, which came last?
A. He got a job as a sewing machine adjuster at the Routs and McBride Company.
B. Workmen survived the Cleveland Waterworks explosion by using Morgan’s “safety hood.”
C. Garrett Morgan soon saved enough money to buy his own sewing machine business and purchase a home.
D. Morgan received a gold medal for heroism, and safety masks were ordered by the U.S. government.
21. Think about the sequence of events in the excerpt. When did Morgan become a hero?
A. When he opened a tailoring shop in which he hires 32 employees
B. When he marketed a hair straightening product
C. After he invented the three way stop light
D. After the violent explosion at the Cleveland Waterworks
22. What might lines 48-51 foreshadow about Morgan’s invention of his “breathing device” mask?
A. Morgan’s device will save lives.
B. Mogan’s device will no longer be used.
C. People will discredit Morgan’s device.
D. People will use Morgan’s device after it has been tested more.
23. What caused Morgan’s “stoplight” invention to develop?
A. There was a need for an effective way to control the flow of traffic.
B. Garrett Morgan was the first black person in Cleveland to own a car.
C. Train engineers needed a way to cross the tracks.
D. Morgan realized he was going to be treated unfairly all of his life, so this was another opportunity for him.
24. Morgan failed to receive the Carnegie medal because
A. winners were often chosen based on their age.
B. officials had submitted an incorrect name.
C. African Americans did not always get credit for their achievements.
D. inventors were not eligible for an award that recognized heroes.
25. The excerpt from Garrett A. Morgan is primarily written in what text organizational pattern?
A. chronological order
B. comparison and contrast
C. main idea and supporting details
D. problem and solution
26. Which of the following choices is not a transitional phrase from Garrett A. Morgan?
A. four years later
B. before long
C. invited his mother
D. after a bit
27. Which of the following sentences contains an opinion?
A. Garrett A. Morgan was born in Paris, Tennessee, on March 4, 1875.
B. While he was experimenting, his wife called him to dinner.
C. Times were hard, and at age fourteen Morgan struck out on his own.
D. Morgan put the chemical on the market as a product to straighten hair.
28. In which order did Garrett A. Morgan’s inventions occur?
A. hair straightener, sewing equipment, gas mask, stop light
B. gas mask, stop light, hair straightener, sewing machine
C. sewing machine, hair straightener, gas mask, stop light
D. stop light, gas mask, sewing machine, hair straightener
Directions:
Answer questions 29-30 about the two excerpts from The Best Bedroom in Brooklyn and from Garrett A. Morgan.
29. When you compare the excerpts, which statement do both excerpts best support? Both characters
A. feel sorrow.
B. were grateful.
C. were frustrated at times.
D. were thankful to their parents.
30. While The Best Bedroom in Brooklyn is told from a _______ point of view, Garrett A. Morgan is told from a ______ point of view.
A. first person, third person
B. third person, first person
C. second person, third person
D. first person, second person
Vocabulary
Directions:
Use context clues to answer questions 31-34.
31. Using the context clues in the sentence below, define semaphore.
“For some time, railroads had used a semaphore, or signaling system.
A. loud speaker system
B. signaling system
C. counting system
D. stopping system
32. …Phyllis would laugh and joke with us like one of the girls, polishing our nails right on the coffee table
In the lines above, the word polishing means what?
A. painting
B. dusting
C. cleaning
D. rubbing
33. In the following sentence, what is an antonym for the word ordinary?
“And when some ordinary soot got on her white jacket, you’d have thought she was having a heart attack.”
A. plain
B. simple
C. commonplace
D. exceptional
34. Using the context clues in this sentence, define racial prejudice.
“At first, many fire departments ordered gas masks for use in their work, but because of racial prejudice, the number of orders dwindled, and some orders were cancelled when it became known that Morgan was a black man.”
A. a dislike of all people
B. a dislike of people of a different gender
C. a dislike of people of a different race
D. a dislike of people of different ethnicities
Directions:
Choose the answer choice that uses the underlined word in the sentence the same.
35. “Then she said she’d bought a home permanent if I wanted to curl my hair and give it some body.”
In which sentence does the word permanent mean the same as in the sentence above?
A. The teacher used a permanent marker on the overhead.
B. Sally got a permanent for the prom because she wouldn’t have to style her hair.
C. The statue in the park was a permanent fixture.
D. There isn’t anything we can do about the graffiti on the aquarium; it’s permanent.
36. You sure you know what station we get off, Lisa? You sure?
In which sentence does the word station mean the same as in the sentence above?
A. We watched our favorite show on the T.V. station.
B. Before she was born, the girl’s station in life was decided
C. The fire station erupted will much excitement.
D. Station the flower garden next to the large tree.
37. She once tried to cut my bangs, and I needed first aid and a month to get them to grow back straight.
In which sentence does the word straight mean the same as in the sentence above?
A. You can rely on her for the straight figures.
B. Give it to me straight said the patient.
C. The team celebrated its 10th straight win.
D. The students drew straight lines in match class.
38. Newspaper wire services picked up the story.
In which sentence does the word pick up mean the same as in the sentence above?
A. The girl did not pick up that the boy liked her.
B. The car has much pick up for being 10 years old.
C. The pick up truck needed the oil changed badly.
D. The boy needed to pick up his toys before dinner.
39. After a bit more experimenting, Morgan put the chemical on the market as a product to straighten hair.
In which sentence does the word market mean the same as in the sentence above?
A. The super market was closed for renovations.
B. The teenage product market offers much promise.
C. The company will market a variety of products.
D. The item was only available at the local market.
40 They would set a fire in the tent with an awful-smelling fuel made of tar, sulphur, formaldehyde, and manure.
In which sentence does the word set mean the same as in the sentence above?
A. Set the flowers on the table.
B. The movie set needs to be taken down.
C. Set the campfire ablaze for marshmallows.
D. The broken arm will need to be set.
Stop here and close your booklet until given further directions by your teacher.
Grade 8 Unit 1
Part II: Writing and Grammar
Directions:
Read the personal narrative on page 7 in the Assessment Selections Booklet and then answer questions 1-20.
1. Choose the correct way to punctuate the word Sues in sentence 1.
A. Sues’
B. Sue’s
C. Sues’s
D. Sue’s’
2. To maintain pronoun-antecedent agreement in sentence 3, change he or she to
A. its
B. them
C. his or her
D. their
3. Choose the correct way to combine numbers 6 and 7 to eliminate the sentence fragment.
A. One day I decided, watching TV, to teach Zippy to sit. .
B. One day I decided to teach Zippy to sit, and while I was watching TV.
C. One day, while I was watching TV, I decided to teach Zippy to sit.
D. One day I decided to teach Zippy to sit; and while I was watching TV.
4. Choose the correct way to combine numbers 8 and 9 to eliminate the sentence fragment.
A. I had just watched a television program about training animals.
B. A television program about training animals, I had just watched.
C. About training animals, I had just watched a television program.
D. I had just watched a television program: and about training animals.
5. Which of the following correctly replaces the verb had walking in sentence 16?
A. has walks
B. was walked
C. is walk
D. had walked
6. Which transition added to sentence 19 would clearly show the order of events?
A. First
B. Instead
C. Later
D. Nevertheless
7. Choose the best way to rewrite sentence 21 using sensory details to bring the experience to life.
A. Next, I tried expensive treats that I bought from a gourmet pet store.
B. Next, I tried shiny red treats that were shaped like stars.
C. Next, I tried unusual treats, which dogs like.
D. Next, I tried two different types of dog treats.
8. Choose the correct way to punctuate the word members in sentence 22.
A members'
B. member's
C. members's
D. memberes'
9. Which of the following sentences correctly replaces the verb was got in sentence 24?
A. was getting
B. was gotten
C. is getting