Grade

6

Reading

Student Test BookletHalf-Length Practice Tests

Copyright © 2005 by Ohio Department of Education. All rights reserved.

OhioAchievement Tests

Student Name: _____________________________________

Acknowledgments

Reading

Selection 1: Something to Keep the Ears Warm“Something to Keep the Ears Warm” from BE AN INVENTOR by Barbara Taylor, copyright © 1987by Field Publications, reprinted by permission of Harcourt, Inc. This material may not bereproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Selection 2: The Marble ChampExcerpt from “The Marble Champ” in BASEBALL IN APRIL AND OTHER STORIES, copyright © 1990by Gary Soto, reprinted by permission of Harcourt, Inc. This material may not be reproduced inany form or by any means without prior written permission of the publisher.Artwork: Illustrated by Kenneth J. Spengler.

The Ohio Department of Education does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national

origin, sex, religion, age, or disability in employment or the provision of services.

Directions:

Today you will be taking the Ohio Grade 6 Reading Practice Test. Three

different types of questions appear on this test: multiple choice, short answer and

extended response.

There are several important things to remember:

1. Read each question carefully. Think about what is being asked. Look

carefully at graphs or diagrams because they help you understand

the question.

2. For short-answer and extended-response questions, write your answers

neatly and clearly in the space provided in the answer document. Any

answers you write in the Student Test Booklet will not be scored.

3. Short-answer questions are worth two points. Extended-response questions

are worth four points. Point values are printed near each question in your

Student Test Booklet. The amount of space provided for your answers is the

same for two- and four-point questions.

4. For multiple-choice questions, shade in the circle next to your choice in the

answer document for the test question. Mark only one choice for each

question. Darken completely the circles on the answer document. If you

change an answer, make sure that you erase your old answer completely.

5. Do not spend too much time on one question. Go on to the next

question and return to the question skipped after answering the

remaining questions.

6. Check over your work when you are finished.

1

Reading R

R

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Reading

Something to Keep the Ears WarmBarbara Taylor

1 Fifteen-year-old Chester Greenwood of Farmington, Maine, had a

problem with his ears. They were very sensitive to the freezing cold of the

long Maine winters.

2 While other children his age would race sleds down slopes, build

ice forts, and skate on frozen ponds, poor Chester would rub his ears and

go home.

3 One December day in 1873, Chester decided he had to do

something. He tied a scarf around his head,

but it itched and would not stay in place.

Then he hit upon the idea of covering just his

ears. Chester bent a piece of wire into loops,

fitted the loops over his ears, and attached

the loops to a hat. Chester asked his

grandmother to cover them with wool and fur.

4 When the other kids saw Chester in his

strange headgear, they laughed. But the

laughter stopped when they realized that

Chester was staying outside in the cold longer

than he ever had before. Soon the other kids

were asking Chester if he would make them

covers for their ears. Chester Greenwood

realized he was on to something big.

5 Orders from all over town started

pouring in. Chester’s mom and grandmother

were busy helping him make more earmuffs,

the name people were calling Greenwood’s

clever invention.

This photograph shows

the inventor of earmuffs

proudly promoting his

product. Chester

Greenwood’s imagination

served him well all of

his life. He is credited

with more than 100

other inventions.

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Reading R6 As word of Chester’s earmuffs spread throughout New England, the

inventor found ways to improve his invention. Instead of attaching the ear

covers to a hat, Chester fastened them to the end of a strip of flat metal

that he fitted over his head. The band held the ear covers firmly in place.

7 By the time he was 19, Chester had received a patent for his invention

and was well on his way to becoming rich and successful.

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Use the selection to answer questions 1 – 5.

1. What was Chester most

interested in when he created

the first set of earmuffs?

A. creating jobs for his mother

and grandmother

B. becoming well-known as

an inventor

C. earning money from

his invention

D. using his invention himself

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2. “Orders from all over town

started pouring in. Chester’s

mom and grandmother were

busy helping him make more

earmuffs, the name people

were calling Greenwood’s

clever invention.”

Identify the opinion in the

sentences above and explain

why it is an opinion.

Write your answer in the AnswerDocument. (2 points)

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ReadingR

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3. “Fifteen-year-old Chester

Greenwood of Farmington,

Maine, had a problem with his

ears. They were very sensitive to

the freezing cold of the long

Maine winters.”

What does the word

sensitive mean in the

second sentence above?

A. easily affected or hurt

B. having good sense

C. excited; agitated

D. cautious; careful

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4. In the fourth paragraph, how

does the attitude of “the other

kids” change?

A. from mocking to interested

B. from joyous to sorrowful

C. from amused to bored

D. from cruel to nervous

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5. How does the author

organize the information in

this selection?

A. by creating categories of

information and then

supplying specific examples

B. by making the main point

first and then presenting

supporting details

C. by presenting events in

chronological order

D. by comparing and

contrasting information

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Reading RThe Marble Champ

Gary Soto

1 Lupe Medrano, a shy girl who spoke in whispers, was the school’s

spelling bee champion, winner of the reading contest at the public library

three summers in a row, blue ribbon awardee in the science fair, the top

student at her piano recital, and the playground grand champion in chess.

She was a straight-A student and—not counting kindergarten, when she had

been stung by a wasp—never missed one day of elementary school. She

had received a small trophy for this honor and had been congratulated by

the mayor.

2 But though Lupe had a razor-sharp mind, she could not make her

body, no matter how much she tried, run as fast as the other girls’. She

begged her body to move faster, but could never beat anyone in the fifty-

yard dash.

3 The truth was that Lupe was no good in sports. She could not catch a

pop-up or figure out in which direction to kick the soccer ball. One time she

kicked the ball at her own goal and scored a point for the other team. She

was no good at baseball or basketball either, and even had a hard time

making a hula hoop stay on her hips.

4 It wasn’t until last year, when she was eleven years old, that she

learned how to ride a bike. And even then she had to use training wheels.

She could walk in the swimming pool but couldn’t swim, and chanced roller

skating only when her father held her hand.

5 “I’ll never be good at sports,” she fumed one rainy day as she lay on

her bed gazing at the shelf her father had made to hold her awards. “I wish

I could win something, anything, even marbles.”

ReadingR

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6 At the word “marbles,” she sat up. “That’s it. Maybe I could be good

at playing marbles.” She hopped out of bed and rummaged through the

closet until she found a can full of her brother’s marbles. She poured the rich

glass treasure on her bed and picked five of the most beautiful marbles.

7 She smoothed her bedspread and practiced shooting, softly at first so

that her aim would be accurate. The marble rolled from her thumb and

clicked against the targeted marble. But the target wouldn’t budge. She

tried again and again. Her aim became accurate, but the power from her

thumb made the marble move only an inch or two. Then she realized that

the bedspread was slowing the marbles. She also had to admit that her

thumb was weaker than the neck of a newborn chick.

8 She looked out the window. The rain was letting up, but the ground

was too muddy to play. She sat cross-legged on the bed, rolling her five

marbles between her palms. Yes, she thought, I could play marbles, and

marbles is a sport. At that moment she realized that she had only two weeks

to practice. The playground championship, the same one her brother had

entered the previous year, was coming up. She had a lot to do.

9 To strengthen her wrists, she decided to do twenty push-ups on her

fingertips, five at a time. “One, two, three . . .” she groaned. By the end of

the first set she was breathing hard, and her muscles burned from

exhaustion. She did one more set and decided that was enough push-ups

for the first day.

10 She squeezed a rubber eraser one hundred times, hoping it would

strengthen her thumb. This seemed to work because the next day her thumb

was sore. She could hardly hold a marble in her hand, let alone send it flying

with power. So Lupe rested that day and listened to her brother, who gave

her tips on how to shoot: get low, aim with one eye, and place one knuckle

on the ground.

11 “Think ‘eye and thumb’—and let it rip!” he said.

12 After school the next day she left her homework in her backpack and

practiced three hours straight, taking time only to eat a candy bar for

energy. With a popsicle stick, she drew an odd-shaped circle and tossed in

four marbles. She used her shooter, a milky agate1 with hypnotic swirls, to

blast them. Her thumb had become stronger.

13 After practice, she squeezed the eraser for an hour. She ate dinner

with her left hand to spare her shooting hand and said nothing to her

parents about her dreams of athletic glory.

14 Practice, practice, practice. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. Lupe got

better and beat her brother and Alfonso, a neighbor kid who was supposed

to be a champ.

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Reading R

1 agate: a type of marble

ReadingR

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6. The selection is best described

as which type of work?

A. a piece of historical fiction

B. a contemporary short story

C. an informational article

about how to play marbles

D. an autobiographical

account of the author’s

childhood experiences

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7. “Lupe Medrano, a shy girl

who spoke in whispers, was the

school’s spelling bee

champion, winner of the

reading contest at the public

library three summers in a row,

blue ribbon awardee in the

science fair, the top student at

her piano recital, and the

playground grand champion

in chess.”

In the sentence above, what

does the word formed by the

root word award and the suffix

-ee mean?

A. the highest award

B. an award in science

C. one who gives an award

D. one who receives

an award

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Use the selection to answer questions 6 – 15.

8. “It wasn’t until last year,

when she was eleven years old,

that she learned how to ride a

bike. And even then she had to

use training wheels.”

What is the purpose of the

second sentence above?

A. It highlights the pressure

placed on Lupe by

her parents.

B. It shows Lupe’s preference

for doing things differently.

C. It demonstrates how strict

Lupe’s father really is.

D. It reinforces Lupe’s lack of

athletic ability.

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Reading R9. Why does Lupe become

interested in marbles?

A. She thinks marbles is a sport

that she might actually be

able to master.

B. She wants to be like her

brother and enter the

playground championship.

C. She enjoys the idea of a

sport that can be played

indoors and away from the

rain or mud.

D. She believes that marbles

are beautiful objects and

that a collection is a “rich

glass treasure.”

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10. “She hopped out of bed and

rummaged through the closet

until she found a can full of her

brother’s marbles.”

What does the word

rummaged suggest about Lupe

in the sentence above?

A. She did not really care

whether or not she found

the marbles.

B. She and her brother kept

the closet neat and

well-organized.

C. She had to move a lot of

things around in order to

find the marbles.

D. She probably used the

marbles often, since she

knew where to find them.

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11. “She also had to admit that her

thumb was weaker than the

neck of a newborn chick.”

Identify the comparison in the

sentence above and explain

what it means.

Write your answer in the AnswerDocument. (2 points)

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ReadingR

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12. Where is there a major contrast

in the selection?

A. Lupe’s academic ability

and her athletic ability

B. Lupe’s shy behavior and

her classmates’ confident

actions at school

C. Lupe’s inexperience at

marbles and her

brother’s accomplishments

in athletics

D. Lupe’s ability to do

many hand exercises

and her fatigue after

shooting marbles

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13. Describe Lupe’s problem in the

selection and explain how she

solves it. Then state a way that

Lupe works toward her specific

goal and identify a plot

event that demonstrates a

sign of progress.

Write your answer in the AnswerDocument. (4 points)

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STOP11

Reading R14. “Practice, practice,

practice. Squeeze, squeeze,

squeeze. Lupe got better and

beat her brother and Alfonso, a

neighbor kid who was

supposed to be a champ.”

What does the paragraph

above suggest?

A. that the other kids are

letting Lupe win so she will

feel better

B. that Lupe’s persistence is

helping her meet her goal

C. that Lupe is growing tired of

her repetitive exercises

D. that Lupe’s brother is her

toughest opponent

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15. Why is Alfonso mentioned at

the end of the selection?

A. He highlights Lupe’s

improvement when she

wins their match.

B. He understands why Lupe’s

brother is annoyed with her.

C. He makes Lupe feel

useful because he needs

her help.

D. He criticizes Lupe the same

way everyone else does.

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