Download ELA Seventh Grade Common Final Exam

7th Grade ELA 1st Semester Final Exam - 2015-16
Vocabulary From Anchor Texts (7L4)
Read each statement and choose the BEST vocabulary word to complete the sentence. Use the context clues
to help you determine which word fits BEST!
1. The old, run-down ________ was scheduled to be demolished at the beginning of the year.
A. artifact
B. incision
C. tenement
D. damsel
2. No one was jealous of Julia when she had the ________ job of babysitting her four bratty cousins.
A. trussed
B. evasive
C. illiterate
D. unenviable
3. At her high school reunion, Mrs. Brown remembered all her close friends and not many of her ________.
A. tenements
B. modifications
C. acquaintances
D. provisions
4. A surgeon must carefully cut when making an _________ to start surgery.
A. inference
B. incision
C. apparatus
D. alteration
5. Freak and Max took ________ action to avoid being beaten up by Blade and his gang.
A. eerie
B. evasive
C. illiterate
D. unenviable
6. Some mushrooms are poisonous, and they are _________ if people eat them.
A. toxic
B. pneumatic
C. unfathomable
D. dysfunctional
7. The passengers on Titanic had no idea of what awaited them when they set out on their ________.
A. microsurgery
B. apparatus
C. sobriquet
D. voyage
8. Trying to avoid being caught, the escaped prisoner was ________ down behind a dumpster.
A. hunkering
B. illiterate
C. luxurious
D. regurgitating
9. Scooby Doo and the gang were frightened by the spooky and _________ sounds coming from the old mansion.
A. illiterate
B. phosphorescent
C. eerie
D. unvanquished
10. _________ tubes that run on air are used by many businesses such as banks and drugstores to deliver money
and medicine to their customers using the drive through.
A. Incision
B. Phosphorescent
C. Alteration
D. Pneumatic
11. Because Nico had the flu, his mother and dad __________ the family trip to Disney World for another time
when he would be well.
A. postponed
B. trussed
C. depleted
D. flinched
12. The _________ at the campground were not very good; the beds were lumpy, the food was disgusting and the
cabins were cold.
A. stern
B. bow
C. accommodations
D. fiend
Conventions and Writing
13. Which statement BEST describes the sentence below? (7L1b)
She had no reason to be worried; she had practiced her speech many times and would do a good job.
A. It has one independent clause and one dependent or subordinate clause
B. It has two independent clauses
C. It has two dependent or subordinate clauses
D. It has one independent clause and no dependent or subordinate clauses.
14. Read the passage below.
1. The Komodo dragon isn’t really a dragon at all. 2. It’s far more disgusting than that! 3. This is
the world’s biggest lizard, growing up to 10 feet long. 4. It looks a bit like a short-legged, smallheaded dinosaur, with a long heavy tail and forked tongue.
Where would be the best place to add the following detail? (7W2b)
Komodo dragons have been known to dig up human graves and eat the bodies inside.
A.
B.
C.
D.
before sentence 1
after sentence 2
after sentence 4
after sentence 3
Read the following argumentative writing passage and answer the questions
1) All children should participate in sports competitions because I believe that sports build high self-esteem that
helps children be more successful in school and in later life. 2) Studies have shown that the higher the self-esteem in a
child, the less likely the child is to be bullied or to be a bully. 3) Imagine a world in which each student is “bully proof” and
can focus only on making friends, getting better, and learning more!
4) A second reason that children should be allowed to participate in competitive sports is that it teaches them
valuable life-lessons. 5) When participating in sports, children learn things like co-operation, time management,
teamwork and responsibility. 6) All of these life-lessons are things that children will need when they get to college, and
when they grow up.
15. In order to maintain a formal style and objective tone, what does the writer need to change in sentence one in
the above passage? (7W1d)
A. Remove the word “I” from the sentence and use the word “We” instead.
B. Remove the “I believe that” from the sentence.
C. Remove the word “children” from the sentence and use the word, “kids” instead.
D. This sentence is already in formal style and needs no changes.
16. In order to support his or her claims, what specific information should the writer add to the above passage?
(7W1b)
A.
B.
C.
D.
A list of reasons why a student might be bullied.
Facts and statistics about the number of bullies that each school usually has.
Facts and statistics that show when students are bullied, their self-esteem and confidence suffers.
Facts and statistics about the number of times teachers and counselors personally witness
bullying.
17. Which of the following would make the best counter argument or opposing claim and rebuttal for the second
paragraph in the passage above? (7W1a)
A. Sports are not the most important thing in the world. School is more important than playing on a
team.
B. Sports do teach these life lessons, so children should be allowed to do them.
C. Students can learn those life-lessons by participating in other activities like band, chorus, and
drama or by doing volunteer work at school and in the community.
D. This passage already contains an opposing claim and rebuttal and does not need another one.
18. In the editing process, the student’s partner recommends that she replace some of the dead words in her
writing with ones that are more descriptive. Which of the following would be the best place for the student to look
to find words that are more descriptive? (7L4c)
A. thesaurus
B. dictionary
C. encyclopedia
D. glossary
19. Which of the following sentences uses formal language? (7W1d)
A.
B.
C.
D.
Rabbits have really big floppy ears.
Lots of people own rabbits as pets.
Some snowshoe rabbits actually eat mice as part of their diet.
Rabbits like to hop around and stuff like that.
Informational Text
DIRECTIONS: Read the article, “India: Between Past and Present.” Mark your answer for each question
beginning with #20 on your answer sheet. (Text is on separate pages!)
20. When you read the title of the article, “India: Between Past and Present,” what can you infer the text structure
to be? (7RI5)
A. compare and contrast
B. problem and solution
C. cause and effect
D. chronological order
21. What resulted from the partitioning of India in 1947? (7RI4)
A. Nothing really changed.
B. Two new countries were formed--Pakistan and India.
C. More Hindus came to live in Pakistan.
D. More indians believed in Karma
22. Which of the following is the best definition for bindi as it is used in the passage? (7RI4)
A. A loose-fitting tunic and baggy pants
B. A six-yard-long women’s garment
C. The dot on a woman’s forehead signifying her marital status
D. A person who moves from place to place to find work.
23. What is probably the meaning for taboo as it is used in the following quote from the article? (7RI4)
“Neither sister is interested in dating, which is taboo in most Indian families. In some cities, moral-policing
groups have banned young people from celebrating Valentine’s Day or showing affection in public.”
A. popular
B. unacceptable
C. widespread
D. good
24. What distinguishes middle class Indian teens from other kids in the Western world? (RI3)
A. Parents usually arrange their marriages.
B. Indian teens enjoy school more.
C. They dress in traditional clothing.
D. They have more respect for adults and value their education more.
E.
25. How has the boom in India’s economy affected family life for most Indian families? (7RI3)
A. It has had little or no effect.
B. The gap between India’s poor and India’s middle and upper classes has widened.
C. It is easier to hold on to old family traditions.
D. More Muslims live in India now.
26. Which of the following is an example of the difference between “old” India and “new” India? (7RI8)
A. There are more women working today in “new” India than ever before.
B. The middle class is much smaller today in “new” India.
C. The economy of “new” India is much weaker.
D. Poverty is no longer a problem in “new” India.
27. What is the best definition of the underlined word in the excerpt from the article below: (7RI4)
“Along its streets, a procession of comfortable homes, high-rise apartment buildings, and fancy malls
are symbols of the dynamic economy of the new India.”
A. poor
B. bad
C. declining
D. prospering
28. Which of the following statements is true about India today? (7RI8)
A. It is growing faster than China today.
B. It has changed very little from ancient times.
C. Its economy is growing rapidly today.
D. Its middle class is getting smaller.
29. How do the two sisters, Akshaya and Aishvarya, feel about poor people in their country? (7RI3)
A. They think that everyone is entitled to a good life.
B. They believe that being poor is a person’s fate and cannot be overcome.
C. They do not want to do anything to help the poor who live in shantytowns.
D. They would like to have more servants in their home.
Literary Text
DIRECTIONS: Read the following story and then choose the best answer for each question. Mark your
answers beginning with question #30 on your answer sheet.
The Vortex
Jamal shivered as he stepped outside and into the cold. He pulled his coat tighter around his waist.
His school bus sat at the end of his driveway, waiting for the neighboring students to rush inside. Jamal
hauled himself up the metal steps and plopped down onto the first seat he saw open. He pulled his hands
out of his gloves and fumbled with his phone to check the temperature outside. He couldn’t believe what he
saw. The high read 9 degrees Fahrenheit. Even though Jamal lived in upstate New York where several inches
of snow were nothing out of the ordinary, this was colder than usual for the month of January.
“Brriiiiiiiiiing,” the school bell rang out. Jamal flinched at the piercing sound as he removed all the
layers he had put on to ward off the chilling weather. Mrs. Matthews waited until all the students settled in
before she started her science class. Jamal didn’t like his schedule this year—he never felt like he was awake
enough to grasp Mrs. Matthews’ complicated lessons so early in the morning. So as she began talking, he
felt his eyelids grow heavier. The heat of the building pushed him farther back in his seat until.....
“Jamal!” Mrs. Matthews called out. The sleepy student heard hushed giggles around the classroom as
his body jolted upright.
“So what do you think of this weather?” she asked him. “Pretty cold, huh?”
“Yeah...it’s bad,” he replied groggily.
“Well, I was just telling your fellow students that it has something to do with a polar vortex,” she
explained.
Jamal looked over at the white board where his teacher had outlined a simple map of the world. On it,
she had drawn lines that swept down from the North Pole across the United States. Mrs. Matthews noticed
his gaze.
“Now that I’ve got your attention, let’s continue with the lesson,” she said with the slightest hint of a
smile.
Mrs. Matthews walked toward her drawing to explain the lines she had mapped across the world. She
pointed to the North Pole and told her students about the cold jet stream of air that usually circulates
around the top of the earth. Sometimes, she said, the jet stream weakens, and when that happens, the cold
air slips down south. So the cold winds can potentially hit the United States, Europe, and parts of Asia. This
time, the polar vortex was affecting the United States.
Mrs. Matthews had caught Jamal’s interest. “But why did the jet stream weaken in the first place?” he
asked.
“Well, that’s where the controversy lies,” Mrs. Matthews said. “Some climatologists think that global
warming, or more accurately, global climate change, is causing these extremely cold temperatures.”
Mrs. Matthews looked around the classroom at several confused faces. She explained how the
increase in temperature in summer months around the world is causing the glaciers in the Arctic Ocean to
melt and the water itself to warm. Later, in the winter months, the ocean gives off that heat into the
atmosphere. This weakens the cold jet stream of air that circulates above the Arctic Ocean.
“Crazy, right?” Mrs. Matthews said. “Crazy how something called global warming can cause such cold
temperatures.”
Jamal left his science class perplexed. Of course he had heard of global warming and global climate
change, but he hadn’t ever given it much thought. Previously that week, he had watched the local news
anchors on television repeatedly talk about the icy temperatures that were creeping across the country.
There were car accidents, losses of electricity and new shelters that had opened for those without heat. It
was causing quite some trouble.
After the final school bell had rung for the day, Jamal knocked on Mrs. Matthew’s door.
“What a surprise!” she said, motioning for him to come in. “How can I help you?”
Jamal expressed his concern about the drastic changes in temperatures around the globe. “I know
there’s plenty that we can do to help individually, like recycle and take public transportation, and turn the
lights off when we’re not using them,” he said, remembering the brochures that were passed out at school
last Earth Day.
“Yep, but it’s not going to help much if not enough of us put in the work, right?” Mrs. Matthews asked
her student.
Jamal remained silent. His brow furrowed as he thanked Mrs. Matthews and slowly walked out the
door.
Later that week, Jamal timidly walked into the principal’s office.
“How can I help you?” Ms. Garcia asked him.
“Well, I’d like to start a new club,” Jamal told her. He explained his plan to try to get his friends to join
so they could learn about new ways to reduce global climate change. He talked about getting enough people
motivated so they could approach local government about new policies to support a healthy environment.
The members could meet once a week and ask local experts to come to the school and discuss new
technological options that can reduce electricity expenditure and the school’s carbon footprint.
“That’s a great idea, Jamal,” Ms. Garcia responded. She accepted his proposal, and the two of them
made plans to start recruiting new members the following week.
“I’m just curious,” the principal started, “Where did you get this idea?”
“Well, Mrs. Matthews pretty much inspired me,” he answered. “But I guess you could say that it came
to me in my sleep,” he said with a smile.
30. What weather phenomenon does Mrs. Matthews teach her students about? (RL2)
A. polar winds
B. polar ice
C. polar snow
D. polar vortex
31. What motivates Jamal to start a new club? (RL2)
A. Jamal wants to help reduce global climate change.
B. Jamal thinks that starting a new club will make him cool.
C . Jamal wants to earn extra credit in his science class.
D. Jamal has a dream about starting a new club.
32. The polar vortex has dangerous effects on the United States. What evidence from the passage
supports this conclusion? (RL1)
A. “Previously that week, he had watched the local news anchors on television repeatedly talk
about the icy temperatures that were creeping across the country.”
B. “The cold winds can potentially hit the United States, Europe, and parts of Asia. This time,
the polar vortex was affecting the United States.”
C. “There were car accidents, losses of electricity and new shelters that had opened for those
without heat. It was causing quite some trouble.”
D. “Jamal left his science class perplexed. Of course he had heard of global warming and
global climate change, but he hadn’t ever given it much thought.”
33. How can Jamal best be described? (RL6)
A. uninterested in science
B. concerned and proactive C. a follower, not a leader
D. lazy and unmotivated
34. What is this story mostly about? RL2)
A. Jamal learns about climate change.
B. Jamal falls asleep during science class.
C. The U.S. experiences a polar vortex.
D. Jamal goes to the principal’s office.
35. Read the following sentences: “Jamal flinched at the piercing sound as he removed all the
layers he had put on to ward off the chilling weather.” As used in this sentence, what does the
phrase “ward off” most nearly mean? (RL4)
A. to increase
B. to eliminate
C. to welcome
D. to repel
36. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below. Jamal is concerned about the
effects of global climate change, ____ he proposes a new club to raise awareness about the
issue.
A. so
B. ultimately
C. however
D. namely
37. All of these are definitions of the word circulate. Which definition is used in the passage to
define circulate? (RL4)
A. to move or flow continuously along a closed path or system
B. to move around from person to person or from place to place
C. to move or flow about without restriction, as air
D. to cause to move around; spread widely; distribute
38. What does the word climate mean is it is used in the passage? (RL4)
A. the emotional, political, or social conditions prevailing in a place, time, or situation
B. a region defined by generally similar weather conditions
C. the weather conditions most prevailing in a specific place, averaged over several years.
D. the usual weather conditions in a place
39. According to Jamal, there are some things that individuals can do to help limit climate change.
Which of the following quotes BEST support such a claim? (RL1)
A. Previously that week, he had watched the local news anchors on television repeatedly talk
about the icy temperatures that were creeping across the country.
B. “I know there’s plenty that we can do to help individually, like recycle and take public
transportation, and turn the lights off when we’re not using them.”
C. “Some climatologists think that global warming, or more accurately, global climate change, is
causing these extremely cold temperatures.”
D. He explained his plan to try to get his friends to join so they could learn about new ways to
reduce global climate change.
40. Which statement is the best evidence to explain how global warming causes the polar jet
stream to weaken? (RL1)
A. Sometimes, she said, the jet stream weakens, and when that happens, the cold air slips down
south.
B. So the cold winds can potentially hit the United States, Europe, and parts of Asia.
C. She explained how the increase in temperature in summer months around the world is
causing the glaciers in the Arctic Ocean to melt and the water itself to warm.
D. “Crazy how something called global warming can cause such cold temperatures.”
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Short Constructed Response (10 points)
Use the story, “The Vortex,” to answer the following question.
41. How will Jamal’s new club help limit global climate change? (7W2-Explanatory Writing)
Use RACER to answer the question on the next page. (10 Points)
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