new jersey assessment program p

Name________________________________________ Class_____________________ Date____________________

EMCParadigm Publishing Saint Paul, Minnesota

NEW JERSEY ASSESSMENT

PROGRAM PRACTICE

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ISBN 0-8219-2992-5

© 2005 EMC Corporation

All rights reserved. The assessment materials in this publication may be photocopied forclassroom use only. No part of this publication may be adapted, reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,photocopying, recording, or otherwise without permission from the publisher.

Published by EMC/Paradigm Publishing875 Montreal WaySt. Paul, Minnesota 55102800-328-1452www.emcp.comE-mail: [email protected]

Printed in the United States of America.10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 XXX 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11

Cover CreditsCover Designer: C. Vern Johnson

Utsu Mountain at Okabe [Detail], 1833. Utagawa Hiroshige.

The Library [Detail], 1960. Jacob Lawrence.

People at Night, Guided by Phosphorus Traces of Snails [Detail], 1940. Joan Miró.

Staff Credits

EditorialLaurel SeelingProject Manager

Laurie SkibaContent Director

Brenda OwensSenior Editor

Nichola TorbettAssociate Editor

Jennifer J. AndersonAssociate Editor

Keri HenkelAssistant Editor

Ashley KuehlAssistant Editor

Cheryl DrivdahlCopyeditor

Valerie MurphyEditorial Assistant

DevelopmentPublisher’s PartnershipRidgewood, New Jersey

DesignShelley Clubb Production Manager

Petrina NyhanElectronic Production Specialist

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© EMC N E W J E R S E Y GEPA P R A C T I C E GEPA iii

Contents

Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................1

Test-Taking Skills Practice Worksheets..............................................................................................................3

Preparing for Tests...............................................................................................................................................3

Answering Multiple-Choice Questions .................................................................................................................4

Answering Reading Comprehension Questions ..................................................................................................6

Making Inferences ...............................................................................................................................................9

Finding the Central Idea or Theme....................................................................................................................12

Using Context Clues..........................................................................................................................................14

Answering Open-Ended Questions ....................................................................................................................17

Writing to Persuade ...........................................................................................................................................20

Writing to Speculate..........................................................................................................................................28

Revise/Edit Writing ............................................................................................................................................36

Grade 7 New Jersey GEPA Practice Tests ........................................................................................................42

Unit 1 Test

Reading Narrative Texts (“An Indian Boy’s Story”).......................................................................................42

Writing to Speculate....................................................................................................................................47

Unit 2 Test

Reading Persuasive Texts (“Letter to the Editor”).........................................................................................53

Revise/Edit Writing ......................................................................................................................................57

Unit 3 Test

Reading Narrative Texts (“The Passage of Time”) ........................................................................................63

Writing to Persuade ....................................................................................................................................67

Unit 4 Test

Reading Persuasive Texts (“Some Views on Adoption”) ...............................................................................72

Revise/Edit Writing .....................................................................................................................................76

Unit 5 Test

Reading Persuasive Texts (“The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters”) .......................................................80

Writing to Speculate....................................................................................................................................84

Unit 6 Test

Reading Narrative Texts (“The Spirit of Charles Lindbergh”) .......................................................................90

Revise/Edit Writing ......................................................................................................................................96

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Unit 7 Test

Reading Narrative Texts (from The Epic of Gilgamesh)................................................................................101

Writing to Speculate..................................................................................................................................107

Unit 8 Test

Reading Narrative Texts (“Investment in the Future”) ...............................................................................113

Writing to Persuade ..................................................................................................................................118

Unit 9 Test

Reading Narrative Texts (“Alfred, Lord Tennyson”)....................................................................................123

Revise/Edit Writing ...................................................................................................................................127

Unit 10 Test

Reading Persuasive Texts (The Miracle Worker Review) ...............................................................................131

Writing to Speculate..................................................................................................................................135

Unit 11 Test

Reading Persuasive Texts (“Problems in Perspective” ) ..............................................................................141

Writing to Persuade...................................................................................................................................145

Unit 12 Test

Reading Persuasive Texts (“E-Mail on Balance”) ........................................................................................150

Writing to Persuade...................................................................................................................................154

Scoring Guide ................................................................................................................................................159

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© EMC N E W J E R S E Y GEPA P R A C T I C E GEPA 1

Introduction

The EMC Masterpiece Series, Literature and the Language Arts textbook program has been designed toaddress the competencies assessed by the New Jersey Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA) andHigh School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) tests. Competencies are developed throughout the program,giving students the opportunity to internalize them through multiple practice opportunities. The Test-Taking Skills Worksheets and New Jersey GEPA or HSPA Practice Tests in this book are only a smallpart of this practice.

AN INTEGRATED APPROACH

Carefully constructed practice opportunities for reading and writing are integrated throughout theLiterature and the Language Arts textbook program. Development of these skills is outlined in the LessonPlans book, located in the Literacy Resource binder. There you will find a comprehensive list ofintegrated reading, writing, visual literacy, and other language arts activities.

The Reading Strategies Resource, also located in the Literacy Resource binder, is specifically designedto help New Jersey students internalize the reading strategies they need, not only to succeed on theGEPA, the HSPA, and other standardized tests, but to become proficient, lifelong readers. The ReadingStrategies Resource covers eight reading strategies that help students monitor their comprehension asthey read the selections in the textbook and answer reading comprehension questions after reading.

Each Reading Strategy Mini-Lesson helps students work through a textbook selection by focusing onone specific reading strategy that they learn to use before, during, and after reading. A fix-up strategy isprovided for students who need extra help. Work with the reading strategy culminates with a TestPractice page in which students are asked to demonstrate their successful use of the reading strategy byanswering sample multiple- choice and open-ended questions. Questions focus on:

• Making inferences

• Drawing conclusions

• Interpreting visual material

• Finding the central idea

• Analyzing a text’s organizational features

• Understanding sequence

• Evaluating the author’s purpose

• Understanding point of view

• Classifying and reorganizing information

• Distinguishing fact from opinion

• Comparing and contrasting

• Determining cause and effect

• Understanding literary devices

The Teaching Notes for each Reading Strategy Mini-Lesson include sample think-aloud discussions thatmodel effective ways to approach each standardized test question.

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Writing practice can be found in the Guided Writing lessons at the end of each unit, in the Writer’sJournal prompts following each selection, and on the Selection Tests and Unit Tests. Writing tasksstress the importance of prewriting prior to drafting, even in timed writing situations. Self- and peerevaluation checklists for every Guided Writing lesson help students develop revising and editing skills.

NEW JERSEY ASSESSMENT PRACTICE BOOKS

In addition to the assessment practice integrated throughout the core components of Literature and theLanguage Arts, test practice can be found in New Jersey GEPA and HSPA Practice books, available forgrades six through eleven in print and downloadable online (www.emcp.com) formats.

TEST-TAKING SKILLS WORKSHEETS. This book contains a set of test-taking skills worksheets that help studentsuse the strategies and skills they develop as they work through the Literature and the Language Artsprogram to succeed on standardized tests. These worksheets cover such topics as making inferences,using context clues, and finding the central idea; they also give students tips on answering multiple-choice and open-ended questions and guide them in responding to the various types of writing promptsfound on the GEPA and HSPA. Each worksheet contains instruction followed by practice opportunities.

SAMPLE NEW JERSEY GEPA AND HSPA TESTS. You will also find in this book twelve practice units integratedwith the twelve literature units in the textbook. Each practice unit contains a narrative or persuasivereading passage related to the textbook unit, followed by multiple-choice and open-ended questions.

Following the reading passage for each unit is a prompt for one of the three types of writing tasks:writing to persuade, writing to speculate, and revise/edit writing.

NEW JERSEY GEPA AND HSPA PRACTICE SCORING GUIDES. Based on actual New Jersey scoring procedures,the Scoring Guide at the back of this book includes answers to all multiple-choice questions, sample top-score-point responses for all open-ended items, and rubrics for scoring open-ended questions andwriting tasks.

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Test–Taking Skills Practice WorksheetsPREPARING FOR TESTS

Standardized tests like the New Jersey GEPA and others are a common part of school life. These guidelineswill help you prepare for and take a variety of tests.

TEST-TAKING TIPS

EXERCISE

Test-Taking Strategies

Write a brief response to each set of suggestions above. Do you use these strategies now? Which wouldhelp you most on your next test?

1. Preparing for a test

2. Taking a test

Preparing for a Test

• Pay attention in class. Exercises and activitiesthroughout the year practice skills that willbenefit you on standardized tests.

• Know what to expect. Your teacher can provide you with information about the testsyou will be taking.

• Get plenty of sleep the night before the testand eat a healthy breakfast in the morning.

• Arrive on time. Running late can raise yourstress level and hurt your performance.

Taking a Test

• Read directions and questions carefully.

• Consider every choice. Don’t be fooled by distractors, or answers that are almost correct.

• Spend test time wisely. Within each section,answer the easiest questions first and comeback to the more difficult questions later.

• Make sure to record your answer on the correctline of the answer sheet. As you mark eachanswer, ask yourself “Am I on the right questionnumber in the right section of the test?” and “Isthis the answer I mean to mark?”

• Use any extra time to check your work.

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ANSWERING MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

On many standardized tests, including reading portions of the New Jersey Grade Eight ProficiencyAssessment (GEPA) test, questions are multiple-choice and have a single correct answer. The guidelinesbelow will help you answer these kinds of questions effectively.

TIPS FOR ANSWERING MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

Read each question carefully. Pay special attention to any words thatare bolded, italicized, written in all capital letters, or otherwiseemphasized.

Read all choices before deciding on the answer.

Eliminate any answers that do not make sense, that disagree withwhat you remember from the passage, or that seem too extreme.Also, if two answers have the same meaning, you can eliminate both.

Beware of distractors. These are incorrect answers that look attractivebecause they are partially correct, they contain a commonmisconception, or they apply the right information in the wrong way.Distractors are based on common mistakes students make.

Rule out incorrect answers; then choose the answer that is mostaccurate or complete. Pay special attention to choices such as none ofthe above or all of the above.

If a question seems too difficult, skip it and come back to it later.Keep in mind, though, that most tests allow you to go back only toquestions within a section.

To make sure your answers are scanned accurately, be sure to fill in allcircles solidly.

EXERCISE

Answering Multiple-Choice Questions

Read the speech “The Challenger Disaster” by Peggy Noonan on pages 425–426 of your textbook. Thenselect the best answer to each of the following questions.

_________ 1. What is the purpose of Peggy Noonan’s speech?

A. to explain the mission of the space shuttle

B. to argue that safety regulations should be improved

C. to argue that the space program needs to be extended

D. to honor the astronauts who lost their lives in the disaster

_________ 2. Which two special groups does the writer directly address in the speech?

A. surviving astronauts and politicians

B. NASA officials and research engineers

C. families of the astronauts and schoolchildren

D. former astronauts and their families

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_________ 3. According to the speaker, to whom does the future belong?

A. engineers

B. scientists

C. the young

D. the brave

_________ 4. Which of the following BEST describes Sir Francis Drake?

A. courtier

B. sailor

C. explorer

D. poet

_________ 5. In the last paragraph, the word manner most nearly means

A. way

B. bow

C. courtesy

D. achievement

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ANSWERING READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

Reading comprehension questions ask you to read a short piece of writing and answer severalquestions about it. To answer reading comprehension questions, follow these steps:

1. Read through all the questions quickly.

2. Read the passage with the questions in mind.

3. Reread the first question carefully.

4. If you know the answer, mark it and move on to the next question. If you don’t, go to Step 4.

5. Scan the passage to look for key words related to the question. When you find a key word, slowdown and read carefully.

6. Answer the question.

7. Repeat steps 4–6 to answer the rest of the questions.

EXERCISE

Answering Reading Comprehension Questions

Read “The Price of Freedom” by Cassandra M. Vanhooser on pages 810–812 of your textbook. Then selectthe best answer to the questions below.

_________ 1. According to the essay, the National Prisoner of War Museum is located in

A. Belgium

B. Vietnam

C. Andersonville, Georgia

D. Washington, D.C.

_________ 2. Which of the following is an especially effective exhibit at the museum?

A. a large map showing battle positions at the Battle of the Bulge

B. a darkened room with a wall of weapons pointed at the visitor

C. a model of a prison yard in Vietnam

D. a re-creation of prison conditions in the Korean War

_________ 3. When was Lloyd Diehl, an ex-POW from New Jersey, captured by the enemy?

A. 1864

B. 1944

C. 1951

D. 1966

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_________ 4. The tone of this essay could BEST be described as

A. indifferent

B. humorous

C. emotional

D. objective

5. Cassandra Vanhooser structures her essay carefully.

• How does the third paragraph in the introduction provide background?

• How do the quotations from ex-POWs in the body of the essay support the writer’s main idea?

• How does the conclusion serve to wrap up the essay?

Use information from the essay to support your ideas.

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6. The writer often mentions emotions in this expressive essay.

• Identify five emotions mentioned by the writer.

• How do these emotions combine to express the writer’s reaction to the museum, and how dothey contribute to the writer’s message?

Use information from the essay to support your response.

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MAKING INFERENCES

Sometimes the answers to reading comprehension questions can be found in the text you have read.Other times, however, you will need to make an inference in order to answer the question. Making aninference means putting together the clues given in the text with your own prior knowledge to makean educated guess. For example, read the following passage:

Sophia always set the alarm clock early. At 6:30 a.m., she rolled out of bed. By 7:45, shearrived at her beach. Every morning she ran over a checklist of her equipment: whistle,sunscreen, binoculars, first-aid kit, and flotation devices. She scanned the water carefully,checking for any sign of rip currents or dangerous debris. Then she checked to see thatthe stand where she would sit looking out over the water was firmly planted in the sand.As other team members arrived, Sophia handed out schedules. By 8 o’clock, she was in thechair, looking forward to another day.

What is Sophia’s job? The passage itself does not say, but it does give you clues: the equipment thatSophia checks, her investigation of the water, and the stand with the chair. By putting these clues togetherwith your prior knowledge, you can be pretty certain that Sophia is a lifeguard.

EXERCISE

Making Inferences

Read Ray Bradbury’s story “The Foghorn” on pages 371–379 of your textbook. Then use clues from thestory and your prior knowledge to answer the inference questions that follow.

_________ 1. From the first paragraph of the story, you can infer that the setting is

A. a battle

B. a lighthouse

C. a beach house

D. on shipboard

_________ 2. The narrator identifies the sea monster as a

A. whale

B. shark

C. jelly fish

D. dinosaur

_________ 3. Which of the following BEST expresses why the sea monster goes on a destructive rampage?

A. The monster has suffered cruelly from hunger.

B. The monster’s rage is caused by an extremely painful injury.

C. The lonely monster realizes that it has been tricked and it gives way to rage and despair.

D. The taunts of the men enrage the monster.

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4. This story depends on the idea of loneliness for much of its effect.

• How does the story’s setting suggest loneliness?

• What comments about the sea monster also suggest loneliness?

Use details from the story to support your answer.

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5. The story blends realism with fantasy.

• What elements in the story are realistic?

• What elements are fantastic?

• Do you find the combination of realism and fantasy effective? Why or why not?

Use details from the story to support your answer.

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FINDING THE CENTRAL IDEA OR THEME

Many standardized test questions will ask you to identify the central idea or theme of a passage of text.In general, nonfiction texts have central or main ideas; literary texts (poems, stories, novels, plays, andpersonal essays) have themes. Sometimes, however, the term central idea or main idea is used to refer tothe theme of a literary work, especially an essay or poem.

The central idea is a brief statement of what the author wants you to know, think, or feel after readingthe text. In some cases, the central idea will actually be stated. Check the first and last paragraphs for asentence that sums up the entire passage.

Usually, however, the author will not tell you what the central idea is, and you will have to infer it. Toinfer a central idea, ask yourself these questions about the text:

• Who or what is this passage about?

• What does the author want me to know, think, or feel about this “who” or “what”?

• If I had to tell someone in one sentence what this passage is about, what would I say?

After you have a central idea in mind, check to see whether all the details in the passage fit that centralidea. If any detail contradicts your statement, you need to revise that statement.

TIPS FOR ANSWERING MULTIPLE-CHOICE MAIN IDEA QUESTIONS

• Eliminate any statement that contains incorrect information.

• Eliminate any statement that applies only to one paragraph or section of the passage.

• If two statements are similar, choose the one that contains more information, as long as allinformation is correct.

Following a literary passage, you might be asked to identify the theme, or central idea, of the passage.The theme is usually a general statement or insight about life. It is expressed through the plot, images,characters, and symbols in a text. To find the theme of a passage, ask yourself these questions:

• How and why has the main character or speaker changed by the end of the story?

• What has the main character learned by the end of the story?

• How is the reader supposed to feel about the events of the story?

• What is the author trying to say about life?

• What is the “moral” or lesson of the story?

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EXERCISE

Finding the Central Idea or Theme

_________ 1. Read Mona Gardner’s story “The Dinner Party” on page 122 of your textbook.Which of the following statements BEST expresses the theme of this story?

A. A bowl of milk serves to distract most snakes.

B. The American’s quick thinking saved the guests from injury.

C. Despite popular stereotypes, women can possess nerves of steel.

D. Cobras are not nearly as dangerous as is commonly thought.

_________ 2. Turn to page 418 in your textbook and read the poem “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Which of the following statements BEST expresses the theme of the poem?

A. Denying freedom to people or creatures inflicts terrible suffering on them.

B. People need freedom more than animals do.

C. Destructive creatures need to be restrained by cages.

D. Freedom is less important than endurance.

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USING CONTEXT CLUES

Some standardized test questions will ask you to choose the best definition for a word that might beunfamiliar to you. You can often figure out the meaning of this word by using context clues. Contextclues frequently can be found in nearby words and phrases that provide hints about the word.

EXAMPLES

comparison clue Jake brings to his skateboarding the prowess of an Olympic athlete.

If Jake is similar to a great athlete in prowess, prowess must mean “strong ability” or “talent.”

contrast clue While my grandparents’ house is bright, cheerful, and not at all mysterious, the old,abandoned mansion next to them is eerie.

The word while signals a contrast between one house and the other. If the grandparents’ house is “not atall mysterious,” the house next door must possess some mystery. Eerie must mean “strange” or“mysterious.”

restatement clue Jeanine’s impudence gets her in trouble. Neither teachers nor other studentsappreciate her cocky, selfish attitude.

As the second sentence suggests, impudence means “cockiness and disregard for other people.”

apposition clue As he stepped up to bat for the first time, the boy was afraid his teammates woulddiscover his inadequacy, his inability to perform up to their high standards.

By restating the word inadequacy in different terms, the apposition indicates that inadequacy means “stateof not being good enough.”

examples clue The child suffered derision from her classmates in the form of teasing, jokes, taunts,threats, and pointing fingers.

From the actions listed here—teasing, jokes, taunts, threats, and pointing fingers—you can guess thatderision means “ridicule.”

cause and effect clue When Samuel crept into the room looking furtive, his parents immediatelybecame suspicious and asked him what he was up to.

If looking furtive made Samuel’s parents suspicious about his plans, furtive must mean “sneaky ” or “sly.”

The following table shows words that signal each type of context clue. Look for these words in thesentences around an unfamiliar word to see if they signal a context clue.

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comparison and, like, as, just as, completely, thoroughly

contrast but, nevertheless, on the other hand, however, although, though, in spite of

restatement that is, in other words, or

examples including, such as, for example, for instance, especially, particularly

cause and effect if/then, when/then, thus, therefore, because, so, as a result of, consequently

EXERCISE

Read the following sentences. Then choose the best definitions for the underlined words.

1. Serena, known for her melancholy moods, could often be found brooding on subjectssuch as war, death, and loneliness.

A. thinking

B. dwelling

C. sitting

D. laughing

2. Although the man dressed professionally and tastefully, his house was decorated in themost gaudy way.

A. tasteless

B. neat

C. spare

D. pleasant

3. When my friend who is usually so calm and kind suddenly became angry and hostile,I was bewildered.

A. reassured

B. confused

C. wrong

D. wild

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4. Like a salesperson gently urging a customer toward a big purchase, Chad wheedled to getpermission to spend the night with a friend.

A. whined

B. pleaded

C. coaxed

D. sulked

5. I can’t imagine why anyone likes that monotonous song. It just repeats the same briefmelody over and over.

A. offensive

B. jazzy

C. boring

D. noisy

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ANSWERING OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

In addition to multiple-choice questions, many standardized tests, including the New Jersey Grade EightProficiency Assessment (GEPA) include open-ended questions that require you to write answers in the testbooklet.

Open-ended questions might ask you to identify key ideas or examples from the text by writing a sentenceabout each. In other cases, you will be asked to write a paragraph in response to a question about theselection and to use specific details from the passage to support your answer.

EXAMPLE

Essay prompt: The deep emotional bond between the milkman Pierre and the horse Joseph is amajor feature of Quentin Reynolds’s story “A Secret for Two” (pp. 570–573).

• How does the death of Joseph affect Pierre?

• What are the consequences of Joseph’s death?

• What message might this story contain about the power of love?

Short response: When the horse Joseph dies, Pierre is emotionally devastated. The “dead, lifelesslook” in his eyes shows the depth of his grief. For Pierre, life is not worthy living any more. The horse’sdeath leads directly to Pierre’s death, as he steps into the street and fails to notice the large truckhurtling toward him. As the ambulance doctor reveals, Pierre has been blind for five years. The horseJoseph has served as his “seeing-eye” companion, enabling Pierre to continue working. The storysuggests that the power of love is remarkable, since it has bound together a man and a horse soclosely.

As you answer open-ended questions, remember that you are being evaluated based on yourunderstanding of the text and your ability to interact with the author’s ideas.

The following tips will help you answer open-ended questions effectively.

TIPS FOR ANSWERING OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

• Before reading the passage, skim the questions. When you skim, you glance through materialquickly to get a general idea of what it is about.

• As you read, underline any information that relates to the questions. After you have finishedreading, you can decide which of the underlined details to use in your answers.

• In the margin of your test booklet, list the most important points to include in each answer.Then number them to show the order in which they should be included. Finally, draft youranswer.

• If you have extra time, use it to revise and proofread your answers.

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EXERCISE

Answering Open-Ended Questions

Turn to page 542 and read “Luke Baldwin’s Vow” by Morley Callaghan. Then answer the open-endedquestions that follow.

1. The story comments indirectly on practicality and wisdom.

• Who represents practicality, and who represents wisdom?

• In your own words, state the story’s message about these two personality traits.

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2. Toward the end of the story, Luke is able to resolve an important conflict.

• What is Luke’s conflict?

• What character traits enable Luke to resolve the conflict?

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WRITING TO PERSUADE

One of the writing tasks you will encounter on the New Jersey GEPA will be to write a persuasiveresponse to a written prompt. For example, you might be asked to write a letter to the editor of theschool newspaper expressing your opinion about a change to the school dress code or an essayexplaining your point of view on a controversial law under consideration in your state. Your goal in thispiece of writing should be to convince an audience to take your opinion seriously.

Understanding how your essay will be scored will help you write a successful response. Scorers will usethe New Jersey Registered Holistic Scoring Rubric to evaluate essays; your teacher should be able to giveyou a copy of this rubric. Basically, your essay will be graded on

• whether it has a clear opening and closing

• how closely it relates to the assigned topic

• how focused it is on a single thesis, or main idea

• how well it develops that thesis with effective, vivid, explicit, and pertinent details

• how logically the ideas are organized and whether they are joined by transitions

• how many usage errors you make

• how much you have varied your sentences while avoiding fragments and run-ons

• how many errors you make in mechanics (punctuation. capitalization, and spelling)

You can use a modified version of the writing process to complete your essay. Follow these steps:

1. Budget your time. The person administering the exam will tell you how much time you have towrite the essay for each section. Make a plan that allots time for prewriting, drafting, self-evaluation, revising, and proofreading. As you work on your essay, stick to this plan.

2. Prewrite. The first step is to collect and organize your ideas about the prompt. First, brainstormideas using whatever method is most comfortable for you. If you don’t immediately have ideas, tryfreewriting about the topic for five minutes or drawing a cluster chart. Then, organize the ideasyou came up with. A simple outline or chart can help. For example, the graphic organizer on thenext page might help you organize your persuasive essay.

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Similarity or Difference #1 Support for Reason #1:



Reason #1: Responses to Opposition:

3. Draft your response. As you get down to the business of writing, your first task is to write a thesisstatement. The thesis is a one-sentence statement of your main idea. It should appear near theend of the introduction to your essay. The first part of your introduction should get the reader’sattention with a quotation, a story, an impressive fact or statistic, or any other device that youthink will make readers want to hear what you have to say.

Follow your organizational plan to write each body paragraph of your essay. Devote oneparagraph to each major point in your organizational plan. Write quickly and keep moving. Don’tspend too much time on any single paragraph, but try to make your essay as complete aspossible. The more evidence you can provide to support each of your main points, the better youare likely to score.

End your essay with a conclusion that sums up your major points.

4. Evaluate your response. Use the Writer’s Checklist provided in your test booklet to evaluate yourwriting. (This checklist is provided on the next page for your reference.) Place a checkmark next toevery statement that you think you have done well. Next to items you have not checked, makenotes about what you could do better.

5. Revise and proofread your answer. Make the changes you noted in the previous step. Make sureyou have included enough detail in your essay to support your thesis and each of your mainpoints. Finally, check for errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Use proofreading marks tomake changes to your answer. Study the chart on page 23 to learn common proofreading marks.

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NEW JERSEY • HIGH SCHOOLPROFICIENCY ASSESSMENT

Writer’s ChecklistImportant Points to Remember as You

Write and Critically Read to Revise/Edit Your Writing

CONTENT/ORGANIZATION

1. Focus on your purpose for writingand your audience. Convince yourreaders (audience) that your pointof view, solution, or causes and/oreffects are reasonable.

2. Support your point of view,solution, or causes and/or effectswith details and evidence.

3. Put your ideas in the order thatbest communicates what you aretrying to say.

SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION

4. Use clear and varied sentences.

USAGE

5. Use words correctly.

MECHANICS

6. Capitalize, spell, and punctuatecorrectly.

7. Write neatly.

New Jersey State Department of Education March 2000

Copyright © 2000 by New Jersey State Department of Education

All rights reserved.

Revising/Editing Guide

you may want to use editing

marks when you revise and edit,

to move text,insert

text, or eliminate

change text. Sometimes you

may want to add a sentence or

paragraph. A Whatever

changes you make, be sure to

make your revisions and editing

marks clear to your readers.

A

If you want to add new text,

label the new text with a letter

or number. Then write the

lable to show where you are

adding it.

shows whereto move text.

cross outshows whatto get rid ofor change.

shows whatto insert.

Ashows whattext to addand where toadd it.

What to consider when you revise and edit:

CONTENT/ORGANIZATION1. opening and closing2. development of key ideas3. logical progression of ideas4. supporting details5. transitions

SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION6. correct sentence structure (syntax)7. varied sentence structure

USAGE8. correct verb tenses9. subject/verb agreement

10. pronoun usage and agreement11. word choice

MECHANICS12. spelling13. capitalization14. punctuation

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EXERCISE

Below is a prompt like the one you are likely to encounter on the GEPA. Read the prompt and prepare aresponse using the steps of the writing process outlined above.

WRITING SITUATION

Your school is considering a foreign language requirement. Students would have to take two years of aforeign language for graduation. Supporters of the new requirement point out that basic knowledge of aforeign language would help students in many ways in the global economy. Opponents argue that therequirement would mean increased costs and an additional burden on students, some of whom alreadyhave difficulty meeting existing requirements.

Write a letter to school board members explaining your position on the proposal. What is your point ofview? How would this proposal affect you and other students at your school?

DIRECTIONS FOR WRITING TASK

Write a letter either supporting or opposing the proposed foreign language requirement. Use facts,examples, and other evidence to support your point of view.

PROOFREADER’S SYMBOLS

Symbol and Example Meaning of a Symbol

The very first time Delete (cut) this material.

cat’ cradle Insert (add) something that is missing.

Georze Replace this letter or word.

All the horses king’s Move this word to where the arrow points.

french toast Capitalize this letter.

the vice-President Lowercase this letter.

housse take out this letter and close up space.

book keeper Close up space.

gebril Change the order of these letters.

end. “Watch out,” she yelled. Begin a new paragraph.

Love conquers all Put a period here.

Welcome friends. Put a comma here.

Getthe stopwatch Put a space here.

Dear Madam Put a colon here,

She walked he rode. Put a semicolon here.

name brand products Put a hyphen here.

cats meow Put an apostrophe here.

cat’s cradle Let it stand. (Leave as it is.)

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1. How will you budget your time as you respond to this prompt?

2. Prewrite.

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3. Draft.

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USAGE


MECHANICS


7. Write neatly.







to move text,insert

text, or eliminate







A





adding it.











4. Evaluate 5. Revise/Proofread by making changes to your drafton the previous pages.

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WRITING TO SPECULATE

One of the writing prompts on the New Jersey GEPA will ask you to look at a photograph or piece offine art and speculate about what is happening in it. There are essentially two ways to respond to thepicture:

1. You can describe what is happening and how you feel about it. Remember to include a clear thesisstatement that summarizes the main idea of your essay. Also, be sure to use plenty of concretedetails. Some of these details should be from the picture, but others should come from yourimagination, your prior experience, or your background knowledge. You might also compare whatyou see to an experience from your own life.

2. You can write a story about the people, animals, or objects you see in the picture. Don’t worryabout getting the interpretation of the picture “right.” What you see in the picture might be quitedifferent from what another classmate sees. Instead, focus on creating a lively, vivid, well-organized story around whatever you see.

Understanding how your essay or story will be scored will help you write a successful response. Thescorer will use the New Jersey Registered Holistic Scoring Rubric to evaluate your writing; your teachershould be able to give you a copy of this rubric. Basically, your story or essay will be graded on

• whether it has a clear opening and closing

• whether it relates closely to the picture

• how focused it is on a single main idea or storyline

• how well you’ve developed it with effective, vivid, explicit, and pertinent details

• how logically the ideas are organized and whether they are joined by transitions

• how many usage errors you make

• how much you have varied your sentences while avoiding fragments and run-ons

• how many errors you make in mechanics (punctuation, capitalization, and spelling)

You can use a modified version of the writing process to complete your essay. Follow these steps:

1. Budget your time. The person administering the exam will tell you how much time you have towrite your response for this section. Make a plan that allots time for prewriting, drafting, self-evaluation, revising, and proofreading. As you work on your response, stick to this plan.

2. Prewrite. The first step is to collect and organize your ideas about the prompt. First, brainstormideas using whatever method is most comfortable for you. If you don’t immediately have ideas,you might try inserting yourself into the picture. Imagine that you see this scene as you arewalking to school. How would you describe it to a friend? What does it make you think of? As analternative, you might imagine the lives of the people, animals, or objects in the picture. Where dothey come from? What is important to them? Why are they doing what they are doing in thepicture? Freewrite about these questions for five minutes.

Then decide whether you will write an essay or a story. Your choice of form will determine howyou organize the ideas you came up with. A simple outline or chart can help. For example, thefollowing chart might help you organize a descriptive essay.

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Sensory Details (Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste, Touch): Association:

Sensory Details (Sight, Hearing, Smell, Taste, Touch): Association



A time line or story strip can help you organize a story.

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3. Draft your response. Follow your organizational plan to write your response. Make sure eachparagraph focuses on a single unified idea from your chart or diagram. If you are includingdialogue in your response, start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes.

Write quickly and keep moving. Don’t spend too much time on any single paragraph, but try tomake your answer as lively and vivid as possible. The more details you can provide withoutstraying off the topic, the better you are likely to score.

4. Evaluate your response. Use the Writer’s Checklist provided in your test booklet to evaluate yourwriting. (This checklist is provided on page 31 for your reference.) Place a checkmark next to everystatement that you think you have done well. Next to items you have not checked, make notesabout what you could do better.

5. Revise and proofread your answer. Make the changes you noted in the previous step. Make sureyou have included enough detail in your response. Finally, check for errors in grammar, spelling,and punctuation. Use proofreading marks to make changes to your answer. Study the chart belowto learn common proofreading marks.

PROOFREADER’S SYMBOLS

Symbol and Example Meaning of a Symbol

The very first time Delete (cut) this material.

cat’ cradle Insert (add) something that is missing.

Georze Replace this letter or word.

All the horses king’s Move this word to where the arrow points.

french toast Capitalize this letter.

the vice-President Lowercase this letter.

housse take out this letter and close up space.

book keeper Close up space.

gebril Change the order of these letters.

end. “Watch out,” she yelled. Begin a new paragraph.

Love conquers all Put a period here.

Welcome friends. Put a comma here.

Getthe stopwatch Put a space here.

Dear Madam Put a colon here,

She walked he rode. Put a semicolon here.

name brand products Put a hyphen here.

cats meow Put an apostrophe here.

cat’s cradle Let it stand. (Leave as it is.)

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USAGE


MECHANICS


7. Write neatly.







to move text,insert

text, or eliminate







A





adding it.











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EXERCISE

Writing to Speculate

Below is a prompt like the one you are likely to encounter on the GEPA. Look at the picture, read theprompt, and prepare a response using the steps of the writing process outlined on the previous pages.

1. How will you budget your time as you respond to this prompt?

2. Prewrite.

An ancient proverb says, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Regardless of the artist’s originalintent, what we see in the picture can be very different from what other’s see. What words wouldyou use to describe what is happening in this picture? Use your imagination and experience tospeculate what the story is about or to describe what is happening.

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3. Draft.

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USAGE


MECHANICS


7. Write neatly.







to move text,insert

text, or eliminate







A





adding it.











4. Evaluate 5. Revise/Proofread by making changes to your drafton the previous pages.

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REVISE/EDIT WRITING

One of the three writing tasks on the New Jersey GEPA asks you to revise and edit a student essay that isprovided for you. The essay you are given might contain problems with organization, number andspecificity of details, sentence structure, usage, word choice, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.Your task is to decide what to change to develop the student’s ideas and improve the essay.

Follow these steps to complete the task.

1. Preview the content of the essay. Read through the piece once to get a sense of the student’smain ideas.

2. Improve the content and organization. Ask yourself the following questions about the student’sdraft.

• What is the purpose of the writing, and does it achieve its purpose?

• Does the writing have a single central focus? If not, what can I delete in order to create asingle focus?

• Which ideas need to be explained in more detail? Which would benefit from the addition offacts, examples, anecdotes, or other supporting details?

• Are the ideas arranged in the most sensible order?

• How can I use transitions to improve the flow of ideas and show how the main ideas areconnected?

• Does the essay have a strong opening and closing? How can I improve these?

Keep in mind that there are four basic ways to improve the content of an essay.

a. Adding or Expanding. Sometimes writing can be improved by adding details, examples, or transitions toconnect ideas. Often a single added adjective can make a piece of writing clearer or more vivid.

EXAMPLE

A bonechilling windWind whistled through the park.

At other times you will need to add details to back up a main idea. To add a longer passage, write thepassage on the lined pages, label it with a letter or number, and mark where that letter or numbershould go in the text.

EXAMPLE

Everyone uses the park, so its destruction would be a major loss to the community. Insert A

Insert AAn average of 72 people use the park every day. Of the 653 neighborhood residents surveyed, 85percent said they use the park at least several times each year. Forty-two percent said they use thepark weekly.

b. Cutting or Condensing. Often writing can be improved by cutting unnecessary or unrelated material.

EXAMPLE

Watson was firmly determined to find the structure of the DNA molecule.

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c. Replacing. Sometimes weak writing can be replaced with stronger writing that is more concrete,more vivid, or more precise.

EXAMPLE

Original: Chandra lived in a house down the street.Replacement: Chandra lived in a Garrison colonial down Mulberry Street.

d. Moving. Often you can improve the organization of a piece of writing by moving part of it so thatrelated ideas appear near one another.

EXAMPLE

Mince the garlic in very fine pieces. Sauté the garlic in a small skillet just until it starts to brown. Before you add the garlic to the skillet, you should heat a small amount of olive oil. Use medium lowheat. Remove the browned garlic from the skillet.

You can use proofreading and editing marks like those used in the examples to make changes right on thecopy of the essay in your answer folder. You can also add new text by writing inserts on the lined pages andmarking on the student essay where each insert should be placed. (See the second example under“Adding” on the previous page.) You can also rewrite the entire essay on the lined pages, but you aren’trequired to do so.

3. Improve word choice. Is the language of the essay appropriate to the audience and purpose?Where could the word choices be improved to make the essay more precise, lively, or vivid? Canyou delete any unnecessary words? Mark corrections on the draft.

4. Proofread the essay for errors in sentence construction, usage, spelling, punctuation, andcapitalization. Eliminate any fragments or run-on sentences. Combine short, choppy sentencesusing conjunctions. Make sure you have included a variety of sentences—simple, compound, andcomplex. Check that verbs agree with their subjects and pronouns agree with their antecedents.Fix spelling, punctuation, and capitalization errors. Be sure to proofread your inserts as well as theoriginal student’s text. Read the draft one last time, slowly, to catch any remaining errors.

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EXERCISE

Revise/Edit Writing

Below is a prompt like the one you are likely to encounter on the GEPA. Read the prompt and completethe task.

In English class this year, Paul decided to write a comparison-contrast essay on school andswimming. In his essay, he wanted to focus first on similarities and then on differences. ReadPaul’s first draft and think about how to improve the meaning and the clarity of the text. Thenmake your revisions.

School and Swimmingby Paul Lavalle

Gliding through the water in the pool. Sitting in a desk at school. School and swimming are

different in many ways, but are any similarities? At first glance, there don’t seem to be any. Isn’t

school just plain work and swimming just plain fun.

School and swimming are alike in many ways. If you want to do well at either one, you have to be

disaplined. You have got to keep at it and do your best. if you swim on a team, you have to practice

together. You have to show up for the meets, too. If you are in a group at school, you have to work

with them and be there for all of your classes.

Swimming and school are in many ways different. School pretty much trains our brains and

swimming trains our bodies. I’m not very active at school because in most of my classes I sit at a

desk, but swimming gives me great exercise. When Im swimming, I can train at my own pace,

because Im not on a team. In school, though, I can’t go at my own pace because I need to keep up

with my teachers and my classmates.

Even though swimming and school have some differences, I think they are both important. They

help us prepare both our minds and our bodies to be strong now and in the future, too.

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New Jersey GEPA Practice, Grade 7 UNIT 1 TEST

READING

DIRECTIONS

This passage is similar to those you will find on the New Jersey Grade 8 Proficiency Exam. You willread a narrative passage and then respond to the multiple-choice and open-ended questions thatfollow.

“An Indian Boy’s Story”by Ah-nen-la-de-ni

When I was thirteen a great change occurred, for the honey-tongued agent of a new Governmentcontract Indian school appeared on the reservation, drumming up boys and girls for his institution.He made a great impression by going from house to house and describing, through an interpreter, allthe glories and luxuries of the new place, the good food and teaching, the fine uniforms, theplayground and its sports and toys.

All that a wild Indian boy had to do, according to the agent, was to attend this school for a year ortwo, and he was sure to emerge therefrom with all the knowledge and skill of the white man....

I had, up to this time, been leading a very happy life, helping with the planting, trapping, fishing,basket making and playing all the games of my tribe —which is famous at lacrosse—but the desire totravel and see new things and the hope of finding an easy way to much knowledge in the wonderfulschool outweighed my regard for my home and its joys, and so I was one of the twelve boys who in1892 left our reservation to go to the Government contract school for Indians, situated in a largePennsylvania city and known as the Institute.

Till I arrived at the school I had never heard that there were any other Indians in the country otherthan those of our reservation, and I did not know that our tribe was called Mohawk. My people calledthemselves “Ga-nien-ge-ha-ga,” meaning “People of the Beacon Stone,” and Indians generally theytermed “On-give-hon-we,” meaning “Real-men” or “Primitive People.”

My surprise, therefore, was great when I found myself surrounded in the school yard by strangeIndian boys belonging to tribes of which I had never heard, and when it was said that my people wereonly the “civilized Mohawks,” I at first thought that “Mohawk” was a nickname and fought any boywho called me by it.

I had left home for the school with a great deal of hope, having said to my mother: “Do not worry.I shall soon return to you a better boy and with a good education!” Little did I dream that that wasthe last time I would ever see her kind face. She died two years later, and I was not allowed to go toher funeral.

The journey to Philadelphia had been very enjoyable and interesting. It was my first ride on the“great steel horse,” as the Indians called the railway train, but my frame of mind changed as soon asmy new home was reached.

The first thing that happened to me and to all other freshly caught young redskins when we arrivedat the institution was a bath of a particularly disconcerting sort. We were used to baths of theswimming variety, for on the reservation we boys spent a good deal of our time in the water, but thisfirst bath at the institution was different. For one thing, it was accompanied by plenty of soap, and for

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another thing, it was preceded by a haircut that is better described as a crop.The little newcomer, thus cropped and delivered over to the untender mercies of larger Indian boys

of tribes different from his own, who laughingly attacked his bare skin with very hot water and veryhard scrubbing brushes, was likely to emerge from the encounter with a clean skin but perturbedmind. When, in addition, he was prevented from expressing his feelings in the only language heknew, what wonder if some rules of the school were broken.

After the astonishing bath the newcomer was freshly clothed from head to foot, while the raiment inwhich he came from the reservation was burned or buried. Thereafter he was released by thetorturers, and could be seen sidling about the corridors like a lonely crab, silent, sulky, immaculatelyclean and most disconsolate.

After my bath and reclothing and after having had my name taken down in the records I wasassigned to a dormitory, and began my regular school life, much to my dissatisfaction. The recordingof my name was accompanied by a change which, though it might seem trifling to the teachers, wasvery important to me. My name among my own people was “Ah-nen-la-de-ni,” which in Englishmeans “Turning crowd” or “Turns the crowd,” but my family had had the name “La France”bestowed on them by the French some generations before my birth, and at the institution my Indianname was discarded, and I was informed that I was henceforth to be known as Daniel La France.

It made me feel as if I had lost myself. I had been proud of myself and my possibilities as “Turnsthe crowd,” for in spite of their civilized surroundings the Indians of our reservation in my time stilllooked back to the old warlike days when the Mohawks were great people, but Daniel La France wasto me a stranger and a nobody with no possibilities. It seemed as if my prospect of a chiefship hadvanished. I was very homesick for a long time.

1. Which of the following BEST describes the narrator’s experience in the story?

A. He found his new school exhilarating.

B. He had high hopes for his new school, but he was bitterly disappointed.

C. The school regulations were strict, but he obeyed them willingly.

D. The teachers at the new school were kind and helpful.

2. Which of the following quotations contains an example of a simile?

A. “I had, up to this time, been leading a very happy life . . . “

B. “ . . . I did not know that our tribe was called Mohawk.”

C. “I at first thought that ‘Mohawk’ was a nickname and fought against any boy

who called me by it.”

D. “Thereafter he was released by the torturers, and could be seen sidling about the corridors like alonely crab, silent, sulky, immaculately clean and most disconsolate.”

3. The word regard in paragraph 3 most nearly means

A. affection

B. hatred

C. ambiguity

D. frustration

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4. Which of the following motivated the narrator to leave home to attend the new school?

A. dissatisfaction with his home life

B. the desire to travel and the hope to acquire much knowledge

C. the low tuition costs

D. the kindness of the school’s agent

5. Which of the following BEST expresses the narrator’s reaction to the bath at school?

A. gentle amusement

B. indifference

C. surprise and shock

D. fervent enthusiasm

6. What do the school authorities decide about the narrator’s name?

A. They ask him to use it on all his homework assignments.

B. They tell him that it must be changed.

C. They decide that is the name of chiefs.

D. They teach the narrator’s classmates to pronounce the name correctly.

7. What does the narrator’s name mean in English?

A. “son of strong eagle”

B. “turns the crowd”

C. “mighty lord of rivers”

D. “danger to enemies”

8. Which of the following BEST describes the narrator’s tone in the final paragraph?

A. melancholy

B. objective

C. satirical

D. admiring

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9. The final paragraphs of this story focus on the narrator’s emotions when the school changed hisname.

• Why do you think this event was so important to Ah-nen-la-de-ni?

• How does the narrator suggest that his name was symbolic, and what do you think it symbolized?

Use details from the story and from your own experience in your response.

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10. The emotional impact of this story depends largely on a contrast between what the

narrator hoped for at school and what actually happened.

• What details showed that the school authorities and regulations were insensitive?

• How do you think you might have reacted if you had been in the narrator’s position?

Use specific details from the story and from your own experience in your response.

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WRITING TO SPECULATE

WRITING TASK

An ancient proverb says, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Regardless of the artist’s originalintent, what we see in the picture can be very different from what others see. What words wouldyou use to describe what is happening in this picture? Use your imagination and experience tospeculate what the story is about or to describe what is happening.

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PREWRITING NOTES

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USAGE


MECHANICS


7. Write neatly.







to move text,insert

text, or eliminate







A





adding it.











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New Jersey GEPA Practice, Grade 7 UNIT 2 TEST

READING

DIRECTIONS

This passage is similar to those you will find on the New Jersey Grade 8 Proficiency Exam. You willread a persuasive passage and then respond to the multiple-choice and open-ended questions thatfollow.

“Letter to the Editor”by Joseph Johnson

3608 20th Street SouthFargo, ND 58104September 27, 1999

Fargo Forum101 5th Street NorthFargo, ND 58102

To the Editor:

The intersection at I-29 and University needs to be a safer place for bikers and other people usingthe crosswalk there. As recently as a few years ago, it was comparatively easy to cross the highway toget to the biking trails. But now we are witnessing a huge growth spurt in our community. In the pastthree years, for example, real estate developers have constructed a half dozen new condominiumprojects. Two large shopping malls have sprouted up on I-29. There is talk of a 300-bed nursinghome, to be built at the intersection of I-29 and Cannondale Rd. With the way everything is beingbuilt up so quickly, the highway is nearly impossible to cross, even with the new traffic signals. Thedangerous intersection of I-29 and University comes up suddenly after a sharp curve in the highway.Few drivers expect to stop, and sometimes they don’t. My friends and I have seen cars run the redlight four times in the last two weeks.

People complain about the police not being around to enforce the traffic laws. But this complaintdoes not go very far toward solving the problem. The police can’t always be there. They have an areaof dozens of square miles to cover. Installation of radar traps and video cameras would probably notbe an effective solution, either. It would be a poor consolation to an accident victim to learn that he orshe was on videotape!

Some people have suggested that more signs could be installed, reminding drivers that there is atraffic signal coming up, and that there is a nearby bike trail. There are some signs already, however,and they don’t seem to help much. Other people have said that the bikers and runners who cross thereshould stop doing so. But the crosswalk at I-29 and University is the only way to access that part ofthe bike trail. The Fargo bike trails are such a great place to go that it isn’t likely that anyone will stopgoing there. The whole point of providing a recreation area or facility is that residents can takeadvantage of it if they so wish.

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The safest and best solution would be to build a pedestrian/biker overpass, where we can actuallycross on a bridge over the traffic. This would be expensive, but as the city keeps being developed,more people will use the trail system, not fewer. An overpass would be a long-term solution thatwould consider our community’s growing needs. It would prevent traffic accidents and make the biketrails easier and safer to use. In addition, a pedestrian overpass would send a message to everyone thatthe city wants us to use the recreation system it has made, even as more people continue to movehere.

The dangerous intersection at I-29 and University is a problem that will not disappear unless we dosomething about it. If action isn’t taken soon, someone is going to have a serious accident. When abike meets with a car, it isn’t likely that the biker will survive.

I would urge the mayor and the city council to consider a biker/pedestrian overpass so we can get toour city’s great trail system safely. Thank you for considering my suggestion.

Respectfully,Joseph Johnson

1. From paragraph 1, we can infer that

A. the writer is not a biker

B. the writer is a police officer

C. the area under discussion has grown rapidly, due to development

D. people are hesitant to settle in Fargo, given the traffic risks

2. The word run in paragraph 1 most nearly means

A. disregard

B. notice

C. smash

D. obey

3. Paragraphs 2 and 3 focus primarily on

A. defining the problem

B. analyzing other suggestions for the solution

C. presenting the author’s proposal for a solution

D. refuting the idea that a problem exists

4. The writer’s opinion statement in the essay favors

A. increasing the police force

B. installing radar and video cameras at the intersection

C. constructing a pedestrian/biker overpass

D. forming a committee of experts to research the problem in depth

5. One method the writer uses to support his solution is to predict that

A. development in Fargo will slow down

B. a serious accident will occur, involving a bicyclist and a motorist

C. the city council may not have the time to consider this proposal

D. the mayor will support the proposal

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6. The writer acknowledges that one possible objection to his plan would be that

A. the police will oppose his solution

B. the solution will be costly

C. bikers may not use the overpass

D. motorists will still tend to run the red light

7. From this letter, we can plausibly infer that the writer is

A. a traffic expert

B. a law enforcement officer

C. a real estate developer

D. an enthusiastic user of the biking trails

8. The main purpose of the final paragraph is to

A. introduce a new topic

B. restate the writer’s position

C. acknowledge an objection to the writer’s point of view

D. close the letter on a metaphorical note

9. In this persuasive letter, the writer devotes considerable space to considering the opinions of others.

• What specific opinions does he mention?

• Why do you think the writer bothers to discuss these opinions?

Use information from the selection and from your experience to support your response.

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Name________________________________________ Class_____________________ Date____________________

10. Imagine that you disagree with the writer’s ideas.

• What specific criticisms would you have?

• What alternative would you propose to solve the problem?

Use information from the letter to support your response.

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Name________________________________________ Class_____________________ Date____________________

REVISE/EDIT WRITING

The student who wrote this draft wanted to compose a personal letter. The text below is a roughdraft, and it needs to be edited before it is revised for the final time. You may make changesdirectly on the student text. Two lined pages are also provided for you to use if you want toreorganize the entire letter or if you decide to add new text.

My Visit to the Reefby Maria Graziano

Dear Holland,

My boat ride out to the Great Barrier Reef was awesome, at first. I sitting at the front of the boat

having the time of my life, making new friends. Soaking up the sun. Huge waves crashed against

the boat we’d just howl with delight! Every once in a while the boat would jump a wave. When it

did, I felt like I was flying. Then I went inside to get a drink. And found that everyone down there

was sick! After that, I felt sick, too. I go back outside. Then I promised myself that I would not go

back in there again.

By the time we got out to the reef the sea had calmed down a lot. We put on our snorkeling and

stood on the platform looking at the sea below. After hesitate just a little, I stepped into the water.

The cold shocked me at first. Then I got used to it. After I did, I stepped off the platform. I was

stunned by the beauty of the reef. My mom and I went out a way from the platform. There I saw

all the colors of the rainbough. It was wondrous, and I felt greateful to see it.

When we were coming back to the platform, the coral was not as colorful. There were big fish all

around us. I felt a little scared and frightened then, but glad that we’d ventured out.

On the boat ride home, I stayed outside. I loved the Great Barrier Reef and the big fish.

I miss you lots!

Love,

Maria

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Name________________________________________ Class_____________________ Date____________________

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Name________________________________________ Class_____________________ Date____________________










USAGE


MECHANICS


7. Write neatly.







to move text,insert

text, or eliminate







A





adding it.











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Name________________________________________ Class_____________________ Date____________________

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Scoring Guide

Test-Taking Skills PracticeWorksheets

PREPARING FOR TESTS1. Responses will vary. 2. Responses will vary.

ANSWERING MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS1. D 2. C3. D4. C5. A

ANSWERING READING COMPREHENSION

QUESTIONS1. C2. B3. B4. C5. Use the Reading Open-Ended Scoring Guide

on page 166 to evaluate responses.Example of top-score response: In the thirdparagraph, the writer provides background byincluding statistics, the location of themuseum, and a historical note about the roleof Andersonville, Georgia, during the Civil War.The author also mentions that the museum isthe only one of its kind. The quotations fromex-POWs offer firsthand accounts and a tone ofimmediacy. The conclusion wraps up the essaywith an emotionally powerful anecdote relatingto one of the ex-POWs.

6. Use the Reading Open-Ended Scoring Guideon page 166 to evaluate responses.Example of top-score response: The authormentions the emotions of hope, sorrow, fear,hopelessness, gratitude, shame, pain,sympathy, appreciation, and admiration. Suchemotions underline the author’s feelings as shetoured the museum. The emotions also showvividly the sacrifices that POWs are forced tomake, as well as the feelings they experiencewhen they have reflected on their experienceyears after their imprisonment by the enemy.

MAKING INFERENCES1. B2. D3. C4. Use the Reading Open-Ended Scoring Guide

on page 166 to evaluate responses.Example of top-score response: The story isset at a lonely lighthouse, located on a smallisland out to sea from the coast. Thelighthouse keepers, McDunn and Johnny thenarrator, take turns relieving their lonelinesswith occasional trips to the mainland. At onepoint, McDunn refers to the possibility thatJohnny may assume that McDunn has gone“daft,” or crazy. In the descriptions of the seamonster, emphasis on its immense age and itshaunts far down in the ocean depths combineswith other evocations of loneliness to create animage mingling pathos with terror. Forexample, McDunn says of the monster, “Butnow you’re alone, all alone in a world notmade for you, a world where you have tohide.” Just before the monster destroys thelighthouse, Johnny speaks of “ . . . the lament,the bewilderment, the loneliness of the greatmonster.” One can infer that the monster isenraged when it discovers that the lighthouseis not a creature resembling itself, as it hadhoped.

5. Use the Reading Open-Ended Scoring Guideon page 166 to evaluate responses.Example of top-score response: Realisticelements include the lighthouse, the foghorn,the time of night in November, and Johnny’sdeparture to get a new job in the town andget married. Fantastic elements include the seamonster and McDunn’s anthropomorphicdescriptions of it. Bradbury’s blending of therealistic and the fantastic is effective andsuspenseful. Science fiction stories, in fact,habitually blend the realistic with the fantastic.

FINDING THE CENTRAL IDEA OR THEME1. C2. A

USING CONTEXT CLUES1. B2. A3. B4. C5. C

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ANSWERING OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS1. Use the Reading Open-Ended Scoring Guide

on page 166 to evaluate responses.Example of top-score response: In “LukeBaldwin’s Vow,” Luke’s Uncle Henry representspracticality. Henry is forever calculating costsand profit. For all his sense of economics, thestory presents him as harboring a narrow,blinkered, insensitive vision. In sharp contrast,the family’s neighbor Mr. Kemp representswisdom. Morley Callaghan hints at thispersonality trait in Kemp when he refers toKemp’s “friendly and amused” eyes. It is Kempwho provides Luke with the winning strategyto solve his conflict. Kemp advises Luke that tosave Dan, the dog who is his best friend, hemust look at his dilemma from his uncle’sperspective. Luke’s strategy succeeds, and Danis saved. In the next-to-last paragraph, Lukedreams of “someday being as wise as old Mr.Kemp.” The story’s message is that wisdom issuperior to practicality. Wisdom combinesknowledge with humanity and a sense ofproportion.

2. Use the Reading Open-Ended Scoring Guideon page 166 to evaluate responses.Example of top-score response: Luke’s centralconflict revolves around Dan, the dog who isthe lonely orphan boy’s best friend. BecauseDan is old and blind in one eye, Luke’s UncleHenry has decided the dog is not worth hiskeep, and he has made plans to have Dandestroyed. Luke courageously saves Dan from aforced drowning. He realizes, however, that hehas not achieved a permanent solution to hisproblem, since his uncle will probably try toget rid of Dan again. So, in addition tocourage and determination, Luke needs astrategy to save Dan. He turns to the family’selderly neighbor, Mr. Kemp, who advises theboy to make Uncle Henry a businessproposition. Luke promises to hand over theweekly wages Kemp pays him in order tofinance Dan’s upkeep. Luke thus combinescourage and perseverance with the willingnessto work hard and a capacity to analyzesituations from more than one perspective.This combination of traits enables him to solvethe conflict.

WRITING TO PERSUADE1. Responses will vary. Make sure students allot

time for each stage of the writing process:prewriting, drafting, evaluating, and

revising/proofreading. Some students might betempted to allow the shortest amount of timefor prewriting. Emphasize with these studentsthat they must allow time to gather ideas.Otherwise, drafting will take much longer, andtheir final product is likely to be weaker.

2. Responses will vary. Make sure students arefamiliar with ways of generating, fleshing out,and organizing ideas.

3. Responses will vary.4. Responses will vary. Check to see that students

understand how to use the Revising/EditingChecklist.

5. Responses will vary. Use the New JerseyRegistered Holistic Scoring Rubric on page 167to evaluate responses.

WRITING TO SPECULATE1. Responses will vary. Make sure students allot

time for each stage of the writing process:prewriting, drafting, evaluating, andrevising/proofreading. Some students might betempted to allow the shortest amount of timefor prewriting. Emphasize with these studentsthat they must allow time to gather ideas.Otherwise, drafting will take much longer, andtheir final product is likely to be weaker.

2. Responses will vary. Make sure students arefamiliar with ways of generating, fleshing out,and organizing ideas.

3. Responses will vary.4. Responses will vary. Check to see that students

understand how to use the Revising/EditingChecklist.

5. Responses will vary. Use the New JerseyRegistered Holistic Scoring Rubric on page 167to evaluate responses.

REVISE/EDIT WRITINGResponses will vary. Use the Revising/EditingScoring Guide on page 168 to evaluatestudents’ work.

Grade 7 GEPA Practice Tests

UNIT 1 TEST

READING1. B2. D3. A4. B

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5. C6. B7. B8. A9. Use the Reading Open-Ended Scoring Guide

on page 166 to evaluate responses. Example of top-score response: The enforcedname change seemed to the thirteen-year-oldAh-nen-la-de-ni like an attack on his identity.The school authorities substituted a Europeanname, Daniel La France, for the boy’s Indianname, of which he was proud. Sadly, he notesthat this act “made me feel as if I had lostmyself.” Furthermore, he notes, “it seemed asif my prospects of a chiefship had vanished.”The narrator discloses that his Indian namemeans “turns the crowd.” Perhaps, therefore, itsymbolized leadership and pride to him. Thechanging of his name robbed him of thesesymbolic associations.

10. Use the Reading Open-Ended Scoring Guideon page 166 to evaluate responses. Example of top-score response: Severalstriking details show the insensitivity of theschool authorities. For example, they refused toallow the narrator to attend his mother’sfuneral. The school also required all incomingstudents to undergo a hazing ritual in whichtheir hair was cut short and they were plungedinto a bath. School rules also forbade thestudents to use their Indian languages. Finally,the substitution of an irrelevant Europeanname for the narrator’s Indian name robbedhim of identity and pride. I think if I had beenin the narrator’s position I would haveorganized a petition among the studentsprotesting such regulations. I might even haverun away from school and tried to rejoin myrelatives back home.

WRITING TO SPECULATEUse the New Jersey Registered Holistic ScoringGuide on page 167 to evaluate responses.

UNIT 2 TEST

READING1. C2. A3. B4. C5. B6. B7. D

8. B9. Use the Reading Open-Ended Scoring Guide

on page 166 to evaluate responses. Example of top-score response: The writermentions several alternative solutions to theproblem. For example, some people haveproposed increasing the police presence in thearea or installing radar traps and videocameras. Other observers favor more trafficsigns to give motorists advance warning of theintersection. Still others have recommendedthat bikers and runners discontinue their use ofthe trails. By including these opinions in hisletter, the writer places his own solution in thecontext of a reasonable effort to evaluatealternative proposals. He therefore shows thathe is a responsible analyst, capable of weighingthe relative merits of various approaches. Thewriter also attempts to show that eachalternative is unsatisfactory.

10. Use the Reading Open-Ended Scoring Guideon page 166 to evaluate responses. Example of top-score response: The writer’sargument in favor of a biker/pedestrianoverpass does not deal realistically with thecosts involved in such construction. Ourcommunity simply cannot afford this kind ofsolution for every hazardous intersection in thearea. No one denies that traffic is increasingwith the recent upswing in development. Butthere are other ways to deal with the specificlocation the writer identifies. Why not installmore signs, reduce the speed limit on I-29, andlaunch a three-month trial program of policespot checks at the intersection? I would alsorecommend signage that specifically warnsbikers and runners about the hazards ofcrossing the highway. I feel confident that thiscombination of measures would significantlylower the chances of a serious accident.

REVISE/EDIT WRITINGUse the Revising/Editing Scoring Guide onpage 168 to evaluate students’ work.

UNIT 3 TEST1. B2. A3. B4. C5. D6. A7. B8. A

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new jersey assessment program p

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