Unit 3 Assessment Study Guide

Synonyms are words that have the same or similar meanings. Words are antonyms when they have
opposite meanings. You can use the relationships between synonyms and antonyms in the same sentence
or paragraph to help you understand the meaning of one or both words.
o Examples: Circle the correct answer
Modern, outdated
synonyms or antonyms
Alien, imported
synonyms or antonyms
Supreme, greatest
synonyms or antonyms
Alien, native
synonyms or antonyms
Innocent, deceptive
synonyms or antonyms
Courageous, cowardly
synonyms or antonyms
Devoted, dedicated
synonyms or antonyms
Nave, innocent
synonyms or antonyms
Brave, courageous
synonyms or antonyms
Undedicated, devoted
synonyms or antonyms

Cause and Effect: The cause is what makes something happen, and an effect is what happens as a
result of the cause. To identify causes and their effects, readers look for an event that makes something
happen (the cause). They pay attention to what happens as a result of the event (the effect). Signal
words, such as because, so, due to, and as a result, can help readers identify cause-and-effect
relationships.

Context Clues: When you read an unfamiliar word in a story, use what you know about the other words
in the same sentence to help you figure out its meaning. Use the order of the words to identify the part of
speech of the unfamiliar word. The structure of the sentence may help you determine the words
meaning.
o Example: After the boulder had been extracted, they all looked into the gaping hole.

Use context clues to determine the meaning of the word extracted. Is it a verb, adjective, noun, or
adverb?

Prefixes and Suffixes: Knowing the meaning of common prefixes and suffixes can help you figure out
the meaning of an unfamiliar word.
o Prefixes:
un = not; opposite
re = back; again
o Suffixes:
-ity, -ty = quality of; state of
-ful = full of; characterized by

Main Idea: The main idea is the most important point the author makes about a topic, but it may not be
stated directly. If no sentence in the text states the idea that ties all the key details together, use what the
details have in common to identify the main idea. To identify the main idea, we should review the
information the author presents. Ask: What do all these details tell about? What larger thought connects
these pieces of information?

Sequence: A series of steps or events in a selection. It helps us see the logical progression of an authors
ideas. To think about the sequence, we should look for steps that occur over time. We might ask, What
happens first? Next? What then? Finally, what happens? We can then consider how that each step leads
to the next and why each step is important.

Theme: Theme is the message of what is read. To determine the theme, we should read to describe
what characters think, say, and do. We should consider how characters feel about other characters and
about how they respond and change as story events unfold. We should look for key descriptive details
about characters, setting, and plot events in the story. When we finish reading we should ask, What
general ideas tie these details together? We also use text evidence from the story to ask ourselves
What larger statement about life do these details point to?

3rd Person Point of View: When a narrator who is not one of the characters tells the story, that story has
a 3rd person point of view. A 3rd person narrator lets the reader know what EACH of the characters
think. The narrator knows more than any ONE of the characters can know. Signal words for 3rd person
are he, she, him, her, they, them, etc.

Paragraph Clues: As you read a story, you may come across a word that has more than one possible
meaning. To figure out which meaning is correct in the story, look for context clues within the
paragraph that contains the multiple-meaning word.
o Example: Suddenly, the quiet was shattered by Amy Jenson bursting in and letting the door
slam. Isabel felt herself shrink. Amy, who had been a volunteer a bit longer than Isabel, was 16
and strutted around like she owned the place. Hey, Isabel, Ive got a job for you. she barked,
planting a hand on Isabels shoulder.
Using paragraph clues, what is the correct meaning of the word bursting?
A) To explode
B) To emerge, come forth, or arrive suddenly

Foreshadowing: the use of clues to hint at events that happen later in the story. We have to read to the
end of the story to determine what events were foreshadowed earlier.

Authors Voice/Tone: The authors voice and tone show how he or she feels about the topic. The tone
may be expressed in headings as well as in the main text.

Suspense: makes readers uncertain or tense about what may happen, especially to a sympathetic
character.

Language
Action Verbs and Objects
An action verb expresses a physical or mental action.
A direct object receives the action of the verb in a sentence and tells whom or what is affected by the
verbs action.
An indirect object always appears before the direct object and tells to whom or for whom the action is
done.
Verb Tenses
The present tense of a verb tells what a subject is doing now.
The past tense tells what has already happened. It is usually formed by adding d or ed to the base
form of the verb.
The future tense tells what is going to happen and is usually formed by adding the helping verb will to
the base form of a verb.
Verbs must agree with their subjects in number. A singular subject has a singular verb, and a plural
subject has a plural verb.
Present tense verbs with a single subject add s to the base.
Present tense verbs with a plural subject do not add s.
Main and Helping Verbs
A main verb shows the main action or state of being in a sentence.
A helping verb helps the main verb show tense. Helping verbs include form of be, do, and have, as well
as will, can, may, should, and must.
A verb phrase consists of a main verb and one or more helping verbs.
Linking Verbs
A linking verb links the subject of a sentence with an adjective or a noun.
Forms of be, when they stand alone, are always linking verbs.
The verbs seem, appear, look, taste, and feel can also be linking verbs.
A predicate noun is a noun that follows a linking verb and tells what the subject is.
A predicate adjective is an adjective that follows a linking verb and tells what the subject is like.
Irregular Verbs
When forming the past tense and past participle for some irregular verbs, a vowel is changed.
o Ex: begin began
The past tense and past participle of other irregular verbs are formed by changes in spelling.
o Ex: go went
Some irregular verbs have special spellings when used with the helping verbs have, has, or had.
o Ex: I tore my sleeve.
I had torn my sleeve.

Language Practice
Read the passage below. Choose the word or words that correctly complete questions 1 through 10.

Alexander Graham Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 3, 1847. When he __(1)__ only
eleven years old, he invented a machine that could clean wheat. Graham __(2)__ anatomy and physiology at the
University of London, but moved with his family to Quebec, Canada in 1870.
Alexander Graham Bell soon __(3)__ to Boston, Massachusetts. In 1871, he began working with deaf
people and published the system of Visible Hearing that __(4)__ by his father. Visible Hearing illustrated how
the tongue, lips, and throat __(5)__ to produce vocal sounds. In 1872, Bell founded a school for the deaf which
soon became part of Boston University.
Alexander Graham Bell __(6)__for his invention of the telephone. While trying to discover the secret of
transmitting multiple messages on a single wire, Bell __(7)__ the sound of a plucked string along some of the
electrical wire. One of Bells assistants, Thomas A. Watson, __(8)__ to reactivate a telephone transmitter. After
hearing the sound, Bell believed he could send the sound of a human voice over the wire. After receiving a
patent on March 7, 1876 for transmitting sound along a single wire, he successfully __(9)__ human speech on
March 10th. Bells telephone patent was one of the most valuable patents ever issued. He __(10)__ the Bell
Telephone Company in 1877.
1. Which answer should go in blank (1)?
a. am
b. is
c. was
d. are

6. Which answer should go in blank (6)?

a. are known
b. is known
c. is know
d. have known

2. Which answer should go in blank (2)?

a. studies
b. studied
c. study
d. studying

7. Which answer should go in blank (7)?

a. heard
b. hears
c. heared
d. hearing

3. Which answer should go in blank (3)?

a. moved
b. will move
c. has moved
d. can move

8. Which answer should go in blank (8)?

a. will have tried
b. is trying
c. has tried
d. was trying

4. Which answer should go in blank (4)?

a. is developing
b. was developed
c. has developed
d. had developed

9. Which answer should go in blank (9)?

a. transmit
b. transmits
c. transmitted
d. Transmitting

5. Which answer should go in blank (5)?

a. been used
b. is used
c. am used
d. are used

10. Which answer should go in blank (10)?

a. starts
b. will start
c. started
d. will be starting