Department of Education

English Program

English Pre-Post Test Student Test Eight Grade Page 1 of 12

Name: ____________________________________ Date:
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Student Test
Part I. Listening and Speaking

Reading Selection I.
A. Instructions: The teacher will read a passage. Listen carefully and answer the following
questions.

1. Who likes hip hop?

a. Rebecca
b. Bryan
c. Brenda
d. Betty

2. How many songs does Brenda have on her MP3?

a. about 1,000 songs
b. about 800 songs
c. about 500 songs
d. about 50 songs

Reading Selection II
B. Instructions: The teacher will read aloud reading selection II. Listen carefully to the passage. For
each question, mark the letter of the correct answer on your answer sheet.

c. a good player
3. In which league did Roberto Clemente play? d. a bad player
a. Major League Soccer
b. Major League Baseball 5. What is this selection MOSTLY about?
c. National Softball League a. a baseball team
. d. National Basketball Association b. the poor children

4. What kind of a player was Clemente?

a. an excellent player
b. an average player

c. the Hall of Fame

d. Roberto’s dream
6. What was Clemente’s dream?
a. to fly in an airplane
b. to build a Hall of Fame
c. to build a children’s park
. d. to raise money for the elderly

7. What did many people do after Roberto’s

death?
a. forgot the work he did
b. changed his dreams of a park
c. formed a fan club with his name
d. helped make his dream come true

C. Instructions: The teacher will evaluate the student orally using the rubric.

1. Give your opinion: A Heroic Opportunity

Read the prompt in the box. Reflect on how you would react.
You are watching some classmates play basketball at the gym. A skinny boy with glasses tries to shoot a basket
but ends up falling on his face. His glasses break. Some of the older students begin to laugh at him. The boy
can’t see very well without his glasses. You want to help him up, but if you do, the other kids may laugh at you,
too.

o How would you feel?

o What should you do?
©2003 abcteach.com
SHORT-ANSWER ORAL OR NON-VERBAL PRODUCTION RUBRIC

RESPONSES CAN BE NON-VERBAL OR VERBAL IN ENGLISH. SPANISH

RESPONSES ARE NOT CONSIDERED WHEN ASSIGNING A SCORE TO A
SHORT-ANSWER ORAL OR NON-VERBAL PRODUCTION ITEM MEASURING.

SCORE CRITERIA

Full Oral or Non-verbal Production – A thorough oral or non-verbal

2 production of the concept has been demonstrated. The student’s response is
correct and complete and provides evidence related to the question/task.
Details in the response are clear accurate.
Partial Oral or Non-verbal Productions – Partial oral or non-verbal
production of the concept has been demonstrated. The student’s response
1 provides some information that is accurate. However, the response is not
complete and may not provide clear evidence related to the questions/task.
No Oral or Non-verbal Production – The student’s response demonstrates no
0 oral or non-verbal production no understanding of the concept being assessed.
The response is inaccurate or unrelated to the question/task.
Part II. Reading

A. Instructions: Read the selection carefully. For each question choose the correct answer.

The Spanish Club

“I have bad news,” said Mrs. Cortés. The Spanish Club is nearly $500 short of the amount
(1)
they need to take the trip to Mexico City next month. The club members were gloomy. They had
planned this trip since last year. The club made many fund-raisers, like a talent show, a bake sale, a car
wash, and sold chocolates among other activities. But still, they needed to make one big activity to
complete the money they needed.

(2)“How depressing”, said Marisol. “We’ve planned all year and now we can’t go.” “Don’t give
up now”, said Jonathan. Let’s put our heads together and come up with a huge fund raiser. Everybody
started to give ideas. “I know!” said Jasmine. “Let’s make a huge Mexican dinner party. Everything
we sell will be Mexican dishes like enchiladas, tacos, and burritos. Everybody will dress up as a
Mexican. We can have some Mariachi music”. “It will be fun”, Mrs. Cortés said, “It’s a great idea”.
They planned a huge party, sold the tickets, food, and drinks. The entire community was there. It was a
great party. They raised almost $1,000. Needless to say, they had a lot of fun in Mexico City.

1. Where was the group going?

a. Mexico City
b. Guadalajara
c. Las Vegas
d. San Juan

2. Who is the teacher?

a. Mrs. Torres
b. Mr. Cortés
c. Mr. Lugo
d. Mrs. Cortés

3. How did they feel when the

teacher told them the bad news?
a. depressed
b. excited
 c. anxious
d. tired

4. What idea was presented to make the money they needed?

a. a big Mexican party
b. another talent show
c. a chocolate sale d. a movie day

5. How much money did they raise?

a. $ 200
b. $ 500
c. $ 1,000
d. $ 2,000

6. What does the underlined word in the sentence mean?

The club members were gloomy.
a. excited
b. nervous
c. sleepy
d. sad

B Instructions: Read the selection carefully. For each question choose the correct answer.

The Champion

(1) Sandra stood nervously near the ice, watching Angela Martin skating. It was Angela’s first
time competing in the city championships, but she didn’t look nervous at all. Sandra was sitting next to
her coach, remembering the first time she competed. Even though she was still in high school, she felt
old. All of the other competitors were two or three years younger than her. This would be her last
competition. Skating took long hours of practice and college was on her mind now.

(2) Angela Martin looked so confident. She looked graceful and landed every jump perfectly.
After every jump, the crowd cheered. (2) Sandra was next. She skated onto the ice just as Angela was
leaving the rink. She had to admit that Angela was hard to beat. The music began and she started to
skate. But, she was still thinking about Angela’s performance and about how well she had skated. Her
program was good, but not perfect. As Sandra skated off the ice, she knew she had lost her title. She
didn’t want to cry as she stood to hear the winners.

(3) Finally, the scoreboard flashed the results. Sandra had finished second. Angela was the new
city champion. Everybody cheered for the winners. Sandra approached Angela to congratulate her. She
shook her hand and they embraced. Now it was Angela’s turn to represent their city in the National
championships.

15. What is the selection MOSTLY about?

a. skating
b. crying
c. friendship
d. competition

16. What can be CONCLUDED regarding Angela from this sentence?

“It was Angela’s first time competing in the city championships, but she
didn’t look nervous at all.”

a. She was happy.

b. She was anxious.
c. She was arrogant.
d. She was confident.

17. Why was this Sandra’s last competition?

a. She was going to college.
b. She did not have a coach.
c. She was not good anymore.
d. She was too old to compete.

18. What PROBABLY affected Sandra’s performance?

a. She was not practicing enough.
b. Skating was too difficult for her.
c. She was distracted by Angela’s performance.
d. The crowd was too noisy when she performed.

19. How did Sandra PROBABLY feel when she finished skating?
a. She felt confident.
b. She felt nervous.
c. She felt happy.
d. She felt disappointed.

20. What do you think will PROBABLY happen after the competition?
a. Angela will go to college.
b.Sandra will become a coach.
c. Angela will go to the National Competition.
d. Angela and Sandra will become best friends.
21. Which of these statements is a FACT?
a. Ice skaters are all teenagers.
b. Ice skaters practice long hours.
c. Ice skaters become too confident when they win.
d. Ice skaters stop skating after they finish college.

22. Which of these statements is an OPINION?

a. Sandra is very sensitive.
b. Angela won the competition.
c. Sandra wants to go to college.
d. Angela is younger than Sandra.

C. Instructions: Read carefully the following poem. For each question choose the correct answer.

Azure and Gold

By Amy Lowell

April had covered the hills

With flickering yellows and reds,
The sparkle and coolness of snow
Was blown from the mountain beds.

Across a deep-sunken stream

The pink of blossoming trees,
And from windless apple blooms
The humming of many bees.

The air was of rose and gold

Arabesque with the song of birds
Who, swinging unseen under leaves,
Made music more eager than words.

1. What is the MAIN IDEA presented in the poem?

a. changing of the seasons
b. the life of a flower
c. animals in the wild
d. music is beautiful
2. What kind of sensory image does the poet use in stanza 1 when he writes the phrase… “coolness of
snow”?
a. auditory
b. tactile
c. visual
d. smell

3. What do you think is the author’s message?

a. preserve the trees
b. feel the music
c. enjoy nature
d. recycle

4. What is the poet’s tone in the last stanza?

a. very cold
b. very happy
c. very depressed
d. very mysterious

Part III. Writing

A. Instructions: Read the questions carefully. For each question choose the correct answer.

1. Which of these sentences is correct?

a. Get out of the car?
b. Lost last night I was.
c. Where is the city park?
d. Carmen look very anxious.

2. What is the underlined word in the sentence?

Patricia is too sick to go to school,
a. a verb
b. an adjective
c. an adverb
d. a noun

3. Which of these sentences is a complex sentence?

a. Amelia bought a new iPod to give to her sister the day of her graduation.
b. Saint John is a very small and beautiful island in the Caribbean.
c. After Vanessa writes her letter, she will take it to the post office.
d. Carol will prepare a big surprise party for her brother. .
 B. Instructions: Choose one of the two prompts listed below. Write a three (3) paragraph
narrative about the topic. Use appropriate descriptive details and word choice to create a vivid
picture in the readers mind. Be careful with the grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure in
the paragraph. Each paragraph must be at least five (5) sentences long.

a) Think about a time when something unexpected happened. Write a narrative in which
you tell about an unexpected event that happened to you or someone you know. Be sure
to include specific details so that a reader can follow your story.

b) Think of your best day in school. What happened that makes this day stand out in your
memory? Write a story for a friend that tells about what happened on this day in school.

http://my.hrw.com/support/hos/hostpdf/hostmsprompts.

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SHORT-ANSWER FOR WRITTEN PRODUCTION RUBRIC

RESPONSES SHOULD WRITTEN IN ENGLISH. SPANISH RESPONSES ARE NOT

CONSIDERED WHEN ASSIGNING A SCORE TO A SHORT-ANSWER WRITTEN
PRODUCTION ITEM MEASURING.

SCORE CRITERIA

Full Written Production – A thorough written production of the concept has

2 been demonstrated. The student’s response is correct and complete and
provides evidence related to the question/task. Details in the response are clear
accurate.
Partial Written Productions – Partial written production of the concept has
1 been demonstrated. The student’s response provides some information that is
 accurate. However, the response is not complete and may not provide clear
evidence related to the questions/task.
No Written Production – The student’s response demonstrates no written
0 production or no understanding of the concept being assessed. The response is
inaccurate or unrelated to the question/task.