Free printable Hunter practice test for Grade 6

Reading Comprehension

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 14 minutes.

1. The Other Side of the Camera

   For seven months, my whole job on the Ridgeview Morning Report had been to stay invisible. Every school day at 7:40, I set up the camera in Room 114, tested the microphones, and typed the day's script into the old laptop that we used as a teleprompter. At 8:05, when the red light came on, Jaylen Brooks, our anchor, smiled into the lens and told six hundred students what was for lunch.

   I liked being invisible. Behind the camera, nobody could see my hands shake when the red light blinked on, and nobody noticed that I silently mouthed every word along with Jaylen, like a backup singer whose microphone had been switched off.

   On the second Tuesday in March, Ms. Albright, our faculty adviser, looked up from her phone at 7:52. "Jaylen has a fever," she said. "He's staying home today."

   "So we skip today?" I asked hopefully.

   "We never skip." She studied me the way a coach studies the last player left on the bench. "Marisol, you're anchoring."

   My stomach tried to escape through the soles of my sneakers. "I can't," I said. "I run the camera. Benny can anchor instead."

   From the corner, Benny Kowalski held up a half-eaten breakfast burrito. "I have salsa on my shirt," he pointed out, "and honestly, I would rather be chased by a swarm of bees."

   "Benny will run the camera," Ms. Albright said calmly, "and you will anchor, because you've already done it about a hundred and forty times."

   "I've never done it even once," I protested.

   "You've done it silently. I've watched you, and every morning your lips move with every single line. You type the script yourself, so you know it better than Jaylen does, and you know exactly where he pauses and where he takes a breath. The only part you haven't practiced is the part where people can actually hear you."

   I wanted to argue, but the clock already said 8:01, and she was right about my lips.

   I sat down in Jaylen's chair, which suddenly felt much too big. Benny squinted through the camera and said, "Can you scoot left? Right now I'm getting mostly forehead."

   At exactly 8:05, the red light came on.

   For one long second, my mind was a blank sheet of paper. Then I heard Jaylen's voice in my head, the way he always started, and my mouth followed it, the way it had followed him every morning since September.

   "Good morning, Ridgeview Hawks! Here's what's happening today."

   My voice wobbled on "Hawks," but it held, and I made it through the club meetings and the bus change for Route 9. Then, halfway through the lunch menu, the laptop froze. The words stopped on "chicken tenders with" and sat there like a car stalled in an intersection.

   Behind the camera, Benny's eyes went wide, and he started waving both arms, which did not help at all.

   But I didn't need the screen, because I had typed those words myself at 7:45 that morning. "Chicken tenders with green beans and a fruit cup," I said. "And happy birthday to Ana Reyes, who turns twelve today."

   I got through the weather and the quote of the day without glancing at the frozen screen once. Then I reached the closing line, the one I had heard Jaylen say more times than I could count.

   "That's the Morning Report. I'm Jaylen Brooks. I mean, I'm Marisol Ortega. Have a great day, Hawks."

   When the red light went off, Benny laughed so hard that he had to hang on to the tripod. Ms. Albright laughed too, and then she gave me a thumbs-up and held it there.

   In the hallway, two eighth graders I had never met called me "Jaylen" and grinned. At lunch, a message from Jaylen popped up on my phone: "Heard you were great. Also heard you introduced yourself as me."

   The next morning, Jaylen was back in his chair, and I was back behind the camera, where my hands could shake in private. But before the show, I walked to the bulletin board and wrote my own name on the sign-up sheet for spring anchors.

   I was still afraid of the red light. I just understood now that being scared and being ready could sit in the same chair.

   1.

   Which sentence best states a theme of the story?

   1. ATechnology tends to fail at the worst possible moment.
   2. BA news team works best when every member always keeps the same job.
   3. CBeing popular at school matters more than doing good work.
   4. DSteady preparation can give a person the courage to face a fear.
2. 2.

   How does the author develop Marisol's point of view in the first two paragraphs?

   1. AShe explains that she has always wanted Jaylen's job as anchor.
   2. BShe explains that running the camera is harder than anchoring.
   3. CShe explains that she finds the morning show dull and repetitive.
   4. DShe explains that she likes working where no one can see her nerves.
3. 3.

   Marisol says, "My stomach tried to escape through the soles of my sneakers." What does this exaggeration show?

   1. AShe is excited to finally be on camera.
   2. BShe wants to go home and change her shoes.
   3. CShe feels a sudden rush of panic.
   4. DShe is hungry because she skipped breakfast.
4. 4.

   When she hears that Jaylen is sick, Marisol asks, "So we skip today?" The narrator says she asked "hopefully." What does the word "hopefully" show?

   1. AShe is worried that the camera is broken.
   2. BShe hopes that Jaylen will feel well enough to come in by lunch.
   3. CShe is sure Ms. Albright will choose her.
   4. DShe would be glad if the show did not go on that day.
5. 5.

   How does the scene in which the laptop freezes fit into the story as a whole?

   1. AIt explains why Jaylen had to stay home that morning.
   2. BIt causes Marisol to decide to quit the news team.
   3. CIt proves her daily habits prepared her more than she knew.
   4. DIt shows that Benny is not ready to run the camera by himself.
6. 6.

   Why does Marisol say "I'm Jaylen Brooks" at the end of the broadcast?

   1. AShe has forgotten her own lines for the ending.
   2. BShe wants viewers to believe Jaylen is still at school.
   3. CMs. Albright told her to use Jaylen's name to end the show.
   4. DShe has heard Jaylen say that line so often it slips out.
7. 7.

   How does Marisol change from the beginning of the story to the end?

   1. AShe goes from wanting to stay hidden to choosing to try anchoring again.
   2. BShe goes from loving the camera job to wanting to quit the news team for good.
   3. CShe goes from feeling fearless to being afraid of the red light.
   4. DShe goes from trusting Ms. Albright to doubting her advice.

8. Living Light

   On a summer evening in much of the United States, tiny lights begin to blink above lawns and fields. Far beneath the ocean's surface, where sunlight never reaches, a fish dangles a glowing lure in front of its mouth. And in a few warm bays in Puerto Rico, every stroke of a kayak paddle leaves a swirl of blue-green light in the water. All of these lights are made by living things. Scientists call this ability bioluminescence, from a Greek word meaning "life" and a Latin word meaning "light."

   Light Without Heat

   An old-fashioned light bulb makes light by heating a thin wire until it glows, which is why the bulb becomes too hot to touch. Living things make light in a different way, through a chemical reaction. Inside a firefly's body, a substance called luciferin combines with oxygen. An enzyme, which is a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction, makes this reaction happen quickly. The enzyme is called luciferase. The reaction gives off light but very little heat, so scientists sometimes call bioluminescence "cold light." A firefly can glow all evening without burning itself.

   Different creatures use slightly different chemicals, so their lights come in different colors. Fireflies usually glow yellow or green, and a few kinds of mushrooms that grow on rotting logs give off a faint green glow at night. Most glowing ocean animals give off blue or blue-green light, because those colors travel farthest through seawater.

   Why Glow?

   Making light uses energy, so an animal that glows must gain something from it. Scientists have found that living light usually does one of four jobs.

   Finding a mate. Fireflies are not really flies; they are beetles. On summer nights, male fireflies flash as they fly, and females answer from the grass. Each kind of firefly has its own pattern of flashes, a little like a secret code, so the insects can find their own kind in the dark.

   Catching food. The deep-sea anglerfish lives in total darkness. A long spine on her head ends in a glowing tip that dangles in front of her jaws like bait on a fishing line. The glow comes from tiny bacteria that live inside the lure. Small fish swim toward the light, and the anglerfish snaps them up. Some fireflies hunt with light, too. Females of one group copy the flash patterns of other kinds of fireflies, then eat the males that come looking for a mate.

   Giving a warning. Young fireflies, which live on the ground, also glow. Scientists think their light warns hungry animals that they taste bad.

   Hiding. It sounds strange, but some sea animals glow in order to disappear. Faint light filters down through the ocean from above, so a fish swimming in that dim water casts a dark shape that a hunter below can spot. Some squid and fish glow softly along their bellies, matching the light above them so that their shadow fades away.

   A Bay That Glows

   Some of the most famous living lights come from creatures too small to see without a microscope. Certain kinds of plankton, tiny living things that drift in the water, flash blue-green whenever the water around them is disturbed. In a few sheltered bays in Puerto Rico, such as Mosquito Bay on the island of Vieques, these plankton are so plentiful that the water seems to sparkle at night. A fish darting past leaves a glowing trail, and the glow is easiest to see on nights when there is no moon. Scientists think the flashes may startle the tiny animals that eat the plankton, or even draw larger hunters that eat those plankton-eaters.

   These bays are delicate. Pollution and bright lights along the shore can harm the plankton, so people in Puerto Rico work hard to protect them.

   The next time you see a firefly blink, remember that you are watching a chemical reaction, one that living things have used to survive for millions of years.

   8.

   Under which heading would a reader learn how luciferin and luciferase work together?

   1. AFinding a Mate
   2. BA Bay That Glows
   3. CThe Colors of the Sea
   4. DLight Without Heat
9. 9.

   On a dark night, a light rain begins to fall on Mosquito Bay. Based on the passage, what will most likely happen?

   1. ATiny flashes of blue-green light will appear where the drops hit.
   2. BThe rain will warm the water and make the plankton brighter.
   3. CThe bay will stay dark, because the plankton glow only by day.
   4. DThe bay will glow yellow-green, like a field of fireflies.
10. 10.

    Why does the author begin the passage with a firefly, an anglerfish, and a glowing bay?

    1. ATo prove that only ocean creatures can glow
    2. BTo persuade readers to plan a nighttime trip to Puerto Rico's bays
    3. CTo show the many places living light appears before naming it
    4. DTo explain each step of the chemical reaction