Free printable i-Ready practice test for Grade 6

Reading

Circle the letter of the best answer, or two letters where a question asks for two. No time limit.

1. 1.

   plot
   1. n. the events that make up a story
   2. n. a small piece of land
   3. v. make a secret plan
   4. v. mark points on a graph or map
   
   We grow beans on our garden plot behind the school.

   Which meaning of plot is used in the sentence?

   1. AMeaning 1
   2. BMeaning 2
   3. CMeaning 3
   4. DMeaning 4

2. Mill Creek Cleanup Day

   VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
   Mill Creek Cleanup Day
   May 9, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
   Meet at the Mill Creek Park picnic shelter

   Every spring, trash washes into Mill Creek from storm drains and streets. Plastic bags and bottles can harm the fish, turtles, and birds that live along the water. Help us give the creek a fresh start!

   Who Can Help
   Everyone is welcome. Volunteers under 14 must come with an adult.

   What We Provide
   Gloves, trash bags, grabber tools, and water

   What to Bring
   Closed-toe shoes that can get muddy
   A hat and sunscreen
   A refillable water bottle

   Schedule
   9:00 a.m. Sign in and safety talk
   9:30 a.m. Teams head to the creek
   11:30 a.m. Count and sort what we collected
   12:00 p.m. Free lunch for all volunteers

   2.

   Under which heading would a family find out what kind of shoes to wear?

   1. ASchedule
   2. BWho Can Help
   3. CMill Creek Cleanup Day
   4. DWhat to Bring
3. 3.

   What will volunteers do at 11:30 a.m.?

   1. AEat a free lunch
   2. BCount and sort what they collected
   3. CHead to the creek in teams
   4. DSign in and listen to a safety talk
4. 4.

   Kayla is twelve years old and wants to help at the cleanup. What does she need to do?

   1. ACome with an adult
   2. BJoin a team at 11:30 a.m.
   3. CArrive after lunch
   4. DBring her own gloves and trash bags
5. 5.

   Can you recite all fifty states in ABC order?

   What does the word recite mean in this sentence?

   1. Ahide from
   2. Bthrow away
   3. Csay aloud from memory
   4. Dfold in half

6. When the Sky Went Dark

   April 14, 1935, began as the kind of Sunday Opal Harper had almost forgotten was possible. The sky over the Oklahoma Panhandle was a clean, bright blue, and the wind, which had been flinging dirt against the farmhouse for weeks, had finally gone still.

   "Open every window," Ma announced after breakfast. "We are going to let this house breathe."

   For the next few hours, the Harpers cleaned as if company were coming. Opal dragged the rugs into the yard and beat them with a broom until brown clouds drifted off them, while her little brother, Wesley, chased the chickens around the coop. Pa walked the fence line, frowning at fields where the wheat should have been green by now. Instead, the ground lay bare and cracked, because the rains had failed for so many years that Opal could barely remember the smell of mud.

   In the middle of the afternoon, Opal noticed the birds.

   At first there were only a few, flying low and fast out of the north. Then there were dozens, then hundreds, sparrows and blackbirds, all racing south as if something were chasing them. The chickens stopped scratching and hurried into the coop on their own, and as the air turned suddenly cooler, the hair on Opal's arms prickled.

   "Pa," she called. "Look."

   Along the northern edge of the sky sat a dark line, like a range of mountains that had not been there that morning. But mountains do not move, and this was moving. It grew taller as she watched, a black wall that boiled at the top and swallowed the fields in front of it.

   Pa dropped his fence pliers. "Everybody in the house. Now!"

   Opal grabbed Wesley's hand and ran while Ma raced ahead of them, slamming windows one after another. They tumbled through the kitchen door just as the light changed, and in less than a minute, the bright afternoon was gone.

   It was darker than any night Opal had ever known, because even the darkest night had stars or the red glow of the stove. When she held her hand in front of her face, she could not see it. Wesley began to cry.

   "Nobody move," Pa said. His voice was calm, and Opal held on to that calm the way she held on to Wesley's hand. Ma found the lamp by feel and lit it, but the flame was only a weak yellow smudge in the brown air.

   Dust hissed against the walls. It sifted through the cracks around the doors and windows, no matter how tightly they were shut. Ma soaked dish towels in the water bucket for everyone to tie over their noses and mouths. The wet towel smelled of soap and dirt, but breathing through it helped.

   When Opal reached for the metal pump handle beside the sink, a spark snapped against her fingers, and she yelped. "The air's full of electricity," Pa explained. "All that blowing dust does it."

   They sat close together at the table for hours, listening to the wind, while Pa told stories about the summer he was Wesley's age, when the wheat grew so tall that he could hide in it.

   That night, the wind finally died down. In the morning, Opal stepped out into a strange new world. Fine dust, soft as flour, lay over everything, and it had drifted against the fence posts and the side of the barn in long, smooth piles, the way snow drifts in winter. The chickens were safe in the coop, fluffed up and offended.

   Ma stood on the porch with her broom for a long moment. Then she began to sweep.

   A few days later, Pa brought a newspaper home from town. A reporter had written about the storm and called the whole dry region by a name Opal had never heard before: the Dust Bowl.

   Opal turned the words over in her mind. A bowl could be emptied, she thought, but it could also be filled. She looked out at the bare fields and pictured them green again, heavy with rain.

   "It won't always be like this, will it?" she asked.

   Pa folded the paper and looked out the window beside her. "No," he said. "Dry years end. We just have to be here when they do."

   6.

   Which sentence is the best objective summary of the story?

   1. APa decides to give up farming forever after the storm ruins the very last of his wheat crop.
   2. BA dust storm drives a farm family indoors, and afterward they clean up and hope for rain.
   3. COpal and Wesley get lost in the dark while chasing the family's chickens across the yard.
   4. DA reporter visits the Harper farm after the storm to write a newspaper story about the drought.
7. 7.

   According to Pa, why does the pump handle give Opal a shock?

   1. AThe handle was left outside in the storm.
   2. BThe lamp has made the metal handle too hot.
   3. CThe blowing dust has filled the air with electricity.
   4. DThe well water has turned into thick mud.
8. 8.

   Which theme does the ending of the story develop?

   1. AHard work is always rewarded with good weather.
   2. BIt is foolish to stay on land that keeps failing year after year.
   3. CNewspapers rarely report events accurately.
   4. DHope and patience can help people endure hard times.
9. 9.

   Which TWO details best show that animals sensed the storm before the people did? Choose two answers.

   1. AWesley chased the chickens around the coop.
   2. BThe chickens hurried into the coop on their own.
   3. CPa dropped his fence pliers and shouted.
   4. DThe chickens were fluffed up and offended in the morning.
   5. EHundreds of birds raced south as if something were chasing them.
10. 10.

    How are the words lightning and thunder linked?

    1. AOne can cause the other.
    2. BOne is a part of the other.
    3. COne is used to do the other.
    4. DOne is a kind of the other.