Free printable i-Ready practice test for Grade 6

Reading

Circle the letter of the best answer. No time limit.

1. 1.

   Diminish is to decrease as inquire is to ______.

   Which word completes the analogy?

   1. Aacquire
   2. Banswer
   3. Cask
   4. Dinspire

2. 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.

   2.

   Which sentence best states a theme of the story?

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

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

   1. AShe is hungry because she skipped breakfast.
   2. BShe feels a sudden rush of panic.
   3. CShe is excited to finally be on camera.
   4. DShe is annoyed that Benny is eating.
4. 4.

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

   1. AIt proves her daily habits prepared her more than she knew.
   2. BIt introduces the problem that Ms. Albright must solve.
   3. CIt explains why Jaylen had to stay home that morning.
   4. DIt shows that Benny is not ready to run the camera by himself.
5. 5.

   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 disliking Jaylen to wishing she could be him.
   3. CShe goes from loving the camera job to wanting to quit the news team for good.
   4. DShe goes from feeling fearless to being afraid of the red light.
6. 6.

   Our new coach is strict about being on time for practice.

   Which word could take the place of strict to make the coach sound better, without changing what the sentence means?

   1. Apeaceful
   2. Bslender
   3. Cfirm
   4. Dharsh

7. A Safer Crossing on Elm Street

   To the Editor:

   Every school morning, more than 300 students cross Elm Street at Fifth Avenue to reach Lincoln Middle School, and the only thing protecting us is a set of faded white stripes painted on the pavement. I am asking the city to add flashing warning lights and a crossing guard at that corner before someone gets hurt.

   The most serious problem is that drivers do not stop. Elm Street is wide and straight, and many drivers treat it like a highway, even though the speed limit near the school is 20 miles per hour. Last Tuesday, my dad and I stood at the corner from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and counted the cars that drove through the crosswalk while someone was waiting at it or crossing, and in that single hour there were 14. Last spring, a sixth grader had to jump back onto the curb when a delivery van sped through the crosswalk without slowing down.

   Lincoln is also the oldest middle school in the county, and our marching band won first place at the county fair this summer. A school like ours deserves a street that looks as good as we do.

   Some people will say that warning lights and a crossing guard cost too much. But a flashing light costs far less than a trip to the emergency room, and no one can put a price on a student's safety.

   Please do not wait for a serious accident before making this dangerous corner safe.

   Sincerely,
   Hana Sato, seventh grade, Lincoln Middle School

   7.

   Which reason in the letter is irrelevant to the writer's claim?

   1. ALincoln's marching band won first place at the county fair.
   2. BMore than 300 students cross Elm Street each morning.
   3. CMany drivers treat Elm Street like a highway.
   4. DFourteen cars drove through the crosswalk in one hour.
8. 8.

   How does the writer respond to people who say lights and a guard cost too much?

   1. AShe argues that a light costs far less than an injury would.
   2. BShe claims that crossing guards would be happy to work for free.
   3. CShe says that the school band will pay for the lights.
   4. DShe agrees that the city should wait another year.
9. 9.

   Which detail best supports the writer's point that drivers do not stop at the crossing?

   1. AShe counted 14 cars that drove through the crosswalk in one hour.
   2. BLincoln is the oldest middle school in the county.
   3. CElm Street is wide and straight.
   4. DThe speed limit on Elm Street near the school is 20 miles per hour.
10. 10.

    What does the word exclude mean?

    1. Acount up
    2. Binvite again
    3. Clet in
    4. Dkeep out