Free printable i-Ready practice test for Grade 8

Reading

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

1. 1.

   Two angles that form a straight line are supplementary, so if one measures 70 degrees, the other measures 110 degrees.

   This sentence is from a math book. What does supplementary mean?

   1. Aadding up to 90 degrees
   2. Bnever crossing each other
   3. Chaving the same size and shape
   4. Dadding up to 180 degrees

2. 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

   2.

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

   1. AA delivery van sped through the crossing without slowing down.
   2. BLincoln's marching band won first place at the county fair.
   3. CMany drivers treat Elm Street like a highway.
   4. DMore than 300 students cross Elm Street each morning.
3. 3.

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

   1. AShe says the county fair should raise the money.
   2. BShe claims that crossing guards would be happy to work for free.
   3. CShe agrees that the city should wait another year.
   4. DShe argues that a light costs far less than an injury would.
4. 4.

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

   1. ALincoln is the oldest middle school in the county.
   2. BShe counted 14 cars that drove through the crosswalk in one hour.
   3. CMore than 300 students cross there each morning.
   4. DThe speed limit on Elm Street near the school is 20 miles per hour.
5. 5.

   The root ped means "foot." What does the word pedestrian mean?

   1. Aa person who rides a horse
   2. Ba person who drives a car
   3. Ca person who flies a plane
   4. Da person who travels on foot

6. Section Four

   The alarm was not loud. On Kestrel Station, nothing was loud at three in the morning except the ventilation fans, so the soft double chime from the hallway panel was enough to wake Noor Haddad.

   She padded out in her socks and squinted at the screen. GARDEN WATER LOOP: TEMPERATURE LOW. Beneath the warning, a number glowed amber: 39 degrees.

   Noor was fourteen, and she had lived on the Moon for seven months, long enough to understand what most of the panels meant. The garden module was her mother's domain: four long rows of tomatoes, beans, and lettuce growing under violet lamps, nourished by a loop of water that the station purified and reused again and again. The loop ran along the module's outer wall, where a small heater kept it from feeling the cold of the lunar night pressing against the other side.

   The number blinked. 38 degrees.

   Noor's mother was not on the station. Neither was Chief Okafor, nor four of the other five adults, who had driven the big rover toward the crater rim two days earlier to install a new solar array and would not return until tomorrow afternoon. The only other person aboard was Dr. Feld, who had come down with a fever and was sleeping it off in the medical bay with the assistance of some extremely powerful medicine.

   Noor tried to wake him anyway. She knocked, then shook his shoulder. He opened one eye, murmured, "Mm, the carrots," and drifted back to sleep.

   She hurried to the radio. Chief Okafor's standing order was printed on a card beside it: IF ANYTHING BREAKS WHILE WE ARE OUT, CALL US AND WAIT. Below it, in smaller letters, was the regulation every child on the station knew by heart: No one under eighteen operates life-support equipment alone.

   "Rover One, this is Kestrel," Noor said. "The garden water loop is cooling, and I think the line heater has failed."

   For a long moment there was only static. Then the chief's voice came through in fragments, as if someone were tearing it into strips.

   "Noor... copy... the loop... relay is... wait... section four... blue binder... trust you to..."

   Then nothing. Noor checked the schedule taped above the radio. The relay satellite that carried their signals over the horizon had just slipped out of range, and it would not rise again for three hours.

   37 degrees.

   Noor did the calculation out loud, the way her mother had taught her, to keep her voice steady. The temperature was falling about one degree every eight minutes, and water froze at 32. In forty minutes the line would begin to freeze, and because freezing water expands, a pipe packed with ice would split. Months of recycled water would spill across the floor, and every plant in the module would wither long before the rover came home.

   "Wait," she whispered. "She said wait."

   But the chief had also said section four. And blue binder. And trust.

   The blue binder sat on her mother's shelf in the garden module, its spine worn soft from use. Noor had watched her mother consult it a hundred times. She carried it to the pipe wall and flipped to the fourth tab, which was labeled EMERGENCY BYPASS. There were three steps: close valve A; open valve B, which would divert the water through a second pipe along the warm inner wall; and switch on the backup heater.

   Three steps. Her mother could complete them in a minute, but Noor's hands were trembling so badly that the pages rattled.

   She thought of the card beside the radio. She thought of the tomato plants, whose yellow flowers she had helped pollinate with a paintbrush only last week. She thought of the chief's voice dissolving into static: trust you to... To do what? To wait? To act? The rest of the sentence was somewhere out in space, and Noor would have to finish it herself.

   35 degrees.

   Valve A turned easily, but valve B did not. It was stiff from months without use, and Noor had to brace her foot against the wall and pull with both hands until it finally gave with a groan. Water rushed into the bypass pipe; she could hear it gurgling past her ear. She flipped the heater switch and sat down hard on the floor.

   34. 34. 35. 37.

   By the time the number reached 50, Noor had stopped trembling. She opened the station log and recorded everything: the time of the alarm, each step from the binder, and every temperature reading. At the end she typed, "I operated life-support equipment alone. I broke the rule." Then she sat among the tomato plants and waited for the satellite to rise.

   The rover returned the following afternoon. Chief Okafor read the log without a word while Noor stood beside her, studying her own boots. From the garden module came the sound of Noor's mother inspecting the valves.

   At last the chief closed the log. She picked up the blue binder, turned it over thoughtfully in her hands, and held it out to Noor.

   "Section four," she said. "Keep this on your shelf from now on."

   Then she went to remove her suit, and Noor was left holding the binder, still uncertain whether she was in trouble.

   6.

   The story is told from Noor's limited point of view. What does the reader understand at the end that Noor does not?

   1. ANoor's mother was the one who broke the line heater.
   2. BThe chief is not punishing Noor; she is trusting her with more responsibility.
   3. CDr. Feld repaired the water loop while Noor was asleep.
   4. DThe chief plans to send Noor back to Earth for breaking the rule.
7. 7.

   How does Noor's entry in the station log reveal her character?

   1. AShe is honest and takes responsibility, even for a choice that worked.
   2. BShe blames Dr. Feld for failing to wake up and help.
   3. CShe does not understand the rules of the station.
   4. DShe is trying to hide the fact that she opened the valves.
8. 8.

   Which TWO details best support the idea that Noor's choice was carefully reasoned rather than reckless? Choose two answers.

   1. AHer hands were trembling so badly that the pages rattled.
   2. BShe padded out to the hallway panel in her socks.
   3. CShe followed the three written steps in section four of the blue binder.
   4. DShe worked out that the line would start to freeze in about forty minutes.
   5. EShe sat down hard on the floor after flipping the heater switch.
9. 9.

   Why does the author set the falling temperature readings, such as "37 degrees" and "35 degrees," on lines by themselves?

   1. ATo slow the story down during a part where nothing happens
   2. BTo show that Noor has trouble doing math under pressure
   3. CTo show how cold the Moon's surface becomes at night
   4. DTo build suspense by marking how little time Noor has left
10. 10.

    Which word means the opposite of capricious?

    1. Acautious
    2. Bprecious
    3. Cpredictable
    4. Dunpredictable