ISEE practice, Grade 8

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Scholar Tests · Set 2

ISEE practice test, Grade 8

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Verbal Reasoning

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 5 minutes.

  1. 1.

    CANDOR

    Which word means most nearly the same as the word in capital letters?

    1. Ahonesty
    2. Bdeceit
    3. Ccourage
    4. Dpatience
  2. 2.

    ICONOCLAST

    Which word means most nearly the same as the word in capital letters?

    1. Asailor
    2. Brebel
    3. Cmerchant
    4. Dconformist
  3. 3.

    The speaker's ______ remarks wandered so far from the topic that the audience lost interest.

    Which word best completes the sentence?

    1. Adigressive
    2. Brelevant
    3. Cconcise
    4. Dfocused
  4. 4.

    His tone was ______, but his words were ______, so listeners could not tell whether he was joking.

    Which pair of words best completes the sentence?

    1. Aplayful . . . silly
    2. Bgrave . . . solemn
    3. Cloud . . . quiet
    4. Dplayful . . . serious
  5. 5.

    PROSAIC

    Which word means most nearly the same as the word in capital letters?

    1. Aordinary
    2. Btimid
    3. Cnoisy
    4. Dimaginative
  6. 6.

    Rising sea levels pose an ______ threat to the island, which sits barely a yard above the tide.

    Which word best completes the sentence?

    1. Aminor
    2. Bdistant
    3. Cimminent
    4. Dimaginary
  7. 7.

    Her ______ in the face of danger was ______, given that she had never trained for an emergency.

    Which pair of words best completes the sentence?

    1. Aspeed . . . slow
    2. Bcalm . . . remarkable
    3. Ccalm . . . expected
    4. Dpanic . . . remarkable
  8. 8.

    BELLIGERENT

    Which word means most nearly the same as the word in capital letters?

    1. Afragile
    2. Bnoisy
    3. Chostile
    4. Dpeaceable
  9. 9.

    MALLEABLE

    Which word means most nearly the same as the word in capital letters?

    1. Arigid
    2. Btimid
    3. Cpliable
    4. Dnoisy
  10. 10.

    The once ______ factory town has emptied since the last mill closed twenty years ago.

    Which word best completes the sentence?

    1. Adeclining
    2. Bthriving
    3. Cquiet
    4. Ddeserted

Quantitative Reasoning

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 9 minutes.

  1. 1.

    The ratio of adults to children is 2:3. There are 14 adults. How many people are at the show in all?

    1. A19
    2. B35
    3. C21
    4. D23 1/3
  2. 2.

    3x − 13 = 11
    Column A: x
    Column B: 8

    Compare the quantity in Column A with the quantity in Column B.

    1. AColumn A is greater.
    2. BColumn B is greater.
    3. CThe two quantities are equal.
    4. DIt cannot be decided from the information given.
  3. 3.

    The letters of the word PRIME repeat in this order: P, R, I, M, E, P, R, I, M, E, and so on. What is the 68th letter?

    1. AI
    2. BE
    3. CR
    4. DM
  4. 4.

    5x − 6 = 9
    Column A: x
    Column B: 4

    Compare the quantity in Column A with the quantity in Column B.

    1. AColumn A is greater.
    2. BColumn B is greater.
    3. CThe two quantities are equal.
    4. DIt cannot be decided from the information given.
  5. 5.

    Mia is now 3 times as old as James. In 3 years Mia will be 2 times as old as James. How old is Mia now?

    1. A9
    2. B6
    3. C12
    4. D10
  6. 6.

    A company charges $13 to ship a package that weighs up to 3 pounds, plus $4 for each pound over 3 pounds. Sofia paid $45 to ship a package. How many pounds did the package weigh?

    1. A11
    2. B5
    3. C8
    4. D12
  7. 7.

    A circle has radius 3. A square has sides of length 3.
    Column A: The area of the circle
    Column B: The area of the square

    Compare the quantity in Column A with the quantity in Column B.

    1. AColumn A is greater.
    2. BColumn B is greater.
    3. CThe two quantities are equal.
    4. DIt cannot be decided from the information given.
  8. 8.

    7 notebooks and 5 erasers cost $67. 2 notebooks and 5 erasers cost $37. What does one eraser cost?

    1. A$3
    2. B$7
    3. C$5
    4. D$30
  9. 9.

    x > 1
    Column A: 1/x
    Column B: x

    Compare the quantity in Column A with the quantity in Column B.

    1. AColumn A is greater.
    2. BColumn B is greater.
    3. CThe two quantities are equal.
    4. DIt cannot be decided from the information given.
  10. 10.

    If p − 5 = q − 2 = r − 1 = s + 6, which letter has the greatest value?

    1. Ar
    2. Bq
    3. Cp
    4. Ds

Reading Comprehension

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 10 minutes.

  1. Third Row, Aisle Seat

    Let me be clear about one thing: I was only at the recital because my mother had confiscated my car keys until I agreed to go. I had quit piano two years earlier, at fifteen, and I had never regretted it for a single afternoon. Lessons had been a weekly sentence, Mrs. Abernathy's metronome ticking like the clock in a dentist's waiting room. When I stopped, I felt nothing but relief, and I said so to anyone who asked, and to several people who did not.

    So I sat in the third row of the community hall with my arms folded, prepared to be bored. The program listed eleven students. My sister, Lena, was ninth, playing a Chopin nocturne, the one in E-flat. I knew it was the one in E-flat only because it was printed in the program.

    The first eight performers were what you would expect. A boy in a clip-on tie rushed through a minuet as though it were chasing him. A girl stopped twice in the same measure and started over both times, her face burning. I happened to notice that she had been fine until her left hand crossed over, which is where everyone gets lost, but I mention it only because it was obvious.

    Then Lena walked out. She sat, adjusted the bench a quarter of an inch, and waited, which is something Mrs. Abernathy used to tell us to do and which I never once managed. The opening was steady. By the second page she had sped up slightly, and I caught myself leaning forward, because the trill near the bottom of that page is a trap if you take it too fast, and she was taking it too fast.

    She didn't fall into it. She came out of the trill clean and let the last chord ring until it dissolved into the hum of the heating vents. People applauded. I applauded too, because it would have been rude not to.

    Afterward, in the lobby, Lena found me by the table of lemon bars.

    "You were doing it again," she said.

    "Doing what?"

    "Your fingers. On your knee. The whole time." She grinned. "You played the entire left hand. Mom saw."

    I told her that was ridiculous, that it was a nervous habit, that it could have been any song at all. She just took a lemon bar and went off to find her teacher.

    On the drive home, with my keys returned, I did not turn on the radio. When we got back, I went upstairs and rearranged a few things in my closet, nothing important, just a box of old sheet music I had been meaning to throw out for two years and had somehow kept forgetting to. I set it on my desk, where it would be easier to remember.

    1.

    Which best describes what happens in the passage?

    1. AA brother and sister argue about which of them is the more talented pianist in the family.
    2. BA teenager is punished by his mother for refusing to attend his younger sister's recital.
    3. CA narrator who insists he no longer cares about piano reveals his attachment to it at his sister's recital.
    4. DA young pianist overcomes her stage fright and wins first prize in a community competition.
  2. 2.

    According to the narrator, what did Lena do before she began to play?

    1. AShe asked her teacher for her sheet music.
    2. BShe set a metronome on top of the piano.
    3. CShe adjusted the bench slightly and waited.
    4. DShe looked for her brother in the third row.
  3. 3.

    The narrator's claim that he knew which nocturne Lena would play "only because it was printed in the program" most likely suggests that he

    1. Aknows the music far better than he is willing to admit
    2. Bwas not told in advance which piece Lena had chosen
    3. Carrived too late to hear the opening of Lena's piece
    4. Dnoticed several printing errors in the evening's program
  4. 4.

    As it is used in the passage, the word "sentence" most nearly means

    1. Aa written statement of opinion
    2. Ban official announcement
    3. Ca punishment to be endured
    4. Da group of words expressing a thought
  5. 5.

    What is the most likely purpose of the final paragraph?

    1. ATo confirm that the narrator found the whole recital boring
    2. BTo show that the narrator has finally thrown his old music away
    3. CTo hint that the narrator may be reconsidering his decision to quit piano
    4. DTo explain why the narrator's mother returned his car keys
  6. 6.

    How does the narrator's account develop over the course of the passage?

    1. AHis claims of indifference are steadily undercut by details showing how closely he follows the music.
    2. BHe shifts from the present to a long memory of his very first piano lesson.
    3. CHe begins by praising his old lessons and ends by rejecting piano completely.
    4. DHe starts as a neutral observer and becomes harshly critical of every performer.

  7. Ice-Out

    All winter the lake kept its one opinion, a white sentence stretched from shore to shore that no one bothered to argue with. We walked on it. We drilled small doubts in it and fished them for perch, and it held. My brother and I had a winter like that: a single hard surface over everything, words we stepped around, a door we closed so gently it was almost polite. Then March, and the lake began to talk. At night it groaned like a ship's old timber; by day long seams of pewter opened and the wind leaned on them until they gave. Nobody announced it. One morning the open water was simply there, dark and moving, full of the sky, and a pair of ducks floated where we had stood. He called that afternoon about nothing, the weather, a game, a borrowed jacket. I listened to the thaw in his voice and said nothing important back, which was, I think, the important thing.

    7.

    Which choice best describes the central idea of the poem?

    1. AA family argues about whether it is safe to walk out on a frozen lake.
    2. BThe breakup of the lake's ice mirrors a quiet easing of tension between the speaker and a brother.
    3. CThe speaker regrets spending a winter fishing instead of talking with a brother.
    4. DThe speaker warns readers about the dangers of thin ice in early spring.
  8. 8.

    According to the poem, what appears on the open water once the ice is gone?

    1. AA ship's old timber
    2. BA borrowed jacket
    3. CA fishing boat
    4. DA pair of ducks
  9. 9.

    The line "I listened to the thaw in his voice" suggests that the brother

    1. Awas calling to warn the speaker about the melting ice
    2. Bsounded warmer and less guarded than he had during the winter
    3. Cwas speaking quietly because of a poor connection
    4. Dhad caught a cold while standing out on the lake
  10. 10.

    As it is used in the poem, the word "gave" most nearly means

    1. Abroke apart
    2. Bput on a show
    3. Coffered freely
    4. Dproduced a result

Mathematics Achievement

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 9 minutes.

  1. 1.

    What is the value of 3⁻³?

    1. A−9
    2. B−27
    3. C1/27
    4. D27
  2. 2.

    A window is shaped like a semicircle with a radius of 2 inches. What is the perimeter of the window, including its straight edge, in inches?

    1. A4π + 4
    2. B2π + 2
    3. C2π
    4. D2π + 4
  3. 3.

    The box plots show the heights, in inches, of the players on two teams. How much greater is the median for Team Green than for Team Gold?

    1. A6
    2. B14
    3. C66
    4. D8
  4. 4.

    What is the distance between point A and point B?

    1. A5 units
    2. B7 units
    3. C4 units
    4. D25 units
  5. 5.

    On a number line, point A is at −9 and point B is at 7. Point M is the midpoint of segment AB. What is the coordinate of point M?

    1. A8
    2. B16
    3. C−2
    4. D−1
  6. 6.

    If x < y < 0, which of these must be true?
    I. x − y < 0
    II. xy < 0
    III. x + y > 0

    1. AIII only
    2. BI only
    3. CI and II only
    4. DI and III only
  7. 7.

    A table gives the probability distribution of X, the number of pets a student at a school has at home. Number of pets: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4. Probability: 0.25, 0.20, 0.25, ?, 0.20. The probability for 3 pets is missing from the table. What is the expected value (mean) of X, the number of pets a student has at home?

    1. A2
    2. B1.8
    3. C0.36
    4. D1.5
  8. 8.

    An equilateral triangle and a regular pentagon have the same perimeter. What is the ratio of the length of one side of the equilateral triangle to the length of one side of the regular pentagon?

    1. A5:8
    2. B3:5
    3. C5:3
    4. D1:1
  9. 9.

    On a made-up planet, 7 glims equal 1 dorn, and 3 dorns equal 1 skell. Which amount is worth the most?

    1. A3 dorns
    2. B34 glims
    3. C1 skell
    4. D28 glims
  10. 10.

    A candle is 20 centimeters tall. It burns down 4 centimeters each hour. Which equation gives the candle's height h, in centimeters, after t hours?

    1. Ah = 4t + 20
    2. Bh = 16t
    3. Ch = −4t + 20
    4. Dh = 20t − 4

Written by Scholar Tests in the style of the published ISEE question types. Not a real ISEE test, and a practice score is not a real score.