Free printable PSAT practice test for Grade 8

Reading and Writing

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 12 minutes.

1. Tomato plants

   Grandpa Ellis was ______ about his tomato plants. Every morning he checked each leaf for insects, measured the stems, and wrote notes in a small green notebook he kept by the back door.

   1.

   Which choice gives the most logical and precise word or phrase for the blank?

   1. Aforgetful
   2. Bcareless
   3. Cdoubtful
   4. Dcareful

2. Sign language grammar

   American Sign Language is not simply English expressed with the hands. It has its own grammar and word order, which ______ in important ways from those of spoken English.

   2.

   Which choice gives the most logical and precise word or phrase for the blank?

   1. Amatch
   2. Bborrow
   3. Cdiffer
   4. Dcopy

3. Sparrow dialects

   White-crowned sparrows learn their songs by listening to adult birds. As a result, sparrows in different regions often sing slightly different versions of the same song. Researchers call these regional variations dialects, much like differences in human speech.

   3.

   What role does the underlined sentence play in the text?

   1. AIt compares sparrow songs with the songs of other birds.
   2. BIt presents a consequence of the way the sparrows learn their songs.
   3. CIt questions whether sparrows actually learn their songs.
   4. DIt describes how researchers recorded the sparrows' songs.

4. Jazz improvisation

   Listeners sometimes assume that jazz musicians who improvise are simply making things up on the spot. In practice, improvisers spend years learning scales, chord progressions, and short melodic phrases, often by copying recorded solos note for note. During a performance, they draw on this stored vocabulary, recombining and varying familiar ideas in response to the other players. The music is new each night, but it rests on deep preparation.

   4.

   What is the main idea of the text?

   1. AJazz musicians usually perform the same solo each night.
   2. BJazz improvisation draws on extensive practice rather than pure invention.
   3. CCopying recorded solos note for note is discouraged among skilled jazz players.
   4. DListeners enjoy improvised music more than written compositions.

5. Garden pollinators

   Students at one middle school planted purple and white flowers side by side in their garden. For one week, they recorded every time a bee, butterfly, or fly landed on a flower of each color. The students concluded that the bees in their garden favored purple flowers. The graph supports this conclusion, since it shows that ______

   5.

   Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the statement?

   1. Abutterflies visited purple and white flowers almost equally often.
   2. Bflies made more visits to white flowers than to purple flowers.
   3. Cbees made fewer visits to purple flowers than flies made to white ones.
   4. Dbees made 24 visits to purple flowers and only 9 to white ones.

6. School start times

   Researchers have found that during the teenage years, the body's internal clock shifts later, so many teens do not feel sleepy until late at night. When school starts early, these students lose sleep. One school district moved its start time from 7:30 to 8:30 in the morning, and surveys found that students averaged about forty more minutes of sleep per night. This result suggests that ______

   6.

   Which choice most logically completes the text?

   1. Astudents began going to bed much earlier than before.
   2. Bteens' internal clocks shifted earlier after the change.
   3. Cthe later start let many students get more rest.
   4. Dmost students preferred to keep the earlier start time.

7. Saturn's bright rings

   Saturn's rings, which are made mostly of chunks of water ______ so much sunlight that they can be seen through a small backyard telescope. The rings are wide but remarkably thin.

   7.

   Which choice completes the text so that it follows the conventions of Standard English?

   1. Aice; reflect
   2. Bice, reflect
   3. Cice reflect
   4. Dice: reflect

8. Sourdough starter

   Sourdough bread rises because of a living mixture of wild yeast and bacteria called a starter. Some bakers have ______ the same starter alive for years, feeding it fresh flour and water every day.

   8.

   Which choice completes the text so that it follows the conventions of Standard English?

   1. Akeeping
   2. Bkeeps
   3. Ckept
   4. Dkeep

9. Science fair

   Malik had rehearsed his speech for the science fair a dozen times in front of the mirror, and he knew every word by heart. ______, when the judges stopped at his table, his mind went completely blank.

   9.

   Which choice gives the most logical transition for the blank?

   1. AEven so
   2. BIn other words
   3. CTherefore
   4. DSimilarly

10. Lichen partners

    While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
    • A lichen is not a single organism.
    • It is a partnership between a fungus and an alga (or a cyanobacterium).
    • The alga makes food through photosynthesis.
    • The fungus provides shelter and holds water.
    • Lichens grow on bare rock, on tree bark, and in the Arctic tundra.

    10.

    The student wants to explain how the partners in a lichen benefit each other. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

    1. AIn a lichen, the alga makes food through photosynthesis, while the fungus provides shelter and holds water.
    2. BThe partner of the fungus in a lichen may be either an alga or a cyanobacterium.
    3. CLichens grow in many harsh places, including bare rock and the Arctic tundra.
    4. DA lichen is not a single organism but a partnership between a fungus and either an alga or a cyanobacterium.