Free printable SHSAT practice test for Grade 8

English (ELA)

Circle the letter of the best answer, or two letters where a question asks for two. About 18 minutes.

1. When Coral Turns White

   Seen from a boat on a calm day, a healthy coral reef looks like an underwater garden. Branches, fans and domes crowd together in shades of mustard, olive, purple and pink, while schools of fish dart between them. Coral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean floor, yet scientists estimate that about a quarter of all known ocean species live on or depend on them.

   Sometimes, though, divers swim over a reef that looks as if its color has been drained away, with whole stretches of coral as white as chalk. That reef has bleached. To understand why, you first need to know what a coral actually is.

   Animals, Not Rocks

   Coral may look like a rock or a plant, but it is an animal. A coral is a colony of tiny creatures called polyps, which are related to jellyfish and sea anemones. Each polyp is a soft tube with a ring of tentacles around its mouth. To protect itself, a polyp builds a hard cup of limestone beneath its body. Over hundreds and thousands of years, these stony cups pile up, layer upon layer, into reefs.

   A Partnership Inside

   Most reef-building corals share their bodies with partners: tiny algae that live inside the coral's tissue. Like plants, the algae use sunlight to make food. They keep some of it for themselves and pass the rest to the coral, supplying most of the energy the coral needs to grow. In return, the coral gives the algae shelter, along with materials they need, such as the carbon dioxide in its own wastes. The algae also give coral its color, because a coral's own tissue is nearly clear.

   This partnership has lasted for millions of years, but it works only when the water stays within a fairly narrow range of temperatures.

   When the Water Gets Too Warm

   When ocean water stays warmer than usual for too long, the partnership breaks down. Under heat stress, the algae begin producing substances that harm the coral instead of helping it. The coral responds by expelling the algae, pushing them out of its tissue. Without them, the coral's clear tissue lets the white skeleton show through, and the coral has bleached.

   It does not take much heat. Water only about 2 degrees Fahrenheit above the usual summer high, if it stays that way for several weeks, can be enough to start bleaching. Pollution, unusually low tides and strong sunlight can stress corals as well, but warm water is the main cause. As Earth's climate has warmed, ocean heat waves have become more common, and so have bleaching events. In the summer of 2023, for example, record-warm water caused severe bleaching on reefs off Florida.

   Recover or Starve

   A bleached coral is not dead, at least not yet, but it is starving. Polyps can catch tiny drifting animals with their tentacles, yet for most reef-building corals, that is not enough to live on for long.

   If the water cools within a few weeks, the coral can take in new algae, and its color slowly returns. If the heat lasts too long, the coral weakens, catches diseases more easily, and may die. A dead coral is soon furred over with seaweed, and many of the fish that depended on it move away.

   Gardeners Under the Sea

   Scientists and divers cannot cool the ocean, but they are working to give reefs a better chance. In coral nurseries, divers hang small pieces of healthy coral on frames that look like underwater trees. The pieces grow quickly there, and divers then carry them back to damaged reefs and attach them, one by one. Some scientists search for corals that survived heat waves, hoping to raise more of these tougher ones. During the 2023 heat wave, some teams even moved young corals from ocean nurseries into tanks on land until the water cooled.

   Nurseries alone cannot save the world's reefs. Most scientists agree that the reefs' long-term future depends on slowing the warming of the oceans. Still, every coral a diver plants is a small bet that the garden will bloom again.

   1.

   Which TWO statements are central ideas of the passage? Choose two answers.

   1. ADivers hang pieces of coral on frames that look like underwater trees.
   2. BPolyps can catch tiny drifting animals with their tentacles.
   3. CCoral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean floor.
   4. DPeople are working to help reefs recover, though the reefs' future depends on slowing ocean warming.
   5. ECorals depend on algae living inside them, and water that stays too warm breaks that partnership.
2. 2.

   Why does the author title the last section "Gardeners Under the Sea"?

   1. ATo describe the algae that live inside coral tissue.
   2. BTo compare people who grow and replant corals to gardeners caring for plants.
   3. CTo warn readers that they should never break off or take home pieces of coral.
   4. DTo explain that seaweed grows over corals that have died.
3. 3.

   According to the passage, why does a bleached coral look white?

   1. ASeaweed grows over it and blocks out the sunlight.
   2. BThe warm water washes the color out of its skeleton.
   3. CWithout its algae, its clear tissue lets the white skeleton show through.
   4. DIts tentacles fall off and expose its limestone cup.
4. 4.

   In the passage, what does "expelling" mean in "The coral responds by expelling the algae"?

   1. Aforcing out
   2. Bfeeding on
   3. Chiding away
   4. Dtrapping inside
5. 5.

   According to the passage, how much warming can be enough to start bleaching?

   1. AAbout 20 degrees Fahrenheit above the usual summer high, for one afternoon
   2. BEnough warming to bring the water near the reef close to boiling
   3. CAny warming at all, as long as the water is also cloudy
   4. DAbout 2 degrees Fahrenheit above the usual summer high, for several weeks
6. 6.

   A diver finds a bleached coral that is still alive, and the water around it has just cooled. What is most likely to happen next?

   1. AIt may take in new algae, and its color may slowly return.
   2. BIt will stay white for the rest of its life.
   3. CIt will be covered with seaweed right away.
   4. DIt will turn to solid stone within a few days.
7. 7.

   Why does the author end by calling each planted coral "a small bet that the garden will bloom again"?

   1. ATo warn that bleached reefs can never recover.
   2. BTo show that reefs are really underwater farms.
   3. CTo explain how divers pay for their coral nurseries.
   4. DTo express hope while admitting that success is not certain.
8. 8.

   The pool will open on Saturday. However, it will stay closed if the weather is cold.

   Which sentence best combines the two sentences without changing what they mean?

   1. AThe pool will open on Saturday unless the weather is cold.
   2. BThe pool will open on Saturday if the weather is cold.
   3. CThe pool will open on Saturday, it will stay closed if the weather is cold.
   4. DThe pool will open on Saturday because the weather is cold.
9. 9.

   In which sentence should the words in bold NOT be set off with commas?

   1. AOur class toured Monticello the home of Thomas Jefferson on a rainy day in May.
   2. BThe Erie Canal which opened in 1825 connected the Hudson River to Lake Erie.
   3. CThe house that my grandparents built still stands on a hill in Ohio.
   4. DMercury the smallest planet in our solar system has almost no atmosphere.
10. 10.

    We called two bakeries on Sunday, but neither ______ open.

    Which word or words best complete the sentence?

    1. Ahave been
    2. Bwere
    3. Cwas
    4. Dare