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. Nellie Bly Races the World

   In 1873, the French writer Jules Verne published a novel called Around the World in Eighty Days. Its hero, an English gentleman named Phileas Fogg, bets that he can travel all the way around the globe in eighty days, and he wins the bet. Readers loved the adventure. Sixteen years later, a young American reporter set out to prove that a real person could beat an imaginary one.

   A Reporter Who Went Undercover

   Her real name was Elizabeth Cochrane, but newspaper readers knew her as Nellie Bly, a pen name borrowed from a popular song. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1864. In those days, most newspapers that hired women at all assigned them to write about fashion, gardening and parties. Bly wanted the hard stories, the ones about how ordinary people were really treated.

   In 1887, she talked her way onto the staff of one of the biggest newspapers in New York City, and her first assignment there was a risky one. She pretended to be mentally ill so that she would be sent to the city's asylum for women on Blackwell's Island. For ten days she lived as a patient. She watched women forced to sit silently on hard benches for hours, fed spoiled food, and plunged into ice-cold baths. Some of them, she wrote, seemed no more ill than she was.

   After the newspaper arranged her release, her articles shocked readers. Officials investigated the asylum, and the city set aside more money for the care of its patients. Bly had shown that a reporter could do more than describe the world. She could help change it.

   The Race Begins

   In 1889, Bly proposed her boldest idea yet: she would go around the world faster than Phileas Fogg. At first her editors hesitated. A woman traveling alone, they argued, would need someone to protect her and a mountain of luggage, so a man should go instead. Bly replied that if they sent a man, she would set off the same day for a rival paper and beat him.

   The editors gave in, and the newspaper even ran a contest inviting readers to guess exactly how long the trip would take. On November 14, 1889, Bly boarded a steamship in Hoboken, New Jersey, taking only one small bag and the sturdy dress she was wearing.

   Her route led across the Atlantic Ocean to England and then to France, where she made a short detour to meet Jules Verne at his home in Amiens. He wished her luck. From there she traveled by train to Italy, then sailed through the Suez Canal and on to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. In Singapore she bought a monkey, which traveled the rest of the way with her.

   A Rival Racer

   Bly believed she was racing only against a character in a book. She was in for a surprise. On the same day she had sailed, a rival magazine had sent its own reporter, Elizabeth Bisland, around the world in the opposite direction, heading west. Bly did not learn about Bisland until she reached Hong Kong. Suddenly, beating Phileas Fogg was not enough. She had to beat a real person, too.

   Seventy-Two Days

   Back home, her newspaper printed regular reports on her progress, and readers followed the race eagerly. Delays and rough seas threatened her schedule more than once. When she finally landed in San Francisco, however, her newspaper had a special train waiting to rush her across the country, and crowds gathered at stations along the way to cheer her on. On January 25, 1890, Bly stepped off the train in Jersey City, New Jersey. Her trip had taken 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes, more than a week faster than Phileas Fogg. Bisland arrived a few days later.

   Bly later married and became Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, and for a time she ran a manufacturing company. She died in 1922. Today she is remembered less for her speed than for her nerve. She proved that a reporter's job could lead anywhere, from a locked hospital ward to the far side of the world.

   1.

   Which sentence best states the central idea of the passage?

   1. AElizabeth Bisland became the first woman to travel all the way around the world alone.
   2. BNellie Bly's daring, from her asylum report to her race around the world, showed what a reporter could do.
   3. CNellie Bly spent most of her career writing about fashion, gardening and parties.
   4. DSteamships and trains made travel across oceans and continents much faster by 1889.
2. 2.

   Which event happened after Bly visited Jules Verne?

   1. AShe bought a monkey in Singapore.
   2. BShe lived as a patient for ten days.
   3. CShe boarded a steamship in Hoboken.
   4. DShe crossed the Atlantic to England.
3. 3.

   Why does the author begin the passage with Jules Verne's novel?

   1. ATo introduce the made-up record that Bly set out to beat
   2. BTo show that Bly hoped to become a famous novelist herself
   3. CTo prove that Phileas Fogg was a real traveler
   4. DTo argue that novels are more exciting than news
4. 4.

   Which sentence best reveals the author's own view of Nellie Bly?

   1. ABly boarded a steamship in Hoboken, New Jersey.
   2. BShe was born in Pennsylvania in 1864.
   3. CFor ten days she lived as a patient.
   4. DToday she is remembered less for her speed than for her nerve.
5. 5.

   How does the heading "A Rival Racer" prepare readers for the section below it?

   1. AIt signals that the section describes Bly's visit with Jules Verne.
   2. BIt signals that the section explains how Bly beat Phileas Fogg's time.
   3. CIt signals that the section tells how Bly went undercover a second time.
   4. DIt signals that the section introduces someone racing against Bly.
6. 6.

   The author writes that Bly "talked her way onto the staff" of a newspaper. What does this phrase suggest about her?

   1. AShe was given the job because of her famous family.
   2. BShe refused to speak during her job interview.
   3. CShe was offered the job before she asked for it.
   4. DShe was persuasive and would not take no for an answer.
7. 7.

   Which TWO details best support the idea that Bly's reporting helped change things? Choose two answers.

   1. ABly's articles shocked readers.
   2. BThe city set aside more money for the care of its patients.
   3. CBly pretended to be mentally ill.
   4. DBly lived as a patient for ten days.
   5. EOfficials investigated the asylum.
8. 8.

   Mrs. Chen handed the trophy to Ana and ______ at the awards dinner.

   Which word best completes the sentence?

   1. Ahis
   2. Bhe
   3. Chimself
   4. Dhim
9. 9.

   I think the second book in the series is better than the first.

   What is the mood of the verb in this sentence?

   1. Aindicative
   2. Bimperative
   3. Cinterrogative
   4. Dsubjunctive
10. 10.

    Which sentence uses commas correctly?

    1. AA friendly, helpful librarian showed us how to find, books about the Civil War.
    2. BA friendly, helpful librarian showed us how to find books about the Civil War.
    3. CA friendly helpful, librarian showed us how to find books about the Civil War.
    4. DA friendly helpful librarian showed us how to find books about the Civil War.