Free printable STAAR practice test for Grade 8

Reading Language Arts

Circle the letter of the best answer, or two letters where a question asks for two, and one letter in each row of a table and for each numbered blank. No time limit.

1. The Mirror at the Cave

   Long ago, on the High Plain of Heaven, the sun goddess Amaterasu tended rice fields and watched over a great hall where sacred cloth was woven for the gods. Wherever she walked, light walked with her. Her warmth ripened the rice of heaven and the rice of the islands below, and every morning the people of those islands awoke to her gold.

   Her younger brother, Susanoo, was the god of storms, and he was as restless as the weather he ruled. When he came to visit his sister, he did not arrive quietly. He boasted and shouted, and when a contest between them ended, he declared himself the winner and celebrated by running wild.

   He demolished the low earthen walls between Amaterasu's rice fields so that their water drained away, and he choked her irrigation ditches with mud. The other gods came to Amaterasu with complaints, but she defended her brother. "He means no harm," she insisted. "He is careless, the way storms are careless."

   Then Susanoo climbed onto the roof of the weaving hall, tore a hole in it, and flung a wild, kicking colt down among the looms. The weavers fled in terror. Shuttles flew, threads snapped, and the half-finished cloth for the gods' festival was trampled into the dirt.

   This time Amaterasu did not defend her brother, nor did she argue with him. She simply turned, walked to the Rock Cave of Heaven, stepped inside, and rolled an enormous stone across its entrance.

   The world went dark.

   It was not the darkness of a single night, which eventually ends. It was a darkness with no morning hidden anywhere inside it. The rice stopped growing, and the rivers ran cold. In the world below, people could no longer distinguish one day from the next, and troubles crept out of every corner, the way mice come out when a house goes dark.

   So the gods assembled, more of them than anyone could count, on the dry bed of the Heavenly River to decide what to do.

   At first they argued. Some wanted to shout at the stone until Amaterasu surrendered. Tajikarao, the god of strength, rolled his enormous shoulders. "I could move that rock," he said. "But I cannot move her heart. If she does not wish to shine, she will only find another cave."

   Then Omoikane, the god of wisdom, who had been listening with his eyes closed, finally spoke. "We cannot drag the sun into the sky," he said. "We must coax her out. We must make her curious."

   So the gods went to work. A smith forged a mirror so brilliant that it seemed to contain a light of its own, while others strung hundreds of curved jewels on a long cord. They uprooted a sakaki tree, an evergreen sacred to the gods, and replanted it before the cave, hanging the jewels from its upper branches and the mirror from its middle ones. They gathered roosters, the long-crowing birds whose cries announce the dawn, and set them crowing, although no dawn was coming.

   Last of all, Ame-no-Uzume, the goddess of mirth, turned a large tub upside down before the cave and leaped on top of it. She began to dance, stamping until the tub boomed like a festival drum. She spun, waved, pulled ridiculous faces, and flung her arms about so comically that the watching gods could not contain themselves. First one laughed, then ten, then all of them, until their laughter rolled across the High Plain of Heaven and the sky itself seemed to tremble.

   Inside the cave, Amaterasu sat up. She had expected the world to mourn for her; instead, she heard roosters crowing, a drum booming, and the gods roaring with laughter. She pushed the stone open a crack.

   "While I am hidden, the world should be dark and sorrowful," she called. "Why are you all laughing?"

   Ame-no-Uzume stopped dancing. "We are celebrating," she called back. "A goddess even more dazzling than you has come among us!"

   Before Amaterasu could answer, the gods tilted the mirror toward the opening, and a blaze of light poured out of it. Amaterasu had never seen her own face shining back at her, and she did not recognize it. Wondering who this brilliant stranger could be, she leaned out of the cave to look more closely.

   That was the moment Tajikarao had been waiting for. He seized the edge of the stone, swung it aside, and took Amaterasu gently by the hand. Behind her, another god stretched a thick rope of twisted straw across the mouth of the cave. "You may not go back inside," he said. "The world cannot do without you."

   Light flooded the High Plain of Heaven and spilled down onto the islands below. The rice fields turned green again, and the people emerged from their houses, blinking. As for Susanoo, the gods banished him from heaven to wander the world below. Some say that is why ropes of twisted straw still hang at the entrances of shrines across Japan: to mark a holy place, and to remember how the light came back.

   1.

   Which statement best expresses a theme of the myth?

   1. AThe strongest member of a group should make its decisions.
   2. BJoy and cleverness can succeed where force would fail.
   3. CAnyone who hides from trouble is sure to be punished.
   4. DLaughter is out of place when the world is in danger.
2. 2.

   Which TWO details best show that the gods' plan depended on Amaterasu's curiosity rather than on force? Choose two answers.

   1. ATajikarao seizes the edge of the stone and swings it aside.
   2. BOmoikane says, "We must make her curious."
   3. CAmaterasu leans out to see who the brilliant stranger could be.
   4. DSome gods want to shout at the stone until she gives in.
   5. EA god stretches a rope of twisted straw across the cave.
3. 3.

   Omoikane says, "We must coax her out." What does "coax" mean?

   1. Ato persuade gently
   2. Bto ignore completely
   3. Cto punish harshly
   4. Dto carry by force
4. 4.

   Without the sun, "troubles crept out of every corner, the way mice come out when a house goes dark." What does this simile suggest?

   1. AThe people below hid in their houses like frightened mice.
   2. BWith the light gone, troubles that had stayed hidden came out freely.
   3. CMice and other small animals took over the world below.
   4. DThe gods sent troubles into the world to punish Susanoo.
5. 5.

   Why does the author include Tajikarao's words, "I could move that rock... But I cannot move her heart"?

   1. ATo show that force alone cannot solve the problem
   2. BTo show that the gods have already given up hope
   3. CTo suggest that Amaterasu has a heart as hard as stone
   4. DTo explain why the gods decide to punish Susanoo
6. 6.

   How does Amaterasu's response to her brother change during the myth?

   1. AShe excuses him at first, but after the weaving hall attack, she withdraws.
   2. BShe ignores him at first, but later she argues with him in front of everyone.
   3. CShe fears him at first, but later she banishes him from heaven herself.
   4. DShe laughs at him at first, but later she begs the gods for help.
7. 7.

   There (1) ______ three robins in the nest outside our classroom window.

   Which word or words best complete the sentence?

   (1)	Awas	Bhas been	Cis	Dare

8. 8.

   Which sentence uses commas correctly?

   1. AThe ranger warned us about the slippery, muddy, trail near the waterfall.
   2. BThe ranger warned us about the slippery, muddy trail near the waterfall.
   3. CThe ranger warned us about the slippery muddy trail near, the waterfall.
   4. DThe ranger warned us about the slippery muddy trail near the waterfall.
9. 9.

   Members of the school board, our district should install solar panels on the roofs of its schools. According to the US Department of Energy, the cost of installing solar panels has fallen sharply since 2010. Electricity from the sun would lower the district's energy bills and free up money for teachers, books, and equipment. Some board members argue that the panels would cost too much to install in the first place. ______, the savings on monthly electric bills would gradually pay back the cost of the panels. Solar panels would be a smart, money-saving investment for our district, and I urge the board to approve them.

   Which word or phrase best fills the blank?

   1. ASimilarly
   2. BHowever
   3. CFor instance
   4. DFor example
10. 10.

    After analyzing the data from our experiment, our hypothesis turned out to be correct.

    This sentence has a dangling modifier. Which revision corrects it?

    1. AAfter we analyzed the data from our experiment, our hypothesis turned out to be incorrect.
    2. BAfter we analyzed the data from our experiment and found our hypothesis correct.
    3. CAfter we analyzed the data from our experiment, our hypothesis turned out to be correct.
    4. DAfter analyzing the data from our experiment, the hypothesis that we wrote turned out to be correct.