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. No time limit.

1. Section Four

   The alarm was not loud. On Kestrel Station, nothing was loud at three in the morning except the ventilation fans, so the soft double chime from the hallway panel was enough to wake Noor Haddad.

   She padded out in her socks and squinted at the screen. GARDEN WATER LOOP: TEMPERATURE LOW. Beneath the warning, a number glowed amber: 39 degrees.

   Noor was fourteen, and she had lived on the Moon for seven months, long enough to understand what most of the panels meant. The garden module was her mother's domain: four long rows of tomatoes, beans, and lettuce growing under violet lamps, nourished by a loop of water that the station purified and reused again and again. The loop ran along the module's outer wall, where a small heater kept it from feeling the cold of the lunar night pressing against the other side.

   The number blinked. 38 degrees.

   Noor's mother was not on the station. Neither was Chief Okafor, nor four of the other five adults, who had driven the big rover toward the crater rim two days earlier to install a new solar array and would not return until tomorrow afternoon. The only other person aboard was Dr. Feld, who had come down with a fever and was sleeping it off in the medical bay with the assistance of some extremely powerful medicine.

   Noor tried to wake him anyway. She knocked, then shook his shoulder. He opened one eye, murmured, "Mm, the carrots," and drifted back to sleep.

   She hurried to the radio. Chief Okafor's standing order was printed on a card beside it: IF ANYTHING BREAKS WHILE WE ARE OUT, CALL US AND WAIT. Below it, in smaller letters, was the regulation every child on the station knew by heart: No one under eighteen operates life-support equipment alone.

   "Rover One, this is Kestrel," Noor said. "The garden water loop is cooling, and I think the line heater has failed."

   For a long moment there was only static. Then the chief's voice came through in fragments, as if someone were tearing it into strips.

   "Noor... copy... the loop... relay is... wait... section four... blue binder... trust you to..."

   Then nothing. Noor checked the schedule taped above the radio. The relay satellite that carried their signals over the horizon had just slipped out of range, and it would not rise again for three hours.

   37 degrees.

   Noor did the calculation out loud, the way her mother had taught her, to keep her voice steady. The temperature was falling about one degree every eight minutes, and water froze at 32. In forty minutes the line would begin to freeze, and because freezing water expands, a pipe packed with ice would split. Months of recycled water would spill across the floor, and every plant in the module would wither long before the rover came home.

   "Wait," she whispered. "She said wait."

   But the chief had also said section four. And blue binder. And trust.

   The blue binder sat on her mother's shelf in the garden module, its spine worn soft from use. Noor had watched her mother consult it a hundred times. She carried it to the pipe wall and flipped to the fourth tab, which was labeled EMERGENCY BYPASS. There were three steps: close valve A; open valve B, which would divert the water through a second pipe along the warm inner wall; and switch on the backup heater.

   Three steps. Her mother could complete them in a minute, but Noor's hands were trembling so badly that the pages rattled.

   She thought of the card beside the radio. She thought of the tomato plants, whose yellow flowers she had helped pollinate with a paintbrush only last week. She thought of the chief's voice dissolving into static: trust you to... To do what? To wait? To act? The rest of the sentence was somewhere out in space, and Noor would have to finish it herself.

   35 degrees.

   Valve A turned easily, but valve B did not. It was stiff from months without use, and Noor had to brace her foot against the wall and pull with both hands until it finally gave with a groan. Water rushed into the bypass pipe; she could hear it gurgling past her ear. She flipped the heater switch and sat down hard on the floor.

   34. 34. 35. 37.

   By the time the number reached 50, Noor had stopped trembling. She opened the station log and recorded everything: the time of the alarm, each step from the binder, and every temperature reading. At the end she typed, "I operated life-support equipment alone. I broke the rule." Then she sat among the tomato plants and waited for the satellite to rise.

   The rover returned the following afternoon. Chief Okafor read the log without a word while Noor stood beside her, studying her own boots. From the garden module came the sound of Noor's mother inspecting the valves.

   At last the chief closed the log. She picked up the blue binder, turned it over thoughtfully in her hands, and held it out to Noor.

   "Section four," she said. "Keep this on your shelf from now on."

   Then she went to remove her suit, and Noor was left holding the binder, still uncertain whether she was in trouble.

   1.

   The story is told from Noor's limited point of view. What does the reader understand at the end that Noor does not?

   1. AThe chief plans to send Noor back to Earth for breaking the rule.
   2. BDr. Feld repaired the water loop while Noor was asleep.
   3. CThe chief never learned that the line heater had failed.
   4. DThe chief is not punishing Noor; she is trusting her with more responsibility.
2. 2.

   Why can Noor get no further instructions from Chief Okafor after the first message?

   1. ADr. Feld switched off the radio before he went to sleep.
   2. BStation rules forbid anyone under eighteen to use the radio.
   3. CThe relay satellite that carries the signal has moved out of range.
   4. DThe cold of the lunar night has frozen the radio on board the rover.
3. 3.

   What does the sentence "The rest of the sentence was somewhere out in space, and Noor would have to finish it herself" suggest?

   1. ANoor realizes that the decision is now hers alone to make.
   2. BNoor intends to wait until the satellite brings the full message.
   3. CNoor believes the chief forgot what she wanted to say.
   4. DNoor plans to send the chief a written message instead.
4. 4.

   Which statement best expresses a theme of the story?

   1. AAdults should never leave young people in charge of anything.
   2. BFollowing orders matters, but an emergency can demand one's own judgment.
   3. CWaiting for help is always safer than acting in an emergency.
   4. DMachines are certain to fail at the moment they are needed most.
5. 5.

   Which TWO details best support the idea that Noor's choice was carefully reasoned rather than reckless? Choose two answers.

   1. AShe padded out to the hallway panel in her socks.
   2. BHer hands were trembling so badly that the pages rattled.
   3. CShe sat down hard on the floor after flipping the heater switch.
   4. DShe followed the three written steps in section four of the blue binder.
   5. EShe worked out that the line would start to freeze in about forty minutes.
6. 6.

   Why does the author set the falling temperature readings, such as "37 degrees" and "35 degrees," on lines by themselves?

   1. ATo build suspense by marking how little time Noor has left
   2. BTo slow the story down during a part where nothing happens
   3. CTo explain step by step how the backup heater works
   4. DTo show how cold the Moon's surface becomes at night
7. 7.

   The students planted a garden. The garden grows vegetables for the cafeteria.

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

   1. AThe students planted a garden that grows vegetables for the cafeteria.
   2. BThe students planted a garden, it grows vegetables for the cafeteria.
   3. CThe students planted a garden who grows vegetables for the cafeteria.
   4. DThe students planted a garden that grow vegetables for the cafeteria.
8. 8.

   Hannah is writing a report about the Battle of Gettysburg.

   Which source would be the most credible for this report?

   1. Aa social media post with no author's name
   2. Ba video game set during the Civil War
   3. Ca website run by the National Park Service about Gettysburg National Military Park
   4. Da blog by someone who enjoys collecting old coins
9. 9.

   Which sentence is written in the passive voice?

   1. AMonarch caterpillars eat milkweed leaves.
   2. BThe robotics team designed a robot that climbs stairs.
   3. CMrs. Patel grades our science projects.
   4. DThe spring dance was planned by the student council.
10. 10.

    Which sentence uses capital letters correctly?

    1. ALast summer, my family drove west from Ohio to see the Rocky Mountains.
    2. BLast summer, my Family drove west from Ohio to see the Rocky Mountains.
    3. CLast summer, my family drove west from ohio to see the Rocky Mountains.
    4. Dlast summer, my family drove west from Ohio to see the Rocky Mountains.