Stanford 10 practice, Grade 8

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Scholar Tests · Set 2

Stanford 10 practice test, Grade 8

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Reading Vocabulary

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 7 minutes.

  1. 1.

    A line that climbs two units up for every one unit across has a slope of 2.

    This sentence is from a math book. What does slope mean?

    1. Athe longest side of a right triangle
    2. Bthe distance around a circle
    3. Cthe area inside a rectangle
    4. Dhow steep a line is, found by comparing its rise to its run
  2. 2.

    Dad tied the dog's leash to the fence post.

    Which meaning of post is used in this sentence?

    1. Aa job or position
    2. Ba sudden loud noise
    3. Cput up a notice where people can see it
    4. Da strong pole set in the ground
  3. 3.

    The guide words on a dictionary page are intercept and intervene.

    Which word would you find on that page?

    1. Aimminent
    2. Binsolent
    3. Cindustrialization
    4. Dinterest
  4. 4.

    Lost in her book, Nora was oblivious to the thunder outside.

    What does the word oblivious mean in this sentence?

    1. Avery alert and watchful
    2. Bangry and upset
    3. Cnot aware of what is happening around you
    4. Dproud and boastful
  5. 5.

    Jordan chose to spend all of his summer earnings.

    Which word could take the place of spend to make Jordan's choice sound worse, without changing what the sentence means?

    1. Ainvest
    2. Bstrut
    3. Cbicker
    4. Dsquander
  6. 6.

    What does the word periscope mean?

    1. Aa tube that carries water
    2. Ba tube that lets you see over or around things
    3. Ca tool for weighing things
    4. Da tool for hearing far sounds
  7. 7.

    Violin is to instrument as salmon is to ______.

    Which word completes the analogy?

    1. Anet
    2. Bfish
    3. Criver
    4. Dbear
  8. 8.

    Which word means the opposite of brazen?

    1. Afrozen
    2. Bgolden
    3. Ctimid
    4. Dshameless
  9. 9.

    Which word has a root that means "love"?

    1. Abibliophile
    2. Battract
    3. Cvacant
    4. Dpedal
  10. 10.

    The class had to stack two hundred chairs after the assembly. Everyone grabbed a few, and the job was done in five minutes.

    Which saying best fits this story?

    1. ADon't judge a book by its cover
    2. BMany hands make light work
    3. CAll that glitters is not gold
    4. DEvery cloud has a silver lining

Reading Comprehension

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 9 minutes.

  1. The Kitchen Clock

    Above the stove, my grandpa's clock still hangs, its face gone yellow and its numbers thin, and every hour, before it clinks and clangs, it wheezes like a train that's pulling in. It runs eight minutes slow, and always will; it made us miss the school bus twice in May. My brother says to buy a new one. Still, I climb up on a chair each Saturday to turn the brass key, just as Grandpa showed: twelve turns, no more, then listen for the click, the way he did until his fingers slowed. Some mornings I can hear him in the tick. It isn't time I'm keeping when I wind; it's eight slow minutes Grandpa left behind.

    1.

    In a Shakespearean sonnet, the closing couplet often brings a turn, or shift in thought. How does the couplet change this poem?

    1. AIt reveals that the speaker winds the clock to hold on to Grandpa, not to tell time.
    2. BIt reveals that the speaker has finally agreed with the brother to buy a brand-new clock.
    3. CIt shows that the brother has come to love the clock.
    4. DIt describes the sound of the clock's chime for the first time.
  2. 2.

    How does the speaker's view of the clock differ from the brother's?

    1. AThe brother loves the clock, while the speaker wants to throw it out.
    2. BThe brother wants to wind it, while the speaker wants to sell it.
    3. CThe brother sees a broken tool to replace, while the speaker sees a link to Grandpa.
    4. DBoth of them see the clock as a useless piece of junk.

  3. From Bill to Law

    Every federal law in the United States begins as an idea. The idea might come from a member of Congress, from the President, or from an ordinary citizen who writes to a representative, but only a member of Congress can formally propose a new law. Once an idea is written up and proposed, it is called a bill. Congress has two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate, and a bill must make it through both.

    The Path of a Bill

    1. A member of the House or the Senate introduces the bill in his or her own chamber. The bill receives a number, such as H.R. 1 in the House or S. 1 in the Senate.

    2. The bill is sent to a committee, a smaller group of members who focus on one subject, such as farming or education. The committee studies the bill, may hold hearings where experts speak, and can change its wording. Most bills never get past this step.

    3. If the committee approves the bill, the full chamber debates it and votes. If a majority votes yes, the bill passes that chamber.

    4. The bill then moves to the other chamber, where steps 2 and 3 happen all over again.

    5. Both chambers must pass exactly the same version of the bill. If the second chamber has made changes, the two chambers must settle their differences, often in a committee with members from both, and then each chamber votes again on the final version.

    6. The bill goes to the President. If the President signs it, it becomes law. The President can also veto, or reject, the bill and send it back to Congress with the reasons for the veto.

    7. Congress can still turn a vetoed bill into law. If two-thirds of the members voting in both the House and the Senate vote to override the veto, the bill becomes law without the President's signature.

    3.

    How do the numbered steps help readers?

    1. AThey show the order in which a bill moves toward becoming law.
    2. BThey show which chamber of Congress has more power.
    3. CThey rank bills from the most to the least important.
    4. DThey count how many laws Congress passes each year.
  4. 4.

    In the passage, what does "override" mean in "vote to override the veto"?

    1. Acancel or overrule
    2. Bsign quickly
    3. Cwrite it over again
    4. Dsend back

  5. Why the Sky Is Blue and Sunsets Are Red

    On a clear afternoon the sky overhead is a deep blue, yet a few hours later, near the horizon, the same sky can blaze orange and red. Both colors come from the same sunlight. The difference lies in how that light travels through the air.

    Sunlight looks white, but it is actually a mixture of all the colors of the rainbow. Each color travels as a wave of a different length. Red light has the longest wavelength of the visible colors, while blue and violet have the shortest.

    On its way to your eyes, sunlight passes through the atmosphere, which is made mostly of tiny molecules of nitrogen and oxygen. These molecules are far smaller than the wavelengths of visible light, and when light strikes them, some of it bounces off in new directions. This process is called scattering. Molecules this small scatter short wavelengths much more strongly than long ones, so blue light is scattered far more than red. The scattered blue light reaches your eyes from every part of the sky, and the whole sky glows blue. Scientists call this effect Rayleigh scattering, after the British physicist who explained it in the late 1800s.

    Violet light is scattered even more than blue, so why isn't the sky violet? Sunlight contains less violet than blue to begin with, and human eyes are more sensitive to blue.

    At sunrise and sunset, the sun sits low on the horizon, and its light must travel through much more air to reach you. Along that long path, most of the blue light is scattered away before it arrives. What remains is mostly the longer wavelengths: yellow, orange, and red. Dust, smoke, or tiny droplets in the air can deepen these colors even further, which is why some sunsets seem to set the whole sky on fire.

    5.

    According to the article, why are sunsets often orange and red?

    1. AThe sun is much farther from Earth at sunset than at noon.
    2. BThe sun gives off more red light in the evening than at noon.
    3. CClouds always block the blue light whenever the sun is low.
    4. DAt sunset, light crosses more air, so most of its blue is scattered away.
  6. 6.

    The article says that "human eyes are more sensitive to blue." What does "sensitive to" mean here?

    1. Alikely to forget about quickly
    2. Beasily hurt or damaged by
    3. Ctired of looking at
    4. Dquick to notice or respond to
  7. 7.

    According to the article, why doesn't the sky look violet, even though violet light is scattered the most?

    1. AViolet light cannot pass through molecules of oxygen.
    2. BViolet light is scattered only when the sun is low at sunrise and sunset.
    3. CViolet light has the longest wavelength of all the colors.
    4. DSunlight has less violet than blue, and our eyes respond more to blue.

  8. Two Tales of Flying Too High

    Text 1: The Wings of Daedalus (a myth from ancient Greece)

    Daedalus was the most ingenious inventor in Greece, but King Minos refused to let him leave the island of Crete and held him there with his young son, Icarus. "Minos controls the land and the sea," Daedalus said, "but he does not control the sky." For months he collected feathers, binding them with thread and wax, until he had constructed two pairs of wings.

    Before they departed, he gave his son a careful warning. "Follow the middle path between sea and sky. If you fly too low, the spray will soak your feathers; if you fly too high, the sun will melt the wax."

    At first Icarus obeyed, but the wind lifted him, and the exhilaration of flying drove every warning from his mind. He climbed higher and higher toward the blazing sun until the wax softened, the feathers slipped loose, and he plunged into the sea. Daedalus could only fly on alone, grieving for his son.

    Text 2: Altitude

    Miles had saved his allowance for eight months to buy the drone. Before its first flight, on the beach near Cape Hatteras, his father explained the rules. "Keep it where you can see it, and keep it low, because the wind off the ocean gets stronger the higher you go."

    For ten minutes, Miles flew flawlessly, skimming the dunes and the pier. Then he glanced at the screen and imagined the photograph he could capture from higher up: the curving shoreline, the lighthouse, the whitecaps rolling in. Just a little higher, he told himself.

    At 300 feet the drone began to shudder, and at 350 a gust seized it and swept it out over the water. Miles yanked at the controls, but the drone tilted, spun, and dropped into the gray waves.

    Miles braced himself for a lecture. Instead, his father rested an arm across his shoulders and gazed at the ocean.

    "It was a view worth seeing," he said at last. "Just not from up there."

    8.

    How does Text 2 draw on the myth in Text 1?

    1. AIt reverses the myth so that the parent ignores the child's warning.
    2. BIt explains the science of why wax melts in strong sunlight.
    3. CIt shows a father building a pair of wings so that his son can escape an island.
    4. DIt repeats the pattern of a warning forgotten by a child eager to climb higher.
  9. 9.

    Which theme do both texts share?

    1. AExcitement can make people forget wise warnings, with painful results.
    2. BNew inventions always fail the first time that anyone tries to use them.
    3. CThe sea is far more dangerous than the sky.
    4. DParents should never let their children try anything new or risky.
  10. 10.

    What does the father's response at the end of Text 2 reveal about him?

    1. AHe plans to buy Miles a new drone the next day.
    2. BHe cares more about Miles than about the lost drone.
    3. CHe did not see the drone fall into the waves.
    4. DHe is angry that Miles wasted eight months of his savings.

Mathematics Problem Solving

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 10 minutes.

  1. 1.

    A box with no lid is a right rectangular prism open at the top. How much cardboard, in square inches, is needed to make the box, with no overlaps?

    1. A496 square inches
    2. B858 square inches
    3. C574 square inches
    4. D287 square inches
  2. 2.

    In how many different orders can 5 friends line up for a photo?

    1. A15
    2. B120
    3. C20
    4. D25
  3. 3.

    The formula A = (1/2)bh gives the area of a triangle. A triangle has an area of 105 square inches and a base of 15 inches. What is its height, in inches?

    1. A14
    2. B7
    3. C3.5
    4. D90
  4. 4.

    As a decimal, 1/39 = 0.025641025641..., where the digits 025641 repeat forever. What is the 18th digit after the decimal point?

    1. A5
    2. B4
    3. C1
    4. D0
  5. 5.

    Some students were asked, "Do you have a part in the school play?" The two-way table shows the results. Of the students who answered yes, what fraction are in Grade 8?

    1. A8/17
    2. B2/5
    3. C8/35
    4. D9/17
  6. 6.

    How many solutions does the equation −5(x + 8) − 1 = −5x − 41 have?

    1. AExactly one solution
    2. BInfinitely many solutions
    3. CNo solution
    4. DExactly two solutions
  7. 7.

    A guitar costs $250. It is marked down 10%. Then the sale price is marked down another 10%. What is the final price?

    1. A$50.00
    2. B$225.00
    3. C$200.00
    4. D$202.50
  8. 8.

    In a board game, 6 copper coins are worth 1 silver coin, and 3 silver coins are worth 4 gold coins. How many gold coins are 36 copper coins worth?

    1. A8
    2. B144
    3. C288
    4. D6
  9. 9.

    The angles of a triangle measure x°, (2x + 10)° and (3x − 10)°. What is the measure of the largest angle?

    1. A80°
    2. B30°
    3. C180°
    4. D100°
  10. 10.

    The function f is defined by f(x) = −3x − 1. What is f(2)?

    1. A−5
    2. B−7
    3. C5
    4. D2

Mathematics Procedures

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 9 minutes.

  1. 1.

    Which expression is equivalent to 6⁶ ÷ 6⁻⁵?

    1. A1¹¹
    2. B6¹¹
    3. C6¹
    4. D6⁻¹¹
  2. 2.

    The formula P = 2l + 2w gives the perimeter of a rectangle. A garden has a perimeter of 70 feet and a length of 23 feet. What is its width, in feet?

    1. A17.5
    2. B24
    3. C12
    4. D23.5
  3. 3.

    Which expression is equivalent to 4⁷ × 4⁻⁴?

    1. A4⁻²⁸
    2. B4³
    3. C16³
    4. D4¹¹
  4. 4.

    What is the value of −6 − (−9) × 10?

    1. A30
    2. B96
    3. C84
    4. D13
  5. 5.

    Find the value of x.
    7x + 19 = 4x + 25

    1. A6
    2. B2
    3. C1
    4. D3
  6. 6.

    Work out 2.7 ÷ 0.05.

    1. A540
    2. B54
    3. C5,400
    4. D0.54
  7. 7.

    What is the value of −22 − (−9) × 8?

    1. A−104
    2. B−5
    3. C−94
    4. D50
  8. 8.

    The formula P = 2l + 2w gives the perimeter of a rectangle. A garden has a perimeter of 52 feet and a length of 21 feet. What is its width, in feet?

    1. A10
    2. B15.5
    3. C13
    4. D5
  9. 9.

    Which of these means the same as 3⁴?

    1. A3 × 4
    2. B3 × 3 × 3 × 3
    3. C3 + 3 + 3 + 3
    4. D4 × 4 × 4
  10. 10.

    What is 7.1 × 10³?

    1. A7,100
    2. B21.3
    3. C1,007.1
    4. D710

Language

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 9 minutes.

  1. 1.

    Which sentence uses capital letters correctly?

    1. Aevery fall, our town holds a festival with Irish music and German food.
    2. BEvery fall, our town holds a festival with Irish music and German food.
    3. CEvery fall, our town holds a festival with irish music and German food.
    4. DEvery fall, our town holds a festival with Irish Music and German food.
  2. 2.

    1. On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, Amara and her classmates loaded the cans into a van and delivered them.
    2. Then, they reminded classmates about the drive during the morning announcements every day for two weeks.
    3. The class felt proud knowing that their hard work would help local families enjoy a Thanksgiving meal.
    4. By the end of the drive, the boxes held more than four hundred cans of soup, beans, and vegetables.

    In what order should these sentences go?

    1. A2, 1, 4, 3
    2. B1, 4, 2, 3
    3. C2, 4, 1, 3
    4. D4, 2, 1, 3
  3. 3.

    Hannah is writing a report about the Battle of Gettysburg.

    Which source would be the most credible for this report?

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

    A bald eagle landed on a branch above the river the photographers on the shore raised their cameras.

    This is a run-on sentence. Which choice fixes it correctly?

    1. AA bald eagle landed on a branch above the river. The photographers on the shore raised their cameras.
    2. BA bald eagle landed on a branch above the river, the photographers on the shore raised their cameras.
    3. CA bald eagle landed on a branch above the river. the photographers on the shore raised their cameras.
    4. DA bald eagle landed on a branch above the river and, the photographers on the shore raised their cameras.
  5. 5.

    When the lights went out, the audience waited quietly in the dark theater.

    Which choice best describes the words in bold?

    1. Aa dependent clause that tells under what condition
    2. Ba dependent clause that tells which one or what kind
    3. Can independent clause
    4. Da phrase that tells when
  6. 6.

    The lake and the river behind our house ______ frozen solid by January.

    Which word or words best complete the sentence?

    1. Ais
    2. Bwas
    3. Chas been
    4. Dwere
  7. 7.

    In which sentence should the words in bold be set off with commas?

    1. AKids who ride their bikes to school must wear helmets.
    2. BThe Erie Canal which opened in 1825 connected the Hudson River to Lake Erie.
    3. CThe class that collects the most cans will win a pizza party.
    4. DThe trail that leads to the waterfall is closed until the snow melts.
  8. 8.

    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. However, 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.

    Who is the writer most likely writing this paragraph for?

    1. Athe fans at a professional baseball game
    2. Ba class of first graders
    3. Cthe crew of a fishing boat
    4. Dthe members of the school board
  9. 9.

    Having practiced the song for weeks, the performance went smoothly for the choir.

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

    1. AHaving practiced the song for weeks, the choir's performance went smoothly.
    2. BBecause the choir had practiced the song for weeks and the performance going smoothly.
    3. CBecause the choir had practiced the song for weeks, the performance went smoothly.
    4. DBecause the choir had practiced the song for weeks, the performance went poorly.
  10. 10.

    Which word is spelled correctly?

    1. Ahierarcy
    2. Bhierarchy
    3. Cheirarchy
    4. Dhiearchy

Written by Scholar Tests in the style of the published Stanford 10 question types. Not a real Stanford 10 test, and a practice score is not a real score.