Standing at the finish line, Ana suddenly remembered the first time she tried to run a lap, three years earlier, gasping and red-faced before she was even halfway around the track.
7th grade English Language Arts practice sheet
Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards · from Gradelings · Name: ______________________
Question 1
Which literary device does this excerpt use?
- Onomatopoeia
- Foreshadowing
- Flashback
- Personification
Flashback
Hint: The story jumps back three years to show an earlier scene. That's a flashback.
Question 2
Which word best describes the writer's tone?
Oh, wonderful. The bus is late again. I just love standing in the rain for twenty minutes.
- Fearful
- Sincere
- Joyful
- Sarcastic
Sarcastic
Hint: Does the writer really love standing in the rain? Saying the opposite of what you mean, with an edge, is sarcasm.
Question 3
Which logical fallacy does this argument use?
I wore my blue socks and our team won. The socks must be lucky.
- Attacking the person (ad hominem)
- False cause
- Bandwagon
- Either-or (false dilemma)
False cause
Hint: Just because one thing happened before another doesn't mean it caused it. That's a false cause.
Question 4
Which part of this sentence is the dependent clause?
If it snows tomorrow, the game will be canceled.
- If it snows tomorrow
- the game will be canceled
- tomorrow
If it snows tomorrow
Hint: A dependent clause has a subject and a verb but can't stand alone. It usually starts with a word like because, when, if, although or that.
Question 5
Which revision fixes the misplaced modifier?
Jay put the cake on the table that he baked.
- Jay put the cake on the table, that he baked.
- That he baked, Jay put the cake on the table.
- Jay put the cake that he baked on the table.
Jay put the cake that he baked on the table.
Hint: Jay baked the cake, not the table. Place “that he baked” right after “cake.”
Question 6
Which word correctly completes the sentence?
I wonder _____ coming to the meeting.
- whose
- who's
who's
Hint: Who's = who is (or who has). Whose asks or tells who owns something.
Question 7
Which line contains a simile?
Saturday Market
The baker stacks her golden bread,
The farmer weighs a pear,
A fiddle's music twirls and spins
Like ribbons through the air.
- The farmer weighs a pear,
- Like ribbons through the air.
- The baker stacks her golden bread,
Like ribbons through the air.
Hint: A simile compares using “like” or “as.” Which line has one of those words?
Question 8
Which sentence uses a semicolon correctly?
- Rain fell all day; canceled.
- Rain fell all day; the game was canceled.
- Rain; fell all day, the game was canceled.
Rain fell all day; the game was canceled.
Hint: Both sides of a semicolon are complete sentences.
Question 9
Which detail is told in second person?
Lost in the Market
You push through the crowded market, searching for your sister's red scarf. The smell of fresh bread and spices makes you hungry, but you keep walking.
- I keep walking.
- You keep walking.
- Sam keeps walking.
You keep walking.
Hint: Look for you.
Question 10
Therm means “heat”. A thermometer measures…
- mass
- time
- distance
- temperature
temperature
Hint: Therm (heat) + meter (measure).
Answer key
- 1. Flashback (Literary Devices)
- 2. Sarcastic (Tone & Mood)
- 3. False cause (Persuasive Power)
- 4. If it snows tomorrow (Clauses & Sentences)
- 5. Jay put the cake that he baked on the table. (Modifiers & Parallelism)
- 6. who's (Word Mix-Ups)
- 7. Like ribbons through the air. (Poetry Lab)
- 8. Rain fell all day; the game was canceled. (Punctuation Power)
- 9. You keep walking. (Whose Story?)
- 10. temperature (Roots & Word Parts)
Want more than 10 questions?
In Gradelings the questions change every time and adjust to your child, with hints and kind feedback. See all English language arts units.