STAAR English I (Reading) High School 2013 - Past Paper
Quiz by Texas Education Agency
Grade 9
ELAR (2009)
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)
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18 questions
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- Q1The hostess can best be described as -talkativeelitistcomposedgenerous120s110.31.b.5.B
- Q2The American faces the challenge of -learning Indian social etiquette so that he will be respected by the other guestsmaking sure the hostess doesn't stay quiet longer than he doescalming his fear of snakes in order to capture the cobrakeeping the guests quiet until the cobra leaves the room60s110.31.b.5.B
- Q3Which words from paragraph 7 best help the reader understand the use of the word arresting?He speaks quicklyhe knows the commotionit sobers everyonefrighten the cobra60s110.31.b.1.B
- Q4What is the primary purpose of paragraph 1?To introduce the reader to the story's primary conflictTo reveal that the narrator is unreliableTo start the story with an exciting eventTo establish the context for the events that follow60s110.31.b.5
- Q5Which of these is an example of irony in the story?The American is the only person at the party besides the hostess who realizes the danger everyone is in.The hostess exhibits extreme self-control at the very moment the colonel is saying that women lack it.A colonel and a young girl debate whether men and women have different amounts of self-control.Cobras normally hide in the rafters of a room, but the cobra in the story is under the table.60s110.31.b.5
- Q6The books recommended on the website all relate to which aspect of "The Dinner Party"?Its story lineIts charactersIts symbolismIts setting60s110.31.b.12
- Q7Which words best help the reader understand the meaning of the word 'russet' in line 8?blue-black watergold, sunburntboats, grassesempty blue sky120s110.31.b.1.B
- Q8Read the following lines from the poem. By using this analogy, the poet emphasizes -the speaker's authority as a parentthe sacredness of naturethe speaker's emotional vulnerabilitythe importance of spending time with family60s110.31.b.3
- Q9Read these lines from the poem. The poet uses these lines to emphasize the importance of -powerlisteningimaginationtruth60s110.31.b.3
- Q10Which line best explains why the speaker begins to speak at the end of the poem but then stops?That's the trick in life-learning to leave well enough alone.the russet and gold of late summer's sunburnt grasses,A clap of thunder beyond those hills.it hits me that my daughter is a young woman,60s110.31.b.3
- Q11What does the poet mean by the lines "suddenly everything is a metaphor for how/short a time we are granted on earth"?Time passes differently for different people.The future represents uncertainty.Ordinary occurrences in nature cannot always be described.Nature often serves as a reminder that time does not stand still.60s110.31.b.7
- Q12What is the most likely reason the poet ends the first stanza after line 13?To indicate a change in the poem's settingTo introduce new details about the poem's speakerTo highlight a shift in point of viewTo emphasize the poem's central message60s110.31.b.3
- Q13What is the primary purpose of paragraphs 1 and 11?To show how the narrator's viewpoint changesTo contrast the narrator's opinion with Marge's opinionTo highlight the resolution of the narrator's conflictTo frame the story with the narrator's primary conflict120s110.31.b.5.C
- Q14In paragraph 6, what is the effect of the author's use of figurative language?It reveals the clerk's confusion.It shows how reluctant the old man is to pay.It emphasizes the tension of the scene.It highlights the old couple's naiveté.60s110.31.b.7
- Q15Which sentence best supports the idea that the old couple is still in love after many years?No, they were white, and you've never seen such a couple in your life-a man and his wife, and they must have been in their seventies.They started over toward the elevator and then the old lady turned away from the man and made her way over to the receptionist's desk.Marge, he was lookin' at her like every woman on earth dreams of bein' looked at, and her eyes were doin' the same thing back at him.The couple smiled in such a dignified way, and it seemed like they hadn't noticed a thing.60s110.31.b.5.B