Name:____________________________________ Class:______ Date:____________

7th Grade Language Arts- English Test 1st Period 2020-2021

Comprehension
Read the excerpts from the story “Seventh Grade” and answer the questions.

On the first day of school, Victor stood in line half an hour before he came to a wobbly card table. He was
handed a packet of papers and a computer card on which he listed his one elective, French. He already
spoke Spanish and English, but he thought someday he might travel to France, where it was cool; not like
Fresno, where summer days reached 110 degrees in the shade. There were rivers in Prance, and huge
churches, and fair-skinned people everywhere, the way there were brown people all around Victor.
Besides, Teresa, a girl he had liked since they were in catechism classes at Saint Theresa’s, was taking
French, too. With any luck they would be in the same class. Teresa is going to be my girl this year, he
promised himself as he left the gym full of students in their new fall clothes. She was cute. And good in
math, too, Victor thought as he walked down the hall to his homeroom. He ran into his friend, Michael
Torres, by the water fountain that never turned off.

Read each of the following questions. Then choose the letter of the best
answer.

1.Which of the following events happens in the exposition of

the story? ____ 2. One of Victor’s goals for this school year is to

A. Victor pretends that he can speak French A. learn how to speak Spanish fluently
fluently. B. build a close friendship with Teresa
B. Mr. Bueller welcomes students to French class. C. convince Mr. Bueller to tell a lie
C. Teresa asks Victor to help her in French class. D. become Michael’s best friend
D. Victor waits in line on the first day of school.
 They were among the last students to arrive in class, so all the good desks in the back had already been taken.
Victor was forced to sit near the front, a few desks away fromTeresa, while Mr. Bueller wrote French words
on the chalkboard. The bell rang, and Mr. Bueller wiped his hands, turned to the class, and said, “Bonjour.”
“Bonjour,” braved a few students.“Bonjour” Victor whispered. He wondered if Teresa heardhim.
Mr. Bueller said that if the students studied hard, at the end of the year they could go to France and be
understood by the populace. One kid raised his hand and asked, “‘What’s ‘populace’?” "The people, the
people of France.” Mr. Bueller asked if anyone knew French. Victor raised his hand, wanting to impress
Teresa. The teacher beamed and said, “Tres bien. Parlez-vous francais?” Victor didn’t know what to say. The
teacher wet his lips and asked something else in French. The room grew silent. Victor felt all eyes staring at
him. He tried to bluff his way out by making noises that sounded French. “La me vave me con le grandma,”
he said uncertainly.
Mr. Bueller, wrinkling his face in curiosity, asked him to speak up. Great rosebushes of red bloomed on
Victor’s cheeks. A river of nervous sweat ran down his palms. He felt awful. Teresa sat a few desks away, no
doubt thinking he was a fool. Without looking at Mr. Bueller, Victor mumbled, ‘Frenchie oh
wewe gee in September.” Mr. Bueller asked Victor to repeat what he said. “Frenchie oh wewe gee in
September," Victor repeated. Mr. Bueller understood that the boy didn’t know French and turned away. He
walked to the blackboard and pointed to the words on the board with his steel-edged ruler. "Le bateau,” he
sang. “Le bateau,” the students repeated.

4. In the resolution of this story, Victor

3.Victor claims to be able to speak French in order to A. feels optimistic about the upcoming school
year
A. prove that Mr. Bueller is wrong B. is embarrassed by his own bad behavior
B. persuade Michael to take French C. admits to Teresa that he was lying about
C. make a good impression on Teresa speaking French
D. prove to himself that he can do it D. gets good advice from his best friend, Michael
Torres
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Vocabulary

Choose the answer that best explains the meaning of each underlined word.
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5.an optional academic course or subject ____ 7. To answer a question sheepishly is to answer

A. ferocity A. nervously
B. populace B. incorrectly
C. elective C. enthusiastically
D. conviction D. bashfully
____ 6. all the inhabitants of a place ____ 8. What does linger mean?
A. populace A. pause to listen
B. conviction
B. begin to understand
C. elective
D. bashful
C. continue to stay
D. hesitate to move

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 Written Response

Short Response Answer the following questions based on your knowledge of the story. Write four lines
to answer each one of the questions, in the space provided.

9. Will Victor and Teresa become better friends after the end of the story? Use clues from the story to
support your prediction.

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Extended Response Answer one of the following questions based on your knowledge of the story. Write four
lines on the space provided.
I suffered most whenever my extended family attended
school occasions. For my graduation, they all came, the
whole noisy foreign looking lot of fat aunts in their dark
mourning dresses and hair nets, uncles with full, droopy
mustaches and baby-blue or salmon-colored suits and white
pointy shoes and fedora hats, the many little cousins who
snuck in without tickets. They sat in the first row in order to
better understand the American’s fast-spoken English. But
how could they listen when they were constantly speaking
among themselves in florid-sounding phrases, rococo
consonants, rich, rhyming vowels? sarapes A long, blanket-
like shawl florid-sounding flowery; very ornate rococo
elaborate; flamboyant Their loud voices carried. Introducing
them to my friends was a further trial to me. These relatives
had such complicated names and there were so many of
them, and their relationships to myself were so convoluted.
There was my Tia Josefina, who was not really an aunt but a
much older cousin. And her daughter, Aida Margarita, who
was adopted, una hija de crianza. My uncle of affection, Tio Jose, brought my madrina Tia Amelia and
her comadre8 Tia Pilar. My friends rarely had more than their nuclear family to introduce, youthful,
glamorous-looking couples (“Mom and Dad”) who skied and played tennis and took their kids for spring
vacations to Bermuda. After the commencement ceremony, my family waited outside in the parking lot
while my friends and I signed yearbooks with nicknames which recalled our high school good times:
“Beans” and “Pepperoni” and “Alcatraz.” We hugged and cried and promised to keep in touch.
Sometimes if our goodbyes went on too long, I heard my father’s voice calling out across the parking lot.
“Hoo-lee-tah! Vamanos!” Back home, my tios and tias and primas, Mami and Papi, and mis hermanas
had a party for me with sancocho and a store-bought pudin inscribed with Happy Graduation, Julie.
There were so many gifts—that was a plus to a large family! I got several wallets and a suitcase with my
initials and a graduation charm from my godmother and money from my uncles. The biggest gift was a
portable typewriter from my parents for writing my stories and poems. Someday, my family predicted,
my name would be well-known throughout the United States. I laughed to myself, wondering which one
I would go by.

Directions: write your answers to the following questions.

10. What are the writer’s feelings about how Americans pronounced her and her family’s names?

Write at least four lines using complete answers and evidence from the text.

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11. Why does Alvarez feel the way she does when her relatives appear at school functions?

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 I’m Nobody—Who are You?
Emily Dickinson

I'm nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us--don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!

How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

12. In what way does the speaker in James Berry’s poem feel unique? In what ways is he not
unique?
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13. Into what two categories does the speaker in Emily Dickinson’s poem divide people, includ-
ing herself?
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14. How does “One” celebrate the uniqueness of individuals?

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15. Why does the speaker in Emily Dickinson’s poem feel that “Nobody” is preferable to being
“Somebody”?
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 Reading Comprehension Passage

Weather in the UK
The weather affects everyone, and everyone has something to
say about the weather. This is especially true in a country like
the UK that has very changeable weather. In the UK the
weather from one day to the next can be completely different,
or even from the morning to the afternoon. The weather can
change from being rainy one day to sunny the next, or from
strong wind and gales in the morning to snow in the after-
noon.
In the UK there are four seasons, spring, summer, autumn and
winter, and the weather is different in each of them. However,
there is not a sudden change between the seasons. The end of
the winter season is the same as the start of the spring season.
It takes several weeks for the weather to change enough for
people to notice the difference.
The summer is the season with the best weather. In general, it
is hot and sunny with only a little rain sometimes. However, it
can sometimes be cold and wet for one or two weeks at a
time. British people like to spend a lot of time outside when it
is nice in the summer. After the summer is the autumn. In this
season the weather gets colder and there are stronger winds,
also it will rain more. All the leaves will start to fall off the
trees as it is cold. Frost might start to form on the ground to-
wards the end of the autumn.
Winter is the coldest season in the UK. The tempera-
ture will often be at zero degrees Celsius. This means that ice will often form on the ground over-
night where there were puddles. This makes it difficult to walk sometimes. There might also be
snow, but the UK does not get much snow, mainly just cold rain in the winter. Then when winter
ends the spring starts. The temperature will start to get warmer and the winds will not be as strong.
Plants start to grow again and new leaves form. It is always nice when the spring starts as it means
the nice weather in the summer is nearly back again.
Many people in the UK complain about the weather, but as the weather changes so much it is
very interesting and gives the people something to talk about all year round.
 Reading comprehension questions that go with the above reading passage.
16) How can the weather in the UK be described?

A) Boring
B) Wet
C) Changeable
D) Humid

17) How quickly can the weather change?

A) From one week to the next.

B) From one morning to afternoon.
C) From one day to the next day.
D) The weather does not change much.

18) How many seasons are there in the UK?

A) Two
B) Three
C) Four
D) Five

19) When will frost first start to form on the ground?

A) In the spring
B) In the summer
C) In the autumn
D) In the winter
20) Why do people like the spring?

A) It means the summer is nearly back.

B) It is not winter.
C) It is the shortest season.
D) It only happens every other year.

21. Read the adapted excerpt from Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift and choose the correct
answer. (Extra Credit 10 points)

The basin was so small that I walked near a mile before I got to the shore, which
I conjectured was about eight o'clock in the evening. I then advanced forward near half a
mile, but could not discover any sign of houses or inhabitants; at least, I was in so weak a
condition, that I did not observe them. I was extremely tired, and with that, and the heat
of the weather, I found myself much inclined to sleep. I lay down on the grass, which was
very short and soft, where I slept sounder than ever I remembered to have done in my
life, and, as I reckoned, for about nine hours; for, when I awaked, it was just daylight. I
attempted to rise, but was not able to stir: for as I happened to lie on my back, I found my
arms and legs were strongly fastened on each side to the ground; and my hair, which was
long and thick, tied down in the same manner. I likewise felt several slender ligatures
across my body, from my arm-pits to my thighs. I could only look upwards, the sun
began to grow hot, and the light offended my eyes.

Which choice provides the best objective summary of the excerpt?

A. The narrator, in an exhausted state, sleeps on the grass. When he wakes up several
hours later, he finds he is bound and tied down.
B. The narrator walks a half mile in the shallow basin to get to the shore. Then, because
he is extremely tired and hot, he falls asleep on the grass, which causes him to
be tied up.

C. The narrator first gets safely to the shore. He survives exhaustion and heat. Then he
rests on the grass, where he sleeps for about nine hours. In the end, he cannot
move his arms or his legs.

D. The narrator makes it to the shore. But because he does not notice the area’s
inhabitants, he lies on the grass to sleep, which enables them to tie him up so
that when he wakes, he cannot move.