2018 Test B English

Practice questions from 2018 Test B English, with an explanation of every answer.

Read this sentence. The Colosseum in Rome

Read this sentence. The Colosseum in Rome, Italy which is considered one of the “new” Seven Wonders of the World, is the largest amphitheater ever built and could hold more…
- Type Punctuation
- NYS standards 7L2
- Difficulty 2 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Read this paragraph. In September 2016 the National Museum

Read this paragraph. In September 2016 the National Museum of African American History and Culture opened as part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum is already the Smithsonian’s third most…
- Type Sentence structure
- NYS standards 7L1, 7L2
- Difficulty 2 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
To promote their club

Read this sentence. To promote their club, a bake sale will be sponsored by members of the debate team on Wednesday. How should the sentence be revised?
- Type Sentence structure
- NYS standards 7L1
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Read this paragraph Devon spent several hours preparing

Read this paragraph. (1) Devon spent several hours preparing for an upcoming audition for a play at the community theater. (2) First he did vocal exercises to practice his diction…
- Type Grammar and usage, Punctuation
- NYS standards 7L1, 7L2
- Difficulty 1 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
The Local Library According

Which sentence should replace sentence 4 to best introduce the main claim of the passage?
- Type Introductions and conclusions
- NYS standards 7W1a
- Difficulty 3 of 5
The Local Library According

Which sentence would best follow and support sentence 8?
- Type Supporting details
- NYS standards 7W1b
- Difficulty 3 of 5
The Local Library According to a 2015 survey

Which revision of sentence 12 best maintains the formal style established in the passage?
- Type Precise language and style
- NYS standards 7W1f, 7L3a
- Difficulty 1 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
The Local Library According to a 2015 survey

Where should sentence 17 be moved in order to improve the organization of the fourth paragraph (sentences 13–17)?
- Type Organization
- NYS standards 7W1a, 7W1d
- Difficulty 2 of 5
According to a 2015 survey

Which concluding sentence should be added after sentence 19 to support the argument presented in the passage?
- Type Introductions and conclusions
- NYS standards 7W1e
- Difficulty 3 of 5
The Tunguska Fireball On June 30, 1908

What evidence best indicated the location of the blast?
- Type Textual evidence, Key details
- NYS standards 7R1
- Difficulty 2 of 5
The Tunguska Fireball On June 30, 1908

The June 30 date of the Tunguska event was significant to some scientists because it
- Type Key details
- NYS standards 7R1
- Difficulty 1 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
The Tunguska Fireball On June 30, 1908

What did Galli’s analysis of tree resin at the site reveal?
- Type Key details
- NYS standards 7R1
- Difficulty 2 of 5
The Tunguska Fireball On June 30, 1908

Based on the passage, what is the most likely reason it took nineteen years from the date of the explosion before scientists first visited the Tunguska site?
- Type Inferences and conclusions
- NYS standards 7R1
- Difficulty 2 of 5
The Tunguska Fireball On June 30, 1908

What is the primary role of paragraph 1 in the structure of the passage?
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5
- Difficulty 2 of 5
The Tunguska Fireball On June 30, 1908

The author includes a series of questions at the end of the last paragraph most likely to
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R2
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from A Voice in the Wilderness

In paragraph 2, how does the phrase “when all three had taken the trouble to tell her” affect the tone in the first part of the excerpt?
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7L5c
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Excerpt from A Voice in the Wilderness

Which sentence from the excerpt best supports the idea that traveling to new places by train is unfamiliar to Margaret?
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from A Voice in the Wilderness

Read this sentence from paragraph 4. Yet if the train started before she found the conductor she might be carried on somewhere and he justly blame her for a fool.…
- Type Development of ideas and characters, Text structure
- NYS standards 7R3
- Difficulty 5 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Excerpt from A Voice in the Wilderness

Read this sentence from paragraph 4. She strained her eyes into the darkness, and tried to make out things from the two or three specks of light that danced about…
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7L5
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from A Voice in the Wilderness

Read paragraph 9 from the excerpt. A moment of useless screaming, running, trying to attract some one’s attention, a sickening sense of terror and failure, and the last car slatted…
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7L5
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Excerpt from A Voice in the Wilderness

How does Margaret’s experience in paragraph 9 emphasize a theme of the excerpt?
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R3
- Difficulty 5 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Excerpt from A Voice in the Wilderness

Read paragraph 10 from the excerpt. Margaret stood dazed, reaching out helpless hands, then dropped them at her sides and gazed after the fast-retreating train, the light on its last…
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7L5
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from A Voice in the Wilderness

How does paragraph 11 contribute to the plot of the excerpt?
- Type Text structure, Development of ideas and characters
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from A Voice in the Wilderness

How do the details in paragraphs 12–13 about the setting help support the theme of the excerpt?
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from “Niagara Falls”

The central idea that the Falls communicate a feeling of “unintelligible disaster” (paragraph 1) is conveyed in paragraph 2 through a description of
- Type Textual evidence, Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R2
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from “Niagara Falls”

Read this sentence from paragraph 2. They are extraordinarily level, one long curtain of lacework and woven foam. What is the effect of comparing the American Falls to a “long…
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7L5
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Excerpt from “Niagara Falls”

Read this sentence from paragraph 3. These are the lower rapids, a sight more terrifying than the Falls, because less intelligible. Which statement best describes how the sentence fits into…
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Excerpt from “Niagara Falls”

Which sentence from the excerpt best supports the idea that the essence of the Falls lies in their emotional impact?
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R2
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from “Niagara Falls”

Read this sentence from paragraph 4. There one can sit and let great cloudy thoughts of destiny and the passage of empires drift through the mind; for such dreams are…
- Type Text structure, Development of ideas and characters
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Excerpt from “Niagara Falls”

In paragraph 4, the idea that human life and history travel toward the same ending is illustrated mainly through
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1, 7L5
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Excerpt from “Niagara Falls”

With which statement would the author of this excerpt most likely agree?
- Type Author's purpose and point of view
- NYS standards 7R6, 7R1
- Difficulty 5 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Uncovering the Past

Which of the following best describes the goal of modern archaeology?
- Type Key details, Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R2
- Difficulty 2 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Uncovering the Past

What would a traditional archaeologist be most interested in finding at a site like Kourion?
- Type Inferences and conclusions
- NYS standards 7R1
- Difficulty 1 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Uncovering the Past

What role does paragraph 2 play in the structure of the passage?
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Uncovering the Past

Which conclusion is best supported by the information in paragraph 4?
- Type Inferences and conclusions
- NYS standards 7R1
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Uncovering the Past

As described in paragraphs 4–5, what did the archaeological team learn about life in Kourion?
- Type Key details
- NYS standards 7R1
- Difficulty 1 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Uncovering the Past

What is the most likely reason the author mentions the zooarchaeologist (paragraph 5)?
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Snowy Mountains

The description in the first stanza (lines 1–7) helps establish a central idea of the poem by
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R5
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Snowy Mountains

Read line 1 and line 15 from the poem. Higher and still more high, Vaster and still more vast, The parallel structure of the two lines
- Type Text structure, Author's purpose and point of view
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R6
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Snowy Mountains

Read line 5 from the poem. Pillars of the sky at rest The line helps develop the theme of the poem by suggesting that the mountains
- Type Word meaning and figurative language, Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R4, 7R2
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Snowy Mountains

How does isolating the word “Uprise” in line 7 affect the meaning of the poem?
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R4
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Snowy Mountains

How does the poet develop the speaker’s point of view in the second stanza (lines 8–14)?
- Type Author's purpose and point of view
- NYS standards 7R6, 7R4
- Difficulty 2 of 5
- Level Below grade 7
Snowy Mountains

Which line from the poem best supports the idea that people have forfeited priceless natural beauty in order to make a profit?
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1
- Difficulty 2 of 5
Snowy Mountains

Which detail from the poem reflects the speaker’s view that people often fail to appreciate what is familiar?
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R6
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Snowy Mountains

How do the details in the third stanza (lines 15–26) contribute to the development of the theme of the poem?
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R1
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Snowy Mountains

Read lines 21–22 from the poem. Barrier broken down by those who do not need The joy of time-resisting storm-worn stone, How do the lines help convey the speaker’s point…
- Type Author's purpose and point of view
- NYS standards 7R6, 7R4
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Snowy Mountains

Read lines 23–26 from the poem. The mountains swing along The south horizon of the sky; Welcoming with wide floors of blue-green ice The mists that dance and drive before…
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7L5, 7R4
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Invention of the Telegraph

Which statement describes how the author’s use of problem-solution in paragraph 2 contributes to the development of ideas in the passage?
- Type Text structure, Development of ideas and characters
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R3
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Invention of the Telegraph

Which statement describes how the author’s use of sequencing in paragraph 3 contributes to the overall structure of the passage?
- Type Text structure
- NYS standards 7R5, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Invention of the Telegraph

Read this sentence from paragraph 7. The desperate Morse gave the go-ahead, and the line was completed in time for the dramatic and spectacularly successful link between the Supreme Court…
- Type Word meaning and figurative language
- NYS standards 7R4, 7L5c
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Invention of the Telegraph

Which excerpt from the passage supports the idea that Morse was aware of his limitations?
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Invention of the Telegraph Earlier Signal Systems

The details of the section “The Growth of an Idea” convey a central idea of the passage by suggesting that
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R5
- Difficulty 5 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Invention of the Telegraph Earlier Signal Systems

How does the graph support the ideas in paragraph 8?
- Type Textual evidence, Text structure
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R5
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Invention of the Telegraph

Which sentence is the best summary of how Morse obtained the funding necessary to build his telegraph system?
- Type Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R2, 7R3
- Difficulty 3 of 5
Invention of the Telegraph

How does the map provide additional support for a central idea of the passage?
- Type Textual evidence, Central idea and theme
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R2
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Invention of the Telegraph

The idea that, in the mid-nineteenth century, the United States was mostly unaware of the possibilities of electricity is illustrated in the passage mainly through the
- Type Textual evidence
- NYS standards 7R1, 7R3
- Difficulty 4 of 5
- Level Above grade 7
Invention of the Telegraph

With which statement would the author most likely agree?
- Type Author's purpose and point of view
- NYS standards 7R6, 7R2
- Difficulty 2 of 5