TAKS Practice Test 2

Sarah's  Ride

    The first snow of the year came early in the morning.  As Sarah slept peacefully in her bed, the flakes drifted down form the January sky.  They floated gracefully and quietly to the ground, where they shimmered in the moonlight and awaited the kiss of daybreak.

    Opening race day  was her favorite day of the year, and this one was especially grand since she got the Yamah YZ80 dirt bike.  Sarah threw back the covers and leapt from the bed like a jackrabbit.  After slipping on her clothes, Sarah scooted down the hall to the kitchen to grab a apple muffin before hitting the trails.  Her father was already up and reading the paper at the kitchen table.  " Good Morning, Dad,"  Sarah mumbled through a mouthful of muffin.  Just as she reached for the doorknob, her father asked, "Sarah, have you looked outside yet?"  Her eyes bulged in disbelief when she looked outside and saw the blanket of white covering the yard.  She looked forward  to riding even more now.  She imagined skidding her tires in the snow as she turned a corner in the trail.  The shimmering flakes would spray from beneath her tires in sheets. Jumping the hills of white would be like soaring through the clouds.

    Her father interrupted her fanciful thoughts with an order that melted her glee like a snowman in the summer sun.  "Sarah, I'm sorry to tell you this, but you can't go riding on that trail today.  The slick snow and ice make riding too dangerous."  Sarah slumped in the chair, and her face fell  into a frown.  Her father tried to make her feel better and offered to take her to the dirt bike tract after he ate breakfast.  She muttered an acceptance of his offer and went outside to wait.  The snow was thick and sticky.  It was perfect for making a snowman.  Sarah thought it was also perfect for sliding through on her dirt bike.

    The bike was propped on its kickstand in the garage and seemed to call her.  The Yamah YZ80 was red with black stripes on the frame.  She adored it and wanted to ride it so badly.  Sarah decided that her father hadn't told her that she couldn't ride her bike on the driveway.  She mounted her bike and slowly pedaled it out onto the snow-encrusted pavement.  The slivers of ice crunched beneath the tires, and when she pushed harder on the pedals to pick up speed, the back tire spit snow out behind her just like she imagined.  She rode her bike to the end of the driveway and spun to a stop.

    Sarah looked back at the house and felt guilt build up inside of her for thinking about going to the trails despite her father's order.  But she hadn't slipped or lost control of the bike at all while riding up the sloping driveway.  The trails were 20 feet from her house.  The thought that if she just  went through one jump on the trial and came right back, her father wouldn't even know she had gone.  He was probably just being overprotective of her again.  He was always worried about her getting hurt and she never did.  That thought gave her courage and Sarah took off for the trail.  Moments later she had jumped the curb and was pedaling towards the fist snow-capped mound on the path.  the chilled air nipped at her nose and cheeks, and she could hear the quick ticking of the gears beneath her.  She stood with her knees bent as she charged up the mound. At the top, she pulled up on the handlebars and extended her legs to push off from the ground and fly up into the air.  The ground beneath her twinkled in the sunlight.  Then Sarah started feeling heavier and heavier.  She remembered when she had fallen off the tire swing at her grandmother's house the summer before.  She had gotten an empty feeling in her stomach when her hand had slipped off the rope and she flew off the tire.  She got the same feeling again now.

   When she opened her eyes, her father was sitting near her with a worried look in his eye. Sarah said, "All I remember is that I was soaring above the snow.  What happened?"

   With a sigh of relief, her father replied, "Sarah, you'll remember this every time you look in the mirror.  You slid on the ice and fell on some rocks.  The ten stitches you just got in your forehead will leave a scar that won't let you ever forget that birthday trail ride."

Name:

Class:

1.  What does the word acceptance mean in this passage?

Choose: A. A person who goes along with or is tolerant of an idea B. to agree to an idea C to go along wit or to tolerate an idea D. without going along with or lacking the the ability to tolerate an idea

2.  What is the setting of this story?

Choose: A. In the parking lot of a store B. At a bike shop C. At Sarah's house D. At the park

3.What will Sarah do in the future?

Choose: A. Pay more attentio to her father's concerns for her safety and follow his instructions B. Get up earlier to ride her bike before it snows C. Ask her father to go with her when riding on dangerous dirt bike trails. D. Ride on the dirt trails only when they are covered with ice and snow.

4.  Which would best describes Sarah's relationship with her father?

Choose: A. Cool and distant B. Calm and quiet C. Caring and friendly D. Loud and angry

5.Which of the following is an OPINION expressed in this passage?

Choose: A The Yamah YX80 was red with black stripes on the frame B.Riding a dirt bike in the snow is so much fun. C. Jumping the hills of white would be like soaring through the clouds D. the trails were fifty feet from the house.

6. Just before her father found her on the ground, Sarah had.......

Choose: A. Ridden to the end of her driveway B. Fallen from a tire swing C. Ate pancakes for breakfast D. Fallen on ice and rocks

7. The reason that this passage is set in the winter time is because.....

Choose: A. It would be impossible for a person to have a birthday at any other time of year B. It would be impossible for a person to get a bike at any other time of year C. The winter weather creates a dangerous situation essential to the story. D. The winter weather puts Sarah's father in a bad mood.

8.  Sarah's mood changed from happy and excited to sad and disappointed when...

Choose: A. She looked outside and saw the snow covering the yard B. Her father told her she could not ride her bike on the trails C. She looked back at the house and thought of disobeying her father D. Her father told her he would help her build a snowman

9.  Why did Sarah get out of bed so early?

Choose: A. She wanted to get away from the rabbit in her bed B. She wanted to get a apple muffin while they were still warm from the oven C. She wanted to ride her new bike D. She wanted to look at the fresh snow in the yard.

10.  Type a two sentence summary of this passage.

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