TM
STAAR
State of Texas
Assessments of
Academic Readiness
English I a n d II
Reading
2011 Released Selections and Test Questions
These released questions represent selected TEKS student expectations for each
reporting category. These questions are samples only and do not represent all the
student expectations eligible for assessment.
Copyright © 2011, Texas Education Agency. All rights reserved. Reproduction of all or portions of this
work is prohibited without express written permission from the Texas Education Agency.
STAAR English I Reading
Reading Selection 1
2011 Release
Read the selection and choose the best answer to each question.
from
Anne of Green Gables
A Play by R. N. Sandberg
Adapted from L. M. Montgomery’s Novel
1
[Avonlea Station. A small figure, a child, sits on a battered suitcase. The child
wears a too-large overcoat and a cap covering its head. We can see only the
child’s back as the lights come up. The child wraps the coat more tightly
around itself and turns toward us for the first time: she is a girl, a simple,
tattered dress under her coat. The stationmaster comes to pick up a mailbag
and notices the girl.]
2
STATIONMASTER: Now, look, my girl. We’ve got a ladies’ waiting room, and
that’s where you ought to be. You’ve been out here long enough.
3
ANNE: I prefer to stay outside. There’s more scope for imagination. [Looking
off.] Like with that wild cherry tree. If no one comes for me, that’s where I’ll
sleep tonight. All white with bloom in the moonshine. I’ll imagine I’m dwelling
in marble halls. [Pointing off.] Oh, look, look at it now—as the wind’s blown it.
What does it make you think of?
4
STATIONMASTER: A cherry tree blowing in the wind.
5
ANNE: My goodness, no!
6
STATIONMASTER: And all the fruit that’ll fall off and be squashed. What a
mess I’ll have to clean up.
7
ANNE: It looks just like a bride! With a lovely misty veil. I’ve never seen one,
but I can imagine what she would look like. I don’t ever expect to be a bride
myself. I’m too homely. But I hope that someday I shall have a white dress.
That is my highest ideal of earthly bliss.
8
9
[An older man, very tentative and shy, enters. He stands diffidently off to the
side, looking around for something at first, and then focuses in on Anne and
hears her last few lines.]
STATIONMASTER: [Sees the man and goes to him.] About time you got
here, Matthew.
10
MATTHEW: Will the 5:30 train be long?
11
STATIONMASTER: Been in and gone half an hour. [Indicating Anne.] There
she is. [Confidently.] She’s a case. Got a tongue runs longer than a freight
train to Ottawa.
Page 2
STAAR English I Reading
Reading Selection 1
12
MATTHEW: [Puzzled.] Is Mrs. Peter Blewett about?
13
STATIONMASTER: Couldn’t wait. Had to get the other girl to her cousin’s.
2011 Release
Said you and your sister were adopting this one.
14
MATTHEW: [More puzzled still.] I was expecting a boy.
15
STATIONMASTER: Well, she’s not a boy, Matthew, and I don’t have any
more orphans here.
16
ANNE: Excuse me, are you Mr. Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables?
17
STATIONMASTER: [To Anne.] Looks like you won’t be sleeping in the trees
after all. [To Matthew.] Good luck, Matthew. [Exits.]
18
ANNE: I’m very glad to see you. I was beginning to be afraid you weren’t
coming for me, and I was imagining all the things that might have happened
to prevent you. It’s so wonderful that I’m going to live with you. I’ve never
belonged to anybody—not really. I feel pretty nearly perfectly happy. I can’t
feel exactly perfectly happy because—well, [She sets down her bag and pulls
off her hat.] what color would you call this?
19
[She holds out one of her braids to him.]
20
MATTHEW: It’s red, ain’t it?
21
ANNE: Yes, it’s red. Now, you see why I can’t be perfectly happy. I cannot
imagine that red hair away. I do my best. I think to myself, “Now my hair is a
glorious black, black as the raven’s wing.” But all the time, I know it’s just
plain red, and it breaks my heart. It will be my lifelong sorrow.
22
[She picks up her bag. Matthew does not move.]
23
ANNE: Shouldn’t we be going?
24
MATTHEW: Well, now, you see, I’m confused about that.
25
ANNE: [A moment of fear.] Is it because I’m talking too much? People are
always telling me I do. Would you rather I didn’t talk? If you say so I’ll stop.
Could we go if I do? I can stop when I make up my mind to it, although it’s
difficult.
26
MATTHEW: Oh, I don’t mind the talkin’. You can talk as much as you like.
27
ANNE: Oh, I’m so glad. It’s such a relief to talk when one wants and not be
told that children should be seen and not heard. Shall we go?
28
[Matthew doesn’t answer. Anne’s voice trembles.]
29
ANNE: We are going to Green Gables, aren’t we?
30
MATTHEW: Well, now, you see—
31
[Anne clutches her bag. She is terrified.]
Page 3
STAAR English I Reading
Reading Selection 1
2011 Release
32
MATTHEW: You’re not like other girls, are you? Not like girls around here.
33
ANNE: I don’t know. I guess I’m not. But I do have my good points. I’m sure
you’ll find them out once you get to know me.
34
MATTHEW: Well, now I expect that’s so. All right. Come on.
35
ANNE: [As they start to go.] Have you ever imagined what it must feel like
to be divinely beautiful?
36
MATTHEW: [His voice trailing off in the distance.] Well, now, no, I haven’t.
Anne of Green Gables, by R. N. Sandberg, adapted from L. M. Montgomery’s novel. © 1991/1993/1995
R. N. Sandberg, publisher Anchorage Press Plays/applays.com. ISBN 978–0–87602–335–8. Performance
rights reserved.
Page 4
STAAR English I Reading
1
Released Test Questions
2011 Release
In paragraph 1, the description of Anne in the stage directions is intended to evoke
feelings of —
A
fear
B
doubt
C
anger
D pity
2
In paragraph 11, the stationmaster uses figurative language to indicate that Anne —
A
has traveled a long way
B
talks too much
C
has a wild imagination
D cannot be fully trusted
3
The lines “That is my highest ideal of earthly bliss” and “It will be my lifelong sorrow” suggest that
Anne has a tendency to be —
A
melodramatic
B
rational
C
persuasive
D hopeless
Page 5
STAAR English I Reading
4
Released Test Questions
2011 Release
Which quotation most strongly suggests that Anne is eager to please Matthew?
A
Yes, it’s red. Now, you see why I can’t be perfectly happy.
B
Would you rather I didn’t talk? If you say so I’ll stop.
C
It looks just like a bride! With a lovely misty veil.
D Shouldn’t we be going?
5
Matthew’s lines and stage directions suggest that he is —
A
kindhearted
B
efficient
C
sarcastic
D uncomfortable
6
In what way do the stationmaster’s lines in paragraphs 4 and 6 help develop the character of the
protagonist?
A
They emphasize how old he is compared with Anne.
B
They reveal that he is more honest than Anne.
C
They serve to highlight Anne’s imaginativeness.
D They establish Anne’s eagerness to be adopted.
Page 6
STAAR English I Reading
7
Released Test Questions
2011 Release
The references to a “ladies’ waiting room” and the saying that “children should be seen and not
heard” suggest that the selection is set in —
A
an earlier era
B
an agricultural environment
C
a fast-paced neighborhood
D a period of social upheaval
8
In what way is the dialogue between Anne and Matthew an example of dramatic irony?
A
Anne is worried that her new home will not live up to her expectations.
B
Matthew is worried about issues related to Anne’s troubled past.
C
Anne doesn’t know why Matthew seems reluctant to take her home.
D Matthew doesn’t know why Anne keeps talking so much.
9
This selection explores its themes primarily through —
A
narrative
B
symbolic imagery
C
figurative language
D dialogue
Page 7
STAAR English I Reading
Released Test Questions
2011 Release
10 In this excerpt from Anne of Green Gables, do you think the stage directions enhance your
understanding of the scene? Explain your answer and support it with evidence from the selection.
Page 8
STAAR English I Reading
Reading Selection 2
2011 Release
Read the selection and choose the best answer to each question.
Hungry Bears Prefer Minivans
by Keith Goetzman
Utne Reader Blogs
October 22, 2009
1
Black bears at Yosemite National Park break into minivans more than any
other type of vehicle to find munchies, according to a new study published in
the October 2009 Journal of Mammalogy. If this sounds like one of the
elaborate faux studies cooked up by the Journal of lrreproducible Results,
rest assured that actual, trained mammalogists are behind this one—albeit
mammalogists who have a sense of humor about their Jellystone-esque
research. The press release announcing the study is titled “Yosemite Black
Bears Select Minivan as ‘Car of the Year ’ ” and begins:
For a seven-year period, the top choice of vehicle by black bears in
Yosemite National Park has been the minivan. The bears seem to base
this decision on “fuel efficiency”—that is, which vehicle offers the best
opportunity of finding a meal. As a result, black bears have shown a
strong preference for breaking into minivans over other types of
vehicles.
3
Why is the minivan the vehicle
of choice? Not simply because
there are more minivans—
many other types of vehicles
were more often left overnight
in the park, or “available” in
the researchers’ parlance. The
scientists from the U.S.
Wildlife Service’s National
Wildlife Research Center offer
four possible reasons:
•
Minivans are more likely to
emit food odors, based on
the fact that minivans are
Type—Mammal
Diet—Omnivorous; mostly eats grasses, roots,
berries, and insects; can easily develop
a taste for human foods and garbage
Average life span in the wild—20 years
Size—5 to 6 feet long
Weight—200 to 600 pounds
Home—Creates dens in caves, burrows, brush
piles, or other sheltered spots
Habitat—Lives in diverse climates, from Canada
to northern Mexico
Page 9
Photograph courtesy of Norbert Buchholz/Dreamstime.com
2 Between 2001 and 2007, bears broke into vehicles at the following rates:
minivans, 26 percent; sport-utility vehicles, 22.5 percent; small cars,
17.1 percent; sedans, 13.7 percent; trucks, 11.9 percent; vans, 4.2 percent;
sports cars, 1.7 percent;
coupes, 1.7 percent; and
Facts About Black Bears
station wagons,
1.4 percent.
STAAR English I Reading
2011 Release
Reading Selection 2
designed for families with children—who are more likely to spill food and
drink in a vehicle.
•
Passengers of minivans are more prone to leave large amounts of food in
a vehicle parked overnight.
•
Minivans may be structurally easier to break into than other types of
vehicles. Bears most often gained access to minivans by popping open a
rear side window.
•
A few individual bears could be responsible for all the break-ins, and
they are displaying a learned behavior for choosing minivans.
4
In short, to campground bears who’ve learned bad behavior, vehicles are
simply hard shells encasing many types of treats, whether it’s raw bacon and
Bud Lite or goldfish crackers, dog food, and Juicy Juice. And minivans offer
the best promise of treats and the easiest wrapper to open. The researchers
noted that they “commonly saw car doors bent open, windows on all sides of
the vehicle broken, and seats ripped out, all of which appeared effortless for
bears.”
5
Amid the ursine humor in all this, let’s not forget that for bears, developing a
taste for human food is often one of the worst things that can happen to
them—“a fed bear is a dead bear,” as the saying goes. The researchers’
ultimate hope is to help resolve “bear–human conflicts” as people all around
the world expand their range and more frequently come into contact with
large carnivores.
30
25
20
15
10
Used
5
Available
0
Vehicle Class
Printed with permission from Utne Reader (www.utne.com, 2009)
Page 10
Journal of Mammalogy, 90 (5): 1041–
1044.
Used or Available (%)
Percentage of Vehicles Broken into by Black Bears
(2004–2005)
STAAR English I Reading
Released Test Questions
2011 Release
11 In paragraph 5, the scientific term ursine describes something related to —
A
jokes
B
habitats
C
bears
D automobiles
12 The author organizes the article by —
A
offering statistics from various studies, presenting conflicting opinions about the studies,
and ending with his personal view
B
presenting the results of a study, offering some ideas about what the study shows, and
then stating what researchers hope to achieve in the future
C
describing the reasons why Yosemite National Park has such a large number of bears and
then explaining how minivans have made the problem worse
D referring to phony research studies that claim bears prefer some kinds of vehicles over
others and then dismissing these studies with conclusions from mammalogists
13 What does the author mean when he writes in paragraph 4 that “vehicles are simply hard shells”?
A
Minivan owners should just leave their vehicle doors open if they don’t want bears to
damage them.
B
If bears can break into a minivan, they must be very strong.
C
Bears really don’t know the difference between a minivan and any other type of box
containing food.
D If minivans were built to be more sturdy, it wouldn’t be as easy for bears to break into
them.
Page 11
STAAR English I Reading
Released Test Questions
2011 Release
14 Which line best argues against the idea that most bears in Yosemite National Park have learned
how to break into minivans?
A
As a result, black bears have shown a strong preference for breaking into minivans over
other types of vehicles.
B
Bears most often gained access to minivans by popping open a rear side window.
C
The researchers noted that they “commonly saw car doors bent open, windows on all sides
of the vehicle broken, and seats ripped out, all of which appeared effortless for bears.”
D A few individual bears could be responsible for all the break-ins, and they are displaying a
learned behavior for choosing minivans.
15 The author mentions that the minivan has been selected as “Car of the Year” by bears in order
to —
A
warn campers not to park minivans in Yosemite National Park
B
describe the type of work published in the Journal of Mammalogy
C imply that the study lacks credibility
D highlight that the results of the study are somewhat humorous
16 Read this line from paragraph 5.
Amid the ursine humor in all this, let’s not
forget that for bears, developing a taste
for human food is often one of the worst
things that can happen to them—“a fed
bear is a dead bear,” as the saying goes.
The author’s tone in this line can best be described as —
A
cautionary
B
angry
C
threatening
D pessimistic
Page 12
STAAR English I Reading
Released Test Questions
2011 Release
17 Which of these best summarizes the article?
A
Black bears at Yosemite National Park have grown used to obtaining food from sources
provided by humans, including locked cars. The bears find it relatively easy to break into
vehicles, such as minivans. The more bears depend on humans for food, however, the more
contact they have with humans, which is ultimately dangerous to both parties.
B
Minivans may be the top choice of black bears in Yosemite National Park because they are
relatively easy to break into and because minivans tend to emit food odors or contain large
amounts of food. Bears seem to have learned from one another which type of vehicle to
target and the best way to break in.
C
Scientists conducting a study at Yosemite National Park have found that bears are more
likely to break into minivans than any other type of vehicle. Several possible explanations
for this behavior have been offered, including the structure of the minivan and the
increased likelihood that minivans hold food. Researchers stress the danger of bears
depending on humans for food.
D In a study conducted for the Journal of Mammalogy, scientists found that black bears break
into different types of vehicles with varying frequency. The bears are capable of breaking
windows, bending doors open, and ripping out seats, all in search of food. Their favorite
vehicle, the minivan, was not necessarily the most available.
18 Readers of the article might draw which conclusion if they drove by a sign like the one shown in
the box titled “Facts About Black Bears”?
A
Camping is too dangerous for most people.
B
Vehicles should not be left unattended.
C
Extra food should be shared with bears.
D Food should not be left in vehicles.
Page 13
STAAR English I Reading
Released Test Questions
2011 Release
19 The information in the graph supports the article by showing —
A
the preference black bears have for a certain kind of vehicle
B
the bears’ intelligence in determining which vehicles to invade
C
exactly how many vehicles were broken into by black bears
D the availability of vehicles parked overnight in certain locations
20 In “Hungry Bears Prefer Minivans,” how does the writer’s approach to the topic make it more
accessible to the reader? Support your answer with evidence from the selection.
Page 14
Read the next two selections and answer the questions that follow.
Those Winter
Sundays
© 2007 Marshall Ikonography
and
World of Stock
by Robert Hayden
5
Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.
I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he’d call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house.
10
Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love’s austere and lonely offices?
“Those Winter Sundays” copyright © 1966 by Robert Hayden, from COLLECTED POEMS OF
ROBERT HAYDEN by Robert Hayden, edited by Frederick Glaysher. Used by permission of
Liveright Publishing Corporation.
All My Babies
Are Gone Now
from Loud and Clear
by Anna Quindlen
1 All my babies are gone now. I say this not in sorrow but in disbelief. I take
great satisfaction in what I have today: three almost-adults, two taller than
me, one closing in fast. Three people who read the same books I do and
have learned not to be afraid of disagreeing with me in their opinion of
them, who sometimes tell vulgar jokes that make me laugh until I choke and
cry, who need razor blades and shower gel and privacy, who want to keep
their doors closed more than I like. Who, miraculously, go to the bathroom,
zip up their jackets, and move food from plate to mouth all by themselves.
Like the trick soap I bought for the bathroom with a rubber ducky at its
center, the baby is buried deep within each, barely discernible except
through the unreliable haze of the past.
2 Everything in all the books I once pored over is finished for me now.
Penelope Leach, T. Berry Brazelton, Dr. Spock. The ones on sibling rivalry
and sleeping through the night and early childhood education, all grown
obsolete. Along with Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are, they
are battered, spotted, well used. But I suspect that if you flipped the pages,
dust would rise like memories.
3 What those books taught me, finally, and what the women on the
playground taught me, and the well-meaning relations and the older parents
at cocktail parties—what they taught me was that they couldn’t really teach
me very much at all. Raising children is presented at first as a true-false
test, then becomes multiple choice, until finally, far along, you realize that it
is an endless essay. No one knows anything. One child responds well to
positive reinforcement, another can only be managed with a stern voice and
a time-out. One boy is toilet trained at three, his brother at two. When my
first child was born, parents were told to put baby to bed on his belly so that
he would not choke on his own spit-up. By the time my last arrived, babies
were put down on their backs because of research on sudden infant death
syndrome.
4 As a new parent this ever-shifting certainty is terrifying, and then soothing.
Eventually you must learn to trust yourself. Eventually the research will
follow. . . .
5 I remember fifteen years ago poring over one of Dr. Brazelton’s wonderful
books on child development, in which he describes three different sorts of
infants: average, quiet, and active. I was looking for a sub-quiet codicil (see:
slug) for an eighteen-month-old who did not walk. Was there something
wrong with his fat little legs? Was there something wrong with his tiny little
mind? Was he developmentally delayed, physically challenged? Was I
insane? Last year he went to China. Next year he goes to college. He can
walk just fine. He can walk too well. Every part of raising children at some
point comes down to this: Be careful what you wish for.
6
Every part of raising children is humbling, too. Believe me, mistakes were
made. They have all been enshrined in the “Remember When Mom Did” Hall
of Fame. The outbursts, the temper tantrums, the bad language—mine, not
theirs. The times the baby fell off the bed. The times I arrived late for
preschool pickup. The nightmare sleepover. The horrible summer camp. The
day when the youngest came barreling out of the classroom with a 98 on her
geography test, and I responded, “What did you get wrong?” (She insisted I
include that.) The time I ordered food at the McDonald’s drive-through
speaker and then drove away without picking it up from the window. (They
all insisted I include that.) I did not allow them to watch The Simpsons for
the first two seasons. What was I thinking?
7
But the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing
this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that
the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of
the three of them sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing
set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember
what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how
they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry
to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured
the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.
8
Even today I’m not sure what worked and what didn’t, what was me and
what was simply life. How much influence did I really have over the
personality of the former baby who cried only when we gave parties and who
today, as a teenager, still dislikes socializing and crowds? When they were
very small, I suppose I thought someday they would become who they were
because of what I’d done. Now I suspect they simply grew into their true
selves because they demanded in a thousand ways that I back off and let
them be. . . .
9
The books said to be relaxed and I was often tense, matter-of-fact, and I
was sometimes over-the-top. And look how it all turned out. I wound up with
the three people I like best in the world, who have done more than anyone
to excavate my essential humanity. That’s what the books never told me. I
was bound and determined to learn from the experts. It just took me a while
to figure out who the experts were.
Reprinted by permission of International Creative Management, Inc. Copyright © 2004.
Use “Those Winter Sundays” to answer the
following questions.
1
2
3
Why is the multiple meaning of the word offices in line 14 important to the poem?
A
It refers to both a duty and a service done for others.
B
It conveys the father’s mixed emotions.
C
It refers to both a place and an executive position.
D
It indicates the size of the speaker’s house.
The photograph reinforces the poem’s tone of —
A
indifference
B
desperation
C
melancholy
D
whimsy
In line 5, the sentence “No one ever thanked him” suggests the poem explores the theme
of —
A
uninformed judgment
B
domestic strife
C
suppressed excitement
D belated gratitude
4
5
6
The poem’s setting is significant because it helps contrast —
A
the family’s physical closeness and emotional distance
B
the opinions of the hardworking father and the lazy child
C
the presence of the father and the absence of the mother
D
the different values of the siblings within the family
The tone of this poem can best be described as —
A
carefree
B
optimistic
C
self-righteous
D
regretful
The author begins a new stanza in line 6 most likely to indicate a shift from —
A
the distant past to the immediate future
B
literal language to figurative language
C
a focus on the father to a focus on the speaker
D
an uncritical attitude to a self-critical attitude
Use “All My Babies Are Gone Now” to answer the
following questions.
7
8
9
Beginning with paragraph 7, the author’s tone shifts from —
A
complimentary to condescending
B
optimistic to cynical
C
lighthearted to reflective
D
academic to conversational
By saying that one of her sons “can walk too well” in paragraph 5, the author implies that —
A
her son has become overconfident
B
she is very proud of her son’s accomplishment
C
she is not ready for her son to leave her
D
her son is unusually graceful and agile
In which line does the author use passive voice to generalize her experience?
A
The nightmare sleepover.
B
That’s what the books never told me.
C
I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.
D
Believe me, mistakes were made.
10
In the last sentence of paragraph 9, the reader can infer that “the experts” the author refers to
are —
A
her own children
B
the authors of parenting books
C
the women on the playground
D her own parents
11
12
In which line does the author use an analogy to convey her changing philosophy of parenting?
A
How much influence did I really have over the personality of the former baby who cried
only when we gave parties and who today, as a teenager, still dislikes socializing and
crowds?
B
Raising children is presented at first as a true-false test, then becomes multiple choice,
until finally, far along, you realize that it is an endless essay.
C
One child responds well to positive reinforcement, another can only be managed with a
stern voice and a time-out.
D
I remember fifteen years ago poring over one of Dr. Brazelton’s wonderful books on child
development, in which he describes three different sorts of infants: average, quiet, and
active.
The author’s purpose for writing the selection was most likely to —
A
imply that new parents should trust their instincts and enjoy raising their children
B
defend herself against the suggestion that she made mistakes when raising her children
C
poke fun at so-called experts who claim to be authorities on child development
D
blame herself for the choices she made as a parent
Use “Those Winter Sundays” and “All My Babies Are Gone Now”
to answer the following questions.
13
What is a primary difference between the poem and the essay?
A
The events described in the essay took place many years ago, while those in the poem are
current.
B
The essay focuses on fewer people than the poem does.
C
The poem is told from the perspective of a child, while the essay is from that of a parent.
D
The issues explored in the essay are more important than those in the poem.
14 Read these quotations.
Those Winter Sundays
All My Babies Are Gone Now
I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he’d call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house.
There is one picture of the three of
them sitting in the grass on a quilt in
the shadow of the swing set on a
summer day, ages six, four, and one.
Which of these best describes the difference in tone
between the two quotations?
A
The tone of the first quotation is bright
and hopeful, while the tone of the
second quotation is gloomy and
depressed.
B
The tone of the first quotation is
stark and apprehensive, while the
tone of the second quotation is
warm and nostalgic.
C
The tone of the first quotation
is angry and resentful, while
the tone of the second
quotation is bored and
uninspired.
D
The tone of the first quotation is sweet
and dreamy, while the tone of the
second quotation is matter-of-fact and
deliberate.
15
What emotion is expressed in the last two lines of “Those Winter Sundays” and paragraph 7 of “All
My Babies Are Gone Now”?
A
Regret
B
Fear
C
Confusion
D Joy