STAAR Grade 3 RLA — Practice Test 1

Reading Passage 1: "The Stray"

Read the passage. Then answer the questions that follow.

The Stray

Marisol walked home from school slowly, kicking pebbles along the path. Her shoes scraped against the sidewalk and made a quiet sound. She was thinking about the math test she had not done very well on. As she turned the corner onto Elm Street, she heard a small noise from behind a wooden fence.

"Mew."

Marisol stopped. She listened carefully. There it was again — a tiny, hungry sound. She bent down and peeked through a gap in the fence. Two yellow eyes blinked back at her.

It was a cat. A small, gray cat with a torn ear and dusty fur. Its ribs showed under its skin. The cat looked tired and scared.

"Hi there," Marisol whispered. "Are you lost?"

The cat did not move. Marisol slowly opened her backpack and pulled out half a turkey sandwich from her lunch. She had not been hungry at lunchtime, but she was glad now that she had saved it. She tore off a small piece and held it through the fence.

The cat sniffed the air. Then it crept forward on careful paws and took the food gently from her fingers. Marisol smiled. She fed it the rest of the sandwich, piece by piece.

When the cat was done eating, it pushed its head against her hand. Marisol's heart felt warm. She knew her mother might say no to keeping a stray, but she also knew she could not just walk away.

She picked up the cat and tucked it under her jacket. "Let's go home," she said. "We'll figure it out together."

As Marisol walked the rest of the way home, the cat began to purr softly against her chest. The math test no longer felt like the most important thing in the world. Right now, this little cat needed her — and somehow, that made everything feel a little better.

1. Which sentence is the BEST summary of this passage?

2. Which word BEST describes Marisol?

3. In paragraph 7, the word crept means —

4. Why does Marisol smile when the cat takes the food?

5. What does Marisol do RIGHT BEFORE she feeds the cat?

6. What lesson does this story MOST teach?

7. Why did the author MOST LIKELY include the detail about the math test?

8. How does Marisol feel by the END of the passage?

Reading Passage 2: "The Amazing Hummingbird"

Read the informational passage. Then answer the questions that follow.

The Amazing Hummingbird

Hummingbirds are some of the smallest birds in the world. Most are about the size of a child's thumb. They are also one of the few birds that can fly backwards! Their wings beat so fast — about 50 times each second — that the wings make a humming sound. That is how they got their name.

A hummingbird's favorite food is sweet flower nectar. The nectar gives them energy. To reach the nectar, hummingbirds use their long, thin beaks. Their tongues are even longer than their beaks. The tongue has a tiny groove that soaks up nectar like a wet paper towel.

Because hummingbirds work so hard, they need a lot of food. A hummingbird may visit hundreds of flowers in one day. Some hummingbirds eat almost half their body weight in nectar every day! They also eat tiny insects to get protein.

Hummingbirds live mostly in North and South America. The smallest one, the Bee Hummingbird, lives in Cuba. It is only about two inches long. The largest, the Giant Hummingbird, lives in the mountains of South America. It is about eight inches long — much bigger than its cousins, but still small for a bird.

Hummingbirds build tiny cup-shaped nests, often no bigger than a walnut. They use spider silk to glue grass and bits of plant together. The spider silk lets the nest stretch as the baby birds grow.

Some hummingbirds travel thousands of miles every year. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird flies all the way across the Gulf of Mexico without stopping. For such a tiny bird, that is an amazing journey.

Three Hummingbirds Compared
Hummingbird	Where it lives	Length
Bee Hummingbird	Cuba	2 inches
Ruby-throated	Eastern North America	3-4 inches
Giant Hummingbird	South America	8 inches

9. What is the MAIN idea of this passage?

10. How fast do a hummingbird's wings beat?

11. In paragraph 1, the word humming means —

12. Look at the table titled "Three Hummingbirds Compared." Which hummingbird is the LARGEST?

13. According to the passage, where does the smallest hummingbird live?

14. Why MIGHT spider silk be a good material for a hummingbird's nest?

15. Why did the author MOST LIKELY write this passage?

16. Why does a hummingbird need to eat so much?

Vocabulary

Choose the best answer.

17. The word rebuild means to —

18. What does the word fearless mean?

19. Read this sentence: "Lily worked all morning to untie the knot in her shoelace." What does untie mean?

20. The Greek root bio means "life." The word biology is the study of —

21. Read the sentence: "The bright glow of the lamp lit up the dark room." What does glow mean in this sentence?

22. Read the sentence: "After the rain, the river was swollen with extra water." What does swollen mean?

Conventions

Choose the best answer.

23. Which sentence is written CORRECTLY?

24. Which sentence shows the CORRECT capitalization?

25. Which sentence uses commas correctly in a series?

26. Which is a COMPLETE sentence?

27. Which sentence uses the correct word?

Composition & Inquiry

Choose the best answer or type the correct word.

28. Read the sentence: "The dog he ran fast." Which is the BEST way to revise the sentence?

29. Combine the two sentences below into ONE clear sentence.
· The cat is small. · The cat is fluffy.

30. Read the sentence: "The pizza was good." Which word would BEST replace good to make the sentence more interesting?

31. Read the sentence: "Mara walked into the kitchen." Which sentence below adds a SENSORY DETAIL (something you can see, hear, smell, taste, or feel)?

32. Sara wants to write a report about how plants grow. What should Sara do FIRST?

33. Tia wants to learn about the planet Mars. Which is the BEST source for accurate, up-to-date facts?

34. Read this sentence: "The cookies was hot." Type the correct verb that should replace was.