3rd Grade Language Arts 4th Nine Weeks
Doug Nordquist is a high jumper with some good ideas about winning. Read about his ideas in the story, and then answer the questions that follow.
Is Winning Everything? By Jan M. Van Pelt Imagine you’re a world-class high jumper. You’ve trained for years to make the Olympic team. Now you’re in the Olympics. They eyes of the whole world are on you. It seems as though everyone is trying to win that gold medal. You jump seven feet, six inches! That’s your best ever! But you don’t win a gold medal. In fact, you come in fifth place. How do you feel now? “I came away from there feeling like a winner,” says Olympic high jumper Doug Nordquist. In the 1984 Olympics, he jumped his best ever – seven feet, six inches. He came in fifth place. Doug says being a winner doesn’t mean coming in first. It means doing your personal best. Sometimes doing his best earned Doug gold and silver medals. Sometimes doing his best earned him fifth place. As long as he has worked hard and done his best, though, Doug feels good about himself. Even though he wants to take home a gold, silver, or bronze medal, he knows he’s always a winner, no matter what happens. Doug things about his other job – teaching high school band – the same way. He believes that “if you put yourself into your work, you can accomplish whatever you want.” One of his students explains, “Mr. Nordquist says, ‘think higher and you can reach it.’” His students at Santa Fe High School know Doug is right. They’ve taken his advice. They’ve won many awards in Los Angeles and Orange County band competitions. But he reminds them that “it’s not the trophies and awards that are as important as all the things we do to get there.” The students are winners. That’s because they’ve learned to play their instruments and work with one another the best that they can. That’s not always easy. For Doug, being a good musician and teacher takes practice and education. From JACK AND JILL, copyright 1991 by Children’s Better Health Institute, Benjamin Franklin Literary & Medical Society, Inc., Indianapolis, IN. Used by permission.
1. The writer uses the first paragraph MAINLY to make the reader think about A. being in the Olympics. B. being a high jumper. C. trying hard and still not winning. D. wantng to win a gold medal.
2. Why did Doug Nordquist feel like a winner in the 1984 Olympics? A. He jumped his best ever. B. He came in fifth place. C. He liked being in the Olympics. D. Everyone said he was the best.
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3. Doug Nordquist tells students that it is most important to A. always come to band practice. B. Play better than other bands. C. Win trophies and awards. D. Do the best that they can.
4. Think about these words from the story. high jumper teacher musician
How are they alike? A. They all describe people who win awards. B. They all describe Doug Nordquist. C. They all describe jobs at a school. D. They all describe people who teach others.
5. Which sentence means the same as the phrase “think higher and you can reach it”? A. You must be the best to be a winner. B. If you dream about winning, you will win. C. If you want to jump higher, you can. D. You must set hard goals for yourself.
6. Doug says teaching high school is like being a high jumper. In which way is this true? A. Neither is easy. B. You can do well at both if you work hard. C. In both, you can enjoy seeing somebody else win. D. You have a chance to win awards in both.
7. If the band members competed and did not win, Mr. Nordquist would MOST LIKELY say that A. they should feel good because they tried hard. B. they must practice more and work harder. C. the judges were unfair. D. he is disappointed in them.
8. In the word they’ve, the ‘ve stands for A. have. B. give. C. believe. D. leave.
9. Which sounds the same as the word whole? A. whale B. hall C. who’ll D. hole
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10. Which word means the OPPOSITE of never? A. best B. many C. not D. always
Amber has a serious case of the sillies. Everything is funny to Amber. She sees a dog with one brown ear and she laughs until she falls down in the grass. Kittens love yarn. A case of the sillies is not such a bad thing.
11. Which sentence does NOT belong in this paragraph? A. Amber has a serious case of the sillies. B. Everything is funny to Amber. C. Kittens love yarn. D. A case of the sillies is not such a bad thing.
Simon decided to go play basketball. First, he had to find his basketball so he could pump it up. Next, Simon called five other friends to meet him at the park. They had a blast playing until it was time for lunch.
12. Which sequence words are used in the paragraph? A. go, play B. they, next C. first, next D. called, first
The teacher talked with frederick and david about their work on a class project.
13. Which two words in this sentence should begin with capital letters? A. work, class B. teacher, talked C. talked, project D. frederick, david
14. Which word is NOT an adverb? A. sadly B. freely C. happily D. jumping
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15. Which is a complete sentence? A. Beth winning a science contest. B. Her prize: a set of science books. C. Beth entered the science contest twice. D. Beth, who had never won anything before.
16. Which sentence is a command? A. Ouch, that dog just bit me! B. Is that your dog, young man? C. Take that dog away this instant. D. Dogs should be kept on leashes.
Mr. and Mrs. Moore had bought front-row tickets for the circus.
17. Which is the compound subject of this sentence? A. Mr. and Mrs. Moore B. had bought C. front-row tickets D. circus
18. In which sentence is the subject underlined? A. The red fox ran away. B. The red fox ran away. C. The red fox ran away. D. The red fox ran away.
19. Which would be the most specific topic for a report? A. Hibernation of Bears B. Habits of Wild Animals C. Wild Animals in America D. Hibernation of Wild Animals
20. Which pair of words is in correct alphabetical (ABC) order? A. fits, fish B. boot, boat C. after, afraid D. heavy, here
21. Which is the BEST place to find information about dogs? A. a book about games B. a book about science C. a book about animals D. a book about geography
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22. Which sentence shows excitement? A. How happy Don is to visit his new school! B. Please tell us more about Don’s new school. C. Do you know what Don’s new school is like? D. Don wants to know more about his new school.
23. Which sentence has the correct punctuation? A. My favorite states are Georgia Alabama, South Carolina and Texas. B. My favorite states, are Georgia Alabama, South Carolina and Texas. C. My favorite states are Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas. D. My favorite states, are Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Texas.
24. Which sentence correctly uses capital letters? A. My favorite baseball team is the Atlanta braves. B. My favorite baseball team is the Atlanta braves. C. My favorite baseball team is the Atlanta Braves. D. My favorite Baseball team is the Atlanta Braves.
Once upon a time, a boy had a great adventure 25. Which punctuation change corrects this sentence? A. Take away the comma. B. Add a period after adventure. C. Add a question mark after time. D. Add quotation marks around great.
In the classroom, there was one student who was holding a ______.
26. Which word completes the sentence correctly? A. book B. books C. book’s D. booked
We had a birthday party for my mom on December 14 2000.
27. The sentence is missing a comma. The missing comma belongs after A. birthday. B. party. C. December. D. 14.
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We have a new pool in our backyard.
28. Which type of sentence is this? A. a question B. a statement C. a command D. an exclamation
29. Which word should be used as the predicate of a sentence? A. his B. sat C. chair D. music
David loves his family.
30. The underlined word is the A. simple subject. B. simple predicate. C. compound subject. D. compound predicate.
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Answer Key
1. C 2. A 3. D 4. B 5. B 6. B 7. A 8. A 9. D 10.D 11.C 12.C 13.D 14.D 15.C 16.C 17.A 18.D 19.A 20.D 21.C 22.A 23.C 24.C 25.B 26.A 27.D 28.B 29.B 30.A
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