Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS Grade 10 2010 Released Items

Copyright © 2010, 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. TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Literary Selection

A Platter of Steaming Dumplings by Mabelle Hsueh

1 Professor Liu stood in the doorway of his apartment My notes about what I am building and watched the rain coming down hard on the reading sidewalk. He rubbed his hands together—a gesture acquired from years of teaching electrical engineering, when he’d spent hours at the blackboard, getting his hands covered with powdery white chalk. This habit had not been obvious to anyone, himself included, until his retirement from the university a year ago. 2 When the rain subsided a little, he stepped out onto Thompson Street. He kept close to the buildings and cautiously made his way to Shanghai Garden around the corner. 3 Jingma, the middle-aged woman who owned the little restaurant, was waiting on a young man wearing dark glasses. She wrote down his order and almost missed catching the menu he tossed back at her. 4 Professor Liu entered the restaurant just as Jingma was about to go into the kitchen. “Hello, Jingma,” he said. 5 The woman turned around. “Long time no see, Professor Liu,” she cried. “How you? Where you been for many days?” 6 “Nowhere,” Professor Liu answered, embarrassed at the concern in her voice. “I was in my apartment.” 7 “Where your umbrella? You wet and cold. I bring you hot tea.” 8 It always amazed him that Jingma, hardly five feet tall, had such a deep, loud voice. It resonated with cheer and goodwill. He walked over to his table nearest to the kitchen, took off his coat and dropped it on a chair. He saw that the booths along the wall were empty, but the four tables in the middle of the room were occupied. The air was pungent with the smell of ginger. 9 As soon as he sat down, Jingma was beside him with teapot and cup in one hand and chopsticks, bowl and plate in the other. “My cook sick today so I run around, here there, like that big wheel in circus,” she said. “My sister took me to see when I first come to America. What that called?”

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10 “The Ferris wheel?” My notes about what I am reading 11 “Nah, that machine go slow.” She shook her head. “Go wrong direction. Never mind, what you want for lunch?” 12 “Perhaps beef and broccoli?” 13 “Okay, okay, but I got something special. You wait.” She turned to go, then added over her shoulder. “How your book coming along, Professor, about Chinese . . .” she hesitated, “. . . buildings.” 14 “Chinese architecture,” he said. “It’s coming along just fine.” 15 “Good, good.” Jingma nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. 16 He poured the tea and took a sip, acutely disappointed that she had no time to chat leisurely with him. He wanted to tell her his book was not coming along just fine, especially since he had not written a word for days. 17 With the approaching of the lunar new year he had grown restless, unable to concentrate. He spent his waking hours in aimless reading and pacing around and around the apartment as if he wanted to measure the width and length of every room. The nights were disrupted by dreams of China, of the house with the shapely roofs built by his grandfather for all his descendants. He seldom remembered the details of these dreams when he awoke, but they always left him with a sense of loss and the desire to weep. 18 He drank more tea and the delicate flavor of jasmine pricked his nose and tongue. He recalled how his mother enjoyed adding a few fresh jasmine flowers to her tea whenever the plants in the garden were in bloom. Suddenly he noticed the young man with the dark glasses, who had been sitting at the table near the door, coming toward him. 19 “Professor Liu,” the young man greeted him. “You don’t remember me, but I took one of your classes several years ago.” 20 Professor Liu peered at the young man: T-shirt and jeans, medium height, thin with an oversized head. A topheavy column in the Ancestral Hall, he thought to himself. Out loud he said, “I’m afraid my memory is as bad as my eyesight.” He rubbed his hands. “What is your name, young man?”

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21 “Tim Wilson. The word is merry-go-round.” The young My notes about what I am man picked up the professor’s coat and carefully draped it reading on another chair before he sat down. 22 “I beg your pardon?” Professor Liu said. 23 “That woman was describing how busy she was. Like a merry-go-round.” 24 “Oh, right. Jingma works so hard.” 25 As though summoned, the woman came into the room bearing a trayful of food. She paused for a second, surprised to see the young man sitting with the professor. She put the broccoli and beef in front of the professor; the seafood noodles in front of the young man; and, with a great flourish, a platter of steaming dumplings between the two of them. 26 “Early this morning I make two hundred jiao-zi,” Jingma said, waving two fingers in the air. “I thought if no one come to eat, I freeze them. But you have come and you can eat them fresh. That’s best way. Now I am happy.” She smiled broadly. 27 Professor Liu lowered his head and inhaled. “O! Jingma, I am happy too. Why, I haven’t had jiao-zi for a long, long time.” 28 “Taste one, taste one when hot.” Jingma reached for Professor Liu’s chopsticks, picked up a dumpling and put it on his plate. 29 Then she leaned toward the young man and peered into his dark glasses. “You are friend of our professor, huh? You like jiao-zi? Chinese New Year coming and jiao-zi New Year food, you know.” She waved her hand over the dishes as if blessing them. “Eat, eat, you two. All food taste twice better when eat with friends.” She pulled at her apron, tucked the tray under her arm and went over to the cash register where a customer waited. 30 Professor Liu bent forward and put the dumpling in the middle of his tongue. As the juice squirted out of the soft dough and filled his mouth, he closed his eyes and sighed with pleasure. “When I was a boy,” he began, “my grandmother always made jiao-zi, along with other foods, on the twenty-third day of the last month of the Chinese year. They were offerings for the Kitchen God.”

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31 Using a spoon instead of chopsticks, the young man put My notes about what I am a dumpling in his mouth and tasted it. “Delicious,” he said. reading 32 “Every Chinese kitchen has a kitchen god, do you know that? And a very important celestial being he is because on the 23rd of December he makes his yearly journey to heaven to report on the conduct of all the members of his earthly family.” Professor Liu paused to catch his breath. 33 “Ummmm . . .” the young man mumbled and picked up another dumpling. “So everybody shapes up,” he said finally, “like kids for Santa.” He cradled his spoon under another dumpling. 34 “Yes, yes,” the professor agreed, delighted. “I’ve never thought of it in just that way.” He put down his chopsticks and placed both arms on the table. “In fact, my grandmother habitually smeared honey on the picture, on the Kitchen God’s mouth, so he would say nothing but sweet things about our family.” He chuckled and ran his hand, like a washcloth, over his face. “Why, that was what I dreamed of a few nights ago, the honey on the picture!” 35 “The Kitchen God isn’t a statue?” the young man asked and lifted another dumpling from the platter. 36 “Just a red and gold picture. Each year my grandmother would buy one from the market—you know, a man with a red face, wearing a red robe, sitting on a chair with legs apart—and paste it on the wall behind the stove. There was also a little altar on the wall, I remember, with a tiny incense burner and joss sticks in it.” 37 He stopped, poured himself more tea after checking the young man’s full teacup. “Last night I dreamed of my mother coming into my room to dress me up for New Year. Somebody had laid out all my new clothes—a black cap, red vest, and yes, a pair of red cotton-padded shoes—on the dresser.” He laughed aloud. “All my dreams are coming back to me now.” 38 “Nice dreams.” The young man spooned the last dumpling onto his plate. 39 Professor Liu was aware that the young man was not listening to him. But he could not stop talking for it seemed an avalanche rumbled inside his head. Bits and chunks of memory, shaken loose, came tumbling down and out of his mouth. He described the rustle of silk gowns and dresses worn by relatives; the aroma of sandalwood incense wafting

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up to the high ceiling and hanging on there for days; the My notes about what I am elaborate ceremony of kowtowing and offering food and reading drink to the ancestors; and the explosion of the earsplitting firecrackers just before everybody sat down for the New Year feast. “Such happy times,” he said. “So much easier to talk than to write, isn’t it?” 40 The young man did not answer. He was eating the seafood noodles now, his eyes darting here and there like minnows in a stream. At last he said, “Professor Liu, you should have taught Chinese Civilization instead of Chinese Architecture.” 41 “Oh my dear young fellow.” The professor looked startled and rubbed his palms. “I became interested in Chinese architecture only after my retirement. Are you sure . . . ” 42 The young man choked and began to cough. Professor Liu was about to offer him some tea when the young man suddenly got to his feet, walked out the front door, and disappeared into the rain. The action was accomplished so quickly and quietly that none of the other diners noticed. Stunned, Professor Liu remained in his seat with one hand still grasping the teapot. 43 Jingma gave a big yell, “Hey wait, wait,” and ran after the young man, flapping her apron in the air like a broken wing. 44 As he got up from the table, Professor Liu knocked over his cup of tea in his hurry to get to the front of the room. He posted himself next to the cash register. Many of the other customers had stopped eating and were craning to see out the window. Professor Liu began to rub his hands as if he could never get the chalk off. 45 Soon Jingma returned, gasping for breath, her hair matted to her head and her face wet with rain and perspiration. “You see? He did not pay!” 46 “I am so sorry,” Professor Liu said. He unclasped his hands and put them behind his back. 47 “Oh, why he do this? But you know him?” 48 Professor Liu shook his head. 49 “Then I call police.” 50 “No, don’t do that.” He reached out and touched Jingma’s arm. “I’ll pay for him.”

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51 “Why? Why you pay?” Jingma glared. “He is thief.” My notes about what I am reading 52 “No, he’s my guest. He gave me a pleasant time.” 53 Professor Liu went back to his table, picked up his coat and reached into the pocket. Then the other pocket. His money was gone. 54 “What is matter, Professor?” 55 “Jingma, put it on my account, please.” He paused as a couple entered the restaurant. “Remember, don’t stay on that merry-go-round too long.” 56 Jingma smiled, uncertain what the last remark meant, and hurried away. 57 Professor Liu righted the teacup he had knocked over. For the first time he noticed the row of small red lanterns above the cash register and the bigger lanterns in the two doorways. They were bright red, the color of hope and joy. No doubt Jingma had hung them up for the coming Chinese New Year. 58 He dropped a few paper napkins in the puddle of spilled tea and wiped the table clean before he reached for his coat and pulled it on. 59 Now he was eager to leave. He wanted to get home, to look at his manuscript, to read the last page he had written seemingly so long ago, about the flying eaves. How fascinating those eaves were: shaped like swallows’ tails, they cantilevered outward and upward like arms lifted in prayer. © Mabelle Hsueh. Used by permission of the author.

Page 7 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Expository Selection

How My Name Saved My Life by Masha Leon

1 “It’s Masha, not Marsha,” I have to tell hearts. My being able to blend with people who insist I should Americanize the peasant children, my mother’s willingness spelling of my name. How can I explain to live in a barn, to milk cows, to dig that to change the spelling would be to potatoes, was a passport to a night’s tamper with a part of the past? lodging or a glass of milk. Our currency was salt, needles, thread, matches, all 2 Masha is the Russian for Mary—but I prized by dirt-poor peasants. was named after my paternal grandfather, Moyshe. In prewar Warsaw it would have After a number of life-threatening 5 been more prudent to be called Maria, encounters we finally reached the border, Marisia, Marusia. Masha was a giveaway where the Germans willingly, smilingly let that I was not Polish and might be Jewish. us through, along with hundreds, thousands of refugees. But once we 3 When the Nazis occupied Poland in crossed, Russians on horseback with September 1939, my parents agreed that peaked hats and bandoliers told us to go they would meet at their hometown, back to the Germans. “We don’t want any Byten, then under Soviet occupation as a pans [misters] here—we are all tovarischi result of the Stalin-Hitler pact. My father [comrades].” And so for three days we left Warsaw in the first week of the war, as shuttled between Russians with poised did many intellectuals and journalists, bayonets and Germans who laughed and assuming they would return a few weeks taunted, “Go back to your Bolshevik later. My mother and I left Warsaw in the winter of 1939–40 and headed for the Polish-Russian Border During World War II German-Russian border. En route we were taken direct to Gestapo headquarters by our Polish peasant driver and lined up to be shot, but because my mother and I had even- numbered tags (6 and 8) and they shot the odd-numbered refugees, we survived. Soviet Union 4 My mother had warned me never to (Russia) cry in front of a German and never to call her Mamma. (I was blond and blue-eyed, Poland and she had black hair and dark-brown eyes, so calling her Mamma might condemn me as a Jewish child. She passed herself off as my Italian nanny, Legend since she spoke Polish with a Russian N Occupied by W E accent.) However, should we be stopped Soviet Union S by the Russians, then cry a river, for Russians were reputed to have good ■ see Name, page 2

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■ Name, cont. from page 1 Page 2

friends.” Eventually people began to die “Enough!” shouted the Russian. “Why 9 from cold and hunger, and trucks would Masha?” he asked again. Go tell a soldier appear to cart off the bodies. that I was named after Moses-Moyshe. My mother wove a fable about having been 6 I left Warsaw with a case of the mumps inspired by Chekhov’s Three Sisters, (the fever kept me warm) and a Masha in Brothers Karamazov, Tolstoy. . . . malnutrition rash in my mouth. My The soldier was a peasant kid who had mother decided on the third day that we probably only dimly heard of any of these would leave the other refugees and walk literary giants and waved at us just to parallel with the tree line in hopes of stop! breaking through to the Russian side. No luck. Miraculously, a Polish peasant He looked at me and shook his head, 10 woman who had fields on the Russian side put his hand in his inner pocket, and and a house on the German side came by pulled out a family photograph, pointing to with a hay wagon and offered to help us. a little girl about eight, the same age I She fed us, hid us in her cellar for several was, with the identical long braids and days until we recovered, and had her son bows. “My sister Masha,” he told my get us past the Germans. Then we were on mother. “How can I shoot your daughter? our own in the middle of no-man’s land. It would be like shooting my sister.” He led us to headquarters, and when the local 7 We had just entered the forest on the commander and troops heard my Russian side when a lone Russian soldier name—Masha, Mashinka—out came the appeared with bayonet fixed and ordered black bread, butter, tea, apples. They took us back. As my mother put down her us by truck to the train station, where the bundles and I removed my knapsack, I soldiers, again hearing my Russian name, heard her say in perfect Russian, “I’d serenaded us and fed us. rather a Russian shot me than a German.” On cue, I began to cry, to weep, to howl. Marcia, Marsha—it’s not the same. I 11 But the soldier was adamant. “Go back or often wonder, of all the I shoot you,” he repeated. My mother miracles—surviving the bombing, leaving showed him her papers, indicating that Warsaw on the right route on the right she had been born under Russian rule. He day, going left or right on a road, finding a threw them in the mud. Obviously nothing peasant willing to hide us, not being shot, was working. I kept on wailing. the Gestapo believing that the dark-haired woman was indeed my nanny, an elderly 8 “Don’t cry, Mashinka,” she said. The German at one of our stops telling us how Russian suddenly turned to look at me: to avoid being caught by a German patrol, “Since when do Poles give their children etc., etc., etc.—if that encounter was not Russian names?” My mother gave me a the most pivotal in our survival. zetz in the ribs—“Sing! Sing!”—and I sang the only Russian song I knew, “Pod Masha it is, and Masha it shall remain. 12 samovarem, ja i moya Masha” (“Beneath the samovar I and Masha . . .”) I kept Copyright © 1993, Jewish Association for Services for the Aged. repeating the same phrase, over and over.

Page 9 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Visual Representation

That’s Bad!

Self-Help

Throughout our lives, we all experience events that are difficult physically or emotionally. Having the right attitude is crucial in getting through these tough times. And often we can turn these setbacks to our advantage. Respected Oh No, That’s Good! psychiatrist Dr. Kathleen Kinnear uses humor and How to See the Positive Side insight to help readers learn how to make the best of a Negative Situation of a bad situation. By Dr. Kathleen Kinnear, author of What Went Wrong? “Funny and heartwarming. A real winner.” —Dr. Wayne Dooling, Psychology Books Today

“Everyone should read this book!” —Patricia Contreras, Texas Book Review

“Dr. Kinnear offers practical advice that’s both helpful and entertaining.” —Ahmad Nasim, author of Positively Positive

North Star Books ISBN 0–000–00000–0 USA $14.95/Canada $22.95

Image courtesy of © Royalty-Free/CORBIS.

Page 10 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Literary Selection/Objective 1

Use “A Platter of Steaming Dumplings” to answer questions 1–6.

1 In paragraph 8, which words help the reader 2 Read the following dictionary entry. understand what resonated means? mat \ mat\ v 1. to provide with a pad or A hardly five feet tall cushion 2. to make rough or dull 3. to furnish a picture with a border before framing 4. to B the air was pungent form into a dense, tangled mass C such a deep, loud voice Which definition best matches the word D nearest to the kitchen matted as it is used in paragraph 45?

A Definition 1 B Definition 2 C Definition 3 D Definition 4

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3 What is the most likely reason the young man 4 What is the primary effect of the story’s point chokes and begins to cough in paragraph 42? of view?

A He drank the hot tea much too quickly. A The reader does not discover that the robbery has taken place until the B The professor has surprised him by professor does. catching him in a lie. B The reader is able to understand the C He has suddenly realized that it is much young man’s motivation for leaving the later than he thought. restaurant. D He is choking on one of Jingma’s C The reader is aware of the details of dumplings. Jingma’s life in China. D The reader understands why Professor Liu has retired.

Page 12 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Literary Selection/Objective 3

5 Which of the young man’s actions best reveals 6 Which words best reinforce the tone of his true character? paragraph 17?

A The young man introduces himself to the A shapely, details, dreams professor. B concentrate, waking, remembered B The young man tosses the menu at C restless, aimless, loss Jingma. D China, grandfather, descendants C The young man listens to the professor’s stories. D The young man orders seafood noodles.

Page 13 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Expository Selection/Objective 1

Use “How My Name Saved My Life” to answer questions 7–13.

7 What country were the author and her mother 8 What are paragraphs 9 and 10 mostly about? trying to get into? A The kind of food Russians like to eat A Italy B The mother’s knowledge of Russian B United States literature C Germany C The picture of the soldier’s sister D Russia D The Russian soldier’s compassion

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9 Which of these is the best summary of the selection?

A The author reflects on the significance of her name as she recalls the time that she and her mother attempted to flee Nazi- occupied Poland. As her mother and she wandered the countryside, they were repeatedly turned away from the Russian border and narrowly escaped death on several occasions. They eventually met a Russian soldier who spared their lives and allowed them to cross the border when he discovered that the author had the same name as his sister. B The author remembers an incredible adventure she experienced as a child when she narrowly avoided death at the hands of the German Gestapo. After she and her mother were turned over to German soldiers by their Polish peasant driver, they were lined up to be shot alongside other refugees. The author and her mother were spared because they had even-numbered tags and the Gestapo shot only those refugees bearing odd-numbered tags. C As a young girl, the author, named Masha, and her mother tried to leave Warsaw in order to reunite with the author’s father in her parents’ hometown of Byten. They were joined by many intellectuals and journalists in their long trek across the countryside. On their way to the border, they depended on poor peasants for help, trading salt, needles, thread, and matches for the chance to sleep in a barn or get a glass of milk. Along with thousands of other refugees, they finally reached the border. D The author’s mother posed as an Italian nanny in order to protect the author as they attempted to avoid detection by German soldiers during World War II. While they were traveling, the author contracted the mumps and developed a severe rash in her mouth because of malnutrition. Luckily a peasant woman who lived on the border of Poland and Russia provided shelter and food for the author and her mother and helped hide them from the authorities.

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10 Which of the following best supports the idea 11 Which of the following complicated the author that the mother was helping her daughter and her mother’s situation? hide her true identity? A The Polish peasant woman hid the author A Our currency was salt, needles, thread, and her mother. matches, all prized by dirt-poor peasants. B The author resents that her mother didn’t B I was blond and blue-eyed, and she had name her Maria. black hair and dark-brown eyes, so calling C The author’s mother mentioned stories by her Mamma might condemn me as a Chekhov and Tolstoy. Jewish child. D The Russian soldiers refused to let the C However, should we be stopped by the author and her mother pass. Russians, then cry a river, for Russians were reputed to have good hearts. D My mother showed him her papers, indicating that she had been born under Russian rule.

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12 From the events described in paragraph 10, 13 Which line best supports the idea that the the reader can conclude that — author followed her mother’s lead and deliberately manipulated the Russian soldier? A the Russian soldier remained friends with the author and her mother A Marcia, Marsha—it’s not the same. B the author is related to the Russian B But the soldier was adamant. soldier C On cue, I began to cry, to weep, to howl. C the Russian soldiers were victorious D Masha it is, and Masha it shall remain. D the author and her mother were able to continue their journey

Page 17 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Crossover Items

Use “A Platter of Steaming Dumplings” and “How My Name Saved My Life” to answer questions 14 and 15.

14 In both selections, the authors highlight — 15 What conclusion is the reader most likely to draw about Professor Liu and Masha based on A a contrast between an individual and a the last paragraph of both selections? political regime A They will be deserted by their friends and B a significant event in the life of the main families. character B Their attachment to the past will make it C a list of anecdotes from childhood difficult for them to move forward. memories C They have learned to embrace their pasts. D a series of possible solutions for one difficult problem D They will both go on to write excellent books.

Page 18 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Visual Representation/Objective 3

Use the visual representation on page 10 to answer questions 16 and 17.

16 What is the main purpose of the book jacket? 17 Why did the designers of the book jacket include quotations on the back cover? A To sell readers a subscription to Psychology Books Today A To help explain the meaning of the illustration on the front cover B To explain to readers how to improve their lives B To offer examples of difficult events that were overcome with the information C To entertain readers with an amusing provided in the book illustration C To give expert opinions intended to D To persuade people to buy and read the persuade potential readers that the book content is useful and interesting D To provide statements from people whose stories are featured in the book

Page 19 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Open-Ended Items

18 What do the dumplings symbolize in “A Platter of Steaming Dumplings”? Explain your answer and support it with evidence from the selection.

19 What did the author learn from her experience in “How My Name Saved My Life”? Explain your answer and support it with evidence from the selection.

20 How are Professor Liu in “A Platter of Steaming Dumplings” and the author of “How My Name Saved My Life” affected by their encounters with strangers? Support your answer with evidence from both selections.

Page 20 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Written Composition

Write an essay about something that inspires you.

The information in the box below will help you remember what you should think about when you write your composition.

REMEMBER—YOU SHOULD

❑ write about the assigned topic

❑ make your writing thoughtful and interesting

❑ make sure that each sentence you write contributes to your composition as a whole

❑ make sure that your ideas are clear and easy for the reader to follow

❑ write about your ideas in depth so that the reader is able to develop a good understanding of what you are saying

❑ proofread your writing to correct errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure

Page 21 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Revising and Editing Passage 1

Marilyn wrote this paper about her grandmother’s life during World War II. She wants you to review the paper. As you read, think about the corrections and improvements Marilyn should make. When you finish, answer the questions that follow.

Photo courtesy of © Bettmann/CORBIS.

Grandma Lyn, Pioneer

(1) I always look forward to reunions with my mom’s family because she

comes from a lively group of interesting people. (2) No one is as interesting as

Grandma Lyn, though, and when the family got together, she is the one I most

want to see.

(3) Grandma Lyn was a pioneer. (4) You are probably picturing a woman in

a gingham dress walking next to a covered wagon, but Grandma Lyn did not

blaze that kind of trail. (5) She was a WASP in World War II. (6) WASP stands

for Women’s Airforce Service Pilot. (7) The WASPs flew support missions for the

Page 22 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Revising and Editing Passage 1

U.S. Army Air Force. (8) They flew planes from factories to bases, ferried aircraft

from one base to another, helped with training missions, and even taught male

pilots how to fly newly developed models. (9) Three of my great-uncles served in

the war, and one aunt was a nurse on a hospital ship. (10) In 1943 and 1944

more than 1,000 women served as WASPs. (11) These women flew more than

60 million miles in 77 different kinds of airplanes.

(12) When I first asked Grandma Lyn what had inspired her to fly, she got a

look in her eyes as if she were straining to see into the past. (13) “When I was

just about your age, Amelia Earhart came to our town hall to speak to the

chamber of commerce,” Grandma Lyn begun. (14) “She told us what it was like

to fly over the ocean alone. (15) I knew that I had to see the enormous blue

ocean she described, and I was determined to see it from the cockpit of my own

airplane.” (16) Grandma Lyn chuckled. (17) “It took many years, but I knew I

would eventually reach and attain my goal.”

(18) In 1942, when the government was looking for qualifyed women pilots,

Grandma Lyn was ready. (19) She had earned a high school diploma and a pilot’s

license, she had logged 512 hours of flying time. (20) She was selected for the

WASP program and flew planes from factories to air bases. (21) I asked

Grandma Lyn how she felt about her role in history. (22) “Oh, I’m proud to have

been in the military and to have served my country,” she said. (23) “But the

truth of the matter is that I just love flying! (24) I feel fortunite to have had the

opportunity.”

Page 23 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Revising and Editing Passage 1/Objective 6

1 What change, if any, should be made in 4 What change, if any, should be made in sentence 2? sentence 12?

A Change No one to Noone A Delete When B Delete the comma after Grandma Lyn B Delete the comma after fly C Change got to gets C Change were straining to is straining D Make no change D Make no change

2 What is the most effective way to combine 5 What change, if any, should be made in sentences 5 and 6? sentence 13?

A She was a WASP in World War II, WASP A Change your to you’re stands for Women’s Airforce Service Pilot. B Change the comma after commerce to a B She, a Women’s Airforce Service Pilot, was period a WASP in World War II. C Change begun to began C She was a WASP in World War II; D Make no change although WASP stands for Women’s Airforce Service Pilot. D She was a WASP, a Women’s Airforce Service Pilot, in World War II.

6 What is the most effective way to rewrite the ideas in sentence 17?

A “It took many years, but I knew I would 3 What is the most effective way to improve eventually attain my goal.” the organization of the second paragraph B “Although it took many years. I knew I (sentences 3–11)? would eventually reach and attain my goal.” A Delete sentence 3 C “It took many years, but I knew it, I would B Move sentence 7 to the beginning of the eventually attain my goal.” paragraph D “I knew it took many years to eventually C Move sentence 9 so that it follows reach and attain my goal.” sentence 3 D Delete sentence 9

Page 24 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Revising and Editing Passage 1/Objective 6

7 What change should be made in sentence 18? 9 What change, if any, should be made in sentence 24? A Change government to Government A Change fortunite to fortunate B Change was looking to were looking B Delete have C Change qualifyed to qualified C Delete the quotation marks at the end of D Delete the comma after pilots the sentence D Make no change

8 What revision, if any, is needed in sentence 19?

A Having earned a high school diploma and a pilot’s license. She had logged 512 hours of flying time. B She had earned a high school diploma and a pilot’s license, and she had logged 512 hours of flying time. C She had earned a high school diploma, and she had earned a pilot’s license, and she had logged 512 hours of flying time. D No revision is needed.

Page 25 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Revising and Editing Passage 2

Julia wrote this report for her science class. She wants you to review her paper. As you read, think about the corrections and improvements Julia should make. When you finish, answer the questions that follow.

Mars, Earth’s Neighbor

(1) During the summer of 2003, the planet Mars veered to within 35 million

miles of Earth. (2) That distance may sound enormous, but just six months

earlier Mars had been more than 160 million miles away. (3) Approximately

every 26 months the two planets pass each other as they orbit the sun. (4) But in

2003 this passing coincided with Mars being at it’s closest point to the sun.

(5) This brought the planets closer together than they had been for 60,000 years.

(6) As professional and amateur astronomers peered at Mars through their

telescopes. (7) Surely some wondered what a visit to this planet would be like.

(8) First of all, scientists say that Mars is very cold. (9) Even though the planet’s

red coloring makes it look warm, temperatures on Mars usually remain

significantly below freezing. (10) Temperatures can dip to 225 degrees

Fahrenheit below zero and can fluctuate more than 200 degrees in a single day.

(11) Despite these radical temperature changes a visitor to Mars would still

experience seasons. (12) The winter there, which is extremely cold, lasts for

almost five months. (13) During this time much of the planet is covered with a

sheet of dry ice, or frozen Carbon Dioxide. (14) In the summer the planet’s red

soil is kicked up by winds of more than 300 miles per hour.

Page 26 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Revising and Editing Passage 2

(15) But a visitor to Mars would notice more than just the weather. (16) He

or she would also see an environment of varied landscapes. (17) The planet’s

surface has been effected by violent volcanoes and massive meteors. (18) Some

areas indicate that great torrents of water may have once flowed into rivers and

lakes. (19) In addition, the annual windstorms have created giant sand dunes

and immense canyons, some so large that they dwarf Earth’s Grand Canyon.

(20) Although scientists have been studying and observing Mars for years,

average citizens became more interested in the planet as they came closer and

closer to Earth during 2003. (21) People began to ask questions. (22) What is

Mars like? (23) How does the environment on this planet compare with the

environment on our own planet? (24) Could life have ever existed on Mars?

(25) Scientists will continue to try to find answers to these questions, and

interested citizens will, too.

Page 27 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Revising and Editing Passage 2/Objective 6

1 What change, if any, should be made in 4 What change, if any, should be made in sentence 4? sentence 11?

A Change coincided to coinsided A Change radical to radically B Change it’s to its B Insert a comma after changes C Change the sun to it C Change experience to expereince D Make no change D Make no change

2 What revision, if any, is needed in 5 What change, if any, should be made in sentences 6 and 7? sentence 13?

A As professional and amateur astronomers A Insert it after the planet peered at Mars through their telescopes, B Insert a comma after covered surely some wondered what a visit to this planet would be like. C Change Carbon Dioxide to carbon dioxide B As professional and amateur astronomers peered at Mars through their telescopes, D Make no change surely some wondered. What a visit to this planet would be like. C As professional and amateur astronomers peering at Mars through their telescopes surely were wondering what a visit to this 6 Which sentence could most logically follow planet would be like. sentence 14? D No revision is needed. A The wind blows the planet’s soil. B Wind speed can fluctuate during a tornado. C This results in huge dust storms. 3 What transition word or phrase could be D Most of Earth’s soil is brown. added to the beginning of sentence 10?

A Regardless B Meanwhile C Obviously D In fact

Page 28 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Revising and Editing Passage 2/Objective 6

7 What change, if any, should be made in 9 What is the most effective way to revise sentence 17? sentence 25?

A Change effected to affected A Scientists will continue to try to find answers to these questions, interested B Change violent to violently citizens will, too. C Change massive to masive B Because scientists and interested citizens D Make no change will continue to try to find answers to these questions. C Scientists will continue to try to find answers to these questions if interested citizens will try to find answers to these questions, too. D Both scientists and interested citizens will continue to try to find answers to these questions. 8 What change, if any, should be made in sentence 20?

A Delete the comma B Change citizens to citizen’s C Change they to it D Make no change

Page 29 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Answer Key

Item Student Correct Number Expectation Answer LITERARY SELECTION OBJECTIVE 1 11BC 21ED OBJECTIVE 2 35AB 4 Fig. 19B A OBJECTIVE 3 55AB 65CC

EXPOSITORY SELECTION OBJECTIVE 1 78AD 88AD 99AA OBJECTIVE 2 10 9C B 11 9C D OBJECTIVE 3 12 9C D 13 9C C

CROSSOVER ITEMS 14 Fig. 19B B 15 Fig. 19B C

VISUAL REPRESENTATION OBJECTIVE 3 16 12B D 17 12B C

OPEN-ENDED ITEMS 18 Fig. 19B OE 19 9C OE 20 Fig. 19B OE

WRITING PROMPT 13B

Page 30 TAKS Grade 10 ELA 2010 Released Items Answer Key

Item Student Correct Number Expectation Answer REVISING AND EDITING PASSAGE 1 OBJECTIVE 6 1 13D C 2 13C D 3 15A D 4 13D D 5 13D C 6 13C A 7 19A C 8 17C B 9 19A A

REVISING AND EDITING PASSAGE 2 OBJECTIVE 6 1 13D B 2 17C A 3 15A D 4 18B B 5 18A C 6 15A C 7 13D A 8 13D C 9 13C D

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