Question

standardized test practice
read each passage and choose the word or group of words that belongs in each space. mark the letter for your answer on your paper.

the students crowded around jorry’s locker. they were clearly (1) about the trip to the amusement park that saturday. suddenly, jorry saw will walking out the door. “will, are you (2) with - out making plans for saturday?”

“i can’t come,” will replied. “i need to use the extra day to paint my parents’ garage. it (3) for weeks.”

later that afternoon, will was watching tv at home when he heard a noise from out in the backyard. he looked out the window and saw his friends. they had brought ladders, paint, and brushes, and were busy scraping the old paint from the garage.

“if we all help, the garage will be painted by the weekend,” called jorry when she saw will. “you’ll have to try (4) than that to get away from us!”

1 a excitement
b excite
c exciting
d excited

2 f leaving
g have left
h left
j had been leaving

3 a had been planned
b will be planned
c has been planned
d is being planned

4 f more hard
g hardly
h most hardly
j harder

most people (1) of finding a pirate’s treasure. barry clifford actually found one. using a map from the year 1717, mr. clifford spent fifteen years searching the coast off massachusetts for the sunken remains of a ship called the whydah. mr. clifford has found more than 100,000 items from the ship already, but says he (2) find everything. the sea has spread the treasures far and wide.

some preservationists feel that the whydah should be (3) property. they (4) historic artifacts such as the sunken ship should be kept in museums. however, massachusetts law says that the ship and everything mr. clifford finds belong to him.

1 a has dreamed
b have dreamed
c is dreaming
d were dreaming

2 f will barely never
g will not never
h will hardly never
j will probably never

3 a publishly
b publication
c publishes
d public

4 f think
g thought
h had thought
i was thinking

Explanation:

First Passage (Left Page)

1. For blank (1): The word describes the students' feeling, so we need an adjective that refers to a person's state. "Excited" is the correct form for describing people's emotions.
2. For blank (2): The sentence uses "are you", which requires a present participle to form the present continuous tense, indicating an ongoing action.
3. For blank (3): The phrase "for weeks" shows an action that started in the past and is still ongoing, so the present perfect continuous passive tense is correct.
4. For blank (4): The word "than" indicates a comparative form, so we use the comparative of "hard".

1. For blank (1): "Most people" is a plural subject, and the context refers to a long-held, ongoing desire, so the present perfect tense is correct.
2. For blank (2): The sentence needs a logical phrase to mean he will not likely find everything; "will probably never" fits the context of the sea spreading treasures widely.
3. For blank (3): The sentence refers to the ship being designated as public property, so we need an adjective form to describe "property".
4. For blank (4): The context is that preservationists believe artifacts should be kept in museums, so the past tense "thought" correctly reflects their stated belief.

Answer:

1. D. excited
2. F. leaving
3. C. has been planned
4. J. harder

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Second Passage (Right Page)