Directions:
You will be taking the Grade 3 English Language Arts/Literacy Post-test.
You will be asked to read a passage. Read the passage and answer all the questions carefully. Some questions will ask you to choose one correct answer, while others will ask you to choose more than one correct answer. You may look back at the passage when needed.
To answer a question, click on the circle or circles of the correct answer.
Read the passage from Pordy’s Prickly Problem. Then answer questions 1 to 5.
From Pordy’s Prickly Problem
by Janette Oke
1 It wasn’t that I didn’t want to climb. After all, porcupines are supposed to climb. It seemed that it would be fun up in the tree with Mother. And it wasn’t that I wanted to stay on the ground all alone. It was scary being there all by myself.
2 But the tree was so tall and so straight. It seemed such a long, long way up to the lowest branch. The little nails on the ends of my toes felt too weak to dig into the bark and keep my body from falling. If I fell—it was such a long, long way down. And the ground, where I would land with a thump, was so hard. I just knew it would knock the wind right out of me.
3 I looked up at Mother again and whimpered in fright.
4 “Come on, Pordy,” she coaxed for the tenth “Come on up. You’re not safe down there.”
5 I looked up at the tall tree with its branches that seemed to reach up to the sky. I felt a lot safer right where I was than where Mother wanted me to be.
6 I curled up in a tight ball, tucked my neck in, and shut my eyes to block out the sight of the tree and Mother.
7 “Come on,” Mother called again.
8 “I can’t,” I was just too scared.
9 I watched Mother back all the way down the trunk. At first she said nothing, just drew me close and held me until my body stopped shaking. Then, still holding me, she talked softly.
10 “Now, Pordy,” she My name is really Pordillia, but Mother calls me Pordy. “Pordy, you have grown too big to stay in the nest on the ground. You must learn to eat from the trees now. We live up there.” Mother pointed up the tree to the high branches.
11 “It is too dangerous for us on the ground. We cannot run as fast as the fox or deer. We can’t hide as easily as the rabbits or weasels. We can’t dash for a tree as quickly as the squirrels. So we stay up there. Safe. Up in the branches. We have everything we need up there. Food. Water from the dew. A safe place to sleep. Everything.”
12 I nodded so Mother would know that I had been listening.
13 “You understand?” she prodded gently.
14 I nodded again.
“Pordy’s Prickly Problem” copyright © 2001 by Janette Oke. Illustrated by Nancy Munger. Used by permission of Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
