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Grade 8 English Language Arts practice sheet

Nunavut Curriculum · from Gradelings · Name: ______________________

  1. Question 1

    What does skimming do?

    • gets the main idea quickly by looking at headings and key words
    • reads every word slowly
    • ignores the headings
    • copies the text

  2. Question 2

    Which detail best shows Ana is careful?

    The Night Market

    Stalls glowed under strings of lanterns, and the air smelled of grilled corn and sweet dough. Ana held her brother's hand tightly as the crowd pushed past.

    “Stay close,” she said. A moment later, the lights flickered, and the music stopped.

    • Lanterns hung over the stalls.
    • The music played.
    • She held her brother's hand tightly.
    • The air smelled of grilled corn.

  3. Question 3

    What does the author do in the final paragraph?

    Why We Keep Bees

    When the Hartman family started keeping bees on their roof in the city, their neighbours were nervous. Bees, they said, belonged in the countryside, not beside the laundromat.

    But researchers have found that cities can be surprisingly good homes for pollinators. A city garden, balcony pot or park offers flowers from early spring to late autumn, while farms often have only one crop that blooms for a few weeks. Many cities also use fewer pesticides than large farms.

    Still, urban beekeeping is not a perfect solution. Honey bees are not native to North America, and when too many hives crowd a neighbourhood they can compete with wild bees for food. Experts suggest that city dwellers who want to help should also plant native flowers and leave small patches of bare soil, where many wild bees nest.

    • Presents a limit to the idea and offers a suggestion
    • Tells a personal story
    • Describes how to build a hive
    • Compares two cities

  4. Question 4

    A story is told about a dog and shares only what the dog thinks and feels. What point of view is it?

    • third-person limited
    • second person
    • third-person omniscient
    • first person

  5. Question 5

    Which literary device does this excerpt use?

    The fire station burned down on Tuesday.

    • Simile
    • Alliteration
    • Hyperbole
    • Irony

  6. Question 6

    What does a caption do?

    • lists the sources at the end
    • names the author
    • introduces a new chapter
    • explains or adds information about a picture or graphic

  7. Question 7

    Which sentence is a stereotype?

    • All teenagers are lazy.
    • My cousin plays hockey.
    • Some teenagers volunteer.
    • Many teenagers work part-time.

  8. Question 8

    Which word has a more negative connotation than “curious”?

    • eager
    • nosy
    • inquisitive
    • interested

  9. Question 9

    When adding -ed to “stop”, you…

    • add an e: stopeed
    • double the final consonant: stopped
    • drop the p: stoed
    • keep it: stoped

  10. Question 10

    Rewrite in the active voice: “The cake was eaten by Mei.”

    • The cake ate Mei.
    • Mei ate the cake.
    • Eating was done by Mei.
    • The cake was Mei's.

Answer key

  1. 1. gets the main idea quickly by looking at headings and key words (Research & Inquiry)
  2. 2. She held her brother's hand tightly. (Reading Detective)
  3. 3. Presents a limit to the idea and offers a suggestion (Close Reading)
  4. 4. third-person limited (Whose Story Is It?)
  5. 5. Irony (Literary Devices)
  6. 6. explains or adds information about a picture or graphic (Forms, Patterns & Visuals)
  7. 7. All teenagers are lazy. (Fair & Inclusive Language)
  8. 8. nosy (Word Study)
  9. 9. double the final consonant: stopped (Precise Words & Spelling)
  10. 10. Mei ate the cake. (Grammar & Style)

Want more than 10 questions?

In Gradelings the questions change every time and adjust to your child, with hints and kind feedback. See all english language arts units.

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