Miss Alaineus test – DIRECTIONS: DO NOT WRITE ON THIS TEST. Bubble the letter
for the best answer on your answer document. (4 points each for multiple choice
questions)
Read “The Big Contest” and answer questions 1 – 6.
The Big Contest
“We’ll win this contest,” José bragged to Aisha at recess.
“How?” Aisha moaned. “Why did the fifth grade pick us to represent them in the
Big Bake Off?”
“You don’t give us enough credit,” José said. “We’re capable kids, smart and
good at many things. The contest has many different categories and divisions we can
enter. And besides, I’ve got a foolproof plan that’s going to make sure we win.”
Suddenly, Aisha was at recess last year, listening to another one of José’s
foolproof plans. That one had gotten them into big trouble. José was so positive they
could win. They were thrown out of the contest altogether.
“Aisha, are you listening?” asked José.
Aisha shook herself and said, “What’s your plan?”
“We’ll bake a gigantic cake,” José answered. “It will be huge, and we’ll get the
prize for the biggest cake.”
Aisha said, “You know what, José? You’re on to something!”
The next day Aisha and José went shopping to buy the ingredients. At Aisha’s
house they washed their hands and started.
“We’ll just bake a few cakes at a time, and then we can put them together with a
lot of frosting,” Aisha said.
They measured and mixed, sifted and stirred, and baked. Soon it was evening,
and the luminous dial on the clock glowed in the dark. Cakes were everywhere, and the
kids slumped against the counter in exhaustion.
“I’ll never stand up straight again,” José moaned.
“Uh-oh,” Aisha said, as she brushed strands of hair out of her eyes.
“We’d better throw out this part of the cake because it’s soggy.”
“So it’s a little mushy,” José said. “It will dry out.”
The next day José and Aisha brought the huge cake to school. The judges tasted
all the other cakes and smiled a lot, but they did not taste the gigantic cake José and
Aisha had baked.
“This looks bad for us,” Aisha whispered.
“We’ll win,” José said, but he was not so sure.
The judges cleared their throats. “First prize for the biggest cake goes to,” the
entire fifth grade held their breath as the judges said, “José and Aisha and the fifth
grade!”
“I said it was inevitable we would win,” José said with a smile. “I knew it all
along!”
1. “The contest has many different categories and divisions we can enter.” Which word
in the sentence means about the same as categories?
a. contest
c. divisions
b. different
d. enter
2. What is a synonym for gigantic in this sentence?
The two friends baked a gigantic cake.
a. average
b. beautiful
c. enormous
d. delicious
3. “Soon it was evening, and the luminous dial on the clock glowed in the dark.” Which
word helps you understand the meaning of luminous?
a. evening
c. glowed
b. dial
d. dark
4. Which word could replace soggy in this sentence?
Aisha wants to throw out part of the cake because it has become soggy.
a. stale
b. firm
c. overcooked
d. mushy
5. We can infer that José is what kind of person?
a. unsure
c. confident
b. quiet
d. impatient
6. We can infer that Aisha is what kind of person?
a. fearful
c. stubborn
b. pushy
d. cooperative
Read “Treasure Hunters” and answer questions 7 – 13.
Treasure Hunters
Many people get stars in their eyes at the thought of buried treasure. They imagine
pirate ships and chests filled with gold. Some people do more than dream about buried
treasure. They use metal detectors to hunt for it.
These machines use radio waves to locate metal objects underground. When a wave
hits an object, it bounces back to the machine. The device then makes noise. A metal
detector can point out objects buried up to eight inches deep.
You can see people using metal detectors on beaches and empty lots, in fields and
parks. Treasure hunters come from all walks of life. They are joined by the thrill of
searching for lost riches. Some even find them. A woman named Lillian Rade recently
unearthed an old silver coin in a potato field. Minted in 1652, the coin was worth more
than $35,000. Digging it up was an exciting moment.
Michael Miller hunts for treasure on beaches. There he finds gold and silver jewelry
lost in the sand. If he thinks he can find the original owner, he takes out a newspaper
ad. Miller enjoys treasure hunting, but he also uses it to protect the environment. Often,
he’ll dig up only a rusty old nail or can. He doesn’t leave these dangerous things on the
beaches he loves. Instead, he throws them in a garbage can. It’s his way of keeping the
beaches safe.
Treasure hunters also help us learn about the past. One group went to Romania and
found statues more than a thousand years old. Another team dug up bullets on an old
battlefield to help figure out how many people had once fought there. Both trips were
great adventures.
Few treasure hunters ever make a fortune. However, they do prize the thank-you
letters they get from grateful owners of lost objects found and returned. For most
treasure hunters, the excitement of the search is reward enough. As a treasure hunter
might say, “You just never know what we’ll dig up next!”
7. Treasure hunters dug up bullets on an old battlefield because they wanted to _____
a. find out how many people fought there.
b. find out what kinds of guns were used.
c. melt the bullets for the silver.
d. sell the bullets to collectors.
8. If Michael Miller found a bracelet with someone’s name written on it he would
probably _____
a. give it to someone else.
b. keep it for himself.
c. try to sell it.
d. try to find the owner.
9. A metal detector makes noise when it finds an object because _____
a. it has a special sensor.
b. it is low on batteries.
c. it works like a clock.
d. the radio waves bounce back to it.
10. Most people who use metal detectors do so because they _____
a. enjoy the thrill of the search.
b. expect to find riches.
c. lost something important.
d. want to clean the beaches.
11. A woman unearthed an old coin. Using context clues, a synonym for unearthed is
a. bounced back from.
b. come from.
c. dug up.
d. think of.
12. The device in this story made noise. The word device refers to _____
a. a silver coin.
b. the metal detector.
c. a treasure hunter.
d. any piece of metal.
13. “Many people get stars in their eyes” is an example of which type of figurative
language?
a. personification
b. hyperbole
c. metaphor
d. idiom
Use a dictionary OR thesaurus to answer questions 14 – 15 only. USE THE SAME
WORD FOR 14 and 15 to ensure they use the right source.
14. What are the guide words for jerk in the dictionary?
15. What are the guide words for jerk in the thesaurus?
For questions 16 – 17 refer to “The National Spelling Bee” on pages 42 – 45.
16. Which of the following is not true about the National Spelling Bee?
a. The number of contestants has grown.
b. The number of contestants has lessened.
c. Initially there were nine contestants.
d. In 2004 there were 265 contestants.
17. When comparing and contrasting David from “The Spelling Bee” and Sage from
Miss Alaineus, which of the following is not true?
a. David and Sage both had a list of words to study.
b. David created a list whereas Sage was given a list by her friend.
c. Words from both lists were chosen by students.
d. Both contests encourage students to improve their spelling.
For questions 18 - 24 refer to Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster.
18. At which point in the story did Sage “learn” that miscellaneous was Miss Alaineus?
a. on the phone with Starr
b. while drawing the picture for extra credit
c. in the flashback where Sage and her mom are in the grocery store
d. when she embarrassed herself in class
19. Which definition of miscellaneous is utilized in Sage’s costume?
a. 1
b. 2
c. both a and b
d. neither a nor b
20. “The day took a week to end” is which type of figurative language?
a. personification
b. hyperbole
c. simile
d. onomatopoeia
21. Which of the following is not a simile?
a. …my head felt like it was stuffed with cotton…
b. …the spaghetti look just like the ends of the strands of her hair.
c. …I try to make the definitions sound like I looked them up.
d. …my mistake was a heavy dictionary pressing on my heart.
22. “My mistake was still alive and well” is which type of figurative language?
a. personification
b. hyperbole
c. metaphor
d. imagery
23. “And she hung up the phone with a crash” is which type of figurative language?
a. metaphor
b. hyperbole
c. simile
d. onomatopoeia
24. Sage’s mother offers advice to Sage in the form of two adages: “Pride goeth before
a fall” and “There’s gold in every mistake”. Which adage do you think helped Sage
learn the biggest lesson? What lesson was learned? Use details to support you
answer.
(8 points)