Student Team Literature
Standardized Reading Practice Test
Freedom’s Children
(Puffin Books, 2000)
Reading Vocabulary
DIRECTIONS
Choose the word that means the same, or about
the same, as the underlined word. Circle the
letter for the answer you have chosen.
SAMPLE A
A pertinent fact is
A impossible
B untrue
C unimportant
D important
5. To deprive is to
A
B
C
D
give back to
tell lies about
scatter around
take away from
6. A spectrum is
F
G
H
J
a narrow passage
a broad range
a kind of vehicle
a kind of eyewear
7. Something that is massive is
1. Remote means
A
B
C
D
distant
automatic
distinct
familiar
2. To be blatant is to be
F
G
H
J
stubborn
furious
obvious
silly
3. Extensively means
A
B
C
D
extraordinarily
widely
virtually
evidently
4. An anticipated event is
F
G
H
J
expected
unexpected
unusual
common
A
B
C
D
wicked
wonderful
well-known
widespread
8. To mobilize is to
F
G
H
J
make angry
organize for action
refuse to ride buses
call for peace and calm
9. A decade is equal to
A
B
C
D
ten years
twenty years
fifty years
one hundred years
10. Something done collectively is done
F
G
H
J
as an individual
without permission
as a group
in secret
Talent Development Secondary · Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland · 2012
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DIRECTIONS
Read the sentence in the box, then choose the
answer in which the underlined word is used
in the same way. Circle the letter for the
answer you have chosen.
SAMPLE B
The young people who tell their stories in
the section on segregated schools reflect
the full range of this experience.
In which sentence does the word range
mean the same thing as in the sentence
above?
A The babysitter warned the children to
stay far away from the range while pots
were boiling.
B The professor’s range of knowledge
went far beyond the subject he taught.
C Many thousands of buffalo used to range
over the prairie in the nineteenth century.
D Can you name the range of mountains
along the west coast of South America?
11.
Two or three days later we had a mass
meeting and some of the Freedom Riders
came.
In which sentence does the word mass mean
the same thing as in the sentence above?
A Vincent’s family attends Mass every
Sunday.
B The presidential candidate spoke at mass
gatherings of voters from across the state.
C Kurt made an appointment with his doctor
when he discovered a mass in his neck.
D The mass of an object is not exactly the
same thing as its weight.
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12.
The evil of racism was clear to the world.
In which sentence does the word clear mean
the same thing as in the sentence above?
F The guard asked the concert goers to
clear the area in front of the stage.
G Miss Saunders’ explanation made the
math problem clear to me.
H The pilot was waiting for air traffic control
to clear his plane for takeoff.
J We could see the whole room through the
clear glass windows.
13.
Most guys would be hanging around the
pool rooms, or hanging on the corner.
In which sentence does the word pool mean
the same thing as in the sentence above?
A The water in the pool is dark and muddy
and not safe for swimming.
B The club members decided to pool their
resources to pay for a child to attend
summer camp.
C My uncle won $200 in the football pool
because he bet on the winning team.
D Carter challenged his friends to a game of
pool.
14.
I believed they were dead ’cause I knew
Philadelphia was mean, mean people there,
very hateful and prejudiced people.
In which sentence does the word mean
mean the same thing as in the sentence
above?
F In math, a mean is a middle point
between two numbers.
G Gina did not intend to be mean to her
sister.
H In the Middle Ages, peasants could not
rise above their mean and lowly condition.
J I am not sure what you mean by that
remark.
Talent Development Secondary · Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland · 2012
DIRECTIONS
As you read each sentence, use the other words
in the sentence to help you figure out what the
underlined word means. Circle the letter for the
answer you have chosen.
SAMPLE C
Even young black children knew… that
blacks were beaten, arrested, terrorized,
and even murdered, with little or no
recourse under the law. They knew that
white judges often dismissed cases
brought by blacks. They knew that if a
case did go to trial, all-white juries rarely
would convict a white for a crime against
a black.
Recourse means-A gaining approval
B finding help
C suffering injustice
D asking forgiveness
15. I guess something happened to me,
particularly as I began to listen to Dr.
King’s speeches… You know the mastery
of the English language that Dr. King had.
I can remember the euphoria and how he
would turn people on.
Euphoria means-A excitement
B exhaustion
C boredom
D confusion
16. We actually saw hundreds and hundreds of
white people standing around watching
others beat a black man with chains just
because he wanted to enroll his children…
To actually witness something as brutal as
that went real, real deep with me.
Brutal means -F unthinking
G mild
H cruel
J justified
17. The jails were full, so they loaded us on
the bus again and took us to Fair Park.
This was the same fairgrounds amusement
park I couldn’t go to as a kid because they
didn’t allow black people in there. It was
pretty ironic.
Ironic means A understandable
B appropriate
C surprising
D logical
18. And I heard Fannie Lou Hamer saying ,
“Let’s not do this.” I was so proud of the
stance that Mrs. Hamer took. I think she
was just right on target, and I was very
proud that she was unwilling to
compromise. Stance means -F position
G plea
H overtone
J role
19. I wanted to know about voting. I didn’t
know what that was about. And then I
wanted to know who was this man Dr.
Martin Luther King… My parents knew of
his name, but it was like I shouldn’t know
him or want to know him. This made me
even more inquisitive.
Inquisitive means -A ignorant
B intelligent
C surprised
D curious
20. When I was five or six, I besieged my
parents with questions, and then they
talked to me.
Besieged means -F excited
G encouraged
H hammered at
J teased
Talent Development Secondary · Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland · 2012
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Reading Comprehension
DIRECTIONS
Read each passage, then read each question about the passage. Decide which is the best answer to
the question. Circle the letter for the answer you have chosen.
SAMPLE
2 ♦ The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Beginning of the Movement
“Another Negro woman has been arrested and thrown in jail because she refused to get up out of
her seat on the bus for a white person to sit down. It is the second time since the Claudette Colvin
case that a Negro woman has been arrested for the same thing. This has to be stopped. Negroes
have rights too, for if Negroes did not ride the buses, they could not operate. Three-fourths of the
riders are Negroes, yet we are arrested or have to stand over empty seats. If we do not do
something to stop these arrests, they will continue. The next time it may be you, or your daughter,
or mother. This woman’s case will come up on Monday. We are, therefore, asking every Negro to
stay off the buses Monday in protest of the arrest and trial. Don’t ride the buses to work, to town,
to school, or anywhere on Monday. You can afford to stay out of school for one day if you have no
other way to go except by bus. You can also afford to stay out of town for one day. If you work,
take a cab or walk. But please, children and grown-ups, don’t ride the bus at all on Monday.
Please stay off all buses Monday.”
1. What audience was this speaker
addressing?
A the white people of Montgomery
B the bus drivers of Montgomery
C the Negroes of Montgomery
D all people who ride Montgomery buses
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2. Which of the following is not a reason that
Negroes were asked to boycott buses on
Monday?
F Negroes had rights.
G Arrests would continue if something was
not done.
H The arrested woman’s trial was on
Monday.
J Schools would close on Monday.
Talent Development Secondary · Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland · 2012
3 ♦ Different Classrooms: Segregation and Integration in the Schools
In 1957 I was starting the ninth grade and supposed to go to Parker, an all-black high school.
Phillips was all-white. Where I lived, you’d have to go past Phillips to get to Parker. It didn’t make
sense. Phillips had much more to offer. At Parker we didn’t have the equipment or the facilities. I
knew Phillips was a better school. So we decided to enroll. It was an effort to break down
segregation. Daddy said, “you’re going,” and I trusted his judgment.
I didn’t expect the mob that was there. It’s not that I expected a positive reception either. They
hadn’t been positive for the other things we did, like the bus rides or sit-ins. But even before we
pulled up, when we turned up the street, we saw this tremendous number of people. All whites.
Everywhere. I don’t remember any of the dialogue that went on. I just thought, Are we going in
there?
I could not believe that Daddy got out of the car. The crowd started to beat him. Mother got out.
Then I started to get out of the car to get my mother and my father, and somebody slammed the
door on my right ankle. There was mass confusion, but I have blanked it out of my mind. My sister
and I have never talked about what happened that day.
Somehow we were all back in the car. Reverend Phifer was with us that day. I remember Daddy
saying, “Don’t run the stop sign.” We went to a hospital. Daddy was on a stretcher, and he wanted
to know if everybody was okay. We sat in the hall for a while waiting. I didn’t know what was
happening, if Daddy was okay. He was broken down, shallow breathing, and I thought he was
dying. I couldn’t believe people would hurt him like that. They beat him with chains and stuff. I was
just in shock that they were so vicious.
1. Choose the words that best describe the
feelings of the speaker in this passage.
A alert and confident
B shocked and unbelieving
C angry and rebellious
D aggressive and brave
2. The underlined term “blanked it out of my
mind” means
F was unable to think.
G pushed the memory away.
H stored the memory carefully.
J used hypnosis to forget it.
3. We can infer that Daddy warned Reverend
Phifer not to run the stop sign because
A other cars were in the way.
B he was in no hurry to get to the
hospital.
C he wanted to slow down to see the
mob.
D he did not want to provide the police
with any excuse to arrest them.
4. Choose the best title for this passage.
F
Parker High School versus Phillips
High School
G How to Handle an Angry Mob
H Daddy Knows Best
J An Unsuccessful Desegregation
Attempt
5. We can infer that the sisters never talked
about what happened that day because
A the memory was too painful.
B they did not enroll at Phillips High
School.
C their father almost died that day.
D they forgot what had happened.
6. From this passage, you can predict that
F
desegregating schools in the South
would be very difficult.
G Daddy would never recover from the
beating he suffered.
H the white segregationists would win.
J the speaker would eventually enroll at
Phillips High School.
GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE
Talent Development Secondary · Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland · 2012
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3 ♦ Different Classrooms: Segregation and Integration in the Schools
The first month with the troops and all of the media attention had been a point of high euphoria.
In fact, conditions in the school were fairly tranquil. You had this great show of force. And also the
most avid of the segregationists were boycotting classes at that point. When the segregationists
realized that we weren’t leaving, they started coming back. And when they came back, all hell
started breaking loose. From around Thanksgiving until about March or April, it really was like
having to fight hand-to-hand combat. It was trench warfare.
As they withdrew the troops from inside the corridors, you were subjected to all kinds of taunts,
someone trying to trip you, pour ink on you, in some other way ruin your clothing, and at worst,
someone physically attacking you. I never had ink thrown on me. I got hit with water guns. We got
calls at all times of the night – people saying they were going to have acid in the water guns and
they were going to squirt in our faces.
The biggest problems were in the halls and in physical education. In both places you had large
numbers of students. The most difficult place for me was phys. ed., and that class was a
requirement. The instructors just didn’t want us there, and they didn’t hide it a lot. When we were
playing soccer or another activity, they didn’t make any effort to pair you with students who were
supportive. You got the feeling they deliberately put you with the most hostile kids.
When we’d come back to the locker room to shower, the students would always steam up the
room and snap wet towels at us. It was a daily ritual. You just dreaded having to go to phys. ed.
7.
8.
During the first month conditions in the
school were fairly tranquil because
A the black students were determined to
be nonviolent.
B the most extreme segregationists were
boycotting school.
C the troops withdrew.
D the segregationists realized the black
students were not leaving.
Describing conditions in the school
between Thanksgiving and April as
“trench warfare” is a
F simile.
G personification.
H metaphor.
J foreshadowing.
9.
The taunts endured by the black students
included
A threatening phone calls in the night.
B media attention.
C being paired with weaker students in
phys. ed.
D being squirted with water guns
containing acid.
10. Why did the speaker in this passage
dread going to phys. ed.?
F The instructors did not hide the fact
that they did not want him there.
G Other students snapped wet towels at
him.
H He was paired with the most hostile
kids for soccer and other activities.
J All of the above.
GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE
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Talent Development Secondary · Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland · 2012
7 ♦ Bloody Sunday and the Selma Movement
As a result of the Selma demonstrations, President Johnson urged passage of a law to
protect voting rights, which Congress passed later that year. Under the law, federal, not state
or local, officials conducted registration. The law suspended literacy tests and other
discriminatory voting rules, and provided for federal government oversight of election
procedures to prevent discrimination.
Some people believe that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has had the most far-reaching
effect of any civil rights legislation in promoting equality for blacks in America. In Selma the
effect was clear. The year after the act was passed over nine thousand blacks registered and
then voted Sheriff Jim Clark out of office.
11. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 protected
blacks’ rights by
A suspending discriminatory voting rules.
B putting blacks under the protection of
state officials.
C voting Sheriff Jim Clark out of office.
D re-electing President Johnson.
12. The law gave oversight of election procedures to
F the local government.
G the President.
H the state government.
J the federal government.
13. Which of the following best fits in the “effect” space below?
A
B
C
D
President Johnson urged passage of a law to protect voting rights.
Over nine thousand blacks passed the literacy test.
Local officials conducted voter registration.
Sheriff Jim Clark was voted out of office.
EFFECT
CAUSE
The Selma
demonstrations
14. Which of the following best fits in the “cause” arrow below?
F Sheriff Jim Clark was voted out of office.
G The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed.
H Federal officials conducted literacy tests.
J Demonstrations continued after Selma.
EFFECT
CAUSE
Over nine thousand
blacks registered to
vote.
GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE
Talent Development Secondary · Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland · 2012
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15. Which of the following changes did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 bring about?
F Federal officials had oversight of election procedures.
G Literacy tests were suspended.
H State and local officials could no longer prevent blacks from registering to vote.
J All of the above.
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Talent Development Secondary · Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland · 2012