English Language Arts 7 (Grade 7) Midterm — Full-Course Review

Part 1: Multiple Choice

1. A flashback is
   1. A. a hint about what will happen later
   2. B. the highest point of tension in a plot
   3. C. a scene that interrupts the present action to show an earlier event
   4. D. a conversation between two characters
2. How does a first-person point of view affect what the reader learns?
   1. A. The reader is addressed directly as "you" throughout.
   2. B. The reader learns nothing about the narrator's feelings.
   3. C. The reader sees only the narrator's own thoughts and observations.
   4. D. The reader knows every character's thoughts.
3. Read the summary: "A boy brags that he will win the race without training, but he loses to a classmate who practiced every day." Which statement best expresses the theme?
   1. A. Running is a popular school sport.
   2. B. Preparation and hard work matter more than bragging.
   3. C. Classmates should never compete with each other.
   4. D. Races are usually held in the spring.
4. Dramatic irony occurs when
   1. A. the audience knows something that a character does not
   2. B. events turn out the opposite of what is expected
   3. C. the author hints at later events
   4. D. a character says the opposite of what he means
5. Read the sentence: "The fire station burned down while the firefighters were away at a fire-safety training." What literary device does this show?
   1. A. Foreshadowing
   2. B. Flashback
   3. C. Dramatic irony
   4. D. Situational irony
6. "My two cousins didn't like that movie, so nobody will like it." What is wrong with this reasoning?
   1. A. It presents both sides fairly.
   2. B. It draws a broad conclusion from too few examples.
   3. C. It relies on an expert's opinion.
   4. D. It uses too many statistics.
7. An objective summary should
   1. A. leave out the reader's personal opinions
   2. B. include the reader's feelings about the topic
   3. C. retell every detail in order
   4. D. focus mainly on minor details
8. Read the sentence: "Although some people argue that homework is unnecessary, I believe a small amount each night builds habits that last a lifetime." How does the author handle the opposing view?
   1. A. The author acknowledges it, then states a different position.
   2. B. The author attacks the people who hold it.
   3. C. The author agrees with it completely.
   4. D. The author ignores it.
9. A writer claims, "The town should build a skate park." Which piece of evidence is irrelevant to this claim?
   1. A. A survey shows many local teens would use a skate park.
   2. B. Skateboarding first became popular in California.
   3. C. Nearby towns with skate parks report fewer skating injuries.
   4. D. Teens currently skate in parking lots, which is unsafe.
10. Which is a primary source about life during the Civil War?
    1. A. A letter written by a soldier during the war
    2. B. A documentary made in 2010
    3. C. A modern textbook chapter about the war
    4. D. An encyclopedia article about the war
11. The denotation of a word is
    1. A. its dictionary definition
    2. B. the feelings connected to it
    3. C. the number of syllables it has
    4. D. its spelling in another language
12. The words "chronological" and "chronicle" share the Greek root "chron." What does "chron" mean?
    1. A. Earth
    2. B. Sound
    3. C. Light
    4. D. Time
13. Complete the analogy: Hot is to cold as tall is to ___.
    1. A. Giant
    2. B. Height
    3. C. Short
    4. D. Warm
14. In the word "international," what does the prefix "inter-" mean?
    1. A. Between
    2. B. Against
    3. C. Inside
    4. D. Before
15. Read the sentence: "The committee voted to table the discussion until next week." What does "table" mean here?
    1. A. Postpone
    2. B. Organize into rows
    3. C. Serve food
    4. D. Write down
16. Read the sentence: "Jada likes pizza, but her brother prefers tacos." What type of sentence is this?
    1. A. Compound-complex
    2. B. Compound
    3. C. Complex
    4. D. Simple
17. Read the sentence: "The cat hid under the old porch." Which words form a prepositional phrase?
    1. A. hid under
    2. B. under the old porch
    3. C. cat hid under
    4. D. The cat hid
18. Which sentence correctly uses a comma between coordinate adjectives?
    1. A. It was a long hot, afternoon.
    2. B. It was a, long hot afternoon.
    3. C. It was a long, hot afternoon.
    4. D. It was, a long hot afternoon.
19. An independent clause
    1. A. can stand alone as a complete sentence
    2. B. does not contain a verb
    3. C. must be joined to another clause
    4. D. always begins with a word like because or when
20. Which sentence correctly fixes this dangling modifier? "Walking to school, the rain soaked my backpack."
    1. A. Walking to school the rain, soaked my backpack.
    2. B. Walking to school, my backpack got soaked by the rain.
    3. C. As I walked to school, the rain soaked my backpack.
    4. D. The rain soaked my backpack, walking to school.
21. Which is the best revision of this wordy sentence? "Due to the fact that it was raining outside, the game was postponed until a later time."
    1. A. Because it was raining, the game was postponed.
    2. B. Due to the fact of rain outside, the game was postponed until later.
    3. C. It was raining outside, and due to that fact the game was postponed until a later time.
    4. D. The game, due to the fact that it rained, was postponed later.
22. Which is the best-focused research question?
    1. A. Are animals interesting?
    2. B. How does plastic pollution affect sea turtles?
    3. C. What is the ocean?
    4. D. Do you like sea turtles?
23. What is plagiarism?
    1. A. Using someone else's words or ideas without giving credit
    2. B. Asking a librarian for help finding sources
    3. C. Summarizing a source and citing it
    4. D. Quoting a source with quotation marks and a citation
24. In an argument essay, reasons and evidence are used to
    1. A. support the claim
    2. B. describe the setting
    3. C. introduce a new topic
    4. D. replace the counterclaim
25. When using a direct quotation, a writer must
    1. A. change the words to sound more formal
    2. B. use the source's exact words in quotation marks and give credit
    3. C. leave out the author's name
    4. D. combine it with the writer's own opinion inside the quotation marks
26. Which phrase is an oxymoron?
    1. A. Deafening silence
    2. B. Rushing river
    3. C. Gentle breeze
    4. D. Bright sunshine
27. In literature, a symbol is
    1. A. a direct statement of the theme
    2. B. an object or image that stands for a larger idea
    3. C. a pause in the middle of a line
    4. D. a word that sounds like what it means
28. In poetry, meter is
    1. A. the poem's main message
    2. B. the repeated sounds at the ends of lines
    3. C. the number of stanzas in a poem
    4. D. the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables
29. How many lines does a traditional sonnet have?
    1. A. Twelve
    2. B. Ten
    3. C. Sixteen
    4. D. Fourteen
30. Read the passage: "Oh, wonderful. Another Monday morning with a flat tire. Just what I needed." What is the speaker's tone?
    1. A. Peaceful
    2. B. Joyful
    3. C. Sarcastic
    4. D. Grateful

Part 2: Written Response

31. Choose three unfamiliar words from your reading. For each, explain how you used context clues or Greek and Latin roots to figure out its meaning, then check it against a dictionary.
32. Choose a poem you have read. Explain how its structure (lines, stanzas, rhyme, or meter) and one type of figurative language contribute to its meaning or tone.