ACCESS for ELLs VIP Practice Exam — Grades 6–12
ACCESS — ACCESS for ELLs (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners) is an annual standardized English language proficiency assessment administered by the WIDA Consortium to K–12 English Language Learners in member states; it evaluates four language domains — Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing — across academic content areas and assigns proficiency levels 1 (Entering) through 6 (Reaching). Because ACCESS uses proficiency-level scoring rather than a traditional pass/fail threshold, the 75% benchmark in this practice set is an original editorial standard. This exam mirrors the Tier B/C upper-grade (6–12) reading, vocabulary, grammar, and academic language sections at WIDA levels 4–5 (Expanding to Bridging).
Read the following passage and answer the question. 'The world's oceans absorb approximately 30 percent of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere each year. While this absorption helps moderate global temperatures, it has a significant side effect: ocean acidification. When carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater, it forms carbonic acid, which lowers the pH of the ocean. Since the Industrial Revolution, the average pH of the ocean's surface water has dropped from 8.2 to 8.1 — a seemingly small change that represents a 26 percent increase in acidity.' What is the main idea of this paragraph?
Questions 2–54 and full explanations are VIP-exclusive.