NWEA Reading 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student reads a passage about dolphins and finds the sentence: 'Dolphins use echolocation to navigate murky waters.' What is the meaning of 'navigate' in this context?
- To feed on fish
- To find one's way through (Correct answer)
- To communicate with others
- To dive deeply underwater
Correct answer: To find one's way through
'Navigate' means to find a path or route through an area, which is what dolphins do using echolocation in murky water.
Question 2: Which text structure is used when an author explains what causes something to happen and what results from it?
- Sequence
- Compare and contrast
- Cause and effect (Correct answer)
- Problem and solution
Correct answer: Cause and effect
Cause and effect text structure describes why something happens and the outcome or result of that event.
Question 3: A poem includes the line: 'The stars are diamonds scattered on black velvet.' This is an example of which literary device?
- Simile
- Personification
- Metaphor (Correct answer)
- Alliteration
Correct answer: Metaphor
A metaphor directly compares two unlike things without using 'like' or 'as,' calling the stars diamonds.
Question 4: When a reader uses context clues, they are doing which of the following?
- Skipping unfamiliar words to keep reading
- Using surrounding words and sentences to figure out word meaning (Correct answer)
- Looking up every word in a dictionary
- Re-reading the entire passage from the beginning
Correct answer: Using surrounding words and sentences to figure out word meaning
Context clues are hints within the surrounding text that help readers determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word.
Question 5: An author writes an article arguing that schools should have longer recess periods. What is the author's purpose?
- To entertain readers with a funny story about recess
- To inform readers about the history of recess
- To persuade readers that longer recess is beneficial (Correct answer)
- To describe what activities happen during recess
Correct answer: To persuade readers that longer recess is beneficial
When an author makes an argument for or against something, their purpose is to persuade the reader to agree with their position.
Question 6: Read this sentence: 'After hours of searching, Mia finally discovered the hidden key beneath the loose floorboard.' What can the reader infer from this sentence?
- Mia lost her key recently
- The key was difficult to find (Correct answer)
- Mia does not own the house
- The floorboard was recently repaired
Correct answer: The key was difficult to find
The words 'hours of searching' and 'finally' suggest that finding the key required significant effort, implying it was hard to find.
Question 7: In a nonfiction text, what is the purpose of a heading?
- To provide the author's personal opinion
- To list the sources used in the text
- To tell the reader what a section is mainly about (Correct answer)
- To summarize the entire article
Correct answer: To tell the reader what a section is mainly about
Headings are text features that signal the main topic of the section that follows, helping readers organize information.
NWEA Reading 2
A student reads a passage about dolphins and finds the sentence: 'Dolphins use echolocation to navigate murky waters.' What is the meaning of 'navigate' in this context?