Grade 6 ELA Practice Test: Theme and Inference in Stories and Poems
- Theme and Inference in Stories and Poems
- 10 questions
- 15 minutes
A short story and a poem, each with five questions. Tip: a theme is a message about life that could apply to many people, so it is usually a full sentence, not a single word like "friendship."
Tap an option to mark your answer. You can change your mind, or tap the same option again to leave the question blank. The correct answers and explanations appear when you finish the test.Tap an option to answer; tap it again to leave the question blank.
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Question 1
Read the story and answer questions 1-5.
The Plain Kite
(1) Every spring, the village held a kite contest on Miller's Hill. For three years, Jun had built the biggest kite, covered in shiny paper and long ribbon tails, and for three years it had crashed within a minute.
(2) This year his little sister, Hana, asked to help. She cut the tails shorter and made the frame lighter. Jun grumbled that the kite now looked "plain."
(3) On contest day, the wind pulled hard. Bright, heavy kites spun into the grass one after another. The plain kite climbed, steadied and stayed.
(4) Jun held the string and said nothing for a long time. Then he handed the spool to Hana.
Which theme does the story best express?
Correct answer: A
Jun's kites failed until he let Hana change the design, and her ideas made the kite fly. The story shows the opposite of younger children always following older ones.
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Question 2
Why does Jun most likely grumble about Hana's changes?
Correct answer: C
He complains that the kite looks "plain," which shows he values a flashy look. Hana actually made the kite lighter, so "too heavy" is wrong.
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Question 3
What does Jun's action at the end of the story show?
Correct answer: B
Handing her the spool after the kite succeeds is a quiet way of admitting the success belongs to her. Nothing suggests he wants the kite to fall.
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Question 4
What can the reader infer from "Jun held the string and said nothing for a long time"?
Correct answer: D
His silence right after his "plain" kite outlasts all the showy ones suggests he is rethinking his opinion. A person who is angry would more likely complain than hand over the spool.
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Question 5
Which detail best supports the theme of the story?
Correct answer: C
The kite with Hana's changes is the one that stays in the air, which proves her ideas worked. Jun's grumbling shows the problem, not the lesson.
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Question 6
Read the poem and answer questions 6-10.
The Old Oak
For eighty years the oak has stood
where now the parking meters hum;
it does not mind the cars, the crowds,
it simply waits for spring to come.Its roots have cracked the sidewalk stones,
its branches hold the summer rain,
and every child who climbs it learns
that what is patient will remain.Which theme does the poem best express?
Correct answer: D
The tree waits calmly through changes, and the last line says "what is patient will remain." The poem never argues against parking meters; it only mentions them.
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Question 7
What does the line "where now the parking meters hum" suggest?
Correct answer: B
The word now shows that the place has changed over eighty years, and parking meters belong to a busy street. "Eighty years" also rules out a recently planted tree.
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Question 8
Which line uses personification?
Correct answer: A
Only a person can "mind" or not mind something, so the poet gives the tree a human feeling. The other lines describe what a real tree can do.
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Question 9
What does the detail "Its roots have cracked the sidewalk stones" show about the oak?
Correct answer: C
Roots that crack stone show slow but powerful strength, which supports the idea of lasting. The poem does not say the tree should be removed.
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Question 10
In the last line, what does the word remain mean?
Correct answer: B
To remain is to stay or continue to exist, which matches the idea that the patient oak has lasted eighty years. Move away is the opposite.
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