Grade 8 ELA Practice Test: Reading Comprehension and Grammar

Passage A: Reclaiming the Night Sky

(1) For most of human history, a clear night meant a sky crowded with stars. Travelers steered by them, farmers marked the seasons by them, and children fell asleep beneath the pale band of the Milky Way. Today, many Americans have never seen that band from their own backyards. The stars have not gone anywhere. They have been washed out by the glow of our own lights.

(2) Astronomers call this problem light pollution: artificial light that shines where it is not needed or wanted. Some of it is glare, the harsh brightness that makes you squint at an uncovered bulb. Some is light trespass, as when a neighbor's floodlight pours through your bedroom window. The most widespread form is skyglow, the dome of brightness that hangs over a city and can be seen from many miles away.

(3) Light pollution affects more than stargazers. Many animals rely on natural patterns of light and darkness. Newly hatched sea turtles, for example, find the ocean by crawling toward the brightest horizon, which on a natural beach is the open sky over the water. Near brightly lit hotels and roads, hatchlings may crawl inland instead, where they can become exhausted or be caught by predators. Birds that migrate at night can become confused by brightly lit buildings, circling them until they are worn out or crash into the glass. For this reason, a number of cities now urge the owners of tall buildings to turn off unnecessary lights during migration seasons.

(4) People may be affected too. The human body keeps time with an internal clock that responds to light, and bright light late in the evening can make it harder to fall asleep. Researchers are still studying how much outdoor lighting adds to this problem, but the link between light and sleep is well established.

(5) Some people worry that a darker night would be a less safe night, and this concern deserves a serious answer. Good lighting helps drivers and walkers spot hazards, and many people feel more comfortable on a well-lit street. More light, however, is not always better light. A glaring, unshielded fixture can actually make it harder to see, because the eye adjusts to the bright source and the shadows around it seem deeper. Studies of whether brighter streets reduce crime have not all reached the same conclusion.

(6) The good news is that light pollution is one of the easiest environmental problems to reverse. Unlike chemicals in a river, light vanishes the instant a switch is turned off. Shielded fixtures that aim light down at the ground, rather than sideways or up, can keep a street just as useful while sending far less light into the sky. Motion sensors can switch lights on only when someone is present, and warmer-colored bulbs give off less of the blue light that scatters easily in the atmosphere.

(7) Reclaiming the night does not mean living in the dark. It means using light with care: the right amount, in the right place, at the right time. If we make those choices, the stars that guided our ancestors may once again shine above our own rooftops.

The science museum, which opened in 1998, attracts visitors from all over the state.