Getting Ready for the EOG

1. Getting Ready for the EOG Review and Test Taking Strategies

2. Test Tips *Read all directions carefully. • Be sure you understand the directions. • Read all choices before choosing one. • Highlight or underline the words or phrases that are clues to the correct answer. • Look for Key words in the directions. • Skip difficult items, and come back to them • Read back over your test to be sure that you have answered all questions. • If you aren’t sure which is the best answer, try to disprove each answer choice then take your best guess.

3. Reading Strategies • When reading comprehension is tested, the questions are testing your ability to read for details and find meaning in the text, not your memory. • When the directions say choose the most important idea or the main problems, that usually means that there will be more than one right answer. Choose the one that is the best answer. • Watch out for negatives. Some questions say, ”Which is not true?” You are then looking for the one that is wrong from the answer choices.

4. Main Idea • The main idea is what the reading selection is mainly about. The most important idea in the selection. • The main idea is usually in the first or last sentence or in the title. • Sometimes the main idea is not stated, then you must ask yourself, “What is this reading selections mainly about?” • Some typical main idea question stems include… • A. What is the main idea of… • B. Which of the following would be a good title for this selections? • C. Which of the following best summarizes the reading selection?

5. Main Idea • Al was not looking forward to his summer vacation. Even though all the girls in his class had squealed, “Oh you’re going to Europe this summer! That’s so exciting,” Al knew better. He knew that he was not going to relaxing at sidewalk cafés. Nor would he be touring at the attractions in France or Italy. He was going to be spending time in Poland visiting his grandparents. Al knew he would be paraded in front of numerous relatives, none of whom he’d ever met. Everyone would sit around jabbering in a language he did not understand, while listening to polka music. His mother would kick him under the table if he did not eat his grandmother’s cooking. And his grandfather, who for some reason thought that all Americans were mechanical geniuses, would hand him a wrench and tell him to fix the tractor. All expected to come back in September hungry, black and blue, and greasy.

6. Question • What is this story Mainly about? • A. A boy’s grandparents live in Poland. • B. All the girls in a boy’s class think a trip to Europe is exciting • C. A boy is going away for the summer. • D. A boy dreads his upcoming summer vacation.

7. Proving the Answer • A. is telling about only one detail, not state the most important detail in the story • B. is telling about only one detail, not state the most important detail in the story • C. is telling about only one detail, not the most important detail in the story. • D. States the most important detail. The entire story explains why he is not looking forward to his summer vacation.

8. Your Turn: A Career in Music • If you like to sing or play an instrument, you might want to consider a career in music. Not everyone can become a famous singer or rock star. However, there are other possibilities. Music therapist, for example, use music to help some people overcome emotional or physical difficulties. You could also consider a career as a music librarian. A music librarian is responsible for the music resources of a library. Some people have careers either building or repairing musical instruments. Piano tuners travel to homes and concert halls to make sure pianos are in tune and sound their best. Then there are careers in teaching music. You might teach others how to sing or how to play a musical instrument. The possibilities for a career in music are endless.

9. Question • What is the main idea of this paragraph? • A. If you like to sing or play an instrument, you might want to consider a career in music. • B. Some people have careers either building or repairing musical instruments. • C. Not everyone can become a famous singer or rock star. • D. The possibilities for a career in music are endless.

10. Answer D

11. Sequence • The order in which things happen is called sequence. • Clue words for sequence: first, next, then, last, finally, before, and after. • Time of day, day of the week, month, the season, the year can also suggest sequence

12. Sequence Practice • Every time people have a cup of coffee, a chocolate bar, a can of soda or iced tea, they are consuming caffeine. Caffeine, which is found in each of these foods, is considered a drug because of its effects on the human body. • Even if you do not use any products with caffeine, you are probably aware of caffeine’s reputation for keeping people awake. Too much coffee often makes one feel nervous or jittery. How does this happen? • First, caffeine enters the body through the intestinal system. It then passes into the blood. Next, the caffeine-filled blood passes through the liver. Here, the caffeine is broken down into other chemicals. These chemicals act as stimulants on the body’s nervous system. This stimulation is responsible for providing a feeling of alertness.

13. Question • Which of these happens just after caffeine enters the intestinal system? • A. The liver breaks the caffeine down into other chemicals • B. The body becomes more alert. • C. Caffeine-filled blood passes through the liver. • D. Caffeine passes into the blood.

14. Proving the Answer • A. No, it enters through the intestinal system, then the blood and then the liver. • B. No, the body does not become more alert until the caffeine is broken down into other chemicals. This is the last step acting on the nervous system • C. No, this describes what happens after the caffeine passes into the blood. • D. Yes, enters intestinal system, then into the blood.

15. Your Turn • Mehndi is the art of body decorating. Using a paste made from henna, an herbal dye, mehndi is traditionally practiced in India and Pakistan. In these countries, women decorate their hands and feet of the bride the day before they are married. While the hands and feet of the bride are getting painted, the mothers and grandmothers of the bride and groom sing traditional mehndi songs. According to tradition, the name of the groom is inserted within the mehndi design. Most of the designs are delicate, lacelike patterns. Mehndi is not permanent, but it can last for weeks. • First, the henna is mixed into a special paste with lemon juice and cold tea. Then the women use a hairpin or other device to paint the designs. They might paint a pattern of crisscrossed lines, dots, or small ovals, working their future husband’s initials into the design. One the design is finished, it must be left to dry completely. Then another mixture of lemon juice and sugar is applied over the mehndi. This mixture sets the dye, making it last longer

16. Answer B

17. Cause and Effect • A cause is the reason why something happens. • An effect is the result of the cause • Clue words such as: so, so that, since, because, therefore, as a result of, due to, consequently, then, in order to,

18. Cause and effect Practice • On Tuesday, December 16, 1997, hundreds of Japanese children all experienced the same symptoms, including seizures, nausea, and dizziness. Had they all eaten tainted food or been exposed to the same virus? No, these children had all been watching the popular cartoon Pokemon. • On this particular day, the episode of Pokemon featured a bright explosion of light. The explosion was immediately followed by rapidly flashing lights. Watching this kind of bright lights can cause reactions in certain sensitive individuals. According to doctors, nerve cells in the brain overreact to the stimulation of light. When lights flash quickly, nerve cells react. When too many nerve cells react, a person could have a seizure. These reactions to flashing lights can also occur while playing video games. • This sensitivity to light is found more commonly in children than in adults. To prevent this reaction, doctors recommended that viewers sit at least six feet away from a t.v. and keep a light on in the room while watching t.v. or while playing video games.

19. Question • Which sentence contains an example of cause and effect? • A. According to doctors, nerve cells in the brain overreact to the stimulation of light. • B. When too many nerve cells react, a person could have a seizure • C. The explosion was immediately followed by rapidly flashing lights. • D. This sensitivity to light is found more commonly in children j than in adults.

20. Proving the Answer • A. No, does not indicate the result of the over reaction of nerve cells in the brain. • B. Yes, Cause/Nerve cells react Effect/seizure • C. No, does not indicate the state the effect of the explosion was necessarily the flashing lights. • D. No, it merely states a fact from the article.

21. Your Turn • No matter what you call it, the zapper, the clicker, the channel changer- you probably use your t.v. remote control every day. But have you ever stopped and wondered what makes it work? Why does the simple action of clicking the buttons make the t.v. switch from one channel to another, and …well, you know how it works. Or do you? • When you push a button on the remote control, a microchip inside the control produces a vibration. The vibration then generates waves with frequencies of 100 billion to 100 trillion cycles per second. These waves are called infrared rays. • Inside your t.v. set is a device known as a photo detector. The photo detector receives the infrared rays from the remote control and converts them into electronic signals. Depending on the signal, the t.v. will go on or off, the volumn will change or the channel will change. Infrared rays must travel in a straight line, with nothing in the way to block the waves, to be received by the photo detector. This explains why a remote control will not work if there is something is in front of the photo detector

22. The Question • What causes the photo detector to make the volume of the t.v. to be changed from lower to higher? • A. A microchip • B. A signal • C. An infrared Ray • D. A vibration

23. Answer B

24. Comparing and contrasting Practice • Ricky switched off the TV. Why is my family so different from the ones I see on TV he wondered. None of the families on TV seem even to watch TV. No did it appear that they even owned a TV set. That was suprising to Ricky because TV families seem to own everything. Both of Ricky’s parents worked, but they were able to afford few material things. Ricky’s family didn’t even own a computer. • And how come TV families never seemed to have any real problems? Families on TV shows, especially brothers and sisters, always spent time together and got along. Ricky hardly even spent time with his sister. She was interested in fashion and a part time job. Ricky used his money to buy some of the things his parents couldn’t afford. Kids on television didn’t have to do that!

25. The Question • Which of these tells one way that TV families are different from Ricky’s family? • A. TV families watch TV more than Ricky’s family • B. TV families have more material possions that Ricky’s family • C. TV families do not get along as well as Ricky’s family. • D. TV families have more problems than Ricky’s family.

26. Proving the Answer • A.) no, TV families doesn’t even seem to watch television. • B.) yes,according to Ricky, TV families seem to own everything and his family does not even own a computer. • C.) no, TV families show bothers and sisters spending time together and getting along, and he does not hardly spend any time with his sister. • D.) no, according to Ricky, TV families never seem to have any real problems.

27. Your Turn • A ship is considered the most beautiful ship sailing on the seas. Artist have decorated the ship with lavish interiors. She has been built with the most modern technology available and has all the newest safety equipment. She is considered unsinkable. Still, while crossing the Atlantic, the ship suffers a terrible collision and sinks. The loss of life is tragic. Does this story sound familiar? • You may think this is the story of the Titanic which sank in the North Atlantic on April 15 1912. But it is the story of the Andrea Doria, which collided with the Swedish ocean liner Stockholm on July 25, 1956. The Andrea Doria sank the next day. Over 1,000 passengers perished as a result of the Titanic’s collision with an iceburg, whereas the loss of life aboard the Andrea Doria was much lower. Unlike the Titanic disaster, a nearby ship was able to assist in rescue efforts, preventing a greater loss of life.

28. Question • How were rescue efforts different for the Andrea Doria than for the Titanic? • More Titanic passengers were rescued than Andrea Doria passengers. • A nearby ship was able to assist the Andrea Doria • The Titanic’s passenger were rescued by a French Ship • No attempts were made to rescue the Passengers of the Andrea Doria

29. Answer B

30. Drawing Conclusions and Making Inferences • To draw a conclusion or make an inference, you must reach a decision by using your reasoning abilities. • Look for connections between statements. Use these details as well as what you know from your own life to draw conclusions or make inferences. these are not always directly stated. Pay attention to details describing how a character looks, acts, thinks, feels, speaks. Think about how people with similar qualities behave.

31. Drawing Conclusions • Call me Ishmael. Some years ago-never mind how long precisely-having little or no money in my pocket, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would go sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have a driving off the spleen, and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off- then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword: I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this, all men at some time cherish very nearly the same feelings toward the ocean with me.

32. Question • From the paragraph, you can infer that the speaker… • A. Feels abandoned by friends and family • B. Finds relief from his troubles when he is at sea. • C. Treasures the ocean more than most men do. • D. Prefers a life on land to a life at sea.

33. Proving the Answer • A.) no, no detail about friends or family • B.) yes, Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth. . . Pistol and ball I take to the sea. • C.) no, states that all men at some times feels the same way about the sea. • D.) no, he makes it clear that he prefers life at sea. It calms him

34. Your Turn to draw conclusions • All matter is made up of atoms, Atoms are too small to be seen with the eye or even under a microscope. Atoms are the smallest unit of an element. All atoms of one element are alike, and they are all different from the atoms of other elements. Atoms and molecules are always in motion. Increased temperature means a greater energy of motion, so most substances expand when heated. In solids, atoms are closely locked in position and can only vibrate. This is called melting. In liquids, the atoms or molecules have higher energy, are more loosely connected, and can slide past one another. When heated, liquids get enough energy to escape into a gas. The atoms or molecules of gases are free to move away from one another except during occasional collisions

35. Question • If a substance has tightly packed particles, you can infer that the substance is most likely a…? • A. A gas • B. an atom • C. a molecule • D. a solid

36. Answer D

37. Author’s Purpose • If a reading selection contains many details about a person, place or thing, the author’s purpose is to describe. • If a reading selection is enjoyable to read, tells a personal story or uses a story to teach a lesson, the author’s purpose is to entertain • If a reading selection provides facts about a particular subject or tell the reader how to do something, the author’s purpose is to explain or inform. • If a reading selection contains many opinions or tries to convince the reader to do something, buy something, or believe something, the author’s purpose is to persuade.

38. Author’s Purpose Practice • That man over there say that women needs to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or give me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arms! I have ploughed, and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man-when I could get it-and bear the lash as well! And ain’t Ia woman?

39. Question • What was Sojourner Truth’s purpose in this part of her speech? • A.) to describe the physical strain of her daily life • B.) to entertain listeners with an amusing story • C.) To persuade listeners that women are men’s equal • D.) To inform listeners about the injustice of slavery

40. Proving the answer • A.) no, it does not describe the pain the of her daily life • B.) no, She does not tell any story to her listeners. • C.) Yes, she is comparing her abilities to those of any man. • D.) No, she does not mention the injustices of slavery.

41. Your Turn • Do you think curling is something that people do to their hair? When you hear the word sweeping, do you think of the kitchen floor? If you answered yes, you have a lot to learn about one of the latest sports to hit the winter Olympics. • jWurling make its Olympics debut at the 1998 Winter Games. Athletes, however, have been curling for over 400 years. The first time in Scotland, on frozen ponds. • Curling is played on a 146 foot long court of ice. Two to four team player take turns sliding flat-bottomed rocks. Rocks closets to the target earns points. Rocks can also be used to block other teams rocks from scoring. This is a physically demanding sport when you consider each rock is about 44 pounds of solid granite. • The game begins with one team sending their rock spinning down the ice toward the target. Other team members sweeps away ice in front of the rock to. The sweeping causes the top of the ice to melt, which lets the stone glide closer to the target.

42. Question • The article was written mainly to. . . • A. Entertain the reader with an exciting stories of great curling matches. • B. Persuade readers to attend a curling game • C. Inform readers about the sport of curling • D. Explain the kind of training that athletes must undergo to become a curler.

43. Figurative Language • Authors use figurative language to help readers form pictures in their mind. • Similes, metaphors, personification, imagery, idioms, irony, etc are all forms of figurative language. • Look for things being compared to find similes and metaphors • Look for things that have human qualities to find personification • Look for words whose meaning is different from their usual meaning to find idioms. • Look for places where the speak says the opposite of what they mean to find irony. • Look for places where the author uses words to describe to find imagery

44. Figurative Language practice • Star Date 256.89 • Although our voyage has lasted longer than anticipated and our starship has experienced numerous mechanical failures, my crew and I are determined to continue. I am proud of the way the men and women on board have weathered this long and arduous mission. They have never faltered or disappointed me, especially during times of battle with those who wish no part of our peaceful mission. Truly , all my crew have nerves of steel. If the remainder of the mission goes as planned, we will arrive at our next destination soon. There I will reward my crew with a universe of praise.

45. Question • What does the phrase, “Nerves of Steel” mean? • A. “Metal and machinery” • B. “No feelings or emotions” • C. “Strength enough to withstand any fear” • D. “The ability to succeed at any task.”

46. Proving the Answer • A.) No, this would be a literal meaning and nerves are not made of real metal. • B.) No, through out this statement, the speaker mentions emotions. • C.) yes, steel is a very strong metal. The speaker indicates that the crew has proven themselves worth of praise. • D.) No, this speaks of their ability, not the nerve or courage.

47. Your Turn • When Mai was checking the spelling of Channel in the dictionary, she came across the word changeling. She had never heard of this word before, but she was instantly convinced that its definition explained everything. “Changeling, Mai read. “A child secretly exchanged for another.” Mai had always had her doubts, but now she was certain that she had been exchanged for another baby when she was born. After all, she did not resemble anyone else in her family. While her brother looked like father and her younger sister was a photocopy of her mother, Mai bore no resemblance to either parent. Being a changeling would certainly explain that! It would also explain why Mai was the only one in her family to be left-handed and to have amazing athletic ability. • Mai wondered if she should tell her parents of her discovery. Should she even still cal them her parents, or should she refer to them as Mr. and Mrs. Yang? Would her news come as a shock to them? Or had her parents been in on the deal from the start.

48. Question • The words, “her sister was a photocopy of her mother” is an example of? • A. A metaphor • B. A simile • C. An Idiom • D. personification

49. Answer A

50. Credits • Curriculum Associates, Inc; Strategies To Achieve Reading Success; 2000 North Billerica, MA