Grade Practice Test | Lumos Learning

Katie stood before the crowd blushing and wringing her hands. She looked out and saw the room full of faces. Some she knew, and some she did not. But, they were all here to listen to her. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth, but no words came out. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she closed them.

With her eyes closed, she imagined her mother helping her get dressed and ready for tonight. "Just do your best," is what her mother had told her. She opened her eyes and found her mother's smiling face in the crowd. Relaxing, she took another deep breath and started singing. She did not stop until she finished, and the crowd was on their feet applauding.

After the show, she found her parents and her friends. They all had wonderful things to say about her song and how proud they were because she kept going even when it seemed like she might give up. She shrugged her shoulders and shared a smile with her mother. "I just did my best," she answered.

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Once there was a severe drought. There was little water in Tony’s well, and he didn’t know what would happen to the fruit trees in his garden.

Just then, he noticed three men looking intently at his house. He was certain that the three were planning to rob his house.

He acted quickly. He shouted out to his son, “My son, because of the drought, money has become scarce. There are many thieves. Let us protect our valuables, and put all of our jewels in a box and throw them into the well. They will be safe there.”

He quickly told his son to put some large stones in a box and throw them into the well. The thieves heard the sound of the box falling into the well and were happy.

That night they came to the well. The box was heavy and had landed deep down in the well. To get it, they would have to take out some of the water. They started drawing water from the well and pouring it onto the ground. Tony had made arrangements to make sure that the water reached his fruit trees. He had channels leading from the well to each of the trees.

By the time the thieves found the box, they had drawn out enough water to water the trees. It was almost dawn. Tony sent for the soldiers, and just as the thieves were trying to open the box, they were caught red-handed.

What is the purpose of this story?

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The Glass Cupboard

There was a king who had a cupboard that was made entirely of glass. It was a special cupboard. It looked empty, but you could always take out anything you wanted. There was only one thing that had to be remembered. Whenever something was taken out of it, something else had to be put back in, although nobody knew why.
One day some thieves broke into the palace and stole the cupboard. “Now, we can have anything we want,” they said. One of the thieves said, “I want a large bag of gold,” and he opened the glass cupboard and got it. The other two did the same, and they, too, got exactly what they wanted. The thieves forgot one thing. Not one of them put anything back inside the cupboard.
This went on and on for weeks and months. At last, the leader of the thieves could bear it no longer. He took a hammer and smashed the glass cupboard into a million pieces, and then all three thieves fell down dead. When the king returned home, he ordered his servants to search for the cupboard.
When the servants found it and the dead thieves, they filled sixty great carts with the gold and took it back to the king. He said, “If those thieves had only put something back into the cupboard, they would be alive to this day.”
He ordered his servants to collect all of the pieces of glass and melt into a globe of the world with all the countries on it; this was to remind himself and others, to give back something in return when someone shows an act of kindness or gives us something.

What is the purpose of this story?

Reading: Literature (RL.5.2)

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