The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) is a standardized test that includes a variety of new technology-enhanced questions.
Some of them are Multiple choice-single correct responses, Multiple choice-multiple correct responses, Matching Tables, Drag and Drop, Hot text, Table Fill in, Graphing, Equation/numeric, Extended constructed response, Short answer, and many more.
This page contains several sample questions along with practice test links for Grade 11 ELA that gives you an idea of questions that your students are likely to see on the test. After each sample question, an answer explanation follows. The explanation includes essential aspects of the task that you may need to consider for the skills, processes, and information your students need to know.
Grade 11 ELA Questions: Reading Literature
Sample Question: Which of the following most likely reflects the author’s underlying opinion of the story?
- Guilt can drive even the most determined to confession.
- Those suffering madness cannot experience guilt.
- Some crimes are justified when a person’s sanity is at stake.
- Sanity is reflected in the care with which a person makes choices.
Answer Explanation: The answer is D. The narrator is determined to get away with his crime of murder, but the guilt he feels, manifested by the imagined sound of the old man’s heartbeat, drives him to reveal his secret.
Standards: RL.11-12.6
Click here to practice: Reading Literature Questions on Grade 11 ELA
Domain: Grade 11 >> Reading Informational Text
Sample Question: Which of the following is NOT a connotation associated with the word cheap?
- frugal
- miserly
- attractive
- economical
Answer Explanation: The answer is C. Cheap doesn’t have the connotation of being attractive. In fact, people often think of something cheap as being unattractive.
Standards: RI.11-12.4
Click here to practice: Grade 11 Reading Informational Text Questions
Domain: Grade 11 >> Writing
Sample Question: Read the following excerpt from “Simple Gifts”, by Joseph Bracket, Jr. and answer the following question.
‘Tis the gift to be loved and that love to return,
‘Tis the gift to be taught and a richer gift to learn,
And when we expect of others what we try to live each day,
Then we’ll all live together and we’ll all learn to say,
Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,
‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.
Which line of the song BEST supports the author’s message?
- Then we’ll all live together and we’ll all learn to say
- Till by turning, turning we come round right.
- And when we expect of others what we try to live each day,
- When true simplicity is gained,
Answer Explanation: Answer D- “True simplicity.” It’s the best representation in supporting the author’s message.
Standards: W.11-12.1
Click here to practice: Grade 11 ELA Writing Questions
Domain: Grade 11 >> Speaking and Listening Skills
Sample Question: Watch the following video and answer the question
What is the speaker’s main purpose in this speech?
- How we can make a difference for life in the ocean.
- How our ocean life is being harmed.
- How to make oceans plastic-free.
- How to keep oceans clean.
Answer Explanation: Answer B- The MAIN purpose is how to make the oceans plastic-free. Plastic is the keyword.
Standards: SL.11-12.3
Click here to practice: Speaking and Listening Skills Questions for Grade 11 ELA
Domain: Grade 11 >> Language
Sample Question: Which sentence contains a misspelled word?
- I definetly want to see the new movie that came out.
- Apparently, I need to do some weight training for football.
- That fall I just had was very embarrassing.
- There is not a new car in the foreseeable future.
Answer Explanation: Answer A- The correct spelling is Definitely
Standards: L.11-12.2
Click here to practice: Language Questions for Grade 11 ELA
