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Grade 8FSA ELA ReadingPractice Test Answer KeyThe Grade 8 FSA ELA Reading Practice Test Answer Key provides the correctresponse(s) for each item on the practice test. The practice test questions andanswers are not intended to demonstrate the length of the actual test, norshould student responses be used as an indicator of student performance onthe actual test.

To offer students a variety of texts on the FSA ELA Reading tests, authenticand copyrighted stories, poems, and articles appear as they were originallypublished, as requested by the publisher and/or author. While thesereal-world examples do not always adhere to strict style conventions and/orgrammar rules, inconsistencies among passages should not detract fromstudents’ ability to understand and answer questions about the texts.All trademarks and trade names found in this publication are the propertyof their respective owners and are not associated with the publishers of thispublication.Every effort has been made to trace the ownership of all copyrightedmaterial and to secure the necessary permissions to reprint selections.Some items are reproduced with permission from the American Institutes forResearch as copyright holder or under license from third parties.Page 2

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FSA ELA Reading Practice Test Answer KeyPassage 1: from King Arthur’s Knightsby Henry GilbertIn this excerpt from King Arthur’s Knights, the mythical King Arthur of Britainand his Knights of the Round Table receive a mysterious visitor at court. Thevisitor brings news about the quest for the Holy Grail, a powerful andmysterious artifact.1Then the door opened and an old and reverend man entered, whiteof beard and head, and clothed also in white; . . .2“Peace be with you, fair lords,” said the old man. Then turning tothe king he said:3“Sir, I bring here a young knight, the which is of king’s lineage,whereby the marvels of this court shall be accomplished, and the trialof this thy kingdom shall be brought to a happy end, if that may be.And the name of him is Galahad.”4“Sir,” said the king, “ye be right welcome and the young knightwith you.” . . .5Then was the young man led by the reverend man to the SiegePerilous,1 and sat him thereon, and men marvelled to see that thedeath-stroke did not flash like lightning and slay him.6“Sir,” said the old man to him, “wit ye well that that is your seat.For you are he that shall surely achieve the Holy Graal,2 and such ofthese your fellows as are pure in heart and humble shall achieve itwith you.”7“Sir,” said the king, “if it may be that ye know, will ye tell us whatmy knights must do to achieve the Holy Vessel, and thus bring peaceinto my kingdom in place of war? For many of those that are kings andbarons under me are warring with each other, and threaten to rend thisisland of Britain, . . . And it goeth to my heart to know this, and I havemuch dread.”1Siege Perilous: mystical chair that would slay any but the greatest knight who triedto sit in it2Graal: alternate spelling of Grail, as in Holy GrailPage 4Go On

FSA ELA Reading Practice Test Answer Key8“Sir king,” said the old white man, “none may tell you what shall bethe end of this quest of the Holy Graal, . . . ye war with each other, andare evil livers and full of pride and mastery, and if ye do not repent andstay your dishonour, then shall the Holy Vessel pass from Britain, andruin and death and civil war shall stalk through the land and leave itdesolate.” . . .9Then uprose Sir Gawaine, who was a faithful knight and true manto his king, though a proud one and a hasty. He was filled with sorrowfor the ruin that threatened his fair land.10“Now I do here avow,” he said, “that to-morrow, without fail, I shallset forth, and I shall labour with all the strength of my body and mysoul to go in quest of the Holy Graal, so that if I be fit to see it and tobring it hither, this dear land may be saved from woe.”11So hot were his words that many of the better knights rose also,and raising their right hands did make a like avowal; . . .Excerpt from King Arthur’s Knights by Henry Gilbert. In the public domain.Passage 2: Walcott Farmby Ryan Effgen12Graham sat at the kitchen table and sweated over the pile of cropreports and bank statements. Outside, rain plummeted down on thefarm, as if to mock him. After the long drought, this August rain woulddo him no good. His sons disagreed about how to save the farm, andarguments had led to threats of lawsuits. Graham remaineddetermined; the farm had been established by an ancestor who wasone of Paul Revere’s Minutemen—or so the story went—and the mainhouse, built of cobblestone, had the original potbellied stove and otherarchaic features.13Bleary-eyed and exhausted, Graham continued to look for a decimalpoint in the wrong place, but the numbers always came up the same.He heard a loud banging at the door, as if the storm itself was trying toforce its way in. Probably the rusty latch failing him now, too. He gotup to tighten the lock, but as he fiddled with the chain, the bangingincreased. Graham cracked the door open, and it spun back on itshinges in the storm’s wind. An old man, rain-drenched and wild-eyed,stood on the doorstep.Page 5Go On

FSA ELA Reading Practice Test Answer Key14He said, “We never used to keep that door locked, not even whentimes were hard and folks took to robbing one another.”15The man shouldered past Graham into the kitchen. He lookedaround the room, and as his eyes met various objects, he seemed toacknowledge them. Graham had no idea who this person was, but hefelt he ought to deal gently with him; the man was clearly confused.16“How can I help you, sir?” Graham asked. “I think you’ve ended upat the wrong house.”17The man seemed to think this was funny. “I know exactly where Iam: the legendary Walcott Farm. This farm’s been up and running eversince this nation became a nation. And you, if I’m not wrong, areGraham Walcott.”18This gave Graham pause. The man’s familiarity annoyed him, butGraham still felt it best to deal with him carefully. “And you are?”19“I’m Caleb Walcott, your father’s brother, and I grew up in thishouse. I’m the one who ran off to find his fortune out West. Wish Icould say it panned out, but it didn’t. Luckily for me—for the both ofus, looks like—the real fortune is right here, beneath our feet.”20Graham’s father had never mentioned having a brother; this man’sstory was preposterous. A bolt of lightning cracked outside, and with itcame a flash of inspiration. Graham returned to his seat and gesturedto a large, carved oak chair that stood against the center wall. “Well,Caleb, why don’t you pull that chair up to the table and you can tell meabout this fortune that we’re both standing on?”21The old man smiled. “I can’t blame you for testing me, but we bothknow that chair’s chiseled from a tree trunk rooted forty feet into theearth. A twister could carry off this house and that chair would still bestanding upright in that exact place.”22Graham stood. “Nobody outside of this family knows about thatchair.”23The man added, “And even fewer know what I’m about to tell you.My grandfather told me this story, and only once. When the founder ofthis farm came over from England, he brought with him some pricelessobject, something royal, maybe a scepter or a crown. Whether heburied it from thieves or tax collectors, I don’t know. Either way,somewhere out there,” the man gestured grandly towards the farmoutside the window, “is a treasure.”Page 6Go On

FSA ELA Reading Practice Test Answer Key24Outside, lightning cracked again and a ripple of thunder shook thewindows. The logical explanation was that the man was delusional, orperhaps he was a thief and this was the start of some elaborate scam.But the man knew about the chair—nobody knew about the chair.Graham paced, wondering if he was imagining it all—if, at the end ofhis rope, his mind had conjured up a fantastic story as a way ofavoiding the plain truth: the family farm was done for. Graham satdown in the large oaken chair. He ran his hands along the armreststhat had been carved by his ancestors hundreds of years before. Was itimpossible that some priceless relic was out there buried in his land?What did he lose by giving the idea a chance?25Graham turned to the old man and asked, “How are we going tofind it?”“Walcott Farm” by Ryan Effgen. Written for educational purposes.1015Page 7Go On

FSA ELA Reading Practice Test Answer KeyThe shaded circles below indicate the correct answers for this question.1. Fill in the circles before two details from Passage 1 that show whyGawaine chooses to pursue the Graal.9A Then uprose Sir Gawaine, B who was a faithful knight and trueman to his king, C though a proud one and a hasty. D He was filledwith sorrow for the ruin that threatened his fair land.E “Now I do here avow,” he said, F “that to-morrow, without fail,I shall set forth, G and I shall labour with all the strength of my bodyand my soul H to go in quest of the Holy Graal, I so that if I be fit tosee it and to bring it hither, J this dear land may be saved from woe.”10K So hot were his words L that many of the better knights rosealso, M and raising their right hands did make a like avowal ; . . .1114623Page 8Go On

FSA ELA Reading Practice Test Answer Key2. This question has two parts. First, answer Part A. Then, answer Part B.Part AIn Passage 2, what theme is suggested by Graham’s situation?A First instincts are usually correct.B A sense of adventure can solve many problems.C Planning ahead can help one understand a situation more clearly.D People will do whatever is necessary to keep what is importantto them.Part BWhich quotation helps develop the theme in Part A?A “Graham’s father had never mentioned having a brother; this man’sstory was preposterous.” (paragraph 20)B “‘Luckily for me—for the both of us, looks like—the real fortune isright here, beneath our feet.’” (paragraph 19)C “‘Either way, somewhere out there,’ the man gestured grandlytowards the farm outside the window, ‘is a treasure.’” (paragraph 23)D “Graham turned to the old man and asked, ‘How are we going to findit?’” (paragraph 25)Part AOption D: This answer is correct. The man agrees to the risky propositionto search for buried treasure since it seems to be the only way for him tokeep his family's property.Part BOption D: This answer is correct. This quotation shows that Graham isconsidering the man's proposition to look for buried treasure in the hopes ofkeeping his family's property.15055Page 9Go On