PSSA ELA Grade 6 Practice Part 3

______________ are two or more words spelled the same, but not necessarily pronounced the same, and have different meanings and origins.

• homographs

• homophone

___________ are words with different origins, meanings, but have the same pronunciation as another word, whether or not it is spelled alike.

• homographs

• homophones

Alfred Nobel invented dynamite. He was, however, a pacifist who felt bad about the destructive power that he created. He established the Nobel Prize as an award for outstanding achievement in physics, chemistry, medicine, peace, literature, and economics.

Looking at the context, what is the definition of pacifist?

• an inventor of explosives

• a person against violence

• a very famous scientist

• a cruel, violent person

What does the prefix hyper- mean?

• excessive, beyond

• one

• main

• against

What does the prefix inter- mean?

• beyond

• before

• between

• good

What does the suffix -logy mean?

• the study of

• full of

• quality of being

• more

What does the suffix -graphy mean?

• pertaining to, like

• study, writing

• to be able

• quality of being

Snowboarding is a sport that began in the United States in the last 40 years, but it did not become an Olympic sport until 1998. In this sport, a rider attaches a snowboard to his feet with a binding similar to skis and then rides down a snowy slope. Some snowboarders ride in a half-pipe, or a large ditch with flat areas at the top. They try to do tricks as they come to the top of the slope on each side. Many snowboarders also ride down a course on a mountain. Many snowboarding competitions let riders show off their skills.

Which of the following relationships is most similar to the relationship here?

snowboarding : snow

• skateboarding : concrete

• half-pipe : competition

• sports : mountain

• snowboard : skis

98 Degrees is cooling off for a while. The four-member boy-band called 98 Degrees is taking "an extended break," according to its official Web site.

"They have no immediate plans to record or tour," the site says in a message to fans. The site also says that "their future is unclear" and that the band is accepting no new fan club members.

What is the central idea of this passage?

• The band 98 Degrees will not perform for a while.

• The band called 98 Degrees has its own Web site.

• 98 Degrees is not as popular a band as it used to be.

• 98 Degrees is a boy-band with four members.

Check 3 reasons why authors write.

• to entertain

• to summarize

• to inform

• to persuade