.

AME

$ATE

MARIGOLDS

Selection Test A
Comprehension
Read each of the following questions. Then choose the letter of the best answer.
(6 points each)
1. The families in Lizabeths community are
A. poor
B. close-knit

night?
A. Her brother fights with her.

C. violent

B. She dreams about a neighbor boy.

D. hopeful

C. She hears her father cry.

2. Miss Lotties home is

B. filled with friends and relatives

C. nicer than Lizabeths home
D. gray and rotting
3. Why do the children hate the marigolds at

Miss Lotties house?

A. Miss Lottie has better things than they

have.
B. The flowers prove that Miss Lottie is a
witch.
C. Miss Lottie does not deserve to have
flowers.
D. The flowers do not fit with their cheerless
lives.

Assessment File

D. Miss Lottie gets angry with her.

5. Lizabeth feels sorry about destroying the

marigolds because she

MARIGOLDS

A. overgrown with grass and shrubs

Copyright Holt McDougal, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

4. What happens to Lizabeth in the middle of the

A. understands what the flowers mean to

Miss Lottie
B. realizes that she has upset her younger
brother
C. knows that she will have to buy new
flowers
D. fears that Miss Lottie will be angry with
her

Diagnostic and Selection Tests

Grade 9

115

.AME

$ATE

SELECTION TEST A, CONTINUED

Vocabulary
Choose the answer that best explains the meaning of each underlined word. (6 points each)
6. What is the meaning of futile?
A. unimportant

C. useless

A. joyful

C. proud

B. challenging

D. small

B. patient

D. determined

7. Perverse means

10. Squalor means a

A. struggling

C. unhappy

A. dangerous place

B. wrong

D. quiet

B. hopeless feeling

8. What does bravado mean?

MARIGOLDS

9. Someone who feels exuberance is

A. sincere fear

C. genuine faith

B. great strength

D. false courage

C. poor person
D. shabby condition

Written Response
Short Response Answer the following questions based on your knowledge of the story.

Write one to two sentences on a separate sheet of paper. (10 points each)
11. Why does Lizabeth play with the younger children? Include one detail from the story in your

response.
12. Why do the children stop in fear before reaching Miss Lotties house? Use one detail from the story

Extended Response Answer the following question based on your knowledge of the

story. Write one or two paragraph on a separate sheet of paper. (20 points)
13. What does Lizabeth understand about Miss Lottie by the end of the story? Support your answer with

two details from the text.

116

Diagnostic and Selection Tests

Grade 9

Assessment File

Copyright Holt McDougal, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

to support your answer.