Reading Assessment

The purpose of these assignments is to assess the students ability to develop

reading strategies, such as scanning and skimming for relevant items, and activating
schemata for the interpretation of texts. The student will be able to infer links and
connections between events, deduce causes and effects, and detect main idea and
supporting idea relations (Brown & Abeywickrama). The student will also show
their ability to understand articles and reports concerned with contemporary
problems in which the writer adopts particular stances or viewpoints (Council).
The student will have 30 minutes to complete the following two parts.
PART 1
The following article deals with Johanna who went abroad after year 10 at her
German school to go to an American High School for one year.
Read the article and choose the suitable heading from the list (A-F) for each part (15) of the article. Write the letter of the title in the boxes provided. There will be one
heading which you do not need to use.
Each correct answer is worth 1 point.
A

How was it?

Going to America

Moving Back Home

After School Activities

Meeting New Families

Thats Different!

A year abroad
1
th
Johanna wanted to go to America from the time she was 12. So when she got to 10
grade, she was sure she wanted to spend a year at an American High School. She
started applying for a place in fall before she went, and had to do a language test as
part of her application. The American High School Johanna went to was in New
Jersey, on the coast, not far from Atlantic City.

2
Before she went, Johanna got to know her host family by email. When she got there,
she liked them at first, but after a while she had problems with the host father. He
was just a difficult person, even his own grown-up daughters didn't really get along
with him, says Johanna. Fortunately, Johanna had made a very good friend at her
high school, and she was able to arrange to stay with her friends family instead. The
organization helped Johanna to change families, and her second American home was
a big success. Today, she says, they feel like a real family.

3
Going to school in the US was a very interesting experience for Johanna. They were
much stricter, she says. You even had to get a card signed if you wanted to go to
the restroom during lessons, so they could make sure you weren't hanging around
in the hall. Some of the lessons were harder, others easier. I thought mathematics
was hard, says Johanna, but math isn't my best subject anyways. One thing she
noticed was that teachers were generally younger than in Germany, and often
friendlier to the students. The school day started at 7.45 and finished at 14.20 at
Johanna's school. They had a 40-minute period for Lunch, usually burgers or pizza,
French Fries and cakes, but with a choice of salads for the health-conscious.

4
Most kids stay on in the afternoons after lessons to take part in clubs or sports.
There was a wide variety of activities - drama club, newspaper club, poetry, a jazz
group, French, German, Spanish or Latin for fun. Sports - an important part of high
school life - were also on offer in the afternoons.

5
Johanna says her stay in the States helped her English a lot, particularly her spoken
English. I find it really easy to talk in English lessons now, she says. Writing is a
different matter, sometimes she puts slang words she learnt in the US into written
work. After a year, Johanna says the US started feeling like home. The Americans she
met were open, friendly and interested. She liked the informal way neighbors got
together for barbecues, the way they just dropped in for a chat. She keeps in touch
with her second host family she stayed with, and even visited them last Christmas.
TOTAL: _____/5

(Based on original Text from Read on, Oct. 2005, p. 5.6 (www.readon.de).

--- continue to next page for questions based on the text

Questions on the text: Answer the following questions based off the reading you
just completed. Multiple choice answers are worth 1 point and short answer
questions are worth 2 points. (Partial credit will be given for the short answers)
1) Complete the statement: Johanna decided to spend a year at an American High
School _______________
a. when she did the language test.
b. soon after the beginning of Year 10.
c. when she was 10 years old.
d. at the end of Year 10.
2) How did she get along with the families she stayed with?
a. First family: ________________________________________________________________________
b. Second family: _____________________________________________________________________
3) What was different at the American High School, compared to Johannas German
school back home?
a. Lessons: ____________________________________________________________________________
b. Teachers: __________________________________________________________________________
c. School: _____________________________________________________________________________
4) What does the text say about afternoon activities at Johannas American High
School?
a. Johanna took part in various activities
b. Sports are an important part of high school life
c. Many kids learn Russian or German just for fun
d. There are only a small amount of activities
5) What did Johanna like about Americans and their way of life?
a. Americans: ________________________________________________________________________
b. American way of life: _____________________________________________________________
6) How has her stay abroad improved her English? ______________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
7) What effect did her stay abroad have on her written English? _______________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
TOTAL: _____/20

Questions: After reading the information about the airports in Britain, for the
following questions, choose from the airports (A-H). Some of the airports may be
chosen more than once. An example is given below. Each question is worth 2 points.
Which airport:
Does not sell anything to read?

H
1. __________

Has shops which sell highly-priced goods?

2. __________ 3. __________

Seems to have put its seating in the wrong place?

4. __________

Makes it very easy for passengers to find their

way through?

5. __________

Has its shops spread out?

6. __________

Has a departure lounge which is not very

impressive?

7. __________ 8. __________

Has a badly-situated caf?

9. __________

Changes its range of food according to the

season?

10. __________

Has an unexpectedly disappointing range

of shops?

11. __________

Has a good view of the planes?

12. __________

Has facilities for people who are

traveling for work?

13. __________ 14. __________

Needs modernizing?

15. __________

TOTAL: _____/28

COMPLETE ASSIGNMENT TOTAL: _____/53

References
Brown, H.D., & Abeywickrama, P. (2010). Language assessment: Principles and
classroom practices. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
Carne, P., Hashemi, L., & Thomas, B. (1996). Cambridge practice tests for first
certificate 1: Self-study Edition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Council of Europe. (2007). Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge University Press.
Retrieved from: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/cadre1_en.asp