MCAS 2001, 3rd Grade English (ELA), Questions 9 to 12

Read the two poems about friends and then answer the questions that follow.

Since Hanna Moved Away

The tires on my bike are flat.
The sky is grouchy gray.
At least it sure feels like that
Since Hanna moved away.

Chocolate ice cream tastes like prunes.
December's come to stay.
They've taken back the Mays and Junes
Since Hanna moved away.

Flowers smell like halibut.
Velvet feels like hay.
Every handsome dog's a mutt
Since Hanna moved away.

Nothing's fun to laugh about.
Nothing's fun to play.
They call me, but I won't come out
Since Hanna moved away.

-- Judith Viorst

Poem

I loved my friend.
He went away from me.
There's nothing more to say.
The poem ends,
Soft as it began–
I loved my friend.

–Langston Hughes

From COLLECTED POEMS by Langston Hughes
Copyright © 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes
Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a Division of Random House Inc.

Question #9

Velvet feels like hay.

In the above sentence, the word hay is what part of speech?

A. a verb

B. a noun

C. an adjective

D. an adverb

Question #10

Every handsome dog's a mutt.

In the sentence above, the word mutt means

A. an ugly dog.

B. an angry dog.

C. a frightened dog.

D. a friendly dog.

Question #11

What word BEST describes the feeling in both poems?

A. sadness

B. anger

C. worry

D. fear

Question #12

What is the MAIN idea of BOTH poems?

A. Everyone needs a best friend.

B. To have a friend, you must be a friend.

C. We miss friends when they go away.

D. It is hard to make a friend.