GACE English (6–12) (713)

1. Question 1 · Reading and Analysis of Texts

   In paragraph (1), the detail that the grandfather turns the sign to OPEN "with a little flourish, as if someone were watching" chiefly characterizes him as a man who
   • A.exaggerates his shop's success in hopes of drawing in passing customers
   • B.has not noticed that his business has declined over the past year
   • C.enjoys putting on a morning performance to amuse his granddaughter
   • D.keeps up his pride through ritual after it has lost its practical use
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: D. keeps up his pride through ritual after it has lost its practical use

   The flourish performed for an audience that no longer exists shows a man who "keeps up his pride through ritual" despite the shop's decline. He is not unaware of the decline, since he hides the unopened envelopes in a drawer, and nothing suggests the gesture is a sales tactic aimed at passersby or a show for the narrator.

2. Question 2 · Reading and Analysis of Texts

   Which statement best expresses the central claim the author develops across the passage?
   • A.Libraries should lower overdue fines so that families on tight budgets can afford to keep visiting.
   • B.Libraries lose more money collecting fines than they gain and should look for other sources of revenue.
   • C.Libraries should drop overdue fines, which deter needy patrons while doing little to secure returns.
   • D.Libraries should treat borrowers as parks treat visitors, setting no expectations for returning books.
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: C. Libraries should drop overdue fines, which deter needy patrons while doing little to secure returns.

   The thesis closes paragraph 1 and is developed throughout: fines 'keep readers away' without improving returns, so the statement that libraries 'should drop overdue fines, which deter needy patrons while doing little to secure returns' captures it. Lowering fines is tempting because paragraph 2 dwells on tight budgets, but the author calls for elimination, not reduction. The collection-cost point is only one supporting reason, and the park comparison does not mean abandoning expectations, since paragraph 4 keeps a hold on new checkouts.

3. Question 3 · Writing, Research, and Multimedia Texts

   Sentence 4 is meant to serve as the thesis of the draft. Which revision of sentence 4 would most effectively state a thesis for an audience of school board members?
   • A.The board should require forty hours of service for graduation, since service builds job skills and links students to local needs.
   • B.Community service is an issue with strong arguments on both sides, and board members will need to weigh all of them carefully.
   • C.The empty volunteer tables at the fair show that teenagers today care much less about their town than earlier generations did.
   • D.Whether students should volunteer is a question that every member of the school board should think about carefully before the next vote.
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: A. The board should require forty hours of service for graduation, since service builds job skills and links students to local needs.

   The revision "The board should require forty hours of service for graduation..." takes a clear, arguable position and previews the two lines of reasoning the body paragraphs develop. The "strong arguments on both sides" and "question that every member... should think about" versions only announce a topic without a position, and the claim about empty tables is an unsupported generalization that the essay never argues.

4. Question 4 · Language, Speaking, and Listening

   An eleventh-grade teacher notices that many students' argumentative drafts contain faulty parallelism, such as "The policy is unfair, expensive, and it will confuse families." Which approach is most likely to help students correct this problem in their own writing?
   • A.Display anonymized sentences from class drafts, have students name the form of each list item, then revise a sentence in their own draft.
   • B.Assign a textbook exercise in which students label the parts of speech in a set of isolated sentences unrelated to their current essays.
   • C.Deduct points for each parallelism error on the final essays so that students take the convention seriously in future assignments.
   • D.Give a short quiz on the definition of parallel structure and require students to memorize the definition word for word.
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: A. Display anonymized sentences from class drafts, have students name the form of each list item, then revise a sentence in their own draft.

   Grammar instruction transfers best when it is taught in the context of students' own writing, so analyzing anonymized class sentences and then revising "a sentence in their own draft" connects the concept to immediate use. Labeling parts of speech in isolated sentences and memorizing a definition build declarative knowledge without application, and deducting points penalizes errors without teaching students how to fix them.

5. Question 5 · Language, Speaking, and Listening

   Measure	Result
   Words correct per minute	128
   Accuracy	88 percent
   Self-corrections	None
   Miscue pattern	Substitutes visually similar words that change meaning ("conservation" for "conversation")
   Expression	Phrases mostly at punctuation

   A seventh grader reads aloud from the grade-level science text used in class. Based on the oral-reading record shown, which conclusion is best supported?
   • A.Accuracy is the main concern; the text is at frustration level
   • B.Rate is the main concern; the student needs timed repeated readings
   • C.Prosody is the main concern; the student needs phrasing practice
   • D.No concern is evident; the adequate rate shows strong comprehension
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: A. Accuracy is the main concern; the text is at frustration level

   An accuracy rate of 88 percent falls under the roughly 90 to 95 percent instructional range, and meaning-changing substitutions with no self-corrections show that "accuracy is the main concern; the text is at frustration level." The rate is reasonable and phrasing at punctuation suggests adequate prosody, so those options misidentify the problem. An adequate rate does not show comprehension when the reader is substituting words that alter meaning.

6. Question 6 · Reading and Analysis of Texts

   In paragraph (2) of the passage, the narrator concedes that her mother "may be right" that there were no sunflowers. This concession primarily serves to
   • A.introduce a lasting conflict between the narrator and her skeptical mother
   • B.undermine the reader's trust in everything the narrator says of her father
   • C.show that the memoir values emotional truth over a strict factual record
   • D.suggest that her father invented stories to entertain her on long drives
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: C. show that the memoir values emotional truth over a strict factual record

   By admitting the sunflowers may be invented and calling memory "a cartographer with its own priorities," the narrator signals that the memoir values "emotional truth over a strict factual record." Openly flagging a possible error is a mark of candor that tends to build trust rather than undermine it, and the mother never reappears as an antagonist.

7. Question 7 · Reading and Analysis of Texts

   In the passage, the first sentence of paragraph 4 primarily serves to
   • A.introduce a new reason the mandate harms renters who choose not to own any car
   • B.concede a limit to the author's position before arguing that the market can address it
   • C.summarize the formal argument presented in the paragraph immediately before it
   • D.reverse the author's earlier stance and endorse keeping the mandate in some districts
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: B. concede a limit to the author's position before arguing that the market can address it

   Signaled by 'Admittedly,' the sentence grants that some neighborhoods may still need parking, and the next sentence answers that developers could still build it, so it serves to 'concede a limit to the author's position before arguing that the market can address it.' The author does not reverse course, since the point is that the market, not a mandate, would supply such parking. The sentence adds no new harm to renters and does not restate the syllogism in paragraph 3.

8. Question 8 · Writing, Research, and Multimedia Texts

   Which revision of sentence 1 would provide the most engaging opening, or hook, for this personal narrative?
   • A.Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to take a tour through a dark cave?
   • B.Caves are natural underground spaces that form slowly over many thousands of years.
   • C.Thirty feet underground, the guide reached for a switch, and the whole world vanished.
   • D.In this narrative, I will describe a trip that my family took to a cave last summer.
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: C. Thirty feet underground, the guide reached for a switch, and the whole world vanished.

   "Thirty feet underground, the guide reached for a switch, and the whole world vanished" begins in the middle of the action with a vivid, suspenseful image that pulls readers toward the narrative's central moment. The rhetorical question is a familiar but generic hook that tells readers nothing specific, the definition of caves suits an informative essay, and the announcement merely restates the weak original.

9. Question 9 · Language, Speaking, and Listening

   In which sentence is the passive voice the most appropriate stylistic choice?
   • A.A decision was made by me to leave the debate team after a year.
   • B.The samples were heated to eighty degrees Celsius for ten minutes.
   • C.The winning goal was scored by Maya in the game's final seconds.
   • D.Several mistakes were made by our captain during the last drill.
   Show answer and explanation

   Answer: B. The samples were heated to eighty degrees Celsius for ten minutes.

   Passive voice is appropriate when the action matters more than the actor, as in a lab procedure, so "The samples were heated to eighty degrees Celsius" correctly keeps the focus on what was done. The sentences about Maya, "me," and the captain all name a known and important actor in a "by" phrase, making active voice more direct and concise.

10. Question 10 · Language, Speaking, and Listening

    A spare novel told in short sentences of common words scores at about a fourth-grade level on a readability formula, yet a ninth-grade team finds it challenging for its students, citing layered irony and frequent shifts in time. What best explains the discrepancy?
    • A.Readability formulas count word and sentence features but cannot measure meaning, structure, or theme
    • B.The team has misjudged the novel, because formula scores reliably capture overall text difficulty
    • C.Readability formulas overestimate difficulty when a text contains a lot of dialogue and short paragraphs
    • D.Readability formulas are designed only for informational texts and cannot be applied to fiction
    Show answer and explanation

    Answer: A. Readability formulas count word and sentence features but cannot measure meaning, structure, or theme

    Quantitative formulas rely on measures such as sentence length and word frequency, so "readability formulas count word and sentence features but cannot measure meaning, structure, or theme"; irony and nonlinear time are qualitative features. The claim that formulas overestimate difficulty runs the wrong way, since short sentences lower the score. Formulas are routinely applied to fiction, and they are not a complete measure of difficulty, which is why qualitative review is required.

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