OSSLT Practice Test 3

All 25 questions in this test

Every question and its answer choices. The correct answers and explanations appear when you take the test above.

1. How many selected-response reading questions are on the OSSLT?

   1. 23
   2. 24
   3. 35
   4. 12

2. Which is the best way to combine: "The storm knocked out the power. We played board games by candlelight."

   1. Knocking out the power, we played board games by candlelight in the storm.
   2. The storm knocked out the power and, we played board games by candlelight.
   3. The storm knocked out the power, we played board games by candlelight.
   4. When the storm knocked out the power, we played board games by candlelight.

3. What happens to the field-test questions that appear in an OSSLT session?

   1. They replace questions a student skipped
   2. They count double toward the score
   3. They are marked only if a student fails
   4. They are tried out but not counted

4. Which of these is a complete sentence rather than a fragment?

   1. Because the bus was late this morning.
   2. Because the bus was late, Mia missed class.
   3. When the bus finally came around the corner.
   4. Missing class because of the late bus.

5. When Mei's mother got a new job at the hospital in Sudbury, Mei was halfway through Grade 9. She had lived in the same Toronto apartment her whole life. She knew which bus driver waved at kids, which corner store sold the best dumplings and which friends would save her a seat at lunch. Now all of that fit into fourteen cardboard boxes. The first week at her new school felt like being underwater. Sounds reached her slowly, and she could not find the surface. She ate lunch in the library and spent the evenings texting her friends back home. They sent photos of things she was missing: a birthday party, a snowy soccer game in the park, a new bubble tea shop. Each photo made her feel farther away. On Saturday, a girl from the house next door knocked, holding two pairs of skates. "I'm Ruby," she said. "My dad floods the backyard every winter. Want to try it?" Mei almost said no. She had skated only once, on a school trip, and had spent most of that afternoon holding on to the boards. But her mother gave her a look that said, "Go," so she pulled on her coat. The backyard rink was small and bumpy, with a string of lights hanging from the fence. Mei fell four times in the first ten minutes. The fifth time, she landed so hard that she slid right into a snowbank, and instead of feeling embarrassed, she started to laugh. Ruby laughed too, and then Ruby's little brother came outside and laughed loudest of all. By the end of the afternoon, Mei could glide from one end of the rink to the other without grabbing anything. Ruby's dad brought out mugs of hot chocolate, and they sat on the back steps while the sky turned orange behind the trees. That night, Mei still texted her Toronto friends. But this time she sent a photo of her own: a crooked rink, a string of lights and two pairs of skates by the door. Under it she typed, "Guess what I learned today." Sudbury did not feel like home yet. But for the first time, it felt like a place where home might grow.

   Which message about moving to a new place does the story of Mei and Ruby's backyard rink best support?

   1. A new town feels like home as soon as you unpack
   2. Being open to new experiences helps a new place start to feel like home
   3. Old friendships usually come to an end after a family moves away
   4. It is best to keep in touch only with new friends

6. Which sentence uses the pronoun correctly?

   1. Our coach gave the trophies to Amir and I.
   2. Our coach gave the trophies to myself and Amir.
   3. Our coach gave the trophies to I and Amir.
   4. Our coach gave the trophies to Amir and me.

7. Which is the best topic sentence for a paragraph about the benefits of walking to school?

   1. I walked to school yesterday morning because it was sunny and warm.
   2. Buses usually arrive at our school at around 8:15 a.m. on weekdays.
   3. Walking to school is a simple way to stay healthy and save money.
   4. Some schools are very far away from where most of their students live.

8. When Mei's mother got a new job at the hospital in Sudbury, Mei was halfway through Grade 9. She had lived in the same Toronto apartment her whole life. She knew which bus driver waved at kids, which corner store sold the best dumplings and which friends would save her a seat at lunch. Now all of that fit into fourteen cardboard boxes. The first week at her new school felt like being underwater. Sounds reached her slowly, and she could not find the surface. She ate lunch in the library and spent the evenings texting her friends back home. They sent photos of things she was missing: a birthday party, a snowy soccer game in the park, a new bubble tea shop. Each photo made her feel farther away. On Saturday, a girl from the house next door knocked, holding two pairs of skates. "I'm Ruby," she said. "My dad floods the backyard every winter. Want to try it?" Mei almost said no. She had skated only once, on a school trip, and had spent most of that afternoon holding on to the boards. But her mother gave her a look that said, "Go," so she pulled on her coat. The backyard rink was small and bumpy, with a string of lights hanging from the fence. Mei fell four times in the first ten minutes. The fifth time, she landed so hard that she slid right into a snowbank, and instead of feeling embarrassed, she started to laugh. Ruby laughed too, and then Ruby's little brother came outside and laughed loudest of all. By the end of the afternoon, Mei could glide from one end of the rink to the other without grabbing anything. Ruby's dad brought out mugs of hot chocolate, and they sat on the back steps while the sky turned orange behind the trees. That night, Mei still texted her Toronto friends. But this time she sent a photo of her own: a crooked rink, a string of lights and two pairs of skates by the door. Under it she typed, "Guess what I learned today." Sudbury did not feel like home yet. But for the first time, it felt like a place where home might grow.

   How does the photo Mei sends at the end of the story connect to the photos from earlier in the story?

   1. It proves she no longer misses her Toronto friends
   2. It explains why she stopped texting her old friends
   3. It shows she wants her old friends to come and visit Sudbury
   4. It shows she now has new moments of her own to share

9. Students Turn Library Parking Strip Into Pollinator Garden LARKFIELD — A strip of cracked pavement beside the Larkfield Public Library is now home to more than 400 native plants, thanks to 22 Grade 10 students from Larkfield District Secondary School. The students removed the old asphalt and planted the garden over three Saturdays in May so that bees and butterflies would have a place to feed in the middle of town. The idea began in Ms. Renata Okafor's environmental science class. While studying local insects, the class learned that many pollinators struggle to find flowers in paved areas. "We kept reading about the problem, and finally someone asked, 'Why don't we just fix one small piece of it?'" said student Daniel Huang, 15. "That question turned into a plan." The town agreed to lend a small machine to lift the asphalt, and a local nursery donated soil and seedlings, including wild bergamot, purple coneflower and black-eyed Susan. The students raised the remaining $1,800 through a bake sale and a car wash. Head librarian Paul Desrosiers said the garden has already changed the look of the building. "It is the most beautiful entrance any library in this county has," he said. "Visitors stop to read the plant signs before they even come inside." The project was not always easy. Heavy rain washed away some seedlings in the first week, and the students had to replant almost a quarter of the garden. Ms. Okafor said she hopes the garden teaches students that small actions add up. The students will care for the plants through the summer. They also plan to count the bees and butterflies they see each week and share the numbers with the library. Residents can visit the garden at any time. A free guided walk will be held on Saturday, June 14, at 10 a.m., starting at the library's front doors.

   Which statement from the Larkfield garden report is an opinion rather than a fact?

   1. It is the most beautiful entrance any library in this county has.
   2. A free guided walk will be held on Saturday, June 14.
   3. The students raised the remaining $1,800 through a bake sale and a car wash.
   4. Heavy rain washed away some seedlings in the first week.

10. Prompt: Should students be required to complete volunteer hours to graduate? I think volunteering is good and also maybe not. Volunteering is a thing lots of people do. My neighbour volunteers and she likes it. Volunteering can be good because it is good to help. People should help other people. Helping is important in life and in the world. But sometimes students are busy. They have homework and things. Also some people like soccer. Soccer is my favourite sport and our team won last year. So volunteering is good but students are busy. In conclusion that is my opinion about volunteering.

    What is the biggest problem with the opinion in the weak essay on volunteer hours?

    1. It uses too many statistics
    2. It never takes a clear side on the prompt
    3. It argues too strongly for one side
    4. It is longer than the test allows

11. A paragraph's main idea is "Learning to cook saves money." Which detail best supports it?

    1. Some recipes call for fresh basil picked from the garden.
    2. Cooking shows have become very popular on television lately.
    3. My grandmother's kitchen has a blue floor and a big window.
    4. A homemade pasta dinner costs about a third of a takeout meal.

12. I signed up to volunteer at Maple Grove Residence because it was close to my house and I needed my forty community involvement hours to graduate. Honestly, I expected to spend my Tuesdays folding towels. Instead, the activity coordinator, Mr. Asante, handed me a tablet and a list of names. "Leah, some of our residents want to video-call their families," he said. "They need a patient teacher." My first student was Mr. Bellamy, who was eighty-seven and had worked as an engineer for the railway. His granddaughter, Hannah, had moved to Vancouver for university, and he had not seen her face in almost a year. When I gave him the tablet, he held it at arm's length as if it might bite. The first Tuesday did not go well. He pressed the screen too hard, then too lightly. He called Hannah three times by accident and hung up on her twice. By the end of the hour, he pushed the tablet back to me and said, "Some things are not meant for old dogs." I almost agreed with him. But on the bus home, I thought about how I had learned to ride a bike. My dad had not explained everything at once; he had shown me one small thing at a time. The next week, I wrote three steps on an index card in large letters: 1. Tap the green circle. 2. Find Hannah's name. 3. Wait and smile. Mr. Bellamy studied the card the way he probably once studied train schedules. He followed each step slowly. On the second ring, Hannah's face filled the screen. "Grandpa!" she shouted, so loudly that a nurse looked in to check on us. Mr. Bellamy did not say anything for a moment. Then he laughed and told Hannah she needed a haircut. I finished my forty hours by March, but I kept going on Tuesdays. Now Mr. Bellamy calls Hannah on his own, and he has started teaching me something in return: how to play cribbage. I lose almost every game. He says I need a card with three steps.

    When Mr. Bellamy tells Leah, "Some things are not meant for old dogs," what does he mean?

    1. He would rather have a pet dog than a tablet
    2. He wants Leah to stop treating him like a child
    3. He feels he is too old to learn something new
    4. He believes the tablet is old and broken

13. What should every sentence in a well-written paragraph do?

    1. Introduce a brand-new topic for the reader
    2. Ask the reader a question to keep interest
    3. Connect to and develop the paragraph's main idea
    4. Repeat the topic sentence in the same words

14. Most smartphones and tablets use a type of touchscreen called a capacitive screen, and it works because the human body can conduct electricity. Just beneath the glass is a very thin, see-through layer arranged in a grid of tiny lines. A small electrical charge is spread evenly across this grid. When a fingertip touches the glass, it changes the charge at that exact point. The phone's processor measures where the change happened and treats it as a tap, a swipe or a pinch. Because the screen can detect more than one point at once, a user can zoom in on a photo by spreading two fingers apart. This design also explains a common winter problem in Canada. Ordinary wool or leather gloves do not conduct electricity well, so the screen cannot sense the finger inside them, and the phone seems to ignore the user. To solve this, some companies make gloves with special threads in the fingertips that carry the charge through the fabric. A plastic pen will not work on these screens either, unless its tip is made of a conductive material. In short, a capacitive screen does not respond to pressure at all; it responds to the electrical properties of whatever touches it.

    Based on the touchscreen paragraph, which of these would most likely work on a capacitive screen?

    1. The rubber eraser on a pencil
    2. A finger in a leather glove
    3. The handle of a plastic spoon
    4. A pen with a conductive tip

15. MAYA: Theo, close the door. Nana's birthday is in two weeks, and we still don't have a plan. THEO: I have a plan. We rent the community hall, invite everyone she knows and hire a DJ. Eighty is a big deal. MAYA: Everyone she knows? That's half of Port Alder. THEO: Exactly. Go big or go home. MAYA: Remember her seventy-fifth? Uncle Dev threw that loud party at the restaurant, and she left early with a headache. She told me later she hardly talked to anyone. THEO: Oh. I forgot about that. I thought she was just tired. MAYA: She said the best part of the whole day was the quiet drive home. THEO: Okay, so no DJ. But it still has to feel special. What does she actually love? MAYA: Her garden. Her old photo albums. Pancakes. And she always says she misses the Sunday breakfasts we used to have before everyone got so busy. THEO: Wait. What if we do a Sunday breakfast? Just family, at her house. We could make her blueberry pancakes, and I could scan the old photos and make a slideshow on her TV. MAYA: Theo, that's actually perfect. You're really good with the scanner. THEO: Don't sound so surprised. MAYA: Sorry! But how do we get into her house without her knowing? THEO: Mom has a key. Mom could take her to the garden centre at nine, and we set everything up while they're gone. MAYA: And when she walks back in, the whole family is sitting at the table. I can already picture her face. THEO: Just promise me one thing. MAYA: What? THEO: Don't tell Uncle Dev until the night before. He can't keep a secret for five minutes. MAYA: (laughing) Deal. You'd better start on those photos tonight. THEO: I'll get the albums from the basement right after dinner.

    In the conversation about Nana's birthday, what is the tone of Theo's line 'Don't sound so surprised'?

    1. Bitter and hurt
    2. Calm and formal
    3. Light and teasing
    4. Worried and tense

16. LUCIA: Good morning, welcome to Spoke and Pedal. How can I help? MR. BOATENG: I bought this bike here on Saturday, and the back brake already squeals every time I stop. I'm leaving on a three-day cycling trip on Friday. I can't ride it like this. LUCIA: I'm sorry about that. Let me take a look. Okay, I see the problem. The brake pads are a little crooked, so they're rubbing at an angle. MR. BOATENG: So it was put together badly. I paid $900 for this bike. LUCIA: That's a fair question. New brake pads often need a small adjustment after the first few rides, while everything settles. It's covered by your free tune-up, so there's no charge. MR. BOATENG: How long will it take? I can't leave it here for a week. LUCIA: About fifteen minutes. You're welcome to wait, or you can grab a coffee next door. MR. BOATENG: I'll wait. Fifteen minutes is better than I expected. LUCIA: While I'm at it, I'll check the tire pressure and oil the chain. Since you're going on a long trip, do you have a repair kit? MR. BOATENG: A repair kit? I hadn't even thought about that. LUCIA: A spare tube and a small pump can save your whole day if you get a flat tire. When I'm done, I'll show you how to use them. It only takes a minute to learn. MR. BOATENG: That would be great. And I'm sorry I came in so grumpy. I was worried my trip was ruined. LUCIA: No problem at all. Let's make sure it isn't. MR. BOATENG: You know what? I'll take the spare tube and the pump. And maybe one of those bells, too.

    What will Lucia most likely do after she finishes adjusting Mr. Boateng's brake pads?

    1. Ask him to leave the bike for a week
    2. Order new brake pads from the factory
    3. Take him on a test ride to the café
    4. Show him how to use the tube and pump

17. Which sentence uses parallel structure?

    1. On weekends I like hiking, to read and cooking.
    2. On weekends I like hiking, reading and to cook.
    3. On weekends I like to hike, reading and to cook.
    4. On weekends I like hiking, reading and cooking.

18. North Ashby Library Opens Shelves Full of Tools NORTH ASHBY — Residents of North Ashby can now borrow a drill, a ladder or a pressure washer as easily as they borrow a novel. The North Ashby Public Library opened its new tool-lending collection on Tuesday, offering more than 120 tools free of charge to anyone with a library card. The collection fills a former storage room at the back of the library. Its shelves hold power drills, garden tools, a sewing machine, camping stoves and even a set of snowshoes. Most items can be borrowed for one week. Library director Simone Achterberg said the idea came from a survey the library ran last winter. More than 60 per cent of the residents who answered said they had bought a tool they used only once or twice. "A family should not have to spend $200 on a tile cutter for one bathroom project," Achterberg said. "Sharing makes much more sense." About two-thirds of the tools were donated by residents. The rest were bought with a $9,000 community grant. Retired carpenter Walter Bianchi, 71, checks every returned tool and sharpens the blades each Friday. "I spent 40 years taking care of tools," Bianchi said. "Now I get to help my neighbours use them safely." The first borrower on Tuesday was Grade 12 student Ava Lindqvist, who took out a hedge trimmer so she can earn money doing yard work this summer. "I couldn't afford to buy one," she said. "Now I can start my business this weekend." Borrowers must be at least 18 or have a parent or guardian sign their card. A short safety video is required before anyone takes out a power tool. The library will accept more tool donations in good working condition until the end of June. A full list of available tools is posted on the library's website.

    What does the headline of the North Ashby library report suggest about the library's new collection?

    1. The library now lends tools as well as books
    2. The library needs tools to repair its old shelves
    3. The library has been turned into a hardware store
    4. The library will soon remove its shelves of books

19. Many teenagers feel tired in the morning, and the reason is not always that they stay up late on purpose. During the teen years, the body's internal clock shifts, so many teens do not feel sleepy until later at night than they did as children. Canadian guidelines recommend that young people aged 14 to 17 get eight to ten hours of uninterrupted sleep each night, yet many get much less on school nights. Sleep is not wasted time. While a person sleeps, the brain sorts and stores what was learned during the day, and the body repairs muscles and other tissues. A teen who regularly misses sleep may find it harder to concentrate, remember information and manage feelings such as frustration. Screens can make the problem worse. The bright light from phones and tablets can signal to the brain that it is still daytime, which delays the release of melatonin, a hormone that helps the body prepare for sleep. Experts suggest a few simple habits: going to bed and waking up at about the same time every day, putting devices away an hour before bed, and keeping the bedroom cool, dark and quiet. These changes may seem small, but together they can help a tired student feel more alert in class and more energetic after school.

    Which statement best expresses the main idea of the paragraph about teenagers and sleep?

    1. Melatonin is a hormone that the body releases at night
    2. Teens stay up late mainly because they enjoy their phones
    3. Teens need enough sleep, and simple habits can help them get it
    4. A cool bedroom is the most important part of good sleep

20. Teen Volunteers Bring Back Riverbend's Outdoor Rink RIVERBEND — For the first time in six winters, children are skating on the outdoor rink in Willow Park. On Saturday afternoon, about 150 residents gathered at the park to celebrate the rink's reopening, which was made possible by a group of teenagers who spent much of December rebuilding and flooding it. The rink closed in 2020 after its wooden boards rotted and the town could not find volunteers to look after the ice. Last fall, Grade 11 student Leah Martineau, 16, started an online sign-up sheet asking for help. Within two weeks, 31 people had joined, most of them high school students. "My dad taught me to skate on this rink when I was four," Martineau said. "It felt wrong that kids in my neighbourhood were growing up without it." The volunteers replaced the rotten boards with lumber donated by a local building supply store. They also made a schedule so that two people flood the ice every night when the temperature drops below minus 5 degrees Celsius. Flooding is cold, slow work. Volunteers drag a heavy hose back and forth across the ice in the dark, often after 10 p.m., to lay down a thin, even layer of water. Town recreation manager Gordon Pike said the town will pay for the water and the lights this season. "The young people did the hard part," he said. "The least we can do is keep the lights on." At Saturday's celebration, a local hockey coach gave free lessons to beginners, and volunteers handed out hot chocolate. The rink is open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., weather permitting. Martineau said the team still needs more volunteers, especially adults who can flood the ice on weeknights. Anyone who wants to help can sign up at the front desk of the Riverbend Community Centre.

    What main idea does the headline of the Riverbend outdoor rink report give readers?

    1. The town built a brand-new rink for local teenagers
    2. Teenagers are now in charge of all the town's parks
    3. The rink will close for good at the end of winter
    4. Young people made it possible to skate there again

21. Why is an OSSLT scale score of 300 not the same as 75 percent?

    1. The score only counts the two written answers
    2. Every question is worth exactly the same mark
    3. The score accounts for how difficult each question is
    4. The essay is marked out of 300 points by teachers

22. MAYA: Theo, close the door. Nana's birthday is in two weeks, and we still don't have a plan. THEO: I have a plan. We rent the community hall, invite everyone she knows and hire a DJ. Eighty is a big deal. MAYA: Everyone she knows? That's half of Port Alder. THEO: Exactly. Go big or go home. MAYA: Remember her seventy-fifth? Uncle Dev threw that loud party at the restaurant, and she left early with a headache. She told me later she hardly talked to anyone. THEO: Oh. I forgot about that. I thought she was just tired. MAYA: She said the best part of the whole day was the quiet drive home. THEO: Okay, so no DJ. But it still has to feel special. What does she actually love? MAYA: Her garden. Her old photo albums. Pancakes. And she always says she misses the Sunday breakfasts we used to have before everyone got so busy. THEO: Wait. What if we do a Sunday breakfast? Just family, at her house. We could make her blueberry pancakes, and I could scan the old photos and make a slideshow on her TV. MAYA: Theo, that's actually perfect. You're really good with the scanner. THEO: Don't sound so surprised. MAYA: Sorry! But how do we get into her house without her knowing? THEO: Mom has a key. Mom could take her to the garden centre at nine, and we set everything up while they're gone. MAYA: And when she walks back in, the whole family is sitting at the table. I can already picture her face. THEO: Just promise me one thing. MAYA: What? THEO: Don't tell Uncle Dev until the night before. He can't keep a secret for five minutes. MAYA: (laughing) Deal. You'd better start on those photos tonight. THEO: I'll get the albums from the basement right after dinner.

    How does Theo react when Maya describes Nana's seventy-fifth birthday party, and what shows it?

    1. Surprised; he says he forgot and thought she was tired
    2. Annoyed; he says Maya is spoiling all of his plans
    3. Bored; he changes the subject back to the DJ
    4. Amused; he laughs about Uncle Dev's loud party

23. Prompt: Should students be required to complete volunteer hours to graduate? I think volunteering is good and also maybe not. Volunteering is a thing lots of people do. My neighbour volunteers and she likes it. Volunteering can be good because it is good to help. People should help other people. Helping is important in life and in the world. But sometimes students are busy. They have homework and things. Also some people like soccer. Soccer is my favourite sport and our team won last year. So volunteering is good but students are busy. In conclusion that is my opinion about volunteering.

    Which rubric description best fits the weak volunteer-hours essay's topic development?

    1. A clear opinion with mechanical but logical organization
    2. A coherent essay with a thoughtful progression of ideas
    3. The opinion is unclear and the details are too few or repetitive
    4. A clear opinion with thoughtfully chosen specific details

24. The OSSLT opinion essay receives two separate scores. What are they?

    1. Creativity and use of humour
    2. Overall length and rare vocabulary
    3. Topic development and conventions
    4. Handwriting and spelling accuracy

25. Many teenagers feel tired in the morning, and the reason is not always that they stay up late on purpose. During the teen years, the body's internal clock shifts, so many teens do not feel sleepy until later at night than they did as children. Canadian guidelines recommend that young people aged 14 to 17 get eight to ten hours of uninterrupted sleep each night, yet many get much less on school nights. Sleep is not wasted time. While a person sleeps, the brain sorts and stores what was learned during the day, and the body repairs muscles and other tissues. A teen who regularly misses sleep may find it harder to concentrate, remember information and manage feelings such as frustration. Screens can make the problem worse. The bright light from phones and tablets can signal to the brain that it is still daytime, which delays the release of melatonin, a hormone that helps the body prepare for sleep. Experts suggest a few simple habits: going to bed and waking up at about the same time every day, putting devices away an hour before bed, and keeping the bedroom cool, dark and quiet. These changes may seem small, but together they can help a tired student feel more alert in class and more energetic after school.

    According to the paragraph on teen sleep, how much sleep is recommended each night for people aged 14 to 17?

    1. Nine to eleven hours
    2. Eight to ten hours
    3. Six to eight hours
    4. Seven to nine hours