OSSLT Practice Test 5

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. 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.

   According to the North Ashby tool library report, what must a borrower do before taking out a power tool?

   1. Watch a short safety video
   2. Donate a tool in good condition
   3. Pay a small weekly rental fee
   4. Take a lesson with Walter Bianchi

2. 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.

   What can readers infer about the Larkfield students from how they responded when heavy rain damaged the new garden?

   1. They had not planned the garden carefully enough
   2. They lost interest once the hard work began
   3. They were determined to finish despite setbacks
   4. They expected the town to replant the garden for them

3. 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.

   What is the main idea of the paragraph about how capacitive touchscreens work?

   1. Special gloves with threads let people use phones outside
   2. Spreading two fingers apart is how users zoom in on photos
   3. These screens sense the electrical properties of a touch
   4. Cold Canadian winters make phone screens stop working properly

4. The Rideau Canal, which links Ottawa and Kingston, is one of the oldest canals in North America that is still in use. It was built between 1826 and 1832, not long after the War of 1812, when British leaders worried about a possible attack from the United States. At the time, supplies travelling between Montréal and Kingston had to move along the St. Lawrence River, close to the American border. The canal offered a safer inland route. Lieutenant-Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers led the project, and thousands of workers, many of them Irish and French-Canadian labourers, cut through forests, swamps and rock with simple tools. Their work was dangerous, and many fell ill with malaria, a disease that was common in the region's swamps at the time. Instead of digging one long channel, the builders connected existing rivers and lakes and used locks and dams to raise and lower boats along a route of about 200 kilometres. The attack that the canal was meant to defend against never came. Over time, the canal became a route for trade and, later, for pleasure boating. In 2007, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today, in winter, part of the canal in Ottawa becomes a long skating path, giving one of Canada's oldest engineering projects a new purpose.

   In the paragraph about the Rideau Canal, what are the "locks" used for?

   1. Keeping boats from being stolen at night
   2. Raising and lowering boats between water levels
   3. Blocking enemy ships from entering the canal
   4. Storing supplies for the workers along the route

5. Which word correctly completes the sentence? "The bakery sells ___ bread every morning."

   1. freshest
   2. freshly
   3. fresh
   4. freshness

6. (1) Then she sanded the old dresser until the chipped paint was gone. (2) Last summer, Grace decided to rescue a dresser she found at a garage sale. (3) Finally, she added new brass handles and set the dresser in her room. (4) Next, she brushed on two coats of pale green paint, letting each one dry overnight.

   The sentences about Grace's dresser are out of order. Which order is most logical?

   1. 1, 2, 3, 4
   2. 2, 4, 1, 3
   3. 4, 1, 2, 3
   4. 2, 1, 4, 3

7. 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.

   What does the birthday-planning conversation suggest about the relationship between Maya and Theo?

   1. They rarely talk and dislike sharing any chores
   2. They tease each other but work well as a team
   3. Theo always obeys Maya because she is older
   4. They compete to be Nana's favourite grandchild

8. 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.

   What could a reader learn from Leah's index card that would help when teaching someone a new skill?

   1. Written notes always work better than practice
   2. Breaking a task into small steps makes it easier
   3. Older people prefer to learn new things alone
   4. Explaining everything at once saves a lot of time

9. (1) Cities across Canada are planting more trees along their streets. (2) Trees give shade that keeps sidewalks and buildings cooler in summer. (3) Their roots soak up rainwater that might otherwise flood storm drains. (4) Studies have also linked green streets with calmer, happier residents.

   Which sentence would make the best new first sentence for the paragraph about street trees, stating its main idea?

   1. Some people are allergic to the pollen that trees release.
   2. Street trees bring cities several important benefits.
   3. Planting a young tree takes a crew about one hour.
   4. Maple trees along many streets turn red and orange each fall.

10. 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.

    According to the touchscreen paragraph, why do ordinary wool gloves stop a phone from responding?

    1. Wool makes the screen too cold
    2. Wool presses too lightly on the glass
    3. Wool does not conduct electricity well
    4. Wool scratches the see-through layer

11. (1) Volunteering at the animal shelter taught me more than I expected. (2) I learned how to read a nervous dog's body language. (3) I practised talking to visitors who wanted to adopt. (4) The shelter is painted bright orange. (5) Most of all, I learned that small daily tasks, like refilling water bowls, really matter.

    Which sentence should be removed from the paragraph about volunteering at the animal shelter because it does not support the main idea?

    1. Sentence 3
    2. Sentence 2
    3. Sentence 5
    4. Sentence 4

12. Which sentence places the describing phrase correctly?

    1. A deer near the river, walking to school, I saw.
    2. Walking to school, I saw a deer near the river.
    3. Walking to school, a deer was near the river.
    4. Walking to school, the river had a deer near it.

13. The alarm on my phone went off at 5:15 a.m., and for a second I forgot why. Then I remembered: my first shift at Lindqvist's Bakery on George Street. I had applied in March, mostly because my older sister said a job would look good on my résumé, and partly because I wanted to save for a used bike. Mrs. Lindqvist met me at the back door with an apron and a smile. "The ovens are already hot," she said. "Watch first, then try." For the first hour, I washed mixing bowls and carried bags of flour from the storeroom. Each bag weighed ten kilograms, and by the fourth one my arms were shaking. At seven o'clock, she let me move a tray of butter tarts from the cooling rack to the front counter. I was so focused on not tripping that I forgot the door between the kitchen and the shop swung both ways. It hit the edge of the tray, and six tarts slid onto the floor. I stood there with my face burning. I was sure she would tell me to go home and never come back. Instead, she picked up a broom and handed me a dustpan. "Everyone drops something on the first day," she said. "I once dropped a whole wedding cake. Now you know about the door." Then she showed me how to push it open with my shoulder while keeping the tray level. After that, I started asking questions before I did things. How long should the bread cool before slicing? Which shelf do the gluten-free muffins go on? Mrs. Lindqvist never seemed annoyed. In fact, she seemed pleased, and once she said, "A question costs nothing. A mistake costs butter." By the time my shift ended at noon, I had sliced forty loaves, served my first customer and counted change without help. My feet ached, and there was flour in my hair. On the walk home, I passed the bike shop and looked at the blue bike in the window. It still cost $240, which felt like a mountain. But for the first time, I could picture myself climbing it, one early Saturday at a time.

    Which of these tasks did Daniel do FIRST during his shift at Lindqvist's Bakery?

    1. He sliced forty loaves of bread
    2. He washed mixing bowls
    3. He served his first customer
    4. He carried tarts to the counter

14. Prompt: Should high schools start classes later in the morning? High schools should start classes at 9:30 a.m. instead of 8:30 a.m. A later start would help students learn, stay healthy and arrive safely. First, students learn better when they are awake. In my first-period math class, at least five people yawn through every lesson, and our teacher often has to repeat instructions. One more hour of sleep would mean that students actually take in what they hear. Second, teenagers need more sleep than most of them get. My family doctor told me that people my age need eight to ten hours a night, but many of my friends stay up late finishing homework or working part-time shifts. A later bell would let them rest without falling behind. Finally, a later start would be safer in winter. At 7:45 a.m. in January, the sky is still dark when students walk to the bus stop or drive to school. By 8:45 a.m., it is light, and drivers can see pedestrians more easily. Some people worry that a later start would push sports practices into the evening. However, many teams already practise after supper, and a rested athlete plays better. For all of these reasons, a 9:30 a.m. start would help students do their best in class and stay safe on the way there.

    Which rubric description best fits the later-start model essay's topic development?

    1. An opinion with some ideas but no supporting details at all
    2. A response that only restates the prompt in the writer's words
    3. An opinion that is unclear or that changes partway through
    4. A clear, consistent opinion with specific, well-chosen details

15. Which sentence would make the strongest opening for an opinion essay on banning phones in class?

    1. Phones should be banned during class because they pull attention away from learning.
    2. Phones are small, useful devices that many people of all ages own today.
    3. Have you ever stopped to think about how often people use their phones?
    4. There are many different opinions about phones, and all of them have value.

16. 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.

    A Riverbend parent wants to help flood the Willow Park rink on weeknights. According to the report, what should the parent do?

    1. Bring a garden hose to the park on Saturday
    2. Email the local hockey coach about a shift
    3. Call the town recreation manager's office
    4. Sign up at the community centre's front desk

17. 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.

    In the Maple Grove story, what did Mr. Bellamy do after his granddaughter's face appeared on the screen?

    1. He asked the nurse who looked in to take a photo of them
    2. He laughed and told her she needed a haircut
    3. He handed the tablet straight back to Leah
    4. He hung up on her by accident once again

18. AMIRA: Okay, our science fair proposal is due Friday. Ideas? JONAH: Volcanoes. Baking soda, vinegar, red food colouring. Done in an afternoon. AMIRA: Jonah, three groups do volcanoes every year. Ms. Pereira said she wants a real question we can test. JONAH: Fine, fine. What's your idea, then? AMIRA: I was thinking we could test which brand of paper towel absorbs the most water. JONAH: That's... okay, I guess. Kind of like a commercial. AMIRA: Felix, you've been quiet. What do you think? FELIX: Well, I have one idea, but it might be too complicated. AMIRA: Tell us anyway. FELIX: My mom puts used coffee grounds in her garden because she says they help plants grow. My little sister asked if that's really true, and nobody knew. We could grow bean plants with different amounts of coffee grounds in the soil and measure how tall they get. JONAH: Wait, that's actually cool. We could take a picture every day and make a time-lapse video. AMIRA: And it's a real question. Felix, why did you think it was too complicated? FELIX: Beans take a few weeks to grow. The fair is in five weeks, so we'd have to start right away. AMIRA: Then we start right away. I can bring pots and soil from my aunt's greenhouse. JONAH: I'll set up the camera and make the time-lapse. And I'll do the poster. I'm good at big letters. FELIX: I can measure the plants and keep the data chart. AMIRA: Great. I'll write the proposal tonight and send it to you both to check. JONAH: Ha. And I came in here ready to do volcanoes. FELIX: There's always next year.

    How does Felix feel when Amira first asks for his science fair idea, and how do we know?

    1. Unsure, because he says it might be too complicated
    2. Bored, because he would rather build the volcano
    3. Annoyed, because Jonah keeps interrupting him
    4. Excited, because he has already planted the beans

19. Which sentence uses a comma correctly after an introductory phrase?

    1. After the game we went, out for pizza.
    2. After, the game we went out for pizza.
    3. After the game we, went out for pizza.
    4. After the game, we went out for pizza.

20. According to the OSSLT conventions rubric, what happens to an essay of fewer than 30 words (not counting prompt words)?

    1. It earns a bonus for being concise
    2. It receives the lowest conventions code
    3. It is scored only for topic development
    4. It is sent back to the student to finish

21. About what share of the OSSLT raw score comes from the opinion essay?

    1. About 25 percent
    2. About 49 percent
    3. About 10 percent
    4. About 71 percent

22. (1) Many students think a garden needs a big backyard. (2) In fact, a balcony or a sunny window can grow plenty of food. (3) Cherry tomatoes, lettuce and herbs all do well in pots. (4) ___, a container garden needs less weeding than a garden in the ground. (5) With a few pots and some soil, almost anyone can start growing vegetables this spring.

    In the paragraph about container gardens, which transition best fills the blank in sentence 4?

    1. For example
    2. In addition
    3. However
    4. In conclusion

23. In a paragraph about why reading before bed helps sleep, which sentence is off topic?

    1. A regular reading habit signals the body to rest.
    2. Reading a paper book avoids bright screen light.
    3. A calm story helps the mind slow down at night.
    4. My cousin collects comic books from the 1990s.

24. AMIRA: Okay, our science fair proposal is due Friday. Ideas? JONAH: Volcanoes. Baking soda, vinegar, red food colouring. Done in an afternoon. AMIRA: Jonah, three groups do volcanoes every year. Ms. Pereira said she wants a real question we can test. JONAH: Fine, fine. What's your idea, then? AMIRA: I was thinking we could test which brand of paper towel absorbs the most water. JONAH: That's... okay, I guess. Kind of like a commercial. AMIRA: Felix, you've been quiet. What do you think? FELIX: Well, I have one idea, but it might be too complicated. AMIRA: Tell us anyway. FELIX: My mom puts used coffee grounds in her garden because she says they help plants grow. My little sister asked if that's really true, and nobody knew. We could grow bean plants with different amounts of coffee grounds in the soil and measure how tall they get. JONAH: Wait, that's actually cool. We could take a picture every day and make a time-lapse video. AMIRA: And it's a real question. Felix, why did you think it was too complicated? FELIX: Beans take a few weeks to grow. The fair is in five weeks, so we'd have to start right away. AMIRA: Then we start right away. I can bring pots and soil from my aunt's greenhouse. JONAH: I'll set up the camera and make the time-lapse. And I'll do the poster. I'm good at big letters. FELIX: I can measure the plants and keep the data chart. AMIRA: Great. I'll write the proposal tonight and send it to you both to check. JONAH: Ha. And I came in here ready to do volcanoes. FELIX: There's always next year.

    How does Jonah's attitude toward the science fair project change during the conversation?

    1. He goes from liking Amira's idea to rejecting every idea
    2. He goes from feeling excited to wanting to work alone
    3. He goes from wanting something quick to feeling excited
    4. He goes from caring about marks to not caring at all

25. A paragraph argues for a school composting program. Which order of supporting points is most effective?

    1. Strongest first, then repeated in the same words
    2. From least to most convincing, ending with the strongest
    3. In the order the writer happened to think of them
    4. Alphabetical order by the first word of each point