ASSESSMENT PRACTICE ACTIVITY 1.18 The Mermaid

1. Read the sentence from paragraph 2. “Before I relinquished my voice, I didn’t realize how strong and happy I was.” Which term BEST describes the function of this sentence? A. hook B. topic sentence C. detail D. conclusion

B. topic sentence This is the main idea of the second paragraph. All other information in the paragraph supports this idea.

2. Read the sentence from the passage. “Before I relinquished my voice, I didn’t realize how strong and happy I was.” What does relinquished mean? A. gained B. strengthened C. gave up D. retained

C. gave up The mermaid gave up her voice to get legs.

3. Read the sentence. “The prince pined for the mermaid he lost, the one with the beautiful voice, and when he could not have her, he looked elsewhere for love.” Which word BEST helps the reader understand the meaning of bandits? A. prince B. lost C. beautiful D. elsewhere

B. lost In this sentence, the word lost helps us understand that the prince is sad because he does not have his mermaid with the beautiful voice. The word lost helps us understand that pine means to pout or sulk.

4. Which statement would be the BEST topic sentence for a paragraph explaining why it is important to be true to yourself? A. Have you ever been true to yourself? B. I learned a good lesson about myself that day. C. She was true to herself in the story. D. Being true to yourself leads to happiness.

A topic sentence should state the main idea of a paragraph. If the subject of the paragraph is being true to yourself, the topic sentence should state something about being true to yourself – such as it will bring happiness. A is too broad – a topic sentence should give an idea of what is to come. B is too broad – it doesn’t connect to being true to yourself C is too specific – the paragraph isn’t necessarily about the mermaid story.