Read Grade-Level Literature Practice Test
•9 QuestionsRead the passage and answer the question.
(1) On the first chilly Monday of October, Mara found a small brass key inside the pocket of her grandfather’s old peacoat. (2) The coat still smelled faintly of cedar, as if the closet had been saving his presence. (3) She rolled the key between her fingers, listening to its soft clink against her thumbnail, and wondered what it had once opened. (4) Downstairs, her mom was already labeling boxes with a thick marker—KITCHEN, BOOKS, WINTER—because the move to a smaller apartment was no longer a maybe; it was a date on the calendar.
(5) “You can keep one coat,” Mom had said the night before, “but the rest needs to go.” (6) Mara had nodded like a responsible person, even though her throat felt crowded. (7) Now she stood in the doorway of her room, watching sunlight stripe the floor like a ruler measuring what she would lose.
(8) She carried the peacoat to the donation pile, then stopped. (9) The key tugged at her thoughts like a loose thread. (10) In the hallway, the old linen closet door stuck the way it always had. (11) Mara knelt, slid the key into the tiny lock she had never noticed before, and turned. (12) The click sounded louder than it should have.
(13) Inside was a narrow compartment holding a folded note and a photograph of her grandfather as a boy, grinning beside a homemade kite. (14) The note read, “For the days you feel packed away—remember you can still rise.” (15) Mara’s eyes stung. (16) She didn’t put the coat in the pile. (17) Instead, she hung it on her chair, not as clutter, but as a promise.
Based on the passage, what can the reader infer about why Mara decides to keep the peacoat?
Read the passage and answer the question.
(1) On the first chilly Monday of October, Mara found a small brass key inside the pocket of her grandfather’s old peacoat. (2) The coat still smelled faintly of cedar, as if the closet had been saving his presence. (3) She rolled the key between her fingers, listening to its soft clink against her thumbnail, and wondered what it had once opened. (4) Downstairs, her mom was already labeling boxes with a thick marker—KITCHEN, BOOKS, WINTER—because the move to a smaller apartment was no longer a maybe; it was a date on the calendar.
(5) “You can keep one coat,” Mom had said the night before, “but the rest needs to go.” (6) Mara had nodded like a responsible person, even though her throat felt crowded. (7) Now she stood in the doorway of her room, watching sunlight stripe the floor like a ruler measuring what she would lose.
(8) She carried the peacoat to the donation pile, then stopped. (9) The key tugged at her thoughts like a loose thread. (10) In the hallway, the old linen closet door stuck the way it always had. (11) Mara knelt, slid the key into the tiny lock she had never noticed before, and turned. (12) The click sounded louder than it should have.
(13) Inside was a narrow compartment holding a folded note and a photograph of her grandfather as a boy, grinning beside a homemade kite. (14) The note read, “For the days you feel packed away—remember you can still rise.” (15) Mara’s eyes stung. (16) She didn’t put the coat in the pile. (17) Instead, she hung it on her chair, not as clutter, but as a promise.
Based on the passage, what can the reader infer about why Mara decides to keep the peacoat?