Determine and Analyze Theme Practice Test

Read the passage and answer the question.

On the bus ride to the museum, Ms. Chen passed out partner assignments for the scavenger hunt. Kira scanned the list and felt her shoulders tighten. She’d been paired with Devon, who talked a lot and listened like it was optional.

At the museum entrance, Devon said, “We’ll split up. Faster that way.”

Kira frowned. “It says partners.”

Devon was already walking. “Relax. I’ll grab the hard ones.”

Inside the dinosaur exhibit, Kira tried to follow, but Devon zigzagged from sign to sign, snapping blurry photos and tossing out guesses. “That’s the Tri-something,” he said, not reading the plaque.

Kira stopped at a display and read carefully. A question on their sheet asked for the reason scientists changed a dinosaur’s name. The answer was in the last sentence of the plaque, but Devon had already moved on.

When Devon returned, he waved his phone. “I got most of it. Let’s just fill the rest in.”

Kira took a breath. “No,” she said. Her voice surprised her—steady, not sharp. “If we guess, we’ll be wrong. If you want to finish, we have to slow down and do it right.”

Devon blinked. “You’re serious.”

“Yes,” Kira said, and pointed to the plaque. “Read this part.”

Devon read, then shrugged. “Okay. That’s actually interesting.” He stayed beside her after that, and their answers stopped being guesses.

Which objective summary best includes the theme developed in the passage?

Read the passage and answer the question.

The class planted a small garden behind the cafeteria, where the soil was stubborn and full of pebbles. Ms. Alvarez handed out seed packets like they were secrets. “Choose something you’ll care for,” she said.

Rory picked sunflowers because they sounded easy—tall, bright, impossible to mess up. He pressed the seeds into the ground and imagined a forest of yellow faces by May.

Two weeks later, his plot was mostly dirt. A few weak green threads curled up, then bent over as if they’d changed their minds. Rory stopped checking.

On watering day, he lingered at the edge of the garden while others argued about whose sprouts were tallest. Ms. Alvarez crouched beside Rory’s plot. “What do you notice?” she asked.

“That nothing’s happening,” Rory said.

Ms. Alvarez brushed aside a pebble and pointed. Beneath it, a pale shoot had flattened itself, searching for space. “It’s happening,” she said. “Just not the way you expected.”

Rory returned the next day with a spoon from home. He loosened the soil carefully, not to yank the plants up but to make room around them. He pulled weeds that were stealing sunlight.

The first true leaves appeared. Then the stems thickened. By late spring, Rory’s sunflowers leaned toward the cafeteria windows, crowded but alive.

At the garden showcase, Rory stood by his plants and said quietly, “I thought if it didn’t show right away, it wasn’t real.”

Which choice best distinguishes a theme from a plot summary for the passage?