Multiple Genres: Inferring Multiple Themes Within And Across Texts Using Text Evidence (TEKS.ELA.6.7.A) Practice Test

The school's garden club met under wilted sunflowers, the soil brittle as crust. For weeks a heat wave had chased away clouds, and the watering cans they carried seemed too small for the thirst of so many plants. Jada traced a finger along a brown leaf and sighed. "Maybe we should just wait for rain," someone said. Mr. Ortiz, the custodian, shook his head. "Rain is helpful, but good gardeners don't wait. They adapt." He waved to Mrs. Alvarez, a neighbor who had come to see the beds. She knelt, showing them how to sink repurposed buckets beside the tomatoes and thread cotton string from the holes to the roots. "Slow drip," she said, "so every drop counts." The club divided tasks—drilling holes, cutting string, shading seedlings with old crates. They took turns sharing the hose until the buckets filled. By Saturday, the leaves had lifted like stretched wings. The club didn't celebrate with trophies, just quiet pride and sticky forearms. Jada felt the garden breathe—and the group breathe with it.

Mina had taped lists of tricky words above her desk, but the letters still tumbled in her head like shoes in a dryer. Her brother Leo smirked whenever she practiced. "You'll trip on stage," he sang, tapping out a taunting rhythm. Mina shut her door and whispered syllables to the wall. On the night before the bee, Leo stood in her doorway, unusually quiet. "Coach benched me today for showing off," he admitted. "I thought I was helping the team. I wasn't." He sat on the floor and clapped a slow beat. "Let's try rhythms that stick, not jokes." They turned spelling into drum patterns and goofy dances, laughing at themselves instead of at each other. At the bee, Mina misspelled one word and sat down, cheeks hot. Leo met her in the hall with two cups of water and a lopsided bow. "Partner?" he asked. On the walk home, they kept the beat with their steps, and Mina felt something steady where worry had shaken—no trophy, but a new kind of teammate.