Grade Level: Middle School - KSU Web Home



Grade Level: Middle School

Practice Paper #1: "I Was Bored"



I was bored, out of school, had nothing to do and time to waste. The Weekend was here, and responsibility went straight out the window. I didnt care about anything, except getting to the playground and the players.

I walked the five blocks, jumping the cracks in the blocks like a first-grader would. I waved to old Mrs. Peterson who lived in a pink house with chipped paint-she's senile and thinks she's Marilyn Monroe. The temperature was Ninety-five degrees, and the grass in the cracks of the sidewalk was turning brown because of it. I was sweating just walking down the block, and I was crazy enough to play basketball. I heard the noise about a block away. It was wonderful, the ball hitting the backboard with a metallic clang, The chain nets rattling together and cries of "Give it here!" "Alley-oop! Throw that mother up here!" and "You piece of crap! What the hell did you do that for?" I stepped on my second home, the basketball court. The black asphalt was crumbling off at the sides, and the paint on the court was chipping and wearing out, proof that there wasn't a day this court didn't go unused. The hoops were almost opposite. One was older, bent, the back-board slightly cracked, and leaning a hair to the right. The other one was rusted, a thirteen foot high chain fence all around it, and some little kid was always climbing it, trying to get a better view of the game. He always had a stereo with him, blaring hardcore hip-hop every day. Today it was Ice Cube we got to listen to.

The players greeted me, ready for a game. I often wondered if they had graduated from college and high school, If they'd made the big time, Especially my best friend, Wiz. He was skinny, but he was always the first one on the fast break, and the first back on defense. He and I couldn't be stopped. We were feeling cocky; so we challenged three other guys to a game. I set up the first play. I dribbled left, faked right, pulled ball fake to the left and threw it up to Wiz, who had burned his defender, jumped, caught it in midair, whirled around, pumped the ball twice, brought it behind his head, and with all his force, threw it down through the hoop, the backboard trembling, net so mangled we had to stop the game to fix it. The other team's mouths dropped and Wiz smiled. "One-zip" he announced.

We continued back and forth, battling all the way. The game would have went smoothly except for one player named Maurice. If you touched his shoe it was a foul. He was a playground Bill Laimbeer, except in the area of physical features. He had a muscular build, his veins on his arms popping out like little rivers winding down his arms. When he smiled, you could see his teeth were crooked, one was gold, and he had a big gap in the middle of his front ones. He was constantly wearing a Brooklyn dodgers hat, and looked like Mike Tyson. His team tried its hardest, but we got lucky, because they picked a Michael Jordan wanna-be who, whenever he touched the ball would either dribble it off his legs, throw a pass over the fence or miss a dunk with the greatest of ease. Subsequently, we won.

This place had become special to me, like a second home. And because of the place and the people, I have lived some of the best moments of my life there.

Grade Level: Middle School

Practice Paper #2: "I may be quiet but I listen very loud"



On my shirt I would put: "I may be quiet but I listen very loud."

As many people know I am a quiet person. Not many people know me very well. Several reasons for this are: I don't need to hear my voice all the time to know I'm alive. I feel and breathe, thus I know I'm around. Another reason is I don't need to monopolize conversations to get attention, or to interrupt people all the time so I can be the center of attention-I know who I am, what I need and how to get it. I don't need to hurt others to build myself up.

But I do hear well, I hear others cutting "friends" of theirs apart, saying unkind things just to make themselves seem better. I hear people's feelings being hurt by others ignoring them. I hear when no one speaks to me because I choose to be more considerate of others and not to follow the crowd. I hear tears on faces, because they aren't accepted by some because they don't have the right looks, the right clothes, or they are not cool enough to be popular. I hear the loneliness of people sitting in the folding chairs at a school dance because they are not loud enough to be heard.

I plan on listening to my children like my own parents are listening to me. Suprisingly . . . they were the ones that taught me to listen.

Grade Level: Middle School

Practice Paper #4: "Runaway Ralph"

The object that means the most to me is a book called Runaway Ralph. I picked this object because it's a very neat book and I read it a lot. I also really liked it.

I think it's a really neat book because I think it's a whole lot of fun to read. It has a real nice and colorful cover that really appeals to me. Runaway Ralph is all about a little mouse and his motorcycle that runaway together. Since this book has a mouse in it, and I really like mice, especially little white ones. I thought it was a really great book. The book was also good because of the number of pages. It wasn't to long and it wasn't to short of a book.

I read this really great book a lot because it's not only exciting but interesting. Runaway Ralph was the first book that I ever red, liked, and not only exciting but interesting too. This book is all the things listed above and more, like fun to read I thought with all the excitement and interesting parts in the book that it was fun to read. It was also a very good book. With all that stuff going on it's hard to say that it's a bad book. Therefore, in general, it's a very good book. I also read it a lot because I get it for my 8th birthday.

I re liked it too. It's the best book I have ever read. The book was not too hard to read yet it wasn't too easy to read either. Reading this book really improves my reading skills.

In conclusion I think this publication is a very good learning book it's also a very fun book to read.

Grade Level: High School

Practice Paper #2 "Spelunking"



Spelunking, or cave-exploring, is one of the most enjoyable sports a person can pursue. It is a physically involving activity which can lead to fabulous discoveries and a deep love for natural wonders. However, like all sports, spelunking demands several abilities and attitudes to be conducted skillfully. In addition to a healthy measure of curiosity, a caver must have a respect for nature's delicate balances and a firm understanding of safety procedures to pursue his sport without endangering either the cave or himself.

One of the most important prerequisites to becoming a spelunker is the possession of a curious nature. An Explorer must have an innate yearning to discover the unknown to drive him steadily through the earth's interior. He must have, as Hillary aptly phrased it, a desire to conquer or reveal a mystery "because it's there." Without this insatiable curiosity, most people will not have the determination to crawl through muddy passages and brave subterranean bodies of water, and to lose one's resolution halfway through the exploration of a cave can be fatal to a spelunker. This curious nature is an essential possession for spelunkers.

However, perhaps the most important possession for the welfare of a spelunker is a working knowledge of cave safety procedures, for a caver must never let his regard for personal safety be overcome by his curiosity. The prudent cave explorer should have at least three different sources of lighting and also have a small supply of quick-energy food with him. If the use of rope equipment is necessary to conduct the exploration of a cavern, a spelunker should be expertly aware of how to properly utilize it, lest his support collapse as he traverses a steep incline; countless cavers have perished through improper rope management. The most important rule for a cave explorer, however, is to never explore alone. Spelunkers should always use the "buddy system," for partners often can rescue people who might die if unaided in a cave. A strict adherence to common safety procedures can mean the difference between life and death for a caver.

Finally, a knowledgeable cave explorer must have a healthy respect for nature. Caves have a very delicate balance which allows them to produce the beautiful formations spelunkers adore. Merely touching an active formation stops forever its continual building process, for oils from human skin dramatically upset its delicate balance. Even more so, smoking and littering in caves damage caverns irrepairably for future generations. A respect for nature is essential to the preservation of caves and therefore to the continuation of the sport of spelunking.

The knowledgeable caver can pursue a sport which is physically invigorating and exciting. Lack of prudence in a cavern can be fatal to a spelunker, but with the proper skills and attitudes, he can discover a subterranean world, the wonders of which many others shall never see.

Grade Level: High School

Practice Paper #5 "Being an Only Child: Some Advantages and Disadvantages"



There are many advantages and disadvantages to being the only child in the family. I will list both the advantages and disadvantages.

I will start with the advantages of being the only child. When you are the only child, you get all the attention. You are allowed to do more adult things than if you have a brother or sister. You get your own room and lots of privacy. There is no older brother or sister bossing you around.

Now I will tell you about the disadvantages of being an only child. Quite often, you feel bored because of lack of things to do. For instance, let's say it is summer vacation and you would like something to do but no one is around. If you had a brother or sister, you would have someone to do things with. These are just some of the many disadvantages of being an only child.

So, as you can see, being an only child has its advantages and disadvantages. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? It is up to you.

Grade Level: High School

Practice Paper #1 "Bomes"



I couldn't forget the war in Lebanon because I had vulnerable feeling in a bome. One day, me and my sister were in school like other students doing in school. At 10:00 AM the militia group started dropping bomes over my city in Bierut. Next the principale of the school start sending the student home by buses and walking. Me and my sister lived about an half mile from the school. Every body start running to their houses because it was scary moment. But I could find my sister untill the last. When I find my sister I hug her and I told her let go home fast. After we get outside the school we saw a unbelievable thing for example the car was burning, too many glasses was falling from building, and look like a strategy.

We start running to get home as possible. In that time we saw a death body was burned and divided by a two pieces. My sister start crying too hard when she saw him too. The city was cilense but only you hear is a sound of the bomes. Finally we get to our house and we saw an exploded bome on the gate. We start yelling mama are you fine I didn't see my mother at home. I cried hard and in addition I praised to my god. The, My older brother tole me "my mother get injured by a bome exploded and she is in the hospital". In summary I was the younger in the family. My older sibling take care of me untill my mother came back from the hospital. I was understandble about what happened to her. I Kept my mother relax at home and I help her by cleaning the home. Today I live in U.S. and my mother live in Lebanon, Bierut. She allway said "I like to died here at my home near my relative and in my country." I believe it after What happened to her. Finally she is in perfect health living in Lebanon. Also she will come to visit me after four days here in Washington. I am so exiting that she is coming because I haven't saw her since two and half years. I love my mother more than every one in my life.

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