OC Mock Test 1 — Reading (Year 4)
A free NSW Opportunity Class (OC) placement test practice paper for Year 4 in the format of the real test: 25 questions in 40 minutes, covering Section A — Read the texts and answer the questions; Section B — Multi-part questions. Read each text carefully and choose the best answer. Answer every question — there is no penalty for a wrong answer. Attempt it online — every question is marked instantly and the correct answers are shown at the end.
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Tomas had been lying awake for an hour when he heard it again: a scrape, a thump, and then a long, low rustle from the direction of the garden shed.
He slid out of bed and crept to the window. The moon was almost full, and the backyard looked as if someone had dusted it with flour. The shed door, which Dad always latched, was standing slightly open.
Tomas's heart thudded. He thought about waking his parents, but last week he had woken them over a noise that turned out to be the washing machine, and Dad had not been pleased. This time, he decided, he would find out for himself.
He pulled on his dressing-gown, took the torch from the kitchen drawer and eased open the back door. The cold grass soaked his slippers as he tiptoed across the lawn.
At the shed, he paused. Something inside was breathing — quick, small breaths. Tomas swallowed, lifted the torch and flicked it on.
Two round eyes glowed back at him from the top shelf. A brushtail possum was crouched among the old paint tins, and clinging to her back was a tiny, pink-nosed baby.
The mother possum hissed, but she did not move. Tomas lowered the torch so that the beam pointed at the floor.
"Sorry," he whispered. "I didn't know it was your house too."
He backed out slowly and pushed the door until it was almost, but not quite, shut. In the morning, he would ask Dad to leave it that way.
Q1. Why did Tomas decide not to wake his parents?
Q2. The writer says the backyard "looked as if someone had dusted it with flour". This tells us that the backyard
Q3. Which word best describes how Tomas treats the possum?
When the first cattle arrived in Australia with European settlers, nobody guessed that they would cause a very smelly problem. A single cow can drop about a dozen cow pats every day. In most parts of the world, beetles quickly break these pats apart and bury them. In Australia, however, the cow pats simply sat in the paddocks, drying hard in the sun.
The reason was surprising. Australia has hundreds of kinds of native dung beetles, but they had spent millions of years feeding on the small, dry droppings of kangaroos and wallabies. The large, wet pats left by cattle did not suit them at all.
As the number of cattle grew, so did the problem. Pats covered the ground so thickly that grass could not grow beneath them. Worse still, they became perfect nurseries for bush flies, which laid their eggs in the dung. Anyone who has spent a summer's day in the country knows how annoying these flies can be.
In the 1960s, scientists came up with a clever plan. They would bring in dung beetles from Africa and Europe, where beetles had lived alongside cattle for a very long time. Each new kind of beetle was carefully tested before it was released, to make sure it would not harm Australian plants or animals.
Today, many of these beetles are hard at work. They roll, tunnel and bury the dung, which returns goodness to the soil, helps grass to grow and leaves fewer places for flies to breed. They may be small, but they are among farming's greatest helpers.
Q4. According to the article, why did Australia's native dung beetles not bury cow pats?
Q5. In paragraph 3, the cow pats are called "perfect nurseries for bush flies". What does "nurseries" mean here?
Q6. What is the writer's main purpose in this article?
It starts with one — a single tap,
a finger knocking, soft and slow,
as if the sky has come to ask
if anybody's home below.
Then two, then ten, then twenty more,
a drummer marching overhead;
the gutters gurgle, spill and roar,
and I lie listening in my bed.
The paddocks drink. The dam grows wide.
The frogs strike up their croaking song.
The thirsty land, so cracked and dried,
has waited for this rain so long.
So drum away, you noisy rain,
and I will count you, beat by beat,
until I'm dreaming — and again
the land is green beneath my feet.
Q7. In the first stanza, the poet compares the first drop of rain to
Q8. What does the third stanza suggest about the land before the rain came?
Q9. How does the speaker feel about the rain?
12 Banksia Street
Wattle Creek
Dear Mayor Harris,
My name is Ruby Lam. I am in Year 4 at Wattle Creek Public School. I am writing about Bellbird Park, the playground next to the library.
Bellbird Park is the best playground in our town. It has a flying fox, a rope pyramid and a sandpit. The sandpit is big enough for a whole class to play in. However, there is one big problem: there is no shade. On summer afternoons the slide becomes so hot that you cannot touch it, and last February my little brother burnt his hand on the metal steps. Most families now stay away until the sun goes down.
I have an idea that would not cost very much. If the council planted a row of trees along the western side of the park, they would block the hot afternoon sun. My class has offered to help water the young trees during their first summer, and our teacher says she will organise a roster.
I know that trees take a few years to grow, so a shade sail could be put up in the meantime.
Please think about my idea. I believe that with a little shade, Bellbird Park could be enjoyed all year round.
Yours sincerely,
Ruby Lam
Q10. Why does Ruby mention what happened to her little brother?
Q11. Which of these sentences from the letter is an opinion rather than a fact?
Five sentences have been taken out of this text. Choose the sentence that best fits each gap. There is one extra sentence that you will not need.
A busy beehive can be home to tens of thousands of bees, yet every one of them has a job to do. [Gap 1] She can lay more than a thousand eggs in a single day, and she almost never leaves the hive.
Most of the bees in the hive are workers. [Gap 2] Young workers stay inside, cleaning the cells, feeding the babies and building new wax. Older workers fly out to collect nectar and pollen from flowers.
When a worker finds a good patch of flowers, she returns to the hive and performs a special dance. [Gap 3] By watching carefully, the other bees can fly straight to the food.
The nectar is carried home in a special "honey stomach". [Gap 4] The bees then fan it with their wings until most of the water dries out, and it slowly turns into thick, sticky honey.
The hive also contains male bees, called drones. [Gap 5] In autumn, when food becomes scarce, the workers often push the drones out of the hive altogether.
Q12. Which sentence best fits Gap 1?
Q13. Which sentence best fits Gap 2?
Q14. Which sentence best fits Gap 3?
Q15. Which sentence best fits Gap 4?
Q16. Which sentence best fits Gap 5?
Four children describe their hobbies.
Text A — Leo
My grandad taught me to play chess when I was six, on a wooden board he had carved himself. Now I play every Tuesday at the library club, and last term I reached the final of the junior tournament. What I love most is that luck has nothing to do with it. If you lose, it is because the other player thought further ahead, so you learn something from every game.
Text B — Aisha
Most people are still asleep when I set out with my binoculars on Saturday mornings, because birds are busiest just after sunrise. I keep a notebook where I write down every bird I spot, with the date and the place. So far I have recorded sixty-three different kinds. My favourite is the superb fairy-wren, because the male turns bright blue in spring. Birdwatching has taught me to be very patient.
Text C — Sam
I go to a pottery class at the community hall on Thursday afternoons. The first bowl I made on the wheel collapsed into a flat, wobbly pancake, and the next five were not much better. I almost gave up, but my teacher showed me how to keep my hands steady. Now I have made a whole set of cups. I like holding something that did not exist an hour before.
Text D — Zara
Climbing at the indoor wall is the best part of my week. I started because my best friend Jess was going, and now we go together every Sunday, cheering each other up the hardest routes. I saved my pocket money for four months to buy my own climbing shoes. Some people think climbing is scary, but you always wear a harness, and the rope catches you if you slip.
Q17. Which text (A, B, C or D) is written by someone who likes that their hobby depends on skill, not chance?
Q18. Which text (A, B, C or D) is written by someone whose first attempts went badly?
Q19. Which text (A, B, C or D) is written by someone who bought their own equipment with money they had saved?
Q20. Which text (A, B, C or D) is written by someone who keeps a written record of their hobby?
Q21. Which text (A, B, C or D) is written by someone who learned their hobby from a member of their family?
Our school plans to turn one corner of the oval into a vegetable garden. Two students wrote to the school newsletter.
Writer 1 — Hana
I think the vegetable garden is a wonderful idea. At the moment, most of us have no idea how food actually grows. Looking after tomatoes and beans would teach us science in a way that textbooks cannot. The vegetables could even be used in the canteen, which would mean fresher lunches for everyone. Some students are worried about losing part of the oval, but the corner being used is so boggy that nobody plays there anyway. My only worry is the summer holidays: someone will need to water the garden while we are all away.
Writer 2 — Oscar
Growing vegetables would be fun, and I agree that we should learn more about where our food comes from. However, the oval is already crowded at lunchtime, and every metre of grass matters. The younger students especially need space to run around. Instead of digging up part of the oval, why not use large planter boxes on the concrete area near the library? That way we would get a garden without losing any playing space. It would also be easier to look after, because the boxes would be close to the classrooms.
Q22. Which writer is worried about who will care for the garden during the holidays?
Q23. Which writer thinks students should learn more about how food is grown?
Q24. Which writer thinks the school should not have a vegetable garden at all?
Q25. Which writer suggests a different place for the garden?
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