Last week, I noted having done some assessment-practice work with a (fortunate) client who had lived outside the testing culture prevalent in the United States and was in need of adaptation to it. (See here for details.) The example I gave then isn’t the only one I have handy, fortunately, and since it seemed to go over relatively well, I figured I’d give another.

Accordingly, below, I give another of the exercises I put to that most fortunate client. The passage runs approximately 190 words and tests out at a ninth-grade reading level. As before, it is adapted only lightly to suit the medium. The original was printed on letter-sized paper in grayscale, and working with a physical sheet is quite a bit different than working online, as all too many Texan students are finding out…

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Read the passage below. For each of the questions that follow, select the correct or most accurate answer.

¹The tabletop role-playing game can be defined as extemporaneous, collaborative, rules-assisted storytelling. ²What this means, in essence, is that a group of people get together to tell a story using a set of rules, making up what happens on the spot from the germ of a prepared idea that one of the people brings to the gathering. ³This is different from the online role-playing experience, in which players are confronted with computer-generated enemies to fight and puzzles to solve. ⁴Online role-playing games focus on combat, and because of the necessary limits of programming language and the finite capacity of computers, there is not much flexibility in the nature of the story. ⁵Certainly, players can choose different paths for their characters, but those choices are as narrowly defined as menus at fast-food restaurants. ⁶Tabletop role-playing games, however, are as flexible as the minds of the players, and can respond to more stimuli in more ways. ⁷Tabletop gamers can think of options that no others in the group would have considered, thereby taking the story in new directions. ⁸This has the effect of making tabletop gaming a richer, more immersive play experience.

1.
In sentence 1, “extemporaneous” is which part of speech?
A. Adjective
B. Adverb
C. Noun
D. Verb

2.
In sentence 1, “extemporaneous” means
A. Made in the moment
B. Made in the night
C. Made of former spouses
D. Made of holes

3.
In sentence 3, “This” refers to
A. A group of people
B. Online gaming
C. A set of rules
D. Tabletop gaming

4.
In sentence 4, “finite” means
A. With a beginning
B. With an end
C. Both A and B
D. None of the above

5.
Sentence 5 offers an example of
A. Analogy
B. Conceit
C. Metaphor
D. Simile

6.
In sentence 6, “however” serves to mark
A. Addition
B. Causation
C. Deviation
D. Negation

7.
One inference that can be taken from the paragraph is that
A. Nobody should play games
B. Online games are better than tabletop games
C. Tabletop games are better than online games
D. None of the above

(Answers: 1, A; 2, A; 3, D; 4, C; 5, D; 6, C; 7, C.)

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If you or someone you know might benefit from some additional practice with this kind of thing, or you’re in an instructional position and would like to outsource some assignment development, I’m happy to help. Just fill out the contact form below, and we can get started!

Or if you just want to send some support my way, that’ll be good, too!