ISTEP+ Sample Questions and Answer Key
Grade 10

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

   I’m very disappointed with the school board’s recent proposal to eliminate the junior varsity basketball team. Although the team has not had a winning season for the last three years, the board would be wrong to decide that the team and their coach do not deserve continued support. I realize that some players may never develop well enough to make the varsity team, but they should not be denied the opportunity for interscholastic competition just because they are not the best players. Also, playing on the junior varsity is excellent training for the varsity, since both teams use many of the same plays.

  There is enough money in the present budget to finance the junior varsity team. Basketball for students is more important than luxuries for the staff like sending school board members to expensive conferences, paying for the superintendent’s car, and giving teachers time off to attend committee meetings.

   The basketball schedule for the next season has been adopted.  All the other high schools in the league will be inconvenienced if the junior varsity team is eliminated.  Most importantly, the junior varsity players will be hurt. When the school board votes next wek, I hope they will reconsider their proposal to eliminate the junior varsity team.

1. Prompt:

Suppose you are the editor responding to this letter and you are convinced that the parent has a legitimate argument.

Write a persuasive essay in which you explain the importance of keeping money in the budget for a junior varsity basketball program.

2. Which of these proposed changes would MOST improve the chart’s clarity?

Order the chart by the year the events occurred.
Add the months and days each event occurred.
Add the zeroes for the billions of dollars in the “Cost” column.
Change the title to “Five Costly Events in United States History.”

3. Prompt:

Use Your Library!

The library in your community is sponsoring an essay contest. The winning essay will be featured in the local newspaper, and the winner will receive a cash award. All essays must persuade members of the community to make better use of the library.

Write an essay to persuade people in your community to use the library more often.

4.  Decide which punctuation mark is needed in the sentence.
I ate too much at the class picnic; consequently I was not surprised when I felt ill afterward.

;
:
.
,

5. Solve for x: 2(x – 3) = 3x + 1

-1
-3
-4
-7

6.

7. Look at the system of equations below.

y = x – 2
3y + 5x = 10

What is the solution to the system of equations?

(0,2)
(2, 0)
(½, 1 ½)
(1 ½ , ½ )

8. Wilsonville is 16 miles due west of Carriage, and Stevens is 12 miles due south of Carriage.

The shortest distance between Wilsonville and Stevens is represented by x in the diagram above.

To the nearest mile, what is the distance, x, from Wilsonville to Stevens?

400 miles
200 miles
28 miles
20 miles

Answers