TEXAS SUCCESS INITIATIVE ASSESSMENT 2.0
(TSIA2) | TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION
COORDINATING BOARD | ELAR: READING AND
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
SECTION 1: READING COMPREHENSION (Literary Analysis)
Questions 1-25 focus on literary texts including fiction, poetry, and drama.
Passage 1 (Questions 1-5)
The following is an excerpt from a short story:
"The house had stood empty for nearly twenty years before Marcus found the courage to walk
through its front door. Local children had long told stories about the place—whispers of strange
lights in the upper windows and sounds that resembled nothing so much as a woman weeping.
But Marcus wasn't interested in ghosts. He was interested in what his grandfather had left
behind, in the letters that had arrived regularly for decades but were never answered, in the
mystery that had defined his family for as long as he could remember. The door groaned on its
hinges as he pushed it open, and the smell of decay and abandonment washed over him.
Inside, the furniture stood draped in white sheets like ghosts themselves, and Marcus felt, for
the first time, that perhaps the children's stories weren't so far-fetched after all."
Question 1
The primary purpose of this passage is to:
A) Describe the physical appearance of an abandoned house
B) Explain why local children told stories about the house
C) Introduce a character's personal connection to a mysterious location
D) Argue that old houses should be preserved for historical reasons
Question 2
In the context of the passage, the phrase "draped in white sheets like ghosts themselves"
serves primarily to:
A) Suggest that the furniture is haunted
B) Create a visual image that reinforces the eerie atmosphere
C) Indicate that someone still lives in the house
D) Contrast with the children's stories about the house
Question 3
,Based on the passage, which of the following best describes Marcus's motivation for entering
the house?
A) He wants to prove the children's stories are false
B) He is curious about his family's history and unanswered questions
C) He plans to renovate and sell the property
D) He is looking for hidden treasure his grandfather left behind
Question 4
The author's use of the word "groaned" to describe the door's sound is an example of:
A) Personification
B) Simile
C) Hyperbole
D) Alliteration
Question 5
At the end of the passage, Marcus's feeling that "perhaps the children's stories weren't so
far-fetched after all" suggests that:
A) He now believes the house is haunted
B) The atmosphere inside the house has affected his perspective
C) He sees actual ghosts in the house
D) He regrets his decision to enter
Passage 2 (Questions 6-10)
The following is a poem:
"The road diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
, Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Question 6
The central conflict in this poem is between:
A) Nature and civilization
B) The desire to explore and the fear of the unknown
C) Two equally appealing choices and the difficulty of choosing
D) Past experiences and future possibilities
Question 7
The phrase "wanted wear" (line 9) most nearly means:
A) Needed maintenance
B) Lacked use
C) Desired attention
D) Required replacement
Question 8
In the third stanza, the speaker acknowledges that "I doubted if I should ever come back." This
admission reveals:
A) The speaker's regret about the choice made
B) The finality and significance of life decisions
C) The speaker's intention to explore both paths eventually
D) The speaker's fear of getting lost in the woods
Question 9
The final stanza's statement that taking "the one less traveled by...has made all the difference"
implies that:
A) The speaker achieved greater success than others
B) Unconventional choices can significantly shape one's life
C) The speaker regrets not taking the more popular path
D) The physical path led to a different destination
Question 10
(TSIA2) | TEXAS HIGHER EDUCATION
COORDINATING BOARD | ELAR: READING AND
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
SECTION 1: READING COMPREHENSION (Literary Analysis)
Questions 1-25 focus on literary texts including fiction, poetry, and drama.
Passage 1 (Questions 1-5)
The following is an excerpt from a short story:
"The house had stood empty for nearly twenty years before Marcus found the courage to walk
through its front door. Local children had long told stories about the place—whispers of strange
lights in the upper windows and sounds that resembled nothing so much as a woman weeping.
But Marcus wasn't interested in ghosts. He was interested in what his grandfather had left
behind, in the letters that had arrived regularly for decades but were never answered, in the
mystery that had defined his family for as long as he could remember. The door groaned on its
hinges as he pushed it open, and the smell of decay and abandonment washed over him.
Inside, the furniture stood draped in white sheets like ghosts themselves, and Marcus felt, for
the first time, that perhaps the children's stories weren't so far-fetched after all."
Question 1
The primary purpose of this passage is to:
A) Describe the physical appearance of an abandoned house
B) Explain why local children told stories about the house
C) Introduce a character's personal connection to a mysterious location
D) Argue that old houses should be preserved for historical reasons
Question 2
In the context of the passage, the phrase "draped in white sheets like ghosts themselves"
serves primarily to:
A) Suggest that the furniture is haunted
B) Create a visual image that reinforces the eerie atmosphere
C) Indicate that someone still lives in the house
D) Contrast with the children's stories about the house
Question 3
,Based on the passage, which of the following best describes Marcus's motivation for entering
the house?
A) He wants to prove the children's stories are false
B) He is curious about his family's history and unanswered questions
C) He plans to renovate and sell the property
D) He is looking for hidden treasure his grandfather left behind
Question 4
The author's use of the word "groaned" to describe the door's sound is an example of:
A) Personification
B) Simile
C) Hyperbole
D) Alliteration
Question 5
At the end of the passage, Marcus's feeling that "perhaps the children's stories weren't so
far-fetched after all" suggests that:
A) He now believes the house is haunted
B) The atmosphere inside the house has affected his perspective
C) He sees actual ghosts in the house
D) He regrets his decision to enter
Passage 2 (Questions 6-10)
The following is a poem:
"The road diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
, Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Question 6
The central conflict in this poem is between:
A) Nature and civilization
B) The desire to explore and the fear of the unknown
C) Two equally appealing choices and the difficulty of choosing
D) Past experiences and future possibilities
Question 7
The phrase "wanted wear" (line 9) most nearly means:
A) Needed maintenance
B) Lacked use
C) Desired attention
D) Required replacement
Question 8
In the third stanza, the speaker acknowledges that "I doubted if I should ever come back." This
admission reveals:
A) The speaker's regret about the choice made
B) The finality and significance of life decisions
C) The speaker's intention to explore both paths eventually
D) The speaker's fear of getting lost in the woods
Question 9
The final stanza's statement that taking "the one less traveled by...has made all the difference"
implies that:
A) The speaker achieved greater success than others
B) Unconventional choices can significantly shape one's life
C) The speaker regrets not taking the more popular path
D) The physical path led to a different destination
Question 10
