Standard Test

The following poem and questions, from a 2004 test released by the Virginia Department of Education, show material covered by a standard eighth-grade reading test.

Dragonflies

Shimmering, they flit

over soggy fields under

oak and willow; hovering in

a blur of wings,

frozen in a flick

that ends with an upward

zoom and buzz.

Blue-bodied,

shiny as metal, they swarm

when heat has stilled most living things,

translucent wings glorious and fragile

as summer.

27. In "Dragonflies," "buzz" and "zoom" are both examples of:

A) simile

B) onomatopoeia

C) alliteration

D) personification

28. In "Dragonflies," "when heat has stilled most living things" provides an image of:

F) a hot day when nothing seems to move

G) a warm day when dragonflies rest

H) a quiet day when no wind blows

J) a sunny day when only insects fly

29. Which phrase from "Dragonflies" offers the best visual description of the insects' movements?

A) "shiny as metal"

B) "heat has stilled"

C) "blur of wings"

D) "glorious and fragile"

Source: Virginia Department of Education

Answers: 27, B; 28, F; 29, C