national assessment program year

5
literacy and numeracy

LANGUAGE
CONVENTIONS 2010

SESSION 1
Use 2B or HB

0:40 Time available for students to

complete test: 40 minutes
pencil only

© ACARA, on behalf of the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs, 2010.
Do not write on this page.
 YEAR 5 LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS
PRACTICE QUESTIONS

P1 The spelling mistake in this sentence has been circled.

Write the correct spelling for the circled word in the box.

P1
We go to scool in a bus.

P2 This sentence has one word that is incorrect.

Write the correct spelling of the word in the box.

P2
We whent to buy some toys.

P3 Which sentence has the correct punctuation? Shade one

bubble.
tom has a red ball
tom has a red ball.
Tom has a red ball
Tom has a red ball.

P4 Which word correctly completes the sentence?

The children carried bag of balls.

a
if
he
they

P5 Two commas ( , ) have been left out of this sentence.

Where should the missing commas go? Shade two
bubbles.

Our class played with the bats balls hoops and blocks.

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 YEAR 5 LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS

The spelling mistakes in these sentences have been circled.

Write the correct spelling for each circled word in the box.

1
1 The arroe hit the target.

Our class watched the launtch of the 2

2
rocket on TV.

Bill’s granfather lives next door to 3

3
my school.

4
4 Some people like to eat froot .

The children remberd to look carefully before 5

5
crossing the road.

6
6 Rebecca cort a cold last week.

7
7 I herd the new song on the radio today.

The bricklayers helped to build an extenshun 8

8
to the house.

© MCEECDYA 2010 nap10_lc5_2411

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 YEAR 5 LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS

The spelling mistakes in these sentences have been circled.

Write the correct spelling for each circled word in the box.

Jason’s father and uncel watched him 9

9
play football.

10
10 We walked to the top of the mounten .

The student had ekselent results in the 11

11
Maths test.

Read Our holiday.

Each sentence has one word that is incorrect.
Write the correct spelling of the word in the box.

Our holiday

12
12 We travel across the oshan in a sailing boat.

It transports us far away to a warm, 13

13
tropicle place.

We drop anchor beside an iland with dense 14

14
palm trees.

What extraordinary experiences we have on 15

15
our jurney.

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 YEAR 5 LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS

Each sentence has one word that is incorrect.

Write the correct spelling of the word in the box.

16
16 The lady said she woud like a cup of tea.

17
17 The boy fell over and hurt his nee.

18
18 The buffalo carf stayed close to its mother.

If the correct adress is not on the envelope, it will 19

19
not be delivered.

She was suprized when her name was drawn in 20

20
the raffle at the school fete.

We had a great discussion about the official 21

21
biografee of the famous actor.

The bushes grew together into a thick, 22

22
high hedje.

The athlete breeths deeply in preparation for 23

23
the race.

The young boy rode his new bisicle around 24

24
the suburb.

The farmer drove his shiny new tracter 25

25
home from the auction.

© MCEECDYA 2010 nap10_lc5_2411

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 YEAR 5 LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS

Shade one
26 Which word correctly completes this sentence? bubble.

The greedy boy always gives the largest piece of the cake.

he
him
himself
themselves

27 Which words correctly complete this sentence?

The people, who lived in the old house at the end of the street, .

owned a noisy dog

and had an old car
was falling to pieces
who were very friendly

28 A comma ( , ) has been left out of this sentence.

Where should the missing comma go?

The farmer has lots of dogs sheep, cattle and goats on his farm.

29 Which sentence has the correct punctuation?

Dad said to me, It’s time for bed.”

Dad said to me. It’s time for bed.”
Dad said to me. “It’s time for bed.”
Dad said to me, “It’s time for bed.”

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 YEAR 5 LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS

Shade one
30 What is ’cos short for in this sentence? bubble.

“I’m late ’cos I missed the bus,” John told his teacher.

cause
due to
because
as a result of

31 Which word correctly completes this sentence?

The farmer worked out how milk he had to sell.

most
more
much
many

32 Which sentence has the correct punctuation?

My favourite park is red lake national park.

My favourite park is Red Lake National Park.
My favourite park is Red lake National park.
My favourite park is Red Lake national park.

33 Two commas ( , ) have been left out of this sentence. Shade two
Where should the missing commas go? bubbles.

“Let’s eat Katherine before it gets cold.”

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 YEAR 5 LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS

Shade one
34 Which word correctly completes this sentence? bubble.

The baby all the time.

cry
cry’s
cries
crying

35 Which sentence has the correct punctuation?

The (little penguin) Eudyptula minor is also called the fairy penguin and
the blue penguin.
The little penguin (Eudyptula minor) is also called the fairy penguin and
the blue penguin.
The little penguin Eudyptula minor is also called the (fairy penguin) and
the blue penguin.
The little penguin Eudyptula minor is also called the fairy penguin and
the (blue penguin).

36 Which words correctly complete this sentence?

A lady sat in front of me at the movies.

wore a red jacket

wears a red jacket
wearing a red jacket
was wearing a red jacket

37 Which words and punctuation correctly complete this sentence?

“I collect model cars and do you collect, Jasper?” Felicity asked.

shells what
shells. What
shells, what
shells? What

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 YEAR 5 LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS

Shade one
38 Which letters or words from this sentence should be in brackets ( )? bubble.

The United Nations UN headquarters is in New York, USA.

United Nations
UN
New York
USA

39 Which sentence uses the apostrophe ( ’ ) correctly?

These are not my sock’s.

James’ needs to go home.
Look at the cute puppies’!
He’s going to be late again.

40 Which word or words correctly complete this sentence?

He won if he had tried harder.

could
could of
could had
could have

41 Which word or words correctly complete this sentence?

It is requested that all phones turned off during the show.

be
being
are being
have been

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 YEAR 5 LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS

Shade one
bubble.
42 Which words correctly complete this sentence?

I have lost my bag but my keys are in my pocket .

luckily I can still drive home

it is lucky I can still drive home
so luckily I can still drive home
because it is lucky I can still drive home

43 An apostrophe ( ’ ) has been left out of this sentence.

Where should the missing apostrophe go?

It was nobodys fault that the officials took their passports instead of ours.

44 Which word or words correctly complete this sentence?

Brett felt the loss of the computer than his sister,

because he used it every day.

deeper
deeply
more deeply
most deeply

45 Which sentence is correct?

Neither sheep and cattle were found on the farm.

Neither a letter but a fax was able to get through.
Neither the students or the teachers were at the school.
Neither the team nor the fans were happy with the result.

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 YEAR 5 LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS

Shade one
46 Which word correctly completes this sentence? bubble.

This is the girl laughter is very loud.

that’s
who’s
whose
which

47 Which group of words can all be conjunctions (words that join parts
of a sentence)?

his, hers, its, theirs

after, before, while, then
plays, speaks, drinks, eats
may, must, should, might

48 Which words correctly complete this sentence?

As it was a sunny day, .

if it was going to rain

we rode our new bikes
when we first woke up
which was a lovely change

STOP – END OF TEST

© MCEECDYA 2010 nap10_lc5_2411

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Reading Magazine
2010

Year 5
© ACARA, on behalf of the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs, 2010.
 Frog craft

Draw a frog on a piece of Use a pencil to divide the Press beans, peas and
card and cut it out. Collect frog’s body into sections. lentils onto these sections.
some dried beans, split Cover some of these areas Contrast the orange lentils
peas, orange lentils and with glue. with the green split peas.
large tea leaves.

Cover the remaining areas Why not add a glimmer to Now give your frog a leaf
with glue. Use the tea the eye with kitchen foil? to sit on. This can simply
leaves to make the black And for a wet look, add a be cut from green card or
stripes on the frog’s body. coat of varnish to really stiff paper. Attach the frog
Glue on a circle of black make your frog shine. securely.
paper for an eye.

Adult supervision required. Frog is not edible.

2
 The ant
Antennae Ocelli (OH-SE-LI) Compound eyes
Ants use their antennae to Ocelli are simple eyes on the Like other insects, ants have
feel vibrations, smell, hear top of ants’ heads. Ants use two compound eyes that are
and taste. Ants also use their their ocelli to sense light. made up of many smaller
antennae to ‘speak’ with other eyes joined together. Ants use
ants. their compound eyes to sense
movement.

Mandibles Hooked claws Stinger

Ants have two strong jaws Ants have a hooked claw on the Most ants have a stinger. Ants
called mandibles. Ants use end of each of their six legs. use their stingers to capture
these to carry food and other These claws help them to grip other insects and to protect
objects, to build nests and to surfaces and to climb. their nests.
protect themselves.

3
Learning to track
Sarah is living on a farm where two families live.

Sarah was determined to learn to track, and if her father couldn’t teach her,
she’d teach herself. She borrowed a book on animal signs and tracking from
the mobile library and memorised every word and illustration in it.
To the annoyance of everyone in both families, she borrowed all their shoes
and, in the old sandpit, taught herself everyone’s footprints. Shoes, sandals,
thongs, gumboots, all ended up in the yard. More than once her father or her
uncle Charlie came outside shouting, ‘Sarah, where are you? Bring me back
my boots.’
Sarah developed the habit of walking with her eyes fixed on the ground in
front of her, tracking the comings and goings of every person in the place.
She also developed the annoying habit of questioning everyone. ‘What were
you doing down at the dam, Jack? You’re not allowed to play with the
pump. Did you find what you were looking for in the garage, Auntie Mai?’
and ‘Don’t swing on the clothes hoist, Jack, you’ll bend it,’ or ‘Who was the
strange person, a man I think, who was wearing boots about size ten, who
came to visit today, Mum?’
After she’d memorised every pair of shoes that everyone on the farm owned
she started on the farm animals, including the horses, Fred and Freda.
By this time even her victims had to admit, grudgingly, that she was good.
Her best effort came one evening at the dinner table when she told her father
that Freda was lame in her front foot. Pat said that Freda was perfectly all
right. Sarah was adamant that she wasn’t, said her hoof had
a split, and she was limping a little.
Everyone trudged out into the home paddock. Kate caught Freda and
inspected her hoof.
‘Sarah’s right. The hoof is split. Did you look at this, Sarah?’
‘No. I told you, you can see it in her tracks. Why would I need to look at
it? Look.’ She moved the horse away. ‘Look, see there, it’s plain in the dust.
Well, can’t you all see it?’
The others shook their heads.
‘If you can tell she has a split hoof from that heap of dust, you’re
pretty good,’ said Pat.

4
 Athletics versus
gardening
The students of Southside School were asked to give their
opinions about whether the school should run a specialised
athletics program or start a vegetable garden.

ly better than
ia lis ed at hl et ic s program is definite at the Inter-
A spec
e w e ev er go ing to win anything
gardening. How ar ent, we
ou t pr op er co ac hing? At the mom
ith
School Athletics w rm , an d the teachers train us
. We
fo r on e te
only do athletics in gs like hurdles and
high jump.
s to te ac h us th mpetitions
need expert th ey ’re not interested in co
ki ds sa y r
I know lots of
ne ve r w on anyt hi ng. If they got bette
they’ve eir
but that’s because ng th in gs th ey’d soon change th
d w in ni
coaching and starte
minds. ercise. Just
al w ay s sa y ki ds don’t get enough ex ercise, so
People
rd en in g ou td oo rs doesn’t make it ex
because you do ga
unts. can have
I don’t see how it co r fo r fit ne ss, and lots of kids
h be tte enough jobs
Athletics is muc th ink there would be
e tim e. I do n’ t
a go at the sam
rden.
for everyone in a ga is a re al ly bad idea. I don’
t know
a ga rd en
In fact I think
nsidering it. Liz, Grade 4
why we’re even co

I think a veg
etable garde
of sport, inc n is
luding athleti a great idea. We already
Gardening is cs. And not e do hours
a g re veryone like
about wheth a t w ay to get exe s sp ort.
er you’re any rcise withou
win. And yo g o od at it, or w t w o rrying
u really do g hether you’r
digging, wee et exercise w e going to
ding and wa hen you gard
hard work – te ri n e n . There’s
pumpkins are g. Even picking things c
There are lo n’t light you an be
ts of kids aro know!
so they can’t und here wh
grow things o don’t have
want to do m even if they gardens
ore sport you want to. If y
And think ab can join a clu o u really
o u t it : w b.
need to eat lo h a t helps you to
ts of fruit an be good at sp
the things w d vegetables. ort? You
e grow, the g If we learn to
and then we a rd en will keep c o ok all
’ll be better us all fit and
at sport. healthy

Sam, Grade
5

5
 Making flat glass
Flat glass is used in windows because it is strong,
clear and weatherproof. In the past, making flat
glass was time-consuming and costly, but now it can
be made cheaply and easily using the float glass
method. This multi-phase method was discovered in
1959 by a British company called Pilkington.
In the first phase, glass ingredients are put into a
melting furnace. This produces molten glass.
Next, the molten glass is gently poured into a tank
of molten tin. This tank is called a float bath because
a layer of molten glass floats on the surface of
the molten tin. Molten tin is used in the float bath
because it has a smooth, mirror-like surface. The
A long, flat layer of cooled glass
molten glass can be made thicker or thinner by
comes out of the lehr to be
controlling how fast it flows through the float bath.
washed and cut.
The flat layer of glass is then moved along rollers
and cooled very slowly in a long tunnel called a lehr.
In the next phase, the glass is washed and then cut
into sheets using diamond wheel cutters.
Finally, the sheets of glass are stacked together and
then taken to the warehouse.

glass
ingredients

heating floating cooling washing cutting stacking transporting

6
Cooper’s Station
After World War Two, orphans were sometimes sent from England to live in Australia,
often on farms or outback cattle stations. In this extract, two boys have just run away
from Cooper’s Station.

It was fear of getting caught, and sheer exhilaration that we were free, that kept us
going that night. We knew that we mustn’t stop, not for a moment, or even slow down,
because Piggy would be sure to be coming after us just as soon as he discovered we
were missing, and that would be at roll call at dawn. We had until then to get as far
away as possible. Big Black Jack didn’t want to trot for long, but he plodded on steadily,
never tiring, and we sat up there the two of us, rocking our way towards the grey light
of dawn. We were just so happy to be out of Cooper’s Station. We talked a lot as we
rode, and we laughed, laughed as hard as we could. I remember I felt cocooned by the
night, swallowed up in its immensity, protected. At one point we saw some lights on the
horizon. It looked like a settlement of some kind, so we kept our distance. We sang to
the stars, all the millions of them up there. We sang ‘For She’s a Jolly Good Fellow’ till
we were hoarse with it. They seemed so close those stars, close enough to hear us.

It was cold, very cold that night. We had no water. We had no food. But none of that
worried us. Not yet. We were too happy to be worried. Not even the cry of the dingoes
bothered us. Only when the sun came up, and the bush came alive all about us, only then
did we begin to feel alone in this wild and unfamiliar place with nothing but scrub and
trees for miles around in every direction. We’d been following a dried-up creek for a
while when I felt the first of the heat of the sun. That was when I first thought I wanted
to drink. We had stopped talking to one another now. There was no more laughter. I was
beginning to realise just how vast this place was and just how lost we were. I didn’t like
to say it though. Big Black Jack was walking on, purposeful and surefooted as ever. He
seemed to know where he was going, and that made me feel better.

When finally Marty did say something though, it just confirmed my own worst fears.
“I don’t like this,” he said. “We’ve been here before, when it was darker. We were
coming the other way then. And I keep thinking something else too, something Wes told
me once, and Wes knew all about horses. He said that a horse will never get itself lost.
It’ll always know the way home. I think maybe Big Black Jack is taking us back, back to
Cooper’s Station.”

7
 Amon and
the giant fish

Once upon a time Amon was sailing his ship in a

big storm. Suddenly, a giant fish came out of the sea.
Amon quickly sailed away. Amon saved his ship.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Frog craft
Text and illustrations adapted from Step by Step Collage by Jim Robins and Philip Steele, Kingfisher Books,
1993.

Learning to track
Extract reproduced with permission from Find Me a River by Bronwyn Blake, Lothian Children’s Books, an
imprint of Hachette Australia, 2001.

Making flat glass

Text and diagram adapted from Glass by Hazel Songhurst, Wayland Publishers Ltd, 1991.

Cooper’s Station
Extract from Alone on a Wide Wide Sea by Michael Morpurgo, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2006.

Amon and the giant fish

Illustration from The Arabian Nights by Brian Alderson and Michael Foreman, Victor Gollancz Ltd / Penguin
Books, 1997, illustration copyright © Michael Foreman, 1992.

8
national assessment program year

5
literacy and numeracy

READING 2010

Use 2B or HB

0:50 Time available for students to

complete test: 50 minutes
pencil only

© ACARA, on behalf of the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs, 2010.
Do not write on this page.
 YEAR 5 READING

Read Frog craft on page 2 of the magazine

and answer questions 1 to 5.

1 Where would you find most of the materials needed to make the frog’s skin?

in a garage
Shade one
in a kitchen bubble.
in a bedroom
in a bathroom

2 Which of these materials do you use first to make the frog?

glue
varnish
tea leaves
dried beans

3 In Step 3, why do you press the beans, peas and lentils?

to mix them together

to make them all flat
to help them stick to the paper
to break them into small pieces

4 Which step is a suggestion?

Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6

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 YEAR 5 READING

5 You use scissors in Step 1. In which other step must you use scissors?

Step 2
Shade one
Step 3 bubble.

Step 5
Step 6

Read The ant on page 3 of the magazine

and answer questions 6 to 11.

6 Ants hear with their

ocelli.
antennae.
mandibles.
hooked claws.

7 What is one way ants use their mandibles?

to smell food
to sense danger
to pick things up
to talk to other ants

8 Some ants do not have

a stinger.
mandibles.
hooked claws.
compound eyes.

© MCEECDYA 2010 nap10_r5_0812

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 YEAR 5 READING

Shade one
9 Ants have two types of eyes so they can bubble.

sense motion and light.

sense sounds and smells.
see all around themselves.
see further in the distance.

10 In what way are mandibles and stingers alike?

Both help ants to find food.

Both help ants to communicate.
Both help ants to defend themselves.
Both help ants to sense their environment.

11 (OH-SE-LI)
This word is written like this to show

the plural of ocelli.

the correct way to say ocelli.
a different way to spell ocelli.
how many letters are in ocelli.

Read Learning to track on page 4 of the magazine

and answer questions 12 to 17.

12 Which of these was most important to Sarah for developing

her tracking skills?

understanding animals
paying attention to details
knowing her surroundings
getting help from her family

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 YEAR 5 READING

Shade one
13 … she borrowed all their shoes … bubble.

Why did Sarah do this?

to annoy the families

to pretend to be someone else
to test the families’ knowledge
to practise what she was learning

14 Who is Jack most likely to be?

Sarah’s uncle
the farm horse
Sarah’s brother
the man who visited

15 The main reason Sarah’s questions annoyed the families was because

she pressured them to answer.

she kept interrupting their work.
she kept asking the same questions.
she intruded into their private lives.

16 Which of the following best describes Sarah?

confident
aggressive
a show-off
bad-tempered

© MCEECDYA 2010 nap10_r5_0812

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 YEAR 5 READING

Shade one
17 What is Pat’s attitude to Sarah at the end of the text? bubble.

Pat fails to recognise Sarah’s talents.

Pat confirms his suspicions about Sarah.
Pat regrets the way he has treated Sarah.
Pat realises that he has underestimated Sarah.

Read Athletics versus gardening on page 5 of the magazine

and answer questions 18 to 23.

18 I know lots of kids say they’re not interested in competitions …

What reason does Liz give for this?

They don’t like any activity that involves exercise.

They don’t have enough confidence in themselves.
They haven’t competed in any competitions before.
They haven’t experienced what it’s like to come first.

19 Which of these points do Liz and Sam both make?

Kids should exercise.

Kids should eat vegetables.
Kids should try to win more.
Kids should be outside more.

20 Liz suggests that kids who don’t like competitions should

be made to compete anyway.

be given high-quality training.
let others compete in their place.
be allowed to play a different sport.

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 YEAR 5 READING

Shade one
21 What is one reason Liz gives for saying a garden is a really bad idea? bubble.

Some students will be left out.

Some students don’t like getting dirty.
Some students don’t enjoy being outside.
Some students already know how to garden.

22 People always say kids don’t get enough exercise.

Why does Liz say this?

to support her opinion

to explain a common belief
to disprove other arguments
to show she’s considering other arguments

23 The way Sam concludes his argument is clever. Write your answer
on the lines.
Use your own words to give a reason for this opinion.

Read Making flat glass on page 6 of the magazine

and answer questions 24 to 29.

24 Before 1959, the method of making flat glass was Shade one
bubble.
easy and cheap.
clean and quick.
slow and expensive.
dangerous and dirty.

© MCEECDYA 2010 nap10_r5_0812

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 YEAR 5 READING

Shade one
25 What happens in the furnace? bubble.

The glass becomes hard.

The glass is mixed with tin.
The ingredients are washed.
The ingredients turn into liquid.

26 Which of these is a lehr?

27 Where would you find molten tin?

in the lehr
in the furnace
in the float bath
in the warehouse

Write your answer

28 … In the first phase … In the next phase … on the lines.

First and next are used to show the order in which flat glass is made.

From the text, find two other words that do this.

1.

2.

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 YEAR 5 READING

Shade one
29 What is the purpose of the first paragraph? bubble.

to explain how flat glass was first made

to describe the first step in making flat glass
to show which ingredients are used in making flat glass
to give background information about making flat glass

Read Cooper’s Station on page 7 of the magazine

and answer questions 30 to 35.

30 The boys think of ‘Piggy’ as a

carer.
guard.
friend.
teacher.

31 Look at the description of the stars at the end of paragraph 1.

The boys imagine the stars to be

spirits.
searchlights.
an audience.
the lights of a town.

32 The rising of the sun seemed to

cause the horse to lose direction.

show the difficulties the boys faced.
cheer the boys up by making them warm.
make it easier for the boys to find their way.

© MCEECDYA 2010 nap10_r5_0812

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 YEAR 5 READING

Shade one
33 The narrator did not want to say ‘how lost we were’ because he bubble.

knew the horse would take them back.

did not want to admit his fear to Marty.
did not think that anyone would hear him.
was confident they would at least find water.

34 What effect did Marty’s words in the last paragraph have on the narrator?

They confused him even further.

They echoed what he was thinking.
They were difficult for him to believe.
They were words he had longed to hear.

35 How does the writer want readers to feel towards the boys?

critical
neutral
despairing
sympathetic

STOP – end of test

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 YEAR 5 READING
PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Read Amon and the giant fish on page 8 of the magazine

and answer questions P1 and P2.

Shade one
P1 How does this story end? bubble.

Amon eats the fish.

The fish eats Amon.
Amon saves his ship.
The fish breaks Amon’s ship.

Write your answer

P2 This story is not true. on the lines.
Use information from the text to give a reason for this opinion.

© MCEECDYA 2010 nap10_r5_0812

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