SBAC Grade 4 ELA Practice Test

That Was Then, and This Is Now

(1) Becca slumped on Grandma's flowered sofa. She loved Grandma, but her house was so dull. Becca was bored.

(2) "Grandma, there's nothing to do!" Becca whined.

(3) "You could watch TV," Grandma suggested.

(4) "There's nothing to watch on your channels. Why don't you have cable?" Becca asked.

(5) "I don't need cable," Grandma said. "When I was little, there were only three television stations available. In fact, we didn't even have a TV until I was 12 years old. And even then, it was black-and-white."

(6) "That sounds awful," Becca said.

(7) "Actually, we thought it was wonderful," Grandma said. "But that was then, and this is now."

(8) "Well, what about getting a game system or a computer. That would give me something to do when I'm here," Becca said.

(9) "We didn't have computers or game systems when I was young," Grandma said. "But we always managed to keep ourselves quite busy."

(10) "You must have been so bored all the time," Becca said. "What did you do to keep busy?"

(11) "Oh, we played outside. We rode our bikes, and sometimes we stuck playing cards in the spokes of the wheels to make them sound like motorcycles. We went fishing and built forts out of blankets or scrap wood or whatever else we could find. Yes, we kept busy." Grandma smiled, remembering.

(12) "I guess that doesn't sound so bad," Becca said. "But what if it was raining, like today? Then you couldn't do any of those things."

(13) "On rainy days, we played inside games," Grandma said. "We played checkers and solitaire and other games. We read books for hours. We made paper dolls and designed whole wardrobes for them. But I guess that was then, and this is now."

(14) "Wow," said Becca. "That sounds kind of fun. What else was different way back then?"

(15) Grandma laughed. "It wasn't all that long ago, Becca. But many things were different."

(16) Grandma told Becca about having fresh milk delivered to her doorstep in glass bottles instead of buying it in plastic jugs at the supermarket. She talked about wearing dresses to school every day instead of jeans and T-shirts. She talked about using pay phones instead of cell phones. She talked about listening to soap operas on the radio instead of watching them on TV. She talked about playing records and dancing the twist.

(17) "But that was then," Grandma said, "and this is now."

(18) Becca was amazed. "You're right, Grandma. Practically everything is different now. It seems like the whole world has changed since you were my age."

(19) Grandma shook her head. "Not everything has changed, Becca. Some things will never change."

(20) "Like what?" Becca asked.

(21) "Well," Grandma answered, "back then grandmas loved their granddaughters, just like I love you now."

(22) Becca leaned over and hugged Grandma tightly. "I love you, too," she said. "Now, how about a game of checkers?"

(23) Grandma smiled. "Sounds good. Maybe things haven't changed so much after all!"

(24) They played checkers, and Grandma beat Becca all three games. Then they used pillows and blankets and all six dining room chairs to build a massive fort in the living room. They sat in the dim fort and had a picnic lunch of sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies. After lunch, Grandma showed Becca how to make paper dolls and design clothes for them. The afternoon flew past.

(25) When Becca's mom came to pick her up, Becca did not want to go home.

(26) "But I thought you were bored," Grandma said.

(27) Becca grinned. "Oh, Grandma," she said, "I was bored. But that was then, and this is now!"