Free 7th Grade Reading Placement Test

Check central idea, author’s craft, inference, argument, evidence, and vocabulary in context.

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Skills this preview checks

• central idea
• author’s craft
• inference
• argument
• evidence
• vocabulary

All 6 questions with answers

Reading passage

Many cities once treated vacant lots as problems to fence off. In several neighborhoods, residents instead turned them into small gardens. The gardens do not solve every food-access problem, and they require steady work. Still, they can supply fresh produce, cool paved blocks, and create places where neighbors exchange knowledge. Their greatest crop may be trust: people who first meet while pulling weeds often begin solving other local problems together.

1. What is the central idea of the passage?

   1. Vacant lots should always remain empty.
   2. Community gardens offer practical benefits and can strengthen relationships.
   3. Gardening is easier than city planning.
   4. Fresh produce solves every neighborhood problem.
   Answer and explanation

   Answer: B. The passage presents both practical benefits and the way gardens help neighbors build trust.

   Skill checked: Central idea

2. Why does the author say the greatest crop “may be trust”?

   1. To claim trust can be sold at markets
   2. To compare a social benefit with what gardens grow
   3. To show vegetables are unimportant
   4. To explain why weeds are useful
   Answer and explanation

   Answer: B. The metaphor connects a garden’s crop with the trust that grows among neighbors.

   Skill checked: Author’s craft

3. Which sentence best shows that the author recognizes a limitation?

   1. Many cities once treated vacant lots as problems.
   2. The gardens do not solve every food-access problem, and they require steady work.
   3. They can supply fresh produce.
   4. People first meet while pulling weeds.
   Answer and explanation

   Answer: B. That sentence qualifies the positive claim by naming what gardens cannot do and what they require.

   Skill checked: Argument

4. What can be inferred about neighbors who work in the gardens?

   1. They may become more willing to cooperate elsewhere.
   2. They stop buying all food.
   3. They prefer fences to plants.
   4. They avoid discussing local issues.
   Answer and explanation

   Answer: A. The last sentence says garden relationships can lead to solving other problems together.

   Skill checked: Inference

5. In this passage, “vacant” most nearly means

   1. crowded
   2. unused
   3. dangerous
   4. valuable
   Answer and explanation

   Answer: B. A vacant lot is an empty or unused piece of land.

   Skill checked: Vocabulary

6. Which detail best supports the claim that gardens improve the physical neighborhood?

   1. Residents exchange knowledge.
   2. Cities once fenced lots.
   3. Gardens can supply produce and cool paved blocks.
   4. People solve other problems.
   Answer and explanation

   Answer: C. Food production and cooling describe direct physical benefits to the neighborhood.

   Skill checked: Evidence

Free printable worksheet

Download the 7th Grade reading practice worksheet. It includes a separate set of practice items and an answer key.

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7th Grade reading placement questions

What reading skills should a 7th grader know?

Seventh grade readers analyze central ideas, themes, arguments, evidence, word choice, structure, point of view, and relationships among ideas in literary and informational texts.

What kinds of text does the diagnostic use?

The diagnostic can sample informational and literary reading skills, vocabulary, argument, and text evidence.

How should I use the result?

Use the report to choose a starting point and identify skills worth checking next. Continue adjusting as you observe the learner's work.