FREE ParaPro Practice Test 2025 Official Study Guide [PDF]

Reading

Questions 1–2 are based on the following passage.

Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandoned their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of themselves. However, the recent discovery of a group of nests has challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that dinosaur parents actually cared for their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at the nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed at home until they were large enough to roam safely on their own.

The passage is primarily concerned with

Reading

Questions 1–2 are based on the following passage.

Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandoned their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of themselves. However, the recent discovery of a group of nests has challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that dinosaur parents actually cared for their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at the nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed at home until they were large enough to roam safely on their own.

The discovery of a group of dinosaur nests challenged the idea that dinosaurs

What conclusion can be drawn from the data presented in the graph above?

American science-fiction writers produce a large number of novels for young people these days, yet few take advantage of the latitude allowed by the genre. Since the 1970s, young- adult science fiction has had little to do with the wonders of science, intergalactic travel, or new worlds in space. Most of the novels are cautionary tales about regimented, conformist societies or about the social order collapsed into barbarism. This change has resulted in science fiction that is, to me as a reader, much less interesting than science fiction used to be.

Which sentence from the passage is most clearly an expression of opinion rather than a statement of fact?

Questions 5–6 are based on the following passage, which students are reading in small groups.

The environment in which people live often determines the kind of technology they use. For instance, ancient Mesopotamia had few plants suitable for making paper. But the area had lots of high-quality clay. People used the clay to store information.

Modern people store information on paper, computer disks, and CDs. Mesopotamians stored their data on clay tablets—pieces of smooth clay small enough to fit into the palm of an adult’s hand. When a clay tablet was damp, people could scratch pictures and letters into its surface using a sharpened reed. When dried in the hot sun, the clay hardened, preserving the writing and the information.

The teacher wants students to understand why the Mesopotamians wrote on clay. What question could a paraprofessional ask a group of students about the passage that would best help the students understand why the Mesopotamians wrote on clay?

Questions 5–6 are based on the following passage, which students are reading in small groups.

The environment in which people live often determines the kind of technology they use. For instance, ancient Mesopotamia had few plants suitable for making paper. But the area had lots of high-quality clay. People used the clay to store information.

Modern people store information on paper, computer disks, and CDs. Mesopotamians stored their data on clay tablets—pieces of smooth clay small enough to fit into the palm of an adult’s hand. When a clay tablet was damp, people could scratch pictures and letters into its surface using a sharpened reed. When dried in the hot sun, the clay hardened, preserving the writing and the information.

The paraprofessional asks a group of students to describe the main purpose of the second paragraph. Which of the following four responses from the students is most accurate?

Mathematics

In the graph above, how many more votes were received for the park than the mall as an activity for a class trip?

What digit is in the hundredths place of the number 5,123.6487?

445.76 × 9.634 is approximately equal to

 Which of the following is NOT a point on line 𝑙𝑙 shown on the graph above?

5 + 3 × 8 + 9 =?

A student wrote the incorrect number sentence above to solve the following problem: “Multiply the sum of 5 and 3 and the sum of 8 and 9.”

To correct the error, the student’s number sentence should be changed to

A paraprofessional is helping a student find the equation for the area of parallelogram ABCD shown above by pointing out to the student that the parallelogram can be divided into two congruent triangles. The area of the parallelogram is then the sum of the areas of the two triangles. Which of the following is the correct expression to use to find the area of parallelogram ABCD ?

Writing

Directions for Questions 13–14: In each of the sentences below, four portions are underlined and lettered. Select the underlined portion that contains a grammatical construction, a word use, or an instance of punctuation that would be inappropriate in carefully written English. Note the letter printed beneath the underlined portion you select and select the best answer. No sentence has more than one error.

Because there were no refrigerators on the United States space shuttles, all of the food eaten by the astronauts had to be in a nonperishable form.

In the sentence above, the underlined word is being used as

Which word is NOT spelled correctly?

Questions 17–18 are based on the following rough draft written by a student.

How to Teach Your Dog to Sit
by Kiara

(1) First hold a dog biscuit so the dog pays attention. (2) Say “Sit!” (3) When you say it, use a loud and firm voice. (4) Move the hand holding the biscuit over the dog’s nose, don’t let him grab it. (5) You may have to give a light backwards tug on the dog’s leash. (6) When the dog sits down, give him the treat and lots of praise. (7) Repeat this a few times, and he’ll probably understand the command.

Kiara is writing an introductory sentence that summarizes the main points of the paragraph. What sentence would be the strongest introductory sentence for the paragraph?

Questions 17–18 are based on the following rough draft written by a student.

How to Teach Your Dog to Sit
by Kiara

(1) First hold a dog biscuit so the dog pays attention. (2) Say “Sit!” (3) When you say it, use a loud and firm voice. (4) Move the hand holding the biscuit over the dog’s nose, don’t let him grab it. (5) You may have to give a light backwards tug on the dog’s leash. (6) When the dog sits down, give him the treat and lots of praise. (7) Repeat this a few times, and he’ll probably understand the command.

Kiara is learning how to use transition words (words that clarify the relationships between ideas). What transition word or words should Kiara use before the word “don’t” in sentence 4 in order to clarify the meaning of the sentence?