Quoting accurately from texts · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Quoting the text exactly

English · Reading Comprehension · ages 10-11
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Sam copies a sentence from his book word for word and wraps it in quotation marks. What has Sam done?

    • Retold the book's idea in his own words
    • Guessed what the author really meant
    • Quoted the text

  2. Why might a writer use a direct quote rather than a paraphrase?

    • To let the reader inspect the author's exact wording
    • To make the response take up more space on the page
    • To avoid explaining how the evidence supports the point

  3. When you include a short exact quote within your own sentence, what marks go around the copied words?

    • Opening brackets
    • Quotation marks
    • Underlining marks

  4. You can quote a text by writing the idea in your own words, as long as you remember what it said.

    Circle one:   True   False

  5. Which sentence puts the comma in the right place?

    • The author states, "The river froze solid."
    • The author states "The river froze solid."
    • The author, states, "The river froze solid."

  6. Source: "The road was empty." Which response preserves its capitalization?

    • According to the text, "the road was empty."
    • According to the text, "The Road Was Empty."
    • According to the text, "The road was empty."

  7. In a story: "Ben checked his backpack three times before he left for the trip." Which exact words best support the idea that Ben wanted to be ready?

    • "checked his backpack three times"
    • "before he left for the trip"
    • "his backpack"

  8. Which phrase explicitly identifies the text as the source? ______ "Kira waited beside the door."

    • Once upon a time, far away,
    • According to the text,
    • Yesterday, just after lunch,

  9. Page 6 says: "The library smelled of dust and old paper." Which response copies it exactly? Use a comma after 'The author states', put (p. 6) after the closing quotation mark, and put the sentence period after the page locator.

    • The author states "the library smelled of dust and old paper" (p. 6).
    • The author states, "The library smelled of dust and old books" (p. 6).
    • The author states, "The library smelled of dust and old paper" (p. 6).

  10. Source: "The boy was very brave." Liam wants a direct quote but writes: The author states that the boy was very brave. Did he mark a direct quotation?

    • Yes, because identifying the author always makes reported words a direct quotation
    • No, the copied wording is not marked as a quotation
    • No, because a sentence identifying the author can never introduce quoted words
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Quoting the text exactly W1-mt_ak_ZgoMKRQ-s1

  1. Quoted the text · Copying the text's exact words, wrapped in quotation marks, is quoting. Retelling in his own words would be a paraphrase, and guessing the author's meaning would be an inference.
  2. To let the reader inspect the author's exact wording · A direct quote displays the exact wording. An accurate paraphrase can also be evidence, but it does not display those same words.
  3. Quotation marks · Quotation marks identify the author's exact words in this short quote within a sentence.
  4. False · A quote means copying the exact words. Retelling the idea in your own words is a paraphrase, not a quote.
  5. The author states, "The river froze solid." · For this construction, the comma follows 'The author states' and comes before the quoted sentence. It does not split the introductory phrase.
  6. According to the text, "The road was empty." · The source capitalizes 'The' and leaves the other words lowercase. The correct quote preserves that capitalization.
  7. "checked his backpack three times" · Checking three times shows Ben making sure he was ready, and those are the exact words from the text.
  8. According to the text, · 'According to the text' explicitly identifies the text as the source. The other phrases supply story context or time.
  9. The author states, "The library smelled of dust and old paper" (p. 6). · The correct response preserves capital T and the word paper. It also follows the supplied rules: a comma after states, (p. 6) after the closing quotation mark, and the sentence period after the page locator.
  10. No, the copied wording is not marked as a quotation · Liam reports the idea without quotation marks. That can work as a report, but it does not mark the direct quotation he intended.
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