10 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, straight from our 1,030-question bank. Tap an answer to check yourself. When you're ready, take the scored version in the free practice test.
The IA exam has 304 questions and runs 4 hours 55 minutes.
These 10 free IA questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Iowa Assessments blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
Domain 1: Vocabulary
Question 1
Read the passage.
In a laboratory in New Zealand, a crow named Betty faced a problem. A small bucket of food sat at the bottom of a narrow tube, too deep for her beak to reach. Researchers had left two pieces of wire nearby: one bent into a hook, one perfectly straight. Betty chose the hook, lifted the bucket, and ate. Then the researchers ran the test again - but this time they gave her only the straight wire. Betty wedged one end under a strip of tape, pulled, and bent her own hook. No one had ever shown her how. Since Betty, researchers have watched wild crows shape twigs into probes, save useful tools for later, and even use one tool to get another.
What is the MAIN idea of this passage?
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Correct answer: B - Crows can solve new problems by making and using tools.
Question 2
Refer to the passage about Betty the crow.
The author included the second test - in which Betty was given only the straight wire - mainly to show that Betty
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Correct answer: C - invented a tool without being shown how
Question 3
Read the passage.
Marisol read the letter twice. Then she folded it along its old creases, slid it back into the envelope, and set it on the kitchen table, exactly where she had found it. She did not turn on the lamp, though the room had gone gray. When her brother came in and asked what was for dinner, she said she wasn't hungry and went upstairs. From her window she could see the moving truck still parked in the Alvarezes' driveway, half loaded.
The reader can best tell from the passage that Marisol
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Correct answer: A - has been given news that upsets her
Domain 2: Word Analysis
Question 4
Which sentence is written correctly?
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Correct answer: D - Neither the coaches nor the captain was ready for the announcement.
Question 5
What is the BEST way to combine these two sentences?
The rain stopped at noon. The game was already cancelled.
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Correct answer: B - Although the rain stopped at noon, the game was already cancelled.
Domain 3: Listening
Question 6
Choose the word that means the SAME or about the same as the underlined word.
a _reluctant_ volunteer
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Correct answer: C - unwilling
Question 7
Choose the word that means the SAME or about the same as the underlined word.
a _grave_ mistake
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Correct answer: A - serious
Domain 4: Language
Question 8
Find the misspelled word. If no word is misspelled, choose "No mistakes."
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Correct answer: B - seperate
Question 9
Which sentence contains a capitalization error?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A - My family drove South for the winter.
Question 10
Which sentence is written correctly?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C - It's supposed to rain before the parade starts.