Smarter Balanced Practice Test

Pick a grade band and practice the math and English language arts the Smarter Balanced blueprints test, each answer explained.

A garden has 8 rows with 9 tomato plants in each row. How many tomato plants are in the garden?

Pick an answer, then press Check answer. Then you see Correct or Not quite, with the reason. Keys: A to D pick, Enter checks.

Print covers the next 25 questions. Share this set copies a link to the same questions in the same order.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. Bank checked October 7, 2026.

The real test: what the consortium publishes

Subjects and grades
English language arts/literacy and mathematics, grades 3 to 8 and high school.
Members
California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington.
Parts
A computer adaptive test, which adjusts its difficulty to the student's answers, and a performance task.
Time
Untimed. Estimates: ELA 3 hours 30 minutes in grades 3 to 8, 4 hours in grade 11. Math 2 hours 30 minutes in grades 3 to 5, 3 hours in grades 6 to 8, 3 hours 30
Scores
A scaled score from about 2000 to 3000 and one of four achievement levels. No pass mark is published.
Level 3 begins at
ELA: 2432, 2473, 2502, 2531, 2552 and 2567 in grades 3 to 8, 2583 in grade 11. Math: 2436, 2485, 2528, 2552, 2567 and 2586, then 2628.

Checked October 7, 2026 against the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium's test development, summative assessment, member and score pages and the blueprints and testing times they link. Rules change, so confirm with the agency itself before your test.

The consortium's own practice and training tests

Grades 3 to 5: all 40 questions

Mathematics 20

  • A 6 in the tenths place of a number has what value compared with a 6 in the ones place? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 5, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target C: understand the place value system
  • A bar graph shows the pets students own: 9 dogs, 7 cats, 12 fish and 4 birds. How many fewer birds are there than dogs and cats together? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 3, Claim 4 (Modeling and Data Analysis), target F: identify important quantities in a practical situation and map their relationships
  • A blue ribbon is 9 inches long. A red ribbon is 6 times as long as the blue ribbon. How long is the red ribbon? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 4, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target A: use the four operations with whole numbers to solve problems
Show all 40 questions (37 more)

Mathematics, continued

  • A box shaped like a cube has edges 4 inches long. What is its volume? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 5, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target I: geometric measurement: understand concepts of volume and relate volume to multiplication and to addition
  • A farmer packs 250 eggs into cartons that hold 12 eggs each. How many cartons can the farmer fill completely? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 4, Claim 2 (Problem Solving), target A: apply mathematics to solve well-posed problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace
  • A floor is covered by 6 rows of square tiles with 7 tiles in each row. Each tile covers 1 square foot. What is the area of the floor? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 3, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target I: geometric measurement: understand concepts of area and relate area to multiplication and to addition
  • A garden has 8 rows with 9 tomato plants in each row. How many tomato plants are in the garden? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 3, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target A: represent and solve problems involving multiplication and division
  • A relay team runs 4 legs of 0.85 mile each. How far does the team run in all? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 5, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target D: perform operations with multi-digit whole numbers and with decimals to hundredths
  • A ribbon 4 1/2 feet long is cut into pieces that are each 3/4 foot long. How many pieces are there? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 5, Claim 2 (Problem Solving), target A: apply mathematics to solve well-posed problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace
  • A snail moves 7/100 of a meter in one minute. What is that distance written as a decimal? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 4, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target H: understand decimal notation for fractions, and compare decimal fractions
  • A stadium has 4,318 seats on one side and 2,794 seats on the other side. How many seats does it have in all? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 4, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target E: use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic
  • Bea says 2.50 is greater than 2.5 because it has more digits. What is her mistake? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 5, Claim 3 (Communicating Reasoning), target E: distinguish correct logic or reasoning from that which is flawed
  • Dev has 3 shelves with 9 books on each shelf. He buys 6 more books. How many books does he have now? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 3, Claim 2 (Problem Solving), target A: apply mathematics to solve well-posed problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace
  • Kira cuts a pie into 6 equal slices. Over the week, her family eats 6/6 of the pie. How much pie did they eat? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 3, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target F: develop understanding of fractions as numbers
  • Kofi says dividing a whole number by a unit fraction gives a smaller number. Which example shows that he is wrong? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 5, Claim 3 (Communicating Reasoning), target A: test propositions or conjectures with specific examples
  • Luz walks 7/8 mile to school and 1/2 mile to the park. How much farther is her walk to school? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 5, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target E: use equivalent fractions as a strategy to add and subtract fractions
  • Mila says 4/5 is greater than 4/7. Which reasoning supports her? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 4, Claim 3 (Communicating Reasoning), target B: construct, autonomously, chains of reasoning that will justify or refute propositions or conjectures
  • Raj says a rectangle 5 units long and 3 units wide has an area of 16 square units, because 5 + 3 + 5 + 3 = 16. What did Raj really find? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 3, Claim 3 (Communicating Reasoning), target E: distinguish correct logic or reasoning from that which is flawed
  • Tickets to a play cost $8 each. A class has $150 and buys as many tickets as it can. How much money is left? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 4, Claim 4 (Modeling and Data Analysis), target D: interpret results in the context of a situation
  • Zoe says that adding two odd numbers always gives an odd number. Which example shows that she is wrong? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 3, Claim 3 (Communicating Reasoning), target A: test propositions or conjectures with specific examples

Reading 10

  • Read the passage. At Pine Hollow School, the library lends more than books. In a wooden cabinet by the door, small paper envelopes hold seeds for beans, sunflowers, and squash. A student may borrow one envelope each spring. The seeds are planted at home or in the school garden. In the fall, the student saves a few seeds from the grown plants and returns them in a new envelope. Because every borrower brings seeds back, the cabinet stays full. The program began with twelve envelopes. Now it holds more than two hundred. How is most of the passage organized? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 13: Text Structures and Features
  • Read the passage. At Pine Hollow School, the library lends more than books. In a wooden cabinet by the door, small paper envelopes hold seeds for beans, sunflowers, and squash. A student may borrow one envelope each spring. The seeds are planted at home or in the school garden. In the fall, the student saves a few seeds from the grown plants and returns them in a new envelope. Because every borrower brings seeds back, the cabinet stays full. The program began with twelve envelopes. Now it holds more than two hundred. What does "lends" mean in the first sentence? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 10: Word Meanings; word meaning checked in the American Heritage Dictionary, "lend"
  • Read the passage. At Pine Hollow School, the library lends more than books. In a wooden cabinet by the door, small paper envelopes hold seeds for beans, sunflowers, and squash. A student may borrow one envelope each spring. The seeds are planted at home or in the school garden. In the fall, the student saves a few seeds from the grown plants and returns them in a new envelope. Because every borrower brings seeds back, the cabinet stays full. The program began with twelve envelopes. Now it holds more than two hundred. What is the main idea of the passage? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 9: Central Ideas
  • Read the passage. At Pine Hollow School, the library lends more than books. In a wooden cabinet by the door, small paper envelopes hold seeds for beans, sunflowers, and squash. A student may borrow one envelope each spring. The seeds are planted at home or in the school garden. In the fall, the student saves a few seeds from the grown plants and returns them in a new envelope. Because every borrower brings seeds back, the cabinet stays full. The program began with twelve envelopes. Now it holds more than two hundred. What must a student do in the fall? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 8: Key Details
  • Read the passage. At Pine Hollow School, the library lends more than books. In a wooden cabinet by the door, small paper envelopes hold seeds for beans, sunflowers, and squash. A student may borrow one envelope each spring. The seeds are planted at home or in the school garden. In the fall, the student saves a few seeds from the grown plants and returns them in a new envelope. Because every borrower brings seeds back, the cabinet stays full. The program began with twelve envelopes. Now it holds more than two hundred. Which detail explains why the cabinet stays full? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 11: Reasoning and Evidence
  • Read the passage. Marisol's kite would not fly. She ran the length of the field three times, and each time the kite dragged behind her like a tired dog. Her grandfather watched from the bench. "The wind is telling you something," he said. Marisol frowned, then licked her finger and held it up. The breeze was coming from behind her. She turned around, faced the wind, and let out the string. The kite shivered, lifted, and climbed until it was a red dot against the clouds. The passage says the kite "dragged behind her like a tired dog." What does this comparison show? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 1 (Reading), literary target 7: Language Use
  • Read the passage. Marisol's kite would not fly. She ran the length of the field three times, and each time the kite dragged behind her like a tired dog. Her grandfather watched from the bench. "The wind is telling you something," he said. Marisol frowned, then licked her finger and held it up. The breeze was coming from behind her. She turned around, faced the wind, and let out the string. The kite shivered, lifted, and climbed until it was a red dot against the clouds. What does "shivered" mean as it is used in the passage? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 1 (Reading), literary target 3: Word Meanings; word meaning checked in the American Heritage Dictionary, "shiver"
  • Read the passage. Marisol's kite would not fly. She ran the length of the field three times, and each time the kite dragged behind her like a tired dog. Her grandfather watched from the bench. "The wind is telling you something," he said. Marisol frowned, then licked her finger and held it up. The breeze was coming from behind her. She turned around, faced the wind, and let out the string. The kite shivered, lifted, and climbed until it was a red dot against the clouds. What does Marisol do to find out where the wind is coming from? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 1 (Reading), literary target 1: Key Details
  • Read the passage. Marisol's kite would not fly. She ran the length of the field three times, and each time the kite dragged behind her like a tired dog. Her grandfather watched from the bench. "The wind is telling you something," he said. Marisol frowned, then licked her finger and held it up. The breeze was coming from behind her. She turned around, faced the wind, and let out the string. The kite shivered, lifted, and climbed until it was a red dot against the clouds. What lesson does the story teach? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 1 (Reading), literary target 2: Central Ideas
  • Read the passage. Marisol's kite would not fly. She ran the length of the field three times, and each time the kite dragged behind her like a tired dog. Her grandfather watched from the bench. "The wind is telling you something," he said. Marisol frowned, then licked her finger and held it up. The breeze was coming from behind her. She turned around, faced the wind, and let out the string. The kite shivered, lifted, and climbed until it was a red dot against the clouds. Which sentence from the passage best shows that Marisol had been running the wrong way? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 1 (Reading), literary target 4: Reasoning and Evidence

Writing and language 5

  • A student is writing an opinion paragraph: "Our school should have a longer recess. Students need time to move. After playing, we are ready to listen in class." Which sentence would best end the paragraph? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 2 (Writing), target 1b/3b/6b: Revise Brief Texts
  • A student lists what the class packed for a hike. Which sentence uses commas correctly? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 2 (Writing), target 9: Edit/Clarify; rule checked at the Purdue Online Writing Lab, "Commas: Quick Rules"
  • A student writes: "My dog Biscuit is very smart." Which sentence best supports this idea with a detail? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 2 (Writing), target 1b/3b/6b: Revise Brief Texts
  • Two dogs each have a bowl. Which sentence shows this correctly? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 2 (Writing), target 9: Edit/Clarify; rule checked at the Purdue Online Writing Lab, "Apostrophe Introduction"
  • Which word best replaces "ate" to show that the boy ate fast and greedily? "The hungry boy ate the sandwich in three bites." Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 2 (Writing), target 8: Language and Vocabulary Use; word meaning checked in the American Heritage Dictionary, "gobble"

Research 5

  • A student has two notes about the garden club. Note 1: "The club meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays." Note 2: "Club members water the plants at every meeting." Which conclusion do both notes support? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 4 (Research), target 2: Interpret and Integrate Information
  • A student is writing a report about how bees make honey. Which source would be most useful? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 4 (Research), target 3: Analyze Information/Sources
  • A student is writing that her school should start a recycling club. Which note best supports her opinion? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 4 (Research), target 4: Use Evidence
  • A student wants to know what time the town pool opens this summer. Which source is most likely to be correct and up to date? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 4 (Research), target 3: Analyze Information/Sources
  • Source 1 says: "The new bike path is two miles long and runs beside the river." Source 2 says: "The path opens in June." Which sentence correctly uses both sources? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 3 to 5, Claim 4 (Research), target 2: Interpret and Integrate Information

How this list was compiled: Outline: the Mathematics and the ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprints of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (as of the 2018-19 test administration), https://portal.smarterbalanced.org/library/en/mathematics-summative-assessment-blueprint.pdf and https://portal.smarterbalanced.org/library/en/elaliteracy-summative-assessment-blueprint.pdf, both linked from https://contentexplorer.smarterbalanced.org/test-development, read 2026-10-07. Each question names the claim and the assessment target of the blueprint it practices. Every mathematics answer that is a number was worked out a second time from the numbers in the question. Every reading answer is found in the text printed with the question. Word meanings were checked in the American Heritage Dictionary, https://www.ahdictionary.com/, and grammar and punctuation rules at the Purdue Online Writing Lab, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/, each named under its answer, on 2026-10-07. Licence: Own work. Questions, texts, answer choices and explanations were written for this site. Nothing is copied or reworded from a Smarter Balanced test, a practice or training test, a sample item, an interim assessment or another practice test.

Grades 6 to 8: all 40 questions

Mathematics 20

  • A 10-foot ladder leans against a wall and reaches 8 feet up the wall. How far is the foot of the ladder from the wall? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 8, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target H: understand and apply the Pythagorean Theorem
  • A bike that costs $180 is marked down 15%. Then a 5% sales tax is added to the sale price. What is the final cost? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 7, Claim 2 (Problem Solving), target A: apply mathematics to solve well-posed problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace
  • A hose fills a 45-gallon barrel in 9 minutes. At that rate, how many gallons does the hose deliver in 1 minute? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 6, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target A: understand ratio concepts and use ratio reasoning to solve problems
Show all 40 questions (37 more)

Mathematics, continued

  • A price table shows that 3 notebooks cost $7.50 and 5 notebooks cost $12.50. If each notebook costs the same, what do 8 notebooks cost? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 6, Claim 4 (Modeling and Data Analysis), target F: identify important quantities in a practical situation and map their relationships
  • A student uses the line y = 2x + 10 to model the data points (1, 12), (2, 14), (3, 16) and (10, 50). Which point does the model fail to fit? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 8, Claim 4 (Modeling and Data Analysis), target E: analyze the adequacy of and make improvements to an existing model or develop a mathematical model of a real phenomenon
  • A tortoise walks 3/4 mile in 1/2 hour. What is its speed in miles per hour? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 7, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target A: analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems
  • After spending $14, Ty has $23 left. The equation n − 14 = 23 gives the amount n he started with. What is n? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 6, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target F: reason about and solve one-variable equations and inequalities
  • Cal says 3 + 4x equals 7x for every value of x. What does testing x = 2 show? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 6, Claim 3 (Communicating Reasoning), target E: distinguish correct logic or reasoning from that which is flawed
  • For which lines y = mx + b is the relationship between x and y proportional? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 8, Claim 3 (Communicating Reasoning), target G: determine conditions under which an argument does and does not apply
  • The function y = 40 − 6x gives the ounces of water left in a jug after x sips. How much water is left after 5 sips? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 8, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target E: define, evaluate, and compare functions
  • The graph of a proportional relationship passes through the point (4, 6). What is the equation of the line? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 8, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target C: understand the connections between proportional relationships, lines, and linear equations
  • In a class of 30 students, 18 ride the bus. What percent of the class rides the bus? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 6, Claim 2 (Problem Solving), target A: apply mathematics to solve well-posed problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace
  • In a random sample of 50 students at a school, 12 walk to school. The school has 600 students. About how many students in the whole school walk? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 7, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target G: use random sampling to draw inferences about a population
  • Nia says a quotient is always smaller than the number being divided. Which example shows that she is wrong? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 6, Claim 3 (Communicating Reasoning), target A: test propositions or conjectures with specific examples
  • Plan A costs $20 a month plus $0.05 per minute. Plan B costs $35 a month with no charge per minute. For how many minutes is the cost the same? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 8, Claim 2 (Problem Solving), target D: identify important quantities in a practical situation and map their relationships
  • The sum of two integers is negative and their product is positive. What must be true of the two integers? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 7, Claim 3 (Communicating Reasoning), target B: construct, autonomously, chains of reasoning that will justify or refute propositions or conjectures
  • The temperature is −4°F at dawn. It rises 11 degrees by noon, then falls 15 degrees by midnight. What is the temperature at midnight? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 7, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target B: apply and extend previous understandings of operations with fractions to add, subtract, multiply, and divide rational numbers
  • Tom says √50 is 25, because half of 50 is 25. What is wrong with his reasoning? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 8, Claim 3 (Communicating Reasoning), target E: distinguish correct logic or reasoning from that which is flawed
  • Twice a number, decreased by 9, is 25. What is the number? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 7, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target D: solve real-life and mathematical problems using numerical and algebraic expressions and equations
  • Which of these numbers is farthest from 0 on a number line: −9, 4, −3 or 7? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 6, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target D: apply and extend previous understandings of numbers to the system of rational numbers

Reading 10

  • Read the passage. For six weeks Devon had practiced the trumpet solo, and for six weeks it had sounded like a goose arguing with a door hinge. On audition morning his stomach was a clenched fist. Ahead of him, a girl played the same solo without a single flaw. Devon nearly walked out. Then he thought of the cracked notes that had slowly smoothed over the weeks. He was not flawless. He was better than he had been. When his name was called, he played his solo, cracks and all, straight through to the end. What does "flaw" mean as it is used in the passage? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 1 (Reading), literary target 3: Word Meanings; word meaning checked in the American Heritage Dictionary, "flaw"
  • Read the passage. For six weeks Devon had practiced the trumpet solo, and for six weeks it had sounded like a goose arguing with a door hinge. On audition morning his stomach was a clenched fist. Ahead of him, a girl played the same solo without a single flaw. Devon nearly walked out. Then he thought of the cracked notes that had slowly smoothed over the weeks. He was not flawless. He was better than he had been. When his name was called, he played his solo, cracks and all, straight through to the end. What does the phrase "his stomach was a clenched fist" suggest about Devon? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 1 (Reading), literary target 7: Language Use
  • Read the passage. For six weeks Devon had practiced the trumpet solo, and for six weeks it had sounded like a goose arguing with a door hinge. On audition morning his stomach was a clenched fist. Ahead of him, a girl played the same solo without a single flaw. Devon nearly walked out. Then he thought of the cracked notes that had slowly smoothed over the weeks. He was not flawless. He was better than he had been. When his name was called, he played his solo, cracks and all, straight through to the end. Which sentence best supports the idea that Devon measures himself against his own past? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 1 (Reading), literary target 4: Reasoning and Evidence
  • Read the passage. For six weeks Devon had practiced the trumpet solo, and for six weeks it had sounded like a goose arguing with a door hinge. On audition morning his stomach was a clenched fist. Ahead of him, a girl played the same solo without a single flaw. Devon nearly walked out. Then he thought of the cracked notes that had slowly smoothed over the weeks. He was not flawless. He was better than he had been. When his name was called, he played his solo, cracks and all, straight through to the end. Which statement best expresses a theme of the passage? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 1 (Reading), literary target 2: Central Ideas
  • Read the passage. Last spring the Cedar Ridge town council voted to dim its streetlights after 11 p.m. Supporters gave two reasons: the town would save about $18,000 a year, and darker skies would show more stars. Not everyone agreed. Shop owners worried that dim streets would keep customers away. The council answered with a compromise: Main Street lights stay bright until midnight, while side streets dim at 11. After six months, it will review the bills and survey residents before deciding whether to keep the plan. How does the author treat the two sides of the debate? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 12: Analysis within/across Texts
  • Read the passage. Last spring the Cedar Ridge town council voted to dim its streetlights after 11 p.m. Supporters gave two reasons: the town would save about $18,000 a year, and darker skies would show more stars. Not everyone agreed. Shop owners worried that dim streets would keep customers away. The council answered with a compromise: Main Street lights stay bright until midnight, while side streets dim at 11. After six months, it will review the bills and survey residents before deciding whether to keep the plan. What compromise did the council make? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 8: Key Details
  • Read the passage. Last spring the Cedar Ridge town council voted to dim its streetlights after 11 p.m. Supporters gave two reasons: the town would save about $18,000 a year, and darker skies would show more stars. Not everyone agreed. Shop owners worried that dim streets would keep customers away. The council answered with a compromise: Main Street lights stay bright until midnight, while side streets dim at 11. After six months, it will review the bills and survey residents before deciding whether to keep the plan. What does "compromise" mean as it is used in the passage? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 10: Word Meanings; word meaning checked in the American Heritage Dictionary, "compromise"
  • Read the passage. Last spring the Cedar Ridge town council voted to dim its streetlights after 11 p.m. Supporters gave two reasons: the town would save about $18,000 a year, and darker skies would show more stars. Not everyone agreed. Shop owners worried that dim streets would keep customers away. The council answered with a compromise: Main Street lights stay bright until midnight, while side streets dim at 11. After six months, it will review the bills and survey residents before deciding whether to keep the plan. What is the purpose of the sentence "Not everyone agreed."? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 13: Text Structures and Features
  • Read the passage. Last spring the Cedar Ridge town council voted to dim its streetlights after 11 p.m. Supporters gave two reasons: the town would save about $18,000 a year, and darker skies would show more stars. Not everyone agreed. Shop owners worried that dim streets would keep customers away. The council answered with a compromise: Main Street lights stay bright until midnight, while side streets dim at 11. After six months, it will review the bills and survey residents before deciding whether to keep the plan. Which detail best shows that the council has not made a final decision? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 11: Reasoning and Evidence
  • Read the passage. Last spring the Cedar Ridge town council voted to dim its streetlights after 11 p.m. Supporters gave two reasons: the town would save about $18,000 a year, and darker skies would show more stars. Not everyone agreed. Shop owners worried that dim streets would keep customers away. The council answered with a compromise: Main Street lights stay bright until midnight, while side streets dim at 11. After six months, it will review the bills and survey residents before deciding whether to keep the plan. Which sentence best states the central idea of the passage? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 9: Central Ideas

Writing and language 5

  • A sentence in a game report begins with the words "After the rain stopped." Which version is punctuated correctly? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 2 (Writing), target 9: Edit/Clarify; rule checked at the Purdue Online Writing Lab, "Commas: Quick Rules"
  • A student is writing an argument that the school day should start later. Which sentence would best introduce the claim? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 2 (Writing), target 1b/3b/6b: Revise Brief Texts
  • A student writes: "The new lunch line is faster." Which sentence adds the strongest supporting evidence? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 2 (Writing), target 1b/3b/6b: Revise Brief Texts
  • In which sentence does the verb agree with its subject? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 2 (Writing), target 9: Edit/Clarify; rule checked at the Purdue Online Writing Lab, "Subject/Verb Agreement"
  • Which word best replaces "said" to show that the coach spoke in a loud, deep voice? "Keep going!" the coach said. Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 2 (Writing), target 8: Language and Vocabulary Use; word meaning checked in the American Heritage Dictionary, "bellow"

Research 5

  • A student claims that the school needs a second bus route. Which evidence best supports the claim? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 4 (Research), target 4: Use Evidence
  • A student has three notes. Note 1: "The garden was not watered during spring break." Note 2: "Most seedlings died in early April." Note 3: "Spring break ran from late March into early April." Which conclusion do the notes best support together? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 4 (Research), target 2: Analyze/Integrate Information
  • A student is researching how many people use the town's new skate park. Which source is most credible? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 4 (Research), target 3: Evaluate Information/Sources
  • Source A says: "The library's summer program had 240 readers in June." Source B says: "By August the program had grown to 310 readers." Which statement correctly combines both sources? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 4 (Research), target 2: Analyze/Integrate Information
  • Which question best helps a student judge whether a website is a reliable source for a report? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grades 6 to 8, Claim 4 (Research), target 3: Evaluate Information/Sources

How this list was compiled: Outline: the Mathematics and the ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprints of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (as of the 2018-19 test administration), https://portal.smarterbalanced.org/library/en/mathematics-summative-assessment-blueprint.pdf and https://portal.smarterbalanced.org/library/en/elaliteracy-summative-assessment-blueprint.pdf, both linked from https://contentexplorer.smarterbalanced.org/test-development, read 2026-10-07. Each question names the claim and the assessment target of the blueprint it practices. Every mathematics answer that is a number was worked out a second time from the numbers in the question. Every reading answer is found in the text printed with the question. Word meanings were checked in the American Heritage Dictionary, https://www.ahdictionary.com/, and grammar and punctuation rules at the Purdue Online Writing Lab, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/, each named under its answer, on 2026-10-07. Licence: Own work. Questions, texts, answer choices and explanations were written for this site. Nothing is copied or reworded from a Smarter Balanced test, a practice or training test, a sample item, an interim assessment or another practice test.

High school: all 40 questions

Mathematics 20

  • A café has 200 customers a day at a price of $4. Each $1 rise in price loses 20 customers. Which model gives the customers c at price p? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 4 (Modeling and Data Analysis), target E: analyze the adequacy of and make improvements to an existing model or develop a mathematical model of a real phenomenon
  • A model rocket's height in meters is h(t) = −5t² + 30t, where t is seconds after launch. For how many seconds is the rocket in the air? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 2 (Problem Solving), target C: interpret results in the context of a situation
  • A phone cost $600 new and loses 12% of its value each year. Which equation gives its value V after t years? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target G: create equations that describe numbers or relationships
Show all 40 questions (37 more)

Mathematics, continued

  • A rectangular garden is 3 meters longer than it is wide. Its area is 108 square meters. What is its width? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 2 (Problem Solving), target A: apply mathematics to solve well-posed problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace
  • A savings model gives a balance of B(t) = 500(1.03)^t dollars after t years. What does B(0) = 500 mean? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 4 (Modeling and Data Analysis), target D: interpret results in the context of a situation
  • A student claims that √(a + b) = √a + √b. Which pair shows that the claim is false? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 3 (Communicating Reasoning), target A: test propositions or conjectures with specific examples
  • A student solves 2(x − 3) = 10 this way: 2x − 3 = 10, then 2x = 13, then x = 6.5. Where is the error? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 3 (Communicating Reasoning), target E: distinguish correct logic or reasoning from that which is flawed
  • At which x-values does the graph of y = |x − 2| meet the line y = 3? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target J: represent and solve equations and inequalities graphically
  • For f(x) = 5 − 2x, which input gives an output of −7? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target K: understand the concept of a function and use function notation
  • For which value of x does the expression 3(x − 4)² + 7 have its least value? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target D: interpret the structure of expressions
  • For which values of x is x² > x true? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 3 (Communicating Reasoning), target G: determine conditions under which an argument does and does not apply
  • The graph of a quadratic function opens upward and has its vertex at (2, 3). How many x-intercepts does the graph have? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 3 (Communicating Reasoning), target B: construct, autonomously, chains of reasoning that will justify or refute propositions or conjectures
  • If n is an odd whole number, which statement about n² must be true? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 3 (Communicating Reasoning), target D: use the technique of breaking an argument into cases
  • In right triangle ABC, the right angle is at C, AC = 8 and BC = 15. What is tan A? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target O: define trigonometric ratios and solve problems involving right triangles
  • Of 80 students, 50 take art, 40 take music and 20 take both. How many take neither art nor music? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 4 (Modeling and Data Analysis), target F: identify important quantities in a practical situation and map their relationships
  • Two classes took the same quiz. Class A's scores have a standard deviation of 2 points and Class B's have a standard deviation of 9 points. What does this show? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target P: summarize, represent, and interpret data on a single count or measurement variable
  • What are the solutions of 2x² + 3x − 5 = 0? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target I: solve equations and inequalities in one variable
  • What is the product (2x − 3)(x + 5)? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target F: perform arithmetic operations on polynomials
  • Which expression is equivalent to 2^(x + 3)? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target E: write expressions in equivalent forms to solve problems
  • Which function has a y-intercept of 4 and is multiplied by 3 each time x increases by 1? Smarter Balanced Mathematics Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Concepts and Procedures), target M: analyze functions using different representations

Reading 10

  • Read the passage. Harlow Works, a furniture maker, moved to a four-day week: four ten-hour shifts in place of five eight-hour ones. Total hours did not change, so managers expected output to hold steady. It rose 6 percent over the same quarter a year earlier. The company credits the longer weekend. The evidence is less tidy than that. In the same months Harlow installed two new saws, and workers say the last two hours of a shift are their slowest. The company will now track output by hour, not only by week. As it is used in the passage, what does "credits" mean? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 10: Word Meanings; word meaning checked in the American Heritage Dictionary, "credit"
  • Read the passage. Harlow Works, a furniture maker, moved to a four-day week: four ten-hour shifts in place of five eight-hour ones. Total hours did not change, so managers expected output to hold steady. It rose 6 percent over the same quarter a year earlier. The company credits the longer weekend. The evidence is less tidy than that. In the same months Harlow installed two new saws, and workers say the last two hours of a shift are their slowest. The company will now track output by hour, not only by week. What changed in the workers' schedule? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 8: Key Details
  • Read the passage. Harlow Works, a furniture maker, moved to a four-day week: four ten-hour shifts in place of five eight-hour ones. Total hours did not change, so managers expected output to hold steady. It rose 6 percent over the same quarter a year earlier. The company credits the longer weekend. The evidence is less tidy than that. In the same months Harlow installed two new saws, and workers say the last two hours of a shift are their slowest. The company will now track output by hour, not only by week. What is the function of the sentence "The evidence is less tidy than that."? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 13: Text Structures and Features
  • Read the passage. Harlow Works, a furniture maker, moved to a four-day week: four ten-hour shifts in place of five eight-hour ones. Total hours did not change, so managers expected output to hold steady. It rose 6 percent over the same quarter a year earlier. The company credits the longer weekend. The evidence is less tidy than that. In the same months Harlow installed two new saws, and workers say the last two hours of a shift are their slowest. The company will now track output by hour, not only by week. Which detail most weakens the claim that the longer weekend caused the gain? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 11: Reasoning and Evidence
  • Read the passage. Harlow Works, a furniture maker, moved to a four-day week: four ten-hour shifts in place of five eight-hour ones. Total hours did not change, so managers expected output to hold steady. It rose 6 percent over the same quarter a year earlier. The company credits the longer weekend. The evidence is less tidy than that. In the same months Harlow installed two new saws, and workers say the last two hours of a shift are their slowest. The company will now track output by hour, not only by week. Which statement best expresses the central idea of the passage? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 9: Central Ideas
  • Read the passage. Harlow Works, a furniture maker, moved to a four-day week: four ten-hour shifts in place of five eight-hour ones. Total hours did not change, so managers expected output to hold steady. It rose 6 percent over the same quarter a year earlier. The company credits the longer weekend. The evidence is less tidy than that. In the same months Harlow installed two new saws, and workers say the last two hours of a shift are their slowest. The company will now track output by hour, not only by week. Why does the author mention that the last two hours of a shift are the slowest? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Reading), informational target 12: Analysis within/across Texts
  • Read the passage. The hardware store had been her father's for thirty years, and Lena knew its inventory the way some people know scripture: bin by bin, washer by washer. Now the shelves stood half empty, each gap a small accusation. The chain's buyer walked the aisles with a tablet, touching nothing. "It's a good location," he said, as if the building were the only thing for sale. Lena signed the papers. She kept the brass bell from the door, and for years she hung it in every place she lived. What does the word "accusation" suggest as it is used in the passage? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Reading), literary target 3: Word Meanings; word meaning checked in the American Heritage Dictionary, "accusation"
  • Read the passage. The hardware store had been her father's for thirty years, and Lena knew its inventory the way some people know scripture: bin by bin, washer by washer. Now the shelves stood half empty, each gap a small accusation. The chain's buyer walked the aisles with a tablet, touching nothing. "It's a good location," he said, as if the building were the only thing for sale. Lena signed the papers. She kept the brass bell from the door, and for years she hung it in every place she lived. What is the effect of comparing Lena's knowledge of the inventory to knowing scripture? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Reading), literary target 7: Language Use
  • Read the passage. The hardware store had been her father's for thirty years, and Lena knew its inventory the way some people know scripture: bin by bin, washer by washer. Now the shelves stood half empty, each gap a small accusation. The chain's buyer walked the aisles with a tablet, touching nothing. "It's a good location," he said, as if the building were the only thing for sale. Lena signed the papers. She kept the brass bell from the door, and for years she hung it in every place she lived. Which detail best shows that Lena values the store's history more than the buyer does? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Reading), literary target 4: Reasoning and Evidence
  • Read the passage. The hardware store had been her father's for thirty years, and Lena knew its inventory the way some people know scripture: bin by bin, washer by washer. Now the shelves stood half empty, each gap a small accusation. The chain's buyer walked the aisles with a tablet, touching nothing. "It's a good location," he said, as if the building were the only thing for sale. Lena signed the papers. She kept the brass bell from the door, and for years she hung it in every place she lived. Which statement best captures a central idea of the passage? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 1 (Reading), literary target 2: Central Ideas

Writing and language 5

  • A student is editing a description of a driver's job. Which sentence uses parallel structure? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 2 (Writing), target 9: Edit/Clarify; rule checked at the Purdue Online Writing Lab, "Parallel Structure"
  • A student is editing a report on a town vote. Which sentence uses a semicolon correctly? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 2 (Writing), target 9: Edit/Clarify; rule checked at the Purdue Online Writing Lab, "Independent and Dependent Clauses"
  • A student is writing an argument that the city should add bike lanes. Which sentence would best acknowledge a counterclaim? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 2 (Writing), target 1b/3b/6b: Revise Brief Texts
  • Which revision of "The program helped a lot of students" is the most precise and best supported? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 2 (Writing), target 1b/3b/6b: Revise Brief Texts
  • Which word best completes the sentence in a formal report? "The new figures ____ the committee's earlier estimate; both put the cost near $2 million." Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 2 (Writing), target 8: Language and Vocabulary Use; word meaning checked in the American Heritage Dictionary, "corroborate"

Research 5

  • A student claims that the school's later start time improved attendance. Which evidence best supports the claim? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 4 (Research), target 4: Use Evidence
  • A student copies a sentence from an article into a report without quotation marks or a citation. What is the problem? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 4 (Research), target 4: Use Evidence
  • A student is researching the effect of a city's fee on plastic bags. Which source is most credible for the number of bags used? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 4 (Research), target 3: Evaluate Information/Sources
  • Source 1 reports that a town's bus ridership rose 15 percent after fares were cut. Source 2 reports that a large factory opened on the bus route the same month. What should a careful writer conclude? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 4 (Research), target 2: Analyze/Integrate Information
  • Which feature most strongly suggests that a source may be biased? Smarter Balanced ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprint, grade 11, Claim 4 (Research), target 3: Evaluate Information/Sources

How this list was compiled: Outline: the Mathematics and the ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment Blueprints of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (as of the 2018-19 test administration), https://portal.smarterbalanced.org/library/en/mathematics-summative-assessment-blueprint.pdf and https://portal.smarterbalanced.org/library/en/elaliteracy-summative-assessment-blueprint.pdf, both linked from https://contentexplorer.smarterbalanced.org/test-development, read 2026-10-07. Each question names the claim and the assessment target of the blueprint it practices. Every mathematics answer that is a number was worked out a second time from the numbers in the question. Every reading answer is found in the text printed with the question. Word meanings were checked in the American Heritage Dictionary, https://www.ahdictionary.com/, and grammar and punctuation rules at the Purdue Online Writing Lab, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/, each named under its answer, on 2026-10-07. Licence: Own work. Questions, texts, answer choices and explanations were written for this site. Nothing is copied or reworded from a Smarter Balanced test, a practice or training test, a sample item, an interim assessment or another practice test.

How it works

Unofficial test prep for the Smarter Balanced (SBAC) tests in English language arts and mathematics, grades 3 to 8 and high school. The questions and texts are our own. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.

Read the full guide

What is on this page

Three grade bands of 40 questions. Each has 20 math questions, then 20 in English language arts: reading on two short texts, writing and research. The mix follows the claims of the consortium's blueprints, and each answer names the claim and target it practices.

How the real test differs

The real test is taken on a computer and adjusts the difficulty of its questions to the student's answers. The blueprints add a performance task in each subject, and English language arts includes listening. None of that can be given here, where every question is multiple choice.

  • A performance task cannot be marked here. After a text, write one paragraph that answers a question about it with two details from the text.

Questions and answers

Which states use the Smarter Balanced test?

The consortium lists twelve members: California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington. A Washington Smarter Balanced practice test and a Connecticut one cover the same claims and targets.

Where are the official Smarter Balanced practice and training tests?

On the consortium's site, under Practice Tests and Sample Questions. Practice tests cover grades 3 to 8 and high school with about 30 questions. Training tests have six questions, in three grade bands. No login is needed, and the box under the questions links there.

How long is the Smarter Balanced test?

It is untimed. The consortium estimates 3 hours 30 minutes for English language arts in grades 3 to 8 and 4 hours in grade 11. Math runs from 2 hours 30 minutes in grades 3 to 5 to 3 hours 30 minutes in grade 11.

What is a passing score on the Smarter Balanced test?

No pass mark is published. Scores run from about 2000 to 3000 in four achievement levels, and the consortium describes Levels 3 and 4 as on track for college and career readiness. Level 3 begins at 2432 in grade 3 English language arts.

Is there a printable Smarter Balanced practice test or PDF?

Yes, of this practice. Each grade band prints as a paper test with its answer key, and the print window can save it as a PDF. The consortium's own practice tests run online, in its testing software.