Unit 2 • Unit Assessment

Name Date

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

A Weaving Contest

1 Long ago there lived a girl named Arachne who was a fine weaver.
Some people said her weaving was nearly equal to that of Athena. But
Arachne insisted that she was better than Athena.

GO

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Grade 3 • Unit 2 • Unit Assessment

2 Athena heard of the girl’s boasts. She wanted to give the girl a chance
to apologize. She changed herself into an old woman. Then she went to
visit Arachne.

3 At first Athena spoke gently to the girl. “My dear, your weaving is
beautiful. But do not set yourself above Athena. Ask her to forgive you
for your bold words.”

4 “Go away, old woman,” Arachne snapped. “My weaving is better than
anyone’s. I dare Athena to compete with me to see for herself.”

5 Athena threw off her disguise. “I accept your challenge, you vain girl,”
she roared. “Let us sit at the looms and see who is the best.”

6 Arachne quickly agreed. She and Athena sat down at their looms in
the sun. Weaving with threads of many colors, they made cloths
like rainbows.

7 Each weaver’s cloth created a picture that told a story of the kings.
Athena’s cloth showed the kings in their glory, sitting on
their golden thrones.

8 Arachne’s cloth was different. She showed the kings looking silly
and foolish. She even made fun of Zeus, the king. Her weaving
insulted the kings, yet it was beautifully done.

9 The beauty of the girl’s work only made Athena angrier. She tore the
weaving into shreds. With a wave of her hand, Athena turned Arachne
into a tiny spider.

10 “Go now and spin your thread and weave your nets,” Athena
commanded. From that day on, spiders have spun fine thread that they
weave into webs.

GO

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Grade 3 • Unit 2 • Unit Assessment

1. Write a short paragraph recounting the main story events in “A Weaving

Contest.”

GO

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Grade 3 • Unit 2 • Unit Assessment

2. What does the word insisted mean as it is used in paragraph 1?

A. laughed
B. hoped
C. thought
D. argued

3. What is Athena’s motivation for visiting Arachne?

A. She wanted Arachne to say she was sorry for being boastful.
B. She had heard about Arachne’s weaving and wanted to see it.
C. She wanted to test her old woman disguise and see if it worked.
D. She wanted to punish Arachne by turning her into a spider.

4. How does the illustration contribute to the passage?

A. It shows how Arachne and Athena look and act.
B. It shows how Arachne loses to Athena.
C. It shows that Arachne is stronger than Athena.
D. It shows that Arachne is more talented than Athena.

5. How does paragraph 10 build on the other parts of the story?

A. It provides the rising action of the story.
B. It provides the plot of the story.
C. It provides the resolution of the story.
D. It provides the climax to the story.

6. How do Arachne’s actions contribute to the story events?

A. She describes the story events.
B. She creates the conflict in the story.
C. She solves the problem in the story.
D. She introduces the characters and setting.

GO

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Grade 3 • Unit 2 • Unit Assessment

7. Reread this sentence from paragraph 6:

“Weaving with threads of many colors, they made cloths like

rainbows.” How does the phrase ”like rainbows” contribute meaning to

the story?

A. The cloths they made were magical cloths made of rainbows.

B. The cloths they made were like the cloths made by rainbows.
C. The cloths they made were bright and colorful.
D. The cloths they made showed pictures of the sky.

8. Look at the story events in the answer choices below. Which two of these
story events happen before the story event shown in the illustration? In the
boxes below, write the two events in the order in which they happen in the
story.

1.

2.

A. Athena reveals herself and accepts Arachne’s challenge.

B. Arachne tells Athena, disguised as an old woman, to go away.
C. Athena turns Arachne into a spider and commands her to spin webs.
D. Athena, disguised as an old woman, speaks gently to Arachne.
E. Athena sees Arachne’s insulting cloth and tears it to shreds.

GO

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Grade 3 • Unit 2 • Unit Assessment

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

The Bag of Gold

by Aesop
1 There once was a man who buried a bag of gold in a secret place in
his garden. Every day he dug up the bag, counted his gold, and buried it
again. Then he sat back and sighed like a man who had just had a feast.

2 A thief who lived nearby grew curious about the man’s daily trips to his
garden. One day he decided to spy on the man. When the thief saw the
man’s bag of gold, he made a plan. That night, he dug up the bag of gold
and ran off as fast as a frightened rabbit.

3 The next morning, the man discovered that his treasure was gone. He
wept and moaned so loudly that a stranger passing by asked him what
was wrong.

4 “A thief has stolen my gold!” the man cried, pulling at his hair.

5 “From your garden?” asked the stranger. “Why did you bury your gold?
Why didn’t you spend it?”

6 “I would never spend a bit of it!” the man exclaimed, as if that were a
ridiculous idea.

7 With that, the stranger tossed a rock into the hole. “Then you can bury
that rock and be just as happy,” he laughed. “For you, the rock is worth
as much as your lost treasure.”

GO

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Grade 3 • Unit 2 • Unit Assessment

9. How does the thief find out about the man’s gold?
A. The thief and the man are neighbors.
B. The thief pretends to be the man’s friend.
C. The man brags about his treasure to the thief.
D. The thief watches what the man does in his garden.

10. Which words best describe the man who buried his gold in this passage?
Select two answers.
A. sneaky
B. greedy
C. wise
D. jealous
E. foolish

11. What does the resolution of the passage show about the stranger?
A. He wishes that he could help the man.
B. He knows the thief who robbed the man.
C. He thinks that the man has made bad choices.
D. He believes that the man will get his gold back.

12. Select two sentences from the passage that use nonliteral language.
A. “There once was a man who buried a bag of gold in a secret place in
his garden.”
B. “Every day he dug up the bag, counted his gold, and buried it again.”
C. “Then he sat back and sighed like a man who has just had a feast.”
D. “When the thief saw the man’s bag of gold, he made a plan.”
E. “That night, he dug up the bag of gold and ran off as fast as a
frightened rabbit.”

GO

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Grade 3 • Unit 2 • Unit Assessment

13. Read this sentence from paragraph 3.

“He wept and moaned so loudly that a stranger passing by asked him what
was wrong.”

Which word in the sentence gives a clue to the meaning of moaned?

A. “wept”
B. “stranger”
C. “passing”
D. “wrong”

14. What does the word ridiculous mean in paragraph 6?

A. funny or amusing
B. smart or clever
C. costly or expensive
D. silly or foolish

GO

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Grade 3 • Unit 2 • Unit Assessment

15. Think about the stories you have read, “A Weaving Contest” and “The Bag of
Gold.” How are the plots of these stories alike? How are they different? Write
a series of sentences to compare and contrast the plots of these stories. Use
details from both stories to support your answer.

GO

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Grade 3 • Unit 2 • Unit Assessment

Editing Task
There are words in the passage that are underlined to show they may be
incorrect. For each underlined word, choose the best answer.

The Fox and the Donkey

One day, a donkey was walking through the woods. He found a lion skin
and said, “I think I put this on.” Then he walked through the forest. Other
animals ran away in terror. He was very pleased with his cleverly disguise.
A few minutes later, he met a fox. He runned at the fox and tried to roar
like
a lion at the same time. “Well now,” said the fox. “If you had moved quiet,
I would have been frightened. But since you made such a noise, I know
who you are.”

GO

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Grade 3 • Unit 2 • Unit Assessment

16. Replace put with

A. put (no change)
B. puts
C. putting
D. will put

17. Replace cleverly with

A. cleverly (no change)
B. clever
C. boldly
D. bold

18. Replace runned with

A. runned (no change)
B. ran
C. running
D. run

19. Replace quiet with

A. quiet (no change)
B. quieted
C. quietly
D. quietest

20. Replace made with

A. made (no change)
B. make
C. maked
D. making

GO

Grade 3 Weekly & Unit Assessments • © Benchmark Education 5

 Writing Task
Think about the two passages you have just read. Which character was most
deserving of the punishment they received in each story: Arachne, or the man who
buried his gold? Write a paragraph in which you give your opinion and explain your
reasons. Use details from both passages to support your answer.

Be sure to

• answer the prompt completely.

• write at least one paragraph.

• use correct spelling and grammar.

• use correct capitalization and punctuation.

• use evidence from both passages.

Write your answers on the lined pages. Anything you write that is not on the
lined pages will NOT be scored.

GO

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Grade 3 • Unit 2 • Unit Assessment

GO

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