ELPAC Practice

Which sentence is missing a word? (Why Our School Should Start Later)

Read a Student Essay · ELPAC Grades 6–8 reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.

An essay written as if by a classmate, with numbered sentences. The student finds the sentence containing the error.

Read the essay. Then answer the questions.

Why Our School Should Start Later

  1. Last spring our student council asked every sixth-grade homeroom how much sleep students were getting on a school night.
  2. The results surprised even the teachers who had helped us write the questions.
  3. Almost half of the students we surveyed reported fewer than seven hours.
  4. Doctors who study adolescent sleep says that middle school students need nine or ten hours.
  5. Our first bell rings at 8:00, which means that many of us are awake by half past six.
  6. When I asked my older sister about her high school, she told me that her classes begin at 8:30.
  7. She has more energy now than she did two years ago, and her grades have improved as well.
  8. Some people argue that a later start would interfere with after-school sports and with the jobs that older students hold.
  9. That is a fair concern, and it deserves a real answer rather than a quick dismissal.
  10. Districts that have already moved their start times report that attendance improved and that number of accidents involving teenage drivers went down.
  11. If the evidence is this strong, our school board should at least agree to study the question.

The question

Choose the best answer.

Which sentence is missing a word?

  • Sentence 3: “Almost half of the students we surveyed reported fewer than seven hours.”
  • Sentence 5: “Our first bell rings at 8:00, which means that many of us are awake by half past six.”
  • Sentence 8: “Some people argue that a later start would interfere with after-school sports and with the jobs that older students hold.”
  • Sentence 10: “Districts that have already moved their start times report that attendance improved and that number of accidents involving teenage drivers went down.”Correct answer

Why “Sentence 10: “Districts that have already moved their start times report that attendance improved and that number of accidents involving teenage drivers went down.”” is correct

This tests noticing an omitted article, which is one of the most persistent errors for learners whose first language does not use articles. Sentence 10 reads 'that number of accidents' and needs 'that the number of accidents'; the second 'that' is a conjunction introducing a clause, so the noun after it still needs its own determiner. Reading the sentence aloud and listening for the missing beat before 'number' is the most reliable check.

Why the other answers are wrong

  • Sentence 3: “Almost half of the students we surveyed reported fewer than seven hours.” — 'Fewer than seven hours' leaves 'of sleep' understood from the sentence before it, which is ordinary English rather than an omission.
  • Sentence 5: “Our first bell rings at 8:00, which means that many of us are awake by half past six.” — Sentence 5 is complete; 'which means that' introduces a full clause with its own subject and verb.
  • Sentence 8: “Some people argue that a later start would interfere with after-school sports and with the jobs that older students hold.” — This is the longest sentence in the essay, which can make it feel unfinished, but both halves of 'with ... and with ...' are complete.

Practice more of this

More reading practice for Grades 6–8, or see the ELPAC practice test for grades 6–8. For other grades, see free ELPAC practice tests by grade.

This is an independent study resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the California Department of Education or the official ELPAC program. All questions here are original practice material written to match the published task formats.