English

Grade VIII
Diagnostic Test

Direction: Choose and encircle the letter of the correct answer from the options given in each item.

1. This is any opinion that influences a person's thoughts, feelings, or actions.

a. Opinion b. Judgement c. Bias d. Assumption

2. Select the best definition of the word 'prejudice'.

a. a feeling of like or dislike for someone or something especially when it is not reasonable or logical.
b. a feeling of liking or wanting a thing more than another.
c. a feeling of discomfort.
d. a feeling of disappointment towards certain results.

3. When can we say that a text is bias?

a. If it presents a one-sided view of a controversial issue, or the author dwells on his or her opinion
without giving equal time to opposing viewpoints.
b. If it presents facts about the topic.
c. If it presents highly selected information that lean to a certain outcome.
d. If it presents both opinion and facts in the discussion.

4. Our ex-boyfriend is such a disgusting person that one can deal with. She doesn't care about her ex-
boyfriend anymore because of his affair with someone else.
Which of the underlined words helps show the author's bias?
a. disgusting b. deal c. affair d. ex-boyfriend

5. My student in college is very rude. He calls so late at night sometimes as late as 11:00 at night. Last
week he called me Victor instead of sir during our discussion. What word would help show the author's
bias?
a. calls b. rude c. late d. student

6. An author is writing about beautiful landscape of Bukidnon and uses words such as: ethereal, verdant,
and pristine. What can you infer about the author's bias?
a. dislikes nature b. thinks nature are for photographers
c. thinks beautiful landscape are dangerous d. likes nature

7. Choose in the following statements that shows bias.

a. Teachers are well equipped with their field of expertise.
b. COVID-19 has claimed millions of lives.
c. Filipino are known for being welcoming and friendly.
d. People who are good in science are brainy and talented.

8. Which statement is NOT an example of the author's bias?

a. The best song today is the song of Yeng Constantino.
b. The no.1 song on the Billboard Top 100 this week is Taylor's "Blank space."
c. "Marry your daughter" is the popular song of all time.
d. The songs of BTS are children's favorite.

9. When is an author credible and not bias?

a. when he shows favoritism of his writing.
b. when he gives false impression and information.
c. when he can prove using valid facts and materials.
d. when he alters information.

10. It is a type of propaganda technique that persuade the target audience to take action. It is about
creating an urge amongst people to become a part of the "in crowd."
a. testimonial
b. bandwagon
c. card-stacking
d. name-calling

11. Which propaganda technique presents a negative quality of a person, entity, object, or value to
discredit it and make the other option more acceptable?
a. loaded words
b. plain folks
c. simplification
d. transfer

12. Which of the following is an example of a name-calling propaganda technique?

a. “I am grateful to be in front of these beautiful and smart people.”
b. “Beware! Terrorists are everywhere.”
c. “Amazing sugar-free muffins: healthy sweets that brighten your day!”
d. “Nothing to worry! Statistics shows that the number of Covid-19 deaths in the country is only a bit of
the country's total population.”
13. Choose the best statement that apply soft soap propaganda technique.
a. “I am grateful to be in front of these beautiful and smart people.”
b. “Beware! Terrorists are everywhere.”
c. “Amazing sugar-free muffins: healthy sweets that brighten your day!”
d. “Nothing to worry! Statistics shows that the number of Covid-19 deaths in the country is only a bit of
the country's total population.”

14. What do you think is the right thing for you to do if you see a propaganda of a slimming tablet with a
promo sale of buy 1 take 1 and sold at a very cheap price and you really want to lose weight?
a. Not buy the product until I can prove that it is effective.
b. Immediately buy the product for its very good offer.
c. Buy the product because of its convincing promotion.
d. Conduct a thorough research on the product especially for possible negative side effects of the product
before buying it

15. What type of propaganda technique best apply in use paper advertisement: a message that appeals
to ordinary people, like you and me.
a. bandwagon b. emotions c. plain folks d. name calling

16. What type of propaganda technique best apply for radio advertisement: Drink Super Sports Bevarage,
the only drink of the NBA.
a. glittering generalities b. testimonial c. emotions d. transfer technique

17. An avid fan feels good about herself as she uses the shampoo patronized by her favorite model
endorser. Identify what propaganda technique was used in that situation.
a. card stacking b. transfer c. testimonial d. plain folks

18. What would happen if the bandwagon propaganda technique did not meet its goal?
a. it disrupts a personal experience
b. people are becoming more globalized
c. it will not affect the business industry
d. none of the choices

19. What issue reflects the scarcity of resources which are deemed insufficient to satisfy human wants
and needs?
a. social issue b. moral issue c. economic issue d. public issue

20. Which of the following can be categorized as a social issue?

a. increasing population
b. cheating during exam
c. high prices of commodities
d. low agricultural production

For items no. 21-22

“The government has intensified its fight against national problems such
as illegal drugs, gender inequality, corruption, and poverty. These are
leeches that made the country bleeds.”

21. What do you think the author meant with the term "leech"?
a. an aquatic or terrestrial annelid worm with suckers at both ends
b. a person who extorts profit from or sponges on others
c. habitually exploit or rely on
d. issues in our society that affect a lot of people

22. What kind of issue do you think illegal drugs, gender inequality, corruption, and poverty are?
a. Moral issue because it is an impact of our moral degradation and vices
b. Economic issue because these hinder someone from having a life without financial problem
c. Social issue because it affects many people within a society
d. They have different kind of issue. Illegal drugs and gender inequality are social issues. Corruption
is a moral issue. Poverty is an economic issue.
For items no. 23-24

“The complaint of Africans, however, is not only that they are poor, and the whites are rich, but
that the laws which are made by the whites are designed to preserve this situation. Pass laws,
which to the Africans are among the most hated bits of legislation in South Africa, render any
African liable to police surveillance at any time. I doubt whether there is a single African male
in South Africa who has not at some stage had a brush with the police over his pass. Hundreds
and thousands of Africans are thrown into jail each year under pass laws. Even worse than this
is the fact that passes laws keep husband and wife apart and lead to the breakdown of family
life.” This leads to a breakdown in moral standards, to an alarming rise in illegitimacy, and to
growing violence which erupts not only politically, but everywhere. Life in the townships is
dangerous.’

Source: “Nelson Mandela death: Excerpts of his Rivonia

speech”, BBC News, last modified December 07, 2013,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-10529498

23. What is the complaint of the Africans, according to the speaker?

a. Africans complain about being poor and want to be rich too.
b. Africans complain about not being able to get divorced with their wives.
c. Africans complain about the laws which are made by the whites to preserve inequality.
d. Africans complain about females always get in jails because of the pass law and they want to
revoke it.

24. What is the situation between the Africans and Americans pointed out by the speaker as a fact?
a. Both countries have problems about discrimination and inequality that are rooted to racism.
b. Both countries have problems when it comes overpopulation.
c. Both countries have problems about illegal drugs and rape.
d. Both countries have problems when it comes gender inequality.

Africa’s Plea
Roland Tombekai Dempster
I am not you... You meddle, interfere in my affairs
But you will not As if they were yours
Give me a chance And you were me
Will not let me be me You are unfair, unwise, foolish to think

“If I were you” That I can be you

But you know Talk, act and think like you
I am not you God made me, he made you, you for god
Yet you will not let be me. sake let me be.

25. What does the poem's persona try to imply in this line, "God made me, he made you, you for God's
sake, let me be"?
a. equality of treatment c. discrimination
b. individual differences d. all of the above

26. Which of the following does not belong to the group?

a. He got arrested in the drug buy-bust operation.
b. The pageant organizer disqualified Candidate A because she is transgender.
c. The illegal settlers were forced to evacuate the area.
d. The value of peso and dollar exchange has decreased in the last seven months.

27. This most commonly refers to creative imagination works, including poetry, drama, fiction, nonfiction,
and in some instances, journalism, and song.
a. Culture b. Literature c. Film d. Heritage

28. This influences the views, the values, the humor, the hopes, the loyalties, and the worries and fears
of the people. What is this?

a. Culture b. Heritage c. Diversity d. Literature

29. The following are characteristics of poetry except:
a. It has measures
b. It is written in figurative language
c. It is easy to understand
d. It is expressed in lines and stanzas

30. If you are to define literature as the reflection of the society, what would it be?
a. It is an imitation of human action, often presents a picture of what people think, say, and do in the
society
b. It transports the real-life events in their society into fiction and presents it to the society
c. It serves as a corrective mirror in which members of the society can look at themselves and find the
need for positive change
d. All of the above-mentioned statements

31. Choose the best statement that applies.

a. Being open-minded and sensitive about the author's work of art can help us understand his work's
message and develop our sense of imagination and acceptance by giving prejudices.
b. Literary work will not give us insights into how people coexist and share values despite their different
or diversified backgrounds.
c. Work of arts reflects an individual's personality or identity- the way he thinks, acts and depicts his
cultural and social backgrounds.
d. It is dispensable to take a close look at some literature works to understand how literature reflects
society.

32. How does literature mirror the culture of people's diversified culture?
a. In literature, we barely find stories designed to portray human life and action through some characters
who convey certain messages for education, information, and entertainment by their words, action, and
reaction.
b. Literature is a reflection of society and serves as a corrective mirror in which members of society can
look at themselves and find the need for positive change.
c. Literary works reflect our ever changing culture but it doesn’t have the ability to alter society's values
because values are already set in the first place.
d. Literature in its corrective function exclusively projects the virtues or good values in the society for
people to emulate.

33. How would you use literature to understand the culture of certain group of people?
a. Literature has many purposes, and opens doors to unique worlds. Literature proscribes us to discover
ourselves and world time and again.
b. Literature is a very effective way of understanding a culture of a particular time, of a particular class
and of a social group.
c. Studying literature is part of our cultural heritage and is helping us to vitiate our lives in all kinds of
ways.
d. Literature is a reflection of culture, prohibiting students to take a closer look at behaviors, social
norms, and beliefs.

For item no. 34

VISION

By: FERAYA

A country of great beauty

People so gentle and kind

There is also ugliness

And cruelty

Fleeing and hiding

And foraging for food

To survive

Our people are in pain

Suffering like no hell on earth

Darkness and despair

Surround them

And freedom is out of reach

Beaten and battered by life

Death and diseases

 Of the mind and spirit

Swallowed up by gloominess

And bitterness

How can they carry on?

Each of us has a role to play
To help our countrymen
Not by hatred and blame
Not by giving false hope
Or ideas
Or concepts
But to see the big vision
A vision that’s not small or limited
A vision that’s vast and spacious
So that Burma’s people may rise up
Like a beautiful lotus
From a muddy pond.
-Burma Digest

34. What should the people from Burma do to overcome the problem mentioned in the poem?
a. They should extend help to one another.
b. They should help the government.
c. They should rise like a beautiful lotus.
d. They should be contented with what is happening.

35. This is how you link sentences and ideas together for clarity and conciseness.
a. Cohesion b. Coherent c. Cohesive d. Coherence

36. Select the best definition of cohesive devices.

a. words that join two elements of equal grammatical rank and syntactic importance
b. a part of speech that connects words, phrases, or clauses
c. words used to connect clauses or sentences or to coordinate words in the same clause
d. words or phrases that show the relationship between paragraphs or sections of a text or speech.

For items no. 37-40

To Whom It May Concern,

(1) Yesterday morning I had gone to your store to purchase the Media Radio that was
advertised in the Sunday paper. (2) According to the advertisement, the model X12 radio
would be available at all stores for P 2, 350.00. (3) Unfortunately, I had several problems
in the home entertainment department in Cebu. (4) First, I had to wait ten minutes before
even seeing any sales clerk. (5) When I finally spoke to a clerk, they said that the store
didn’t carry the model at all. (6) Then the second clerk said that the model is out of stock.
(7) At that point, I found Joey Adling, who was the supervisor. (8) Joey said that the store
did carry the radio, but it wasn’t on sale. (9) Since I hadn’t brought the ad with me I could
not show it t him. (10) Before I could ask him to check, he disappeared. (11) My
experience at the store was so frustrating, however, that I won’t shop there again.

Sincerely,

Alvin Alistado

37. What cohesive devices are used in the passage?

a. unfortunately, first, when, then, since, however
b. first, when, then, since, however, because
c. unfortunately, first, when, then, secondly, since
d. next, first, when, then, since, howver
38. What should be the correct way to write sentence 5? “When I finally spoke to a clerk, they said that
the store didn’t carry the model at all.”
a. remove the comma after a clerk b. replace they with she
c. change spoke to speak d. replace when with since

39. “At that point, I found Joey Adling, who was the supervisor. Joey said that the store did carry the
model, but it wasn’t on sale.”
The most effective way to combine sentence 7 and 8 should be:
a. At that point, I found Joey Adling, the supervisor, who said that…
b. At that point, I found Joey Adling, being the supervisor who said that…
c. At that point, I found Joey Adling, the supervisor, so he said that…
d. “Since I hadn’t brought the ad with me, I could not show it to him.”

40. What correction should be made to sentence 9? “Since I hadn’t brought the ad with me I could not
show it to him.”
a. remove Since
b. change show to shown
c. insert a comma after me
d. insert a semi-colon after me

41. “Our dean has two remarkable traits. First, he never made decisions without examining alternatives.
Second, he is on friendly terms with his entire faculty. To sum up, he is an effective one.
How would you categorize the cohesive devices used in the passage based on transitions.
a. Additive Transitions
b. Opposing Transition
c. Sequential Transitions
d. Casual Transitions

42. “We can avoid impulse buying. We have to understand why we do it.”
The best way to combine these sentences.
a. We can avoid impulse buying, and we have to understand why we do it.
b. We can avoid impulse buying if we understand why we do it.
c. We can avoid impulse buying although we do not understand why we do it.
d. We can avoid impulse buying because we have to understand why we do it.

43. Parallel structure means:

a. using the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of
importance
b. when you select words that have the same meaning
c. using words with a variety of grammatical units throughout your writing
d. paragraphs will be of equal length throughout your piece of writing

44. This represents the group of words that are usually used to maintain parallel structures in connecting
multiple pieces of information.

a. Prepositions
b. Articles
c. Conjunctions
d. Interjections

For items 45-48. Choose the phrase that makes the sentence structurally parallel.

45. Doctor advised him –

a. to stay at home, taking proper medication and avoiding junk food.
b. staying at home, to take proper medication and to avoid junk food.
c. to stay at home, to take proper medication and avoiding junk food.
d. to stay at home, to take proper medication and to avoid junk food.

46. I know you can complete the task –

a. alone, timely and accurately.
b. not requiring any help, timely and accurately.
c. alone, within time and avoiding errors.
d. not requiring any help, within time and avoiding errors.

47. While visiting New York we –

a. roamed around, eating at restaurants and enjoyed our stay there.
b. roaming around, ate at restaurants and enjoyed our stay there.
c. roamed around, ate at restaurants and enjoying our stay there.
 d. roamed around, ate at restaurants and enjoyed our stay there.

48. After finishing my dinner I usually like to –

a. watching movies, playing video games and drink coffee.
b. watch movies, play video games an drink coffee.
c. watch movies, playing video games and drink coffee.
d. watching movies, play video games and drinking coffee.

49. Which of the following sentences does NOT use parallel structure?
a. He felt that being a good listener was just an important as talking well.
b. He felt that listening carefully was just as important as talking well.
c. He felt that listening carefully was important as to talk well.
d. He felt that being a good listener was just as important as to talk well.

50. Which of the choices below is the best revision of the sentence for parallel structure?
“Either the company needs to hire skilled workers or training needs to be given to those already
employed.”
a. The company needs to either hire skilled workers or train its current employees.
b. The company needs to either hire skilled workers or training needs to be given to its current
employees.
c. Either the company needs to hire skilled workers or train its current employees.
d. The company either needs to hire skilled workers or train its current employees.
 Answer key:
1. c
2. a
3. a
4. a
5. b
6. d
7. d
8. b
9. c
10. b.
11. d
12. b
13. a
14. d
15. c
16. b
17. b
18. a
19. c
20. a
21. d
22. d
23. c
24. a
25. d
26. d
27. b
28. a
29. c
30. d
31. c
32. b
33. b
34. c
35. a
36. d
37. a
38. b
39. a
40. c
41. c
42. b
43. a
44. c
45. d
46. a
47. d
48. b
49. d
50. a

Prepared by:

IVAN P. CHAVEZ

CHRISTINE JANE A. LLUBIT

ALRICK R. LOPEZ

HAZEL MARIE P. MANZUETO

CYMAR G. NANO