A “U” essay is a writing sample that fails because of one or more of the following: ■ failure to address the assigned topic ■ illegibility ■ written primarily in a language other than English ■ length insufficient to score A “B” essay is a writing sample left completely blank (that is, the test-taker did not respond at all). Following are examples of scored writing sam- ples. (Note: There are some deliberate errors in all the essays.) Sample “4” essay Courage and cowardice seem like absolutes. We are often quick to label other people, or ourselves, either “brave” or “timid,” “courageous,” or “cowardly.” However, one bright afternoon on a river deep in the wilds of the Ozark mountains, I learned that these qualities are as changeable as mercury. During a cross-country drive, my friend Nina and I decided to stop at a campsite in Missouri and spend the afternoon on a float trip down Big Piney River, 14 miles through the wilderness. We rented a canoe and paddled happily off. Things went fine—for the first seven or eight miles. We gazed at the overhanging bluffs, com- mented on the wonderful variety of trees (it was spring, and the dogwood was in bloom), and mar- veled at the clarity of the water. Then, in approach- ing a bend in the river (which we later learned was called “Devil’s Elbow”) the current suddenly swept us in toward the bank, underneath the low-hanging branches of a weeping willow. The canoe tipped over and I was pulled under, my foot caught for just a few seconds on the submerged roots of the willow. Just as I surfaced, taking my first frantic gulp of air, I saw the canoe sweeping out, upright again, but empty, and Nina frantically swimming after it. I knew I should help but I was petrified and hung my head in shame as I let my friend brave the treacherous rapids and haul the canoe back onto the gravel bar, while I stood by cravenly. Then came the scream. Startled, I glanced up to see Nina, both hands over her eyes, dash off the gravel bar and back into the water. I gazed down into the canoe to see, coiled in the bottom of it, the unmistakable, black-and-brown, checkerboard-pat- tered form of a copperhead snake. It had evidently been sunning itself peacefully on the weeping willow branch when we passed by underneath. I don’t know exactly why. but the supposedly inborn terror of snakes is something that has passed me by completely. I actually find them rather charm- ing in a scaly sort of way. Nina was still screaming, near hysterics: “Kill it!” But I was calm in a way that must have seemed smug. “We’re in its home, it’s not in ours,” I informed her. And gently I prodded it with the oar until it reared up, slithered over the side of the canoe, and raced away—terrified, itself—into the underbrush. Later that night, in our cozy, safe motel room, we agreed that we each had cold chills thinking about what might have happened. Still, I learned something important from the ordeal. I know that, had we encountered only the rapids, I might have come away ashamed, labeling myself a coward, and had we encountered only the snake, Nina might have done the same. And I also know that neither of us will ever again be quite so apt to brand another person as lacking courage. Because we will always know that, just around the corner, may be the snake or the bend in the river or the figure in the shadows or something else as yet unanticipated, that will cause our own blood to freeze. – THEA PRACTICE EXAM 2– 235 Sample “3” essay Courage can be shown in many ways and by many kinds of people. One does not have to be rich, or educated, or even an adult to show true courage. For example, a very heartbreaking thing hap- pened in our family. It turned out all right but at the time it almost made us lose our faith. However, it also taught us a lesson regarding courage. In spite of our father’s and my repeated warnings, my brother Matt went ice-fishing with some friends and fell through the ice into the frigid water beneath. He is prone to do things that are dangerous no matter how many times he’s told. Fortunately there were grown-ups near and they were able to throw him a life line and pull him to safety. However, when they got him onto shore they discovered he was uncon- scious. There were vital signs but they were weak, the paramedics pronounced him in grave danger. He is our little sisters (Nans) hero. He is 16 and she is 13, just at the age where she admires every- thing he does. When they took him to the hospital she insisted on going that night to see him, and she insisted on staying with me there. My father thought we should insist she go home, but it was Christmas vacation for her so there was no real reason. So he decide to let her stay. She stayed every night for the whole week just to be by Matt’s side. And when he woke up she was there. Her smiling face the was first thing he saw. In spite of the fact she was just a child and it was frightning for her to be there beside her brother she loves so much, and had to wonder, every day if he would die, she stayed. So courage has many faces. Sample “2” essay Courage is not something we are born with. It is something that we have to learn. For example when your children are growing up you should teach them courage. Teach them to face lifes challanges and not to show there fear. For instance my father. Some people would say he was harsh, but back then I didnt think of it that way. One time he took me camping and I had a tent of my own. I wanted to crawl in with him but he said there was nothing to be afriad of. And I went to sleep sooner than I would have expect. He taught me not to be afriad. There are many reasons for courage. In a war a solder has to be couragous and a mother has to be no less couragous if she is rasing a child alone and has to make a living. So, in me it is totally alright to be afriad as long as you face your fear. I have been greatful to him ever since that night. If we dont learn from our parents, like I did from my father, then we have to learn it after we grow up. But it is better to learn it, as a child. I have never been as afriad as I was that night, and I learned a valuble lesson from it. Sample “1” essay Courage is important in a battle and also ordinary life. In a war if your buddy depends on you and you let him down he might die. Courage is also impor- tant in daly life. If you have sicknes in the famly or if you enconter a mugger on the street you will need all the courage you can get. There are many dangers in life that only courage will see you through. Once, my apartment was burglerised and they stole a TV and micro-wave. I didnt have very much. They took some money to. I felt afraid when I walked in and saw things moved or gone. But I call the police and waited for them inside my apartment which was brave and also some might say stupid! But the police came and took my statement and also later caught the guy. Another time my girlfreind and I were in my apartment and we looked out the window and there was somebody suspisious out in front. It turned out to be a false alarm but she was scard and she said because I was calm it made her feel better. So courage was important to me, in my relatinship with my girlfreind. So courage is importand not only in war but also in life. – THEA PRACTICE EXAM 2– 236 Scoring Once again, in order to evaluate how you did on this practice exam, start by scoring the three sections of the THEA—Reading, Mathematics, and Writing— separately. You will recall that the Reading section, the Mathematics section, and the multiple-choice subsec- tion of the Writing section are scored the same way: First find the number of questions you got right in each section. Questions you skipped or got wrong don’t count; just add up the number of correct answers. Divide the number of questions you got right by the number of questions on that section of the exam to find a percentage equivalent. In addition to achieving a passing score on the Reading section and the Mathematics section, you must receive a passing score on the writing sample subsection of the Writing section of the THEA. Your writing sam- ple will be graded by two trained readers and their combined score used to evaluate how you did. Your score will be a combination of the two readers’ judg- ments, somewhere between a possible high of 8 and a low of 2. The best way to see how you did on your essay for this practice exam is to give your writing sample and the scoring criteria to a teacher and ask him or her to score your essay for you. You have probably seen improvement between your first practice exam score and this one; but keep in mind that how you did on each of the basic skills tested by the exam is more important than your overall score right now. Use your scores on this practice test to once again diagnose your strengths and weaknesses so that you can concentrate your efforts as you prepare for the exam. Turn again to the review lessons in Chapters 4, 5, and 6 that cover each of the basic skills tested on the THEA. If you didn’t score as well as you would like, ask yourself the following: Did I run out of time before I could answer all the questions? Did I go back and change my answers from right to wrong? Did I get flustered and sit staring at a difficult question for what seemed like hours? If you had any of these problems, once again, be sure to go over the LearningExpress Test Preparation System in Chapter 2 to learn how to avoid them. After working on your reading, writing, and math skills, take the final practice exam in Chapter 8 to see how much you have improved. – THEA PRACTICE EXAM 2– 237 . war but also in life. – THEA PRACTICE EXAM 2– 236 Scoring Once again, in order to evaluate how you did on this practice exam, start by scoring the three sections of the THEA Reading, Mathematics,. efforts as you prepare for the exam. Turn again to the review lessons in Chapters 4, 5, and 6 that cover each of the basic skills tested on the THEA. If you didn’t score as well as you would like,. questions you missed and why. CHAPTER THEA Practice Exam 3 CHAPTER SUMMARY This is the third practice test in this book based on the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) . Use this test to see how