Selective reading: tone shifts (3 passages, 9 questions)

Quick Answer

Tone is the writer's attitude, and a shift is the sentence where it changes. Find the sentence where the word choice changes, often after "but" or at a new paragraph. Then name the tone before and after, and quote the words that show it. This page from Braintree Coaching Australia has three original passages and nine questions for Year 5–6 children preparing for NSW Selective reading. It is free and needs no sign-up.

Who is this reading practice for?

This set suits a Year 5 or Year 6 child who can follow a passage and answer literal questions, and who now needs to read how the writer feels about what is being described. It is skill practice. We do not claim these items match questions on the real test.

The NSW Department of Education describes the Selective High School Placement Test as computer-based with four sections. It lists the Reading test as 17 multiple-choice questions in 45 minutes, based on a range of fiction and non-fiction texts. See the department's Selective practice tests for the real format. The department does not name tone as a question type, so this page treats it as one reading skill among several.

What is tone, and how is it different from mood?

Tone belongs to the writer. It is the attitude shown by the words chosen: hopeful, amused, calm, indignant. Mood belongs to the reader. It is the feeling the passage leaves behind.

Two cautions help children early:

• A character's feeling is not automatically the writer's tone. A character may be angry while the writer describes it with amusement.
• A topic is not a tone. "Gardening" tells you what the passage is about. It says nothing about the writer's attitude.

How do we spot the shift? An annotated passage

Read this short passage once, then look at the notes under it.

The sailing instructor had said the lake would be calm, and for the first hour it was: Priya sat back, steered with one finger and felt completely in control. But the wind turned without warning, the sail snapped over her head and the boat tipped sharply to one side. She gripped the rope with both hands and could not remember what she had been taught.

• Before the shift: sat back, one finger, completely in control. The tone is confident.
• The shift sentence: "But the wind turned without warning." The word "But" and the sudden event mark it.
• After the shift: snapped, tipped sharply, gripped, could not remember. The tone is alarmed.

Notice that the first tone is stated in the first sentence and the second is built from several words. One word alone is rarely enough to name a tone.

Tone bank: twelve words in six pairs

In each pair, the second word is the stronger one. Choosing the right strength is part of the skill.

Milder	Stronger
hopeful	confident
uneasy	alarmed
amused	delighted
regretful	ashamed
annoyed	indignant
worried	frantic

A tone that is slightly too strong is a trap in this set. If the words only show someone being uneasy, alarmed is too much.

The passages and questions

For each passage, read it once for the first tone, find the sentence where the writer's attitude changes, then answer the three questions. Cover the answers section until you have finished.

Passage 1: The garden bed

Nadia woke before the alarm, and the whole morning seemed to be waiting for her. Today the first seedlings would go into the new garden bed behind the school hall, and she had spent a week imagining rows of green. She carried the tray out in both hands, humming, and set it down on the warm bricks. The soil was dark and soft, and the sun was already on her shoulders. She knelt and began to dig, hoping, quietly, that this would be the best garden the school had ever had.

Then she noticed the fence. Along the bottom rail were small, neat holes in the soil, too many to count, and every one of them led under the boards toward the bed. The tips of two seedlings in the corner tray had been nibbled to stalks. Nadia stopped digging. The sun was still warm, but she kept glancing at the gaps in the fence, and her trowel felt heavier than it had a moment ago. Something had been here before her, and it would almost certainly come back.

Question 1. Which sentence is where the tone changes?

• A. "The soil was dark and soft, and the sun was already on her shoulders."
• B. "She knelt and began to dig, hoping, quietly, that this would be the best garden the school had ever had."
• C. "Then she noticed the fence."
• D. "Nadia stopped digging."

Question 2. Which pair best describes the writer's tone at the start and at the end?

• A. hopeful, then alarmed
• B. hopeful, then uneasy
• C. gardening, then fences
• D. confident, then uneasy

Question 3. Which pair of phrases best shows the change in tone?

• A. "the warm bricks" and "dark and soft"
• B. "a tray" and "small, neat holes"
• C. "the new garden bed behind the school hall" and "under the boards toward the bed"
• D. "hoping, quietly, that this would be the best garden" and "kept glancing at the gaps in the fence, and her trowel felt heavier"

Passage 2: The birthday cake

Last Saturday I decided that I, personally, would improve Grandma's birthday cake. It was a plain sponge, and I felt it lacked ambition. So while she was at the hairdresser, I added a layer of chocolate, a layer of strawberry jam and, in a flash of genius, a whole packet of crushed salty crackers for crunch. I stood back and admired it. It looked like a small, lopsided building site, and I was extremely pleased with myself. My little brother, who had been watching from the doorway, fell off his chair laughing, and I took this as applause.

It was only when Grandma came home that I saw her face. She looked at the cake for a long moment, then thanked me very quietly and cut the first slice anyway. She had waited all week for her plain sponge, the same one Grandpa used to make. I had never thought to ask her. Nobody finished a piece, and I have wished many times since that I had left the cake alone.

Question 4. Which sentence is where the tone changes?

• A. "It looked like a small, lopsided building site, and I was extremely pleased with myself."
• B. "It was only when Grandma came home that I saw her face."
• C. "She looked at the cake for a long moment, then thanked me very quietly and cut the first slice anyway."
• D. "I had never thought to ask her."

Question 5. Which pair best describes the writer's tone at the start and at the end?

• A. amused, then ashamed
• B. grateful, then sad
• C. baking, then birthdays
• D. amused, then regretful

Question 6. Which pair of phrases best shows the change in tone?

• A. "in a flash of genius" and "I have wished many times since that I had left the cake alone"
• B. "a small, lopsided building site" and "fell off his chair laughing"
• C. "a plain sponge" and "at the hairdresser"
• D. "thanked me very quietly" and "cut the first slice anyway"

Passage 3: The closed oval

The school's decision to close the oval at lunchtime on wet days deserves a fair hearing. The grass becomes slippery, repairs are expensive, and a teacher must supervise any area that students use. These are real concerns, and the principal is right to weigh them. It is also reasonable to ask whether closing the oval is the only answer, or simply the cheapest one to announce. A trial of covered walkways or a rotating roster would at least have been worth discussing.

But that is not how this decision was handled. The notice on the board gave no reasons and offered no alternatives, and nobody was asked. Four hundred students were told in a single line, stuck to a noticeboard, as though our lunchtimes were not worth an explanation. This is not caution; it is contempt dressed up as policy. Students deserve better than to be stored indoors like a problem, and the school should be ashamed of the way this was done.

Question 7. Which sentence is where the tone changes?

• A. "But that is not how this decision was handled."
• B. "It is also reasonable to ask whether closing the oval is the only answer, or simply the cheapest one to announce."
• C. "Four hundred students were told in a single line, stuck to a noticeboard, as though our lunchtimes were not worth an explanation."
• D. "This is not caution; it is contempt dressed up as policy."

Question 8. Which pair best describes the writer's tone at the start and at the end?

• A. calm, then furious
• B. worried, then confident
• C. calm, then indignant
• D. oval, then notice board

Question 9. Which pair of phrases best shows the change in tone?

• A. "slippery" and "supervise any area"
• B. "These are real concerns, and the principal is right to weigh them" and "as though our lunchtimes were not worth an explanation"
• C. "worth discussing" and "a fair hearing"
• D. "Four hundred students" and "a single line, stuck to a noticeboard"

Answers and worked explanations

Each passage is shown with its shift sentence in bold and a before-and-after note.

Passage 1: hopeful, then uneasy

Before the shift: the whole morning seemed to be waiting, humming, imagining rows of green, hoping, quietly. After: Then she noticed the fence. nibbled to stalks, kept glancing, heavier, almost certainly come back.

Question 1: C. The sentence "Then she noticed the fence" is the first one where the scene stops matching the earlier warmth, and "Then" marks the turn. A is still part of the hopeful opening. B is the end of the hopeful part, so it is the last sentence before the shift, not the shift. D shows Nadia's reaction to the change, which is a result of the shift and not where it starts.

Question 2: B. The opening words are hopeful, not certain, and the ending words are worried but not frightened. A uses alarmed, which is stronger than "kept glancing" and "felt heavier" support. C names topics, not attitudes. D calls the opening confident, but "hoping, quietly" is the language of someone who has not yet got what she wants.

Question 3: D. It pairs a hopeful phrase from before the shift with an uneasy phrase from after. A and C pair two descriptions of the scene, and neither carries an attitude. B pairs neutral objects, so the "small, neat holes" would only show unease once the reader links them to the nibbled seedlings.

Passage 2: amused, then regretful

Before the shift: I, personally, lacked ambition, flash of genius, lopsided building site, took this as applause. After: It was only when Grandma came home that I saw her face. very quietly, I had never thought to ask her, wished many times since.

Question 4: B. The sentence "It was only when Grandma came home that I saw her face" is where the writer stops describing the cake and begins describing its effect on Grandma. A is the amused tone at its peak. C describes what Grandma did, which follows the shift. D is part of the regretful ending.

Question 5: D. The writer pokes fun at their own over-confidence at the start and looks back with regret at the end. A uses ashamed, which is stronger than "wished that I had left the cake alone". B offers Grandma's feelings, but the question asks about the writer's tone. C names topics.

Question 6: A. "A flash of genius" is the writer's joke at their own expense. "Wished many times since" is the regret. B pairs two amused phrases, so it shows no change. C names a place and a type of cake. D pairs two actions of Grandma's that both come after the shift.

Passage 3: calm, then indignant

Before the shift: deserves a fair hearing, real concerns, right to weigh them, it is also reasonable to ask. After: But that is not how this decision was handled. gave no reasons, contempt dressed up as policy, should be ashamed.

Question 7: A. "But" turns the passage away from the fair weighing of reasons and towards the complaint about the process. B is still calm: it asks a question politely. C and D are the indignant tone at work, so they come after the shift. D is the strongest sentence, which tempts children to choose it. A strong word is where the tone is loudest, not necessarily where it changes.

Question 8: C. The opening is calm and even-handed. The closing accuses the school and says it "should be ashamed", which is indignant. A uses furious, which would suggest losing control, and the writer keeps the sentences measured. B swaps in the principal's feelings. D names things in the passage.

Question 9: B. The first phrase is fair and calm, and the second shows the writer resenting the way students were treated. A pairs two facts from the calm opening. C pairs two phrases from the calm opening. D pairs two facts from the second paragraph, neither of which states an attitude by itself.

What mistake patterns should we look for?

Pattern	Seen in	What to practise next
Chose a character's feeling as the writer's tone	Questions 5B, 8B	Ask "who is feeling this, the character or the writer?"
Chose a topic word as a tone	Questions 2C, 5C, 8D	Check the option is an attitude and not a thing in the passage
Chose a tone that is too strong	Questions 2A, 5A, 8A	Compare with the tone bank pair and choose the milder word unless the words are strong
Chose a sentence after the shift, or the one with the strongest word, not the first sentence that changes	Questions 1D, 4C, 4D, 7C, 7D	Find where the earlier tone stops, not where the new tone peaks
Chose phrases that describe the scene but show no attitude, or that sit on one side of the shift	Questions 3A to 3C, 6B to 6D, 9A, 9C, 9D	Name the attitude each phrase shows, then check that the two differ

Can my child mark the shift in a new paragraph?

Read this paragraph and do three things: underline the sentence where the tone shifts, name the tone before it, and name the tone after it. There are no options this time.

Aiden had trained for the race all term and lined up at the start with a grin he could not wipe off. He took the first bend easily, passing two runners before the crowd noticed him. Then his shoe came loose and began to slap against the track. Every step after that felt like a mistake he could not undo.

Self-check: the shift is the third sentence, "Then his shoe came loose and began to slap against the track." A good answer names something like confident, then alarmed (or uneasy), with words such as "grin", "easily" before and "slap", "mistake", "could not undo" after. If your child underlined the last sentence, it is the strongest one, but the change had already happened.

What should we do after this set?

• If most errors were "too strong" choices, redo Questions 2, 5 and 8 tomorrow and explain aloud why the stronger word does not fit.
• If the errors were in finding the shift, choose a paragraph from any book your child is reading and ask them to say where the writer's attitude changes.
• For mixed Selective practice and a worked sample across sections, open the NSW Selective practice tests and resources guide.
• The free mock tests need a free classroom account. Use one when your child is ready for a timed sitting.
• If you want a structured set of full Selective tests after that, see what the Selective course includes and check it matches your child's entry year before buying.

Sources and review

Official source (checked 2026-10-15): NSW Department of Education, Selective High School practice tests: four sections; Reading is 17 multiple-choice questions in 45 minutes. The department does not name tone as a question type.

Where the questions came from: all three passages, the annotated model, the tone bank and the transfer paragraph are original Braintree Coaching Australia material written for this page. None is taken from an official or third-party paper.

Author: James Rush, content writer, Braintree Coaching Australia.

Answer check: every answer was checked against quoted words in the passage. A separate blind solve and a named teacher review have not yet been recorded for this set. If you find an error, please tell us.

Last updated: 2026-10-15.