Indiana CASA Practice Questions (2026) — Free Sample Questions with Answers

Answer: C

Vacant city lots are the main cause of storm-drain flooding.: The passage says gardens absorb rainwater; it never claims vacant lots are the main cause of flooding.

Gardeners share childcare more often than other neighbors do.: Shared childcare is one supporting detail, and the passage makes no comparison with other neighbors.

Community gardens offer both environmental and social benefits.: Correct. Every sentence supports this idea, and the last sentence states the conclusion that planners treat gardens as infrastructure.

Planners should replace storm drains with community gardens.: The passage says gardens ease the load on storm drains, not that gardens should replace them. This goes beyond the text.

The main idea is the claim all the details support. It is often stated or summed up in the first or last sentence.

Answer: C

Students learn more in a four-day week than in a five-day week.: The argument is based only on cost savings; it never relies on any claim about learning.

Transportation is the largest expense in every school district.: The argument does not need transportation to be the largest expense, only a meaningful one that would shrink.

Our district's conditions are similar enough for the savings to occur here.: Correct. The conclusion holds only if the neighboring district's result would carry over to this district.

The neighboring district will soon return to a traditional five-day school week.: This would weaken the argument rather than support it, so the argument cannot depend on it.

An argument based on another case assumes the cases are comparable. Find the unstated link that must be true for the evidence to support the conclusion.

Answer: D

$50.00: This assumes a 20% increase and a 20% decrease cancel out, but the decrease applies to the larger $60 price.

$52.00: This result does not follow from either step; 20% of $60 is $12, which leaves $48.

$46.00: This subtracts $14 from $60; the correct reduction is 0.20 × $60 = $12.

$48.00: Correct. $50 × 1.20 = $60, and $60 × 0.80 = $48.

Successive percent changes multiply: a 20% increase then a 20% decrease gives 1.20 × 0.80 = 0.96, a net 4% decrease.

Answer: B

8 feet: This subtracts the lengths (13 − 5) instead of using the Pythagorean theorem.

12 feet: Correct. 5² + h² = 13², so h² = 169 − 25 = 144 and h = 12.

13.9 feet: This adds the squares (√(169 + 25) ≈ 13.9), treating the ladder as a leg instead of the hypotenuse.

18 feet: This adds the two lengths, which is not how right-triangle sides relate.

In a right triangle, a² + b² = c², where c is the hypotenuse (here, the ladder). Watch for the 5-12-13 triple.

Answer: B

Walking to the parking lot after the meeting, heavy rain began to fall.: The opening phrase still modifies "rain," which cannot walk, so the modifier still dangles.

As we walked to the parking lot after the meeting, the rain began to fall heavily.: Correct. Turning the phrase into a clause with its own subject ("we") shows who was walking.

The rain, walking to the parking lot after the meeting, began to fall heavily.: Moving the phrase next to "rain" makes it clearer that the sentence says the rain was walking.

Walking to the parking lot, after the meeting the rain began to fall heavily.: Moving the comma does not supply a person who was walking, so the error remains.

An introductory -ing phrase must describe the subject that follows the comma; if it cannot, add the real actor or rewrite it as a clause.

Answer: B

Later start times are something many people have opinions about these days.: This sentence names a topic but takes no position and gives no reasons, so it cannot guide an argument.

High schools should start later because teenagers would get more sleep and learn better.: Correct. It states a clear, arguable claim and previews the reasons the essay will develop.

This essay will be about the start times of high schools and why they matter.: This announces the topic ("this essay will be about") without stating a claim.

Some high schools start at 7:30 a.m., while others start at 8:30 a.m. or later.: This is a factual detail that no one would argue about, so it cannot serve as a thesis.

An effective argumentative thesis is a specific, debatable claim, ideally with a preview of its main reasons.