10th - Grade - Passages New PDF
10th - Grade - Passages New PDF
10th - Grade - Passages New PDF
Mr. President, I would like to speak briefly and simply about a serious
national condition. It is a national feeling of fear and frustration that could
result in national suicide and the end of everything that we Americans hold
dear. It is a condition that comes from the lack of effective leadership in
either the legislative branch or the executive branch of our Government.
That leadership is so lacking that serious and responsible proposals are
being made that national advisory commissions be appointed to provide such
critically needed leadership...
I speak as a Republican. I speak as a woman. I speak as a United States
Senator. I speak as an American.
The United States Senate has long enjoyed worldwide respect as the
greatest deliberative1 body in the world. But recently that deliberative
character has too often been debased to the level of a forum of hate and
character assassination sheltered by the shield of congressional immunity.
It is ironical that we Senators can debate in the Senate directly or indirectly,
by any form of words impute to any American, who is not a Senator, any
conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming an American—and without that
non-Senator American having any legal redress against it—yet if we say the
same thing in the Senate about our colleagues we can be stopped on the
grounds of being out of order.
It is strange that we can verbally attack anyone else without restraint and
with full protection and yet we hold ourselves above the same type of
criticism here on the Senate floor. Surely the United States Senate is big
enough to take self-criticism and self-appraisal. Surely we should be able to
1
deliberative: characterized by thoughtful and considerate discussion
2
calumny: false charges calculated to harm someone’s reputation
3
vilification: abusive statements, which may not be true
Excerpt from speech “Declaration of Conscience” by Margaret Chase Smith. Delivered to the
Task Overview:
Students will research the responses and reactions generated by Margaret
Chase Smith’s “Declaration of Conscience Speech” after it was given in
Student Directions:
Margaret Chase Smith, a moderate Republican, gave her famous
“Declaration of Conscience Speech” as a response to fellow senator Joseph
McCarthy’s “Wheeling Speech,” given a few months earlier. Smith’s
speech generated a very mixed response among members of Congress
and the public. Your task is to research the response to Smith's speech, as
well as why it was supported or opposed. Then, you will use your research
to write an editorial from the point of view of a supporter or an opponent.
Part 1:
Use at least three reliable sources to conduct research on Smith's speech
and the response it generated. Consider these questions in your research:
Take notes on the information you find in your research. Be sure to record
publication information (title, author, and publication date). As you
prepare your notes, keep track of other research questions that you may
have.
Part 2:
Choose a position of Smith's speech and draft some notes regarding your
opinion of its content. Then, organize your information into an editorial
from an early 1950s speech supporter or opponent. Provide an overview
of the speech and give reasons for supporting or opposing it, similar to
those felt by it's defenders and critics at that time. Submit a bibliography
listing all of your sources with your editorial.
Scoring:
Your work will be scored based on the following criteria:
• You have used reliable sources and have answered the questions
I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its
Members to do some soul searching—for us to weigh our
consciences—on the manner in which we are performing our duty
to the people of America; on the manner in which we are using or
abusing our individual powers and privileges.
This is an excerpt from the State of the Union address that President
Lyndon B. Johnson delivered on January 12, 1966. At that time,
United States troops were helping the people of South Vietnam fight
to keep their country separate from North Vietnam, which had a
Communist government.
In recent months a number of nations have [cast] out those who would
subject them to the ambitions of mainland China.
History is on the side of freedom and is on the side of societies shaped from
the genius of each people. History does not favor a single system or belief—
unless force is used to make it so.
That is why it has been necessary for us to defend this basic principle of our
policy, to defend it in Berlin, in Korea, in Cuba—and tonight in Vietnam.
For tonight, as so many nights before, young Americans struggle and young
Americans die in a distant land.
Tonight, as so many nights before, the American nation is asked to sacrifice
the blood of its children and the fruits of its labor for the love of its freedom.
How many times—in my lifetime and in yours—have the American people
gathered, as they do now, to hear their president tell them of conflict and
tell them of danger?
Each time they have answered. They have answered with all the effort that
the security and the freedom of this nation required.
And they do again tonight in Vietnam. Not too many years ago Vietnam was
a peaceful, if troubled, land. In the North was an independent Communist
government. In the South a people struggled to build a nation, with the
friendly help of the United States.
5. Based on the information in “State of the Union Address, 1942” and “State
of the Union Address, 1966,” which statement shows a similarity in
Roosevelt’s and Johnson’s perspective on opposing international
aggression?
B. Both believed it was vital to gain the support of other countries in the
wars to come.
C. Both feared that the American people would oppose going to war to
defend other countries.
Herbert Hoover became president in 1929, the year that the Great
Depression began. In 1932, in the midst of the Great
Depression, Herbert Hoover was nominated by the Republican Party
to run for a second term as president. The following excerpt is from
his “Speech at the Republican National Convention” with which he
accepted the nomination and attempted to defend his record as
president.
B. “As we look back over these troubled years we realize that we have
passed through two different stages of dislocation and distress.”
D. “We have adopted policies in the Government which were fitting to the
situation.”
Mr. Long: Mr. President, I send to the desk and ask to have printed in the
RECORD not a speech but what is more in the nature of an appeal to the
people of America.
There being no objection, the paper entitled "Carry Out the Command of the
Lord" was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
By Huey P. Long, United States Senator
People of America: In every community get together at once and organize a
share-our-wealth society--Motto: Every man a king
Principles and platform:
1. To limit poverty by providing that every deserving family shall share in
the wealth of America for not less than one third of the average wealth,
thereby to possess not less than $5,000 free of debt.
2. To limit fortunes to such a few million dollars as will allow the balance of
the American people to share in the wealth and profits of the land.
3. Old-age pensions of $30 per month to persons over 60 years of age who
do not earn as much as $1,000 per year or who possess less than $10,000
When I first contracted to serve as the faculty adviser for the student-run weekly
newspaper at the university where I teach, I anticipated the assignment would be a
great deal of fun. After all, I could reconnect directly to the news industry to which I had
dedicated most of my professional life. I would also be working with undergraduate
students, who were likely to be enthusiastic, receptive to my advice, and enjoyable to be
around.
Now, after having worked as an adviser for two years, I can honestly say that the
experience has been both stimulating and challenging. However, the fun remains
elusive.
Balancing Act
When I first began this job as faculty adviser, it was immediately evident that the
position would require a balancing act. I was expected to employ my three decades of
newspaper experience to enable students to progress as journalists. However, I lack the
authority or control that professors in the classroom possess. I am a desk professor, so
to speak, in an atmosphere where the student staff has almost as much power as I do.
For example, I am allowed to give exhaustive advice and exhortation, but I have no
approval authority over news decisions or student behavior. These are remarkably
confining boundaries within which to navigate, and I am still trying to find the way to
compel a student without the ability to command.
Scandalous Dilemma
An important part of the job is that I allow students to learn from their mistakes. Yet, I
also must prevent missteps that could result in a scandal. Every year, two or three of
these brouhahas—resulting from tasteless articles, foul language, or an insensitive
editorial cartoon—turn into national embarrassments for student newspapers and their
universities. Therefore, I ensure that I am aware of all the content that is placed in the
publication each week. Despite my hesitation to hover over the shoulders of my student
Editor Woes
It is my belief that our newspaper office should emulate a professional workplace. That
is a difficult concept for many of our students to embrace; most have yet to be initiated
into a work environment outside the cocoon of academia. Additionally, students are not
exactly practiced in taking direct orders from a peer. Consequently, our student editor-
in-chief sometimes has difficulty keeping the staff organized and on task.
It did not take long to recognize the myriad challenges confronting the student editor-in-
chief. It is a high-stress, high-burnout occupation! Staff members, who are undergoing
internships, routinely leave loose ends in their writing, editing, or page design work.
Consequently, the final product will appear shoddy and unprofessional if the editor-in-
chief neglects to fix the errors.
Ideally, every student at the newspaper should be an aspiring journalist. However,
students have a variety of reasons for seeking newspaper work. Some apply primarily
for the paycheck, which creates a distinct problem. In order to maximize their
compensation, these students tend to place a priority on the quantity, rather than
quality, of their work. This leaves the editor-in-chief with a heavy load of mediocre
content.
Conflicting Missions
Additionally, some students want to use the newspaper as a vehicle to advance their
favorite political causes or co-curricular endeavors. This is contrary to our newspaper’s
mission of striving to serve a widespread, diverse campus rather than placating special
interests. These students with an agenda fail to appreciate the distinction between
“serving” and “self-serving.”
Other students envision the newspaper as a social experience, which is acceptable until
they begin blasting loud music, watching internet videos, or introducing their pets into
the workplace.
While supervising the student newspaper is full of surprises for me, none has been
Positive Outcome
The positive outcome from all this work is that the newspaper is currently gaining in
stature. Due largely to the efforts of a dynamic editor-in-chief, the weakest editions of
the paper’s second year are generally stronger than the best editions of the first year.
Our student journalists still make their fair share of mistakes, but none so serious they
cannot be corrected, or used as constructive lessons for improvement. And it is music to
my ears to hear some of them say how much they love their jobs at the paper.
But will this job as newspaper faculty adviser ever be fun? I eventually realized that
question is irrelevant, and perhaps even selfish. Ultimately, my job is to enable my
students to learn to become better journalists. They have taught me, in other words, that
my job needs to be more about them, and less about me.
9. How does the author of “Behind the Headlines: Lessons from a Desk
Professor” organize information in the passage?
For two decades now, with the rise of the celebrity chef, food television, and
foodie culture, cooking has become a glamorous and popular pastime. Cooks
and chefs from everywhere are watching national and international food
trends, and the market for high-end cookware is concurrently booming.
Classic cast-iron pots sell for up to hundreds of dollars. Many chefs have
their own line of signature knives, pots, or pans available for eager
consumers to enhance their personal kitchens. Walk into a nice cookware
shop; you will find a mind-boggling array of gastronomic gadgets. Yet, you
will find among the aisles of silicone spatulas and the latest non-stick pans a
2,000-year-old cooking tool that retains its relevance and simplicity today
while out-performing much more expensive and trendy cookware: the
humble Chinese wok.
When purchasing a fine wok, you need not fork over your wallet; a good wok
can be found for under thirty dollars. Cheap but sturdy, a well-cared-for wok
will last for years—perhaps even a lifetime. Furthermore, a wok is the
perfect cooking vessel for conserving valuable fuel and feeding many people
at once. Traditionally, a large wok would be placed over a wood-burning
stove. This single vessel could feed a family or an entire small village. In
older, rural Chinese villages, a large, communal wok could stretch up to
Steaming
Steaming is perhaps the most simple and efficient use of a wok. Because of
its bowl shape, you do not need much water to create steam. A bamboo
steamer is specifically made to sit in a wok. Bamboo steamers are stackable
too. You can steam one type of food in the bottom steamer basket, a
different food in the second tier, and yet another in the third tier of the
steamer. You need only enough heat to boil a little water, because the wok
is designed to cook quite a bit of food at once. A soup could be simmering in
the wok while a steamer is placed on top of the wok, thus allowing the
steam from the soup to cook the fish, vegetables, or rice in the steamers.
This process conserves fuel (usually wood or oil), too, so you get the
maximum benefit from one session of cooking. Using a wok can help you
save time and fuel, making this ancient cooking method both efficient and
economical.
10. In “Cooking with the Past” the author makes many claims about the use
of the wok. Write one to two paragraphs stating a claim made by the
author and evaluate its validity. Use details from the passage to support
your response.
Following the end of World War II, the United States and its wartime
ally the Soviet Union came into many conflicts in what would
become known as the Cold War. One example of this tension
occurred during a civil war in Greece. President Harry Truman’s
concerns about what would happen if a communist government
supported by the Soviet Union took over Greece led to his speech,
“The Special Message to the Congress on Greece and Turkey,” on
March 12, 1947.
One of the primary objectives of the foreign policy of the United States is the
creation of conditions in which we and other nations will be able to work out
a way of life free from coercion. This was a fundamental issue in the war
with Germany and Japan. Our victory was won over countries, which sought
to impose their will, and their way of life, upon other nations.
To ensure the peaceful development of nations, free from coercion, the
United States has taken a leading part in establishing the United Nations.
The United Nations is designed to make possible lasting freedom and
independence for all its members. We shall not realize our objectives,
however, unless we are willing to help free peoples to maintain their free
institutions and their national integrity against aggressive movements that
seek to impose upon them totalitarian regimes. This is no more than a frank
recognition that totalitarian regimes imposed upon free peoples, by direct or
indirect aggression, undermine the foundations of international peace and
hence the security of the United States.
The peoples of a number of countries of the world have recently had
totalitarian regimes forced upon them against their will. The Government of
the United States has made frequent protests against coercion and
1
Yalta agreement: a conference between the victors of World War II to discuss the
postwar reorganization of Europe
2
status quo: current state of affairs
“The Special Message to the Congress on Greece and Turkey" in the public domain.
11. Which sentence from “Excerpt from The Special Message to the Congress
on Greece and Turkey” best supports the claim that the fight against
tyranny is a global concern?
B. “One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is
distinguished by free institutions, representative government, free
elections, guarantees of individual liberty, freedom of speech and
religion, and freedom from political oppression.”
1
Socrates was a philosopher in ancient Greece, who was convicted and sentenced to death
“On the Federal Constitution” from "The World’s Famous Orations, v. VIII." in the public
domain.
5
execrable: detestable
6
mace-bearer: an individual holding a club
7
specious: misleading, something that sounds true but is actually false
8
contrivances: schemes
“Shall Liberty or Empire Be Sought?" from "The World’s Famous Orations, v. VIII" in the
public domain.
Social Aspects
As a girl graduate I came to Nebraska City from Virginia, at an early day. It
seemed to me that I was leaving everything attractive socially and
intellectually, behind me, but I was mistaken. On arriving here, I expected
to see quite a town, was disappointed, for two large brick hotels and a few
scattered houses comprised the place. Among my first acquaintances was
the family of Governor Black, consisting of his daughter about my own age,
his wife, and himself. He was not only bright and clever, but a wit as well,
and famous as a storyteller …
Those were freighting days and Russell, Majors, and Waddell, government
freighters, made this their headquarters. Alexander Majors brought his
family here adding much socially to the town. Major Martin, an army officer,
was stationed here. He was a charming gentleman and had a lovely wife.
Dancing was the principal amusement with the young people. Informal
dances [were held] at private homes and occasionally on a steamboat when
it arrived, brilliantly lighted and having a band of music on board. At the
“Outfit” as it was called, where the supplies for the freighting company were
kept, dwelt a family, Raisin by name, who were exceedingly hospitable, not
only entertaining frequently, but often sending an ambulance for their
guests. At these parties no round dancing was indulged in, just simple
quadrilles and the lancers. Mr. and Mrs. J. Sterling Morton, who lived on a
country place, a short distance from town, which has since become widely
known as Arbor Lodge, were among the most active entertainers, dispensing
Excerpt from “Early Reminiscences of Nebraska City—Social Aspects,” by Ellen Kinney Ware.
Found in the Collection of Nebraska Pioneer Reminiscences, by the Nebraska Society of the
Daughters of the American Revolution, 1916.
My Indian Grandmother
My Indian Grandmother
by Charles A. Eastman
I distinctly recall one occasion when she took me with her into the woods in
search of certain medicinal roots.
"Why do you not use all kinds of roots for medicines?" said I.
With this and many similar explanations she wrought in my soul wonderful
and lively conceptions of the "Great Mystery" and of the effects of prayer
and solitude. I continued my childish questioning.
"But why did you not dig those plants that we saw in the woods, of the
"For the same reason that we do not like the berries we find in the shadow
of deep woods as well as the ones which grow in sunny places. The latter
have more sweetness and flavor. Those herbs which have medicinal virtues
should be sought in a place that is neither too wet nor too dry, and where
they have a generous amount of sunshine to maintain their vigor.
"Some day Ohiyesa will be old enough to know the secrets of medicine;
then I will tell him all. But if you should grow up to be a bad man, I must
withhold these treasures from you and give them to your brother, for a
medicine man must be a good and wise man. I hope Ohiyesa will be a great
medicine man when he grows up. To be a great warrior is a noble ambition;
but to be a mighty medicine man is a nobler!"
She said these things so thoughtfully and impressively that I cannot but feel
and remember them even to this day.
Our native women gathered all the wild rice, roots, berries and fruits which
formed an important part of our food. This was distinctively a woman's
work. Uncheedah (grandmother) understood these matters perfectly, and it
became a kind of instinct with her to know just where to look for each
edible variety and at what season of the year. This sort of labor gave the
Indian women every opportunity to observe and study Nature after their
fashion; and in this Uncheedah was more acute than most of the men. The
abilities of her boys were not all inherited from their father; indeed, the
stronger family traits came obviously from her. She was a leader among the
native women, and they came to her, not only for medical aid, but for
advice in all their affairs.
In bravery she equaled any of the men. This trait, together with her
ingenuity and alertness of mind, more than once saved her and her people
from destruction. Once, when we were roaming over a region occupied by
other tribes, and on a day when most of the men were out upon the hunt, a
party of hostile Indians suddenly appeared. Although there were a few men
left at home, they were taken by surprise at first and scarcely knew what to
do, when this woman came forward and advanced alone to meet our foes.
She had gone some distance when some of the men followed her. She met
the strangers and offered her hand to them. They accepted her friendly
greeting; and as a result of her brave act we were left alone and at peace.
15. Which sentence confirms the narrator as a reliable source when it comes
to seeing his grandmother as “the wisest of guides and the best of
protectors”?
C. “She was a leader among the native women, and they came to her,
not only for medical aid, but for advice in all their affairs.”
17. Read this sentence from “Excerpt from 'Stars and Stripes Forever.'”
Sousa was the greatest musical star of his era, combining the
charisma and popularity of Leonard Bernstein and the Beatles.
Which statement identifies the weakness in the author’s reasoning in the
excerpt?
C. The author does not explain what qualified Sousa as the greatest
star.
D. The author does not explain who Leonard Bernstein and the Beatles
were.
How does this sentence support one of the author’s arguments about
Sousa?
I’ll tell you of one case. They were goin’ to fix up a big park, no matter
where. I got on to it, and went lookin’ about for land in that neighborhood.
I could get nothin’ at a bargain but a big piece of swamp, but I took it fast
enough and held on to it. What turned out was just what I counted on. They
couldn’t make the park complete without Plunkitt’s swamp, and they had to
pay a good price for it. Anything dishonest in that?
Up in the watershed I made some money, too. I bought up several bits of
land there some years ago and made a pretty good guess that they would be
bought up for water purposes later by the city.
Somehow, I always guessed about right, and shouldn’t I enjoy the profit of
my foresight? It was rather amusin’ when the condemnation commissioners
came along and found piece after piece of the land in the name of George
Plunkitt of the Fifteenth Assembly District, New York City. They wondered
how I knew just what to buy. The answer is—I seen my opportunity and I
took it. I haven’t confined myself to land; anything that pays is in my line …
I’ve told you how I got rich by honest graft. Now, let me tell you that most
politicians who are accused of robbin’ the city get rich the same way.
They didn’t steal a dollar from the city treasury. They just seen their
opportunities and took them. That is why, when a reform administration
comes in and spends a half million dollars in tryin’ to find the public
robberies they talked about in the campaign, they don’t find them …
The books are always all right. The money in the city treasury is all right.
Everything is all right. All they can show is that the Tammany heads of
departments looked after their friends, within the law, and gave them what
opportunities they could to make honest graft. Now, let me tell you that’s
never goin’ to hurt Tammany with the people. Every good man looks after
his friends, and any man who doesn’t isn’t likely to be popular. If I have a
good thing to hand out in private life, I give it to a friend—Why shouldn’t I
do the same in public life?
Another kind of honest graft. Tammany has raised a good many salaries.
There was an awful howl by the reformers, but don’t you know that
Tammany gains ten votes for every one it lost by salary raisin’?
The Wall Street banker thinks it shameful to raise a department clerk’s
salary from $1500 to $1800 a year, but every man who draws a salary
Criminal Misgovernment
Criminal Misgovernment
Excerpt from Criminal Misgovernment
by Ernest Hamlin et al.
1
dexterous: clever
Part 2:
Bring your essay to a large-group class discussion, and share the claims
and examples you wrote about in Part 1. Listen and comment as your
classmates share their examples. As a class, try to come to an
agreement about the most effective and least effective points or
techniques from the passage. Refer to evidence from the passage to
support your observations.
Scoring:
Your presentation will be scored based on the following criteria:
Strait of Magellan
Strait of Magellan
"Strait of Magellan"
Excerpt from Discoverers and Explorers
by Edward R. Shaw
Magellan
One of the boldest and most determined of all the early explorers was
Ferdinand Magellan, a young Portuguese nobleman. He felt sure that
somewhere on that long coast which so many explorers had reached he
would find a strait through which he would be able to pass, and which would
lead into the Indian Ocean; and so Magellan formed the idea of
circumnavigating the globe.
Think of the feelings of the crew when, after sailing five weeks through this
winding channel, they came out into a calm expanse of water. Magellan was
overcome by the sight, and shed tears of joy. He named the vast waters
before him Pacific, which means "peaceful," because of their contrast to the
violent and stormy Atlantic.
The fleet now sailed northwest into a warmer climate and over a tranquil
ocean, and as week after week passed and no land was seen, the sailors lost
all hope. They began to think that this ocean had no end, and that they
might sail on and on forever.
These poor men suffered very much from lack of food and water, and many
died of famine. The boastful remark of Magellan was recalled when the
sailors did really begin to eat the leather from the ship's yards, first soaking
it in the water.
Anxiously these worn and haggard men looked about for signs of land, and
at length they were rewarded. The Ladrone Islands were reached, and
supplies of fresh vegetables, meats, and fruits were obtained. From the Isles
de Ladrones, or "Isles of Robbers," the fleet proceeded to the Philippines.
Here Magellan knew that he was near the Indian Ocean, and realized that if
he kept on in his course he would circumnavigate the globe.
21. After reading “Strait of Magellan,” think about the man Ferdinand
Magellan. Write one to two paragraphs explaining which personal
characteristics he possessed that enabled him to discover the Strait of
Magellan. Use specific textual evidence to support your answer.
22. One central idea of “Strait of Magellan” is that Ferdinand Magellan was
one of the most determined of all the early explorers. Write one
paragraph that uses details from the passage to explain how this central
idea is developed.
Excerpt from Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of
South Car
Excerpt from Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South
Carolina from the Federal Union
Excerpt from Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the
Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union
by C.G. Memminger
The sharp tension between the North and South came to a climax
soon after the 1860 election of President Abraham Lincoln. In
“Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the
Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union” C. G.
Memminger, who later became the Confederate States of America’s
Secretary of the Treasury, details the reasoning behind South
Carolina’s move to leave the Union in December 1860. Within six
weeks, six other states in the South had followed South Carolina’s
lead and seceded from the United States.
[In 1852] the people of the State of South Carolina declared that the
frequent violations of the constitution of the United States by the federal
government, and its encroachments upon the reserved rights of the states,
fully justified this state … withdrawing from the Federal Union. [B]ut in
“Declaration of the Immediate Causes which Induce and Justify the Secession of South
Carolina from the Federal Union; and the Ordinance of Secession" in the public domain.
A. The Union should avoid making laws that the states are required to
follow.
24. In his “Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify
the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union,” Memminger
quoted from the treaty that granted independence to the United States.
In capital letters, he wrote that the former colonies became “FREE,
SOVEREIGN AND INDEPENDENT STATES.” Write a paragraph response
explaining why this concept was important to Memminger's argument
that South Carolina was justified in its secession. Use details from the
passage to support your answer.
As you know, there is a growing disrespect for government and for churches
and for schools, the news media, and other institutions. This is not a
message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the truth and it is a warning.
These changes did not happen overnight. They’ve come upon us gradually
over the last generation, years that were filled with shocks and tragedy.
We were sure that ours was a nation of the ballot, not the bullet, until the
murders of John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.
We were taught that our armies were always invincible and our causes were
always just, only to suffer the agony of Vietnam. We respected the
Presidency as a place of honor until the shock of Watergate.
We remember when the phrase “sound as a dollar” was an expression of
absolute dependability, until ten years of inflation began to shrink our dollar
and our savings. We believed that our nation’s resources were limitless until
1973 when we had to face a growing dependence on foreign oil.
These wounds are still very deep. They have never been healed.
Looking for a way out of this crisis, our people have turned to the Federal
Government and found it isolated from the mainstream of our nation’s life.
Washington, D.C., has become an island. The gap between our citizens and
our government has never been so wide. The people are looking for honest
answers, not easy answers; clear leadership, not false claims and
evasiveness and politics as usual.
What you see too often in Washington and elsewhere around the country is a
You see every extreme position defended to the last vote, almost to the last
breath by one unyielding group or another. You often see a balanced and a
fair approach that demands sacrifice, a little sacrifice from everyone,
abandoned like an orphan without support and without friends.
Often you see paralysis and stagnation and drift. You don’t like it, and
neither do I. What can we do?
First of all, we must face the truth, and then we can change our course. We
simply must have faith in each other, faith in our ability to govern ourselves,
and faith in the future of this nation. Restoring that faith and that confidence
to America is now the most important task we face. It is a true challenge of
this generation of Americans.
One of the visitors to Camp David last week put it this way: “We’ve got to
stop crying and start sweating, stop talking and start walking, stop cursing
and start praying. The strength we need will not come from the White
House, but from every house in America.”
We know the strength of America. We are strong. We can regain our unity.
We can regain our confidence. We are the heirs of generations who survived
threats much more powerful and awesome than those that challenge us
now. Our fathers and mothers were strong men and women who shaped a
new society during the Great Depression, who fought world wars and who
carved out a new charter of peace for the world.
We ourselves are the same Americans who just ten years ago put a man on
the moon. We are the generation that dedicated our society to the pursuit of
human rights and equality. And we are the generation that will win the war
on the energy problem and in that process, rebuild the unity and confidence
of America.
We are at a turning point in our history. There are two paths to choose. One
is a path I’ve warned about tonight, the path that leads to fragmentation
and self-interest. Down that road lies a mistaken idea of freedom, the right
to grasp for ourselves some advantage over others. That path would be one
of constant conflict between narrow interests ending in chaos and
immobility. It is a certain route to failure.
All the traditions of our past, all the lessons of our heritage, all the promises
of our future point to another path—the path of common purpose and the
25. Which excerpt from “Energy and the National Goals: A Crisis of
Confidence” identifies a cause of Americans’ loss of faith in government
at the time of Carter’s presidency?
B. “We ourselves are the same Americans who just ten years ago put a
man on the moon.”
C. “We simply must have faith in each other, faith in our ability to
govern ourselves, and faith in the future of this nation. ”
D. “We are the heirs of generations who survived threats much more
powerful and awesome than those that challenge us now.”
26. Which statement best describes the connections that President Carter
implied between the Vietnam War, the moon landing, and the energy
crisis?
A. The Vietnam War was a great defeat, but the moon landing was a
great victory. Winning “the war on the energy problem” was an
opportunity for Americans to achieve victory again.
Rapa Nui is a remote island in the South Pacific. In fact, Rapa Nui is the
most isolated settlement on Earth. A special territory of Chile, a country in
South America, Rapa Nui is located 2,360 miles from the capital city of
Santiago. The nearest inhabited land, Pitcairn Island, is 1,200 miles away,
and only about 60 people live there!
The oldest name for Rapa Nui, given by the Polynesian people who settled
the island, is Te Pito Te-Henua. This name has been translated into English
as "The Navel of the World," or, less poetically, "Land's End." According to
oral tradition, this name was bestowed upon the island 1,500 years ago by a
Polynesian chief named The Great Parent who arrived in a double canoe with
his wife and family, having navigated their way using the stars, the
movement of the waves, and the flight of birds.
The modern Polynesian name for the island is Rapa Nui, taken from the
name Rapanui, which refers to the people of the island and their language.
Rapa Nui is commonly referred to as Easter Island, named by a Dutch
admiral whose ship stopped in Rapa Nui on Easter Sunday in 1722. It is
interesting that such an isolated piece of land can have a plethora of
different names. Yet despite being so far from other human settlements,
Rapa Nui has had a rich culture, along with some interesting mysteries
connected to the island.
One of the mysteries of the island lies within a simple vegetable: the sweet
potato. The sweet potato is one of the plants found on Rapa Nui. This would
not be so unusual but for the fact that scientists have found that the orange
potato likely originated in Peru, or perhaps Central America or Mexico. In
contrast, the Rapanui people were not of these origins but were biologically,
linguistically, and culturally Polynesian. Did Peruvians or Central Americans
come to Rapa Nui bearing the vegetable? Did the Rapanui sail to Peru or
beyond, and bring the potato back home with them? No one knows.
Another mystery of the island is its unique writing system. Knowledge of this
language comes from a European transcription from the 1870s of creation
27. Which excerpt from “A Fragile Island Paradise” provides evidence that
explains one of the island’s mysteries?
A. “This would not be so unusual but for the fact that scientists have
found that the orange potato likely originated in Peru, or perhaps
Central America or Mexico.”
D. “These “heads,” called moai, are a group of around 900 huge stone
megaliths.”
28. The author of “A Fragile Island Paradise” states, “Rapa Nui has had a rich
culture.” Which excerpt from the article best supports this claim?
A. “According to oral tradition, this name was bestowed upon the island
1,500 years ago by a Polynesian chief named The Great Parent....”
B. “The modern Polynesian name for the island is Rapa Nui, taken from
the name Rapanui, which refers to the people of the island and their
language.”
C. “Rapanui legends surrounding the moai tell of chiefs and priests and
others with divine power who could command the statues to walk to
their places.”
Rapa Nui is often referred to as Easter Island, and most people have seen
some image based on the huge stone statues, or moai, often referred to as
"heads." Maybe you have seen a version of these monumental heads in
cartoons or in other art.
Rapa Nui was named Easter Island by a Dutch admiral when his ship
stopped in Rapa Nui on Easter Sunday in 1722.
The oldest name for the island, given by the Polynesian people who settled
the island, is Te Pito Te-Henua. This name has been translated into English
as "The Navel of the World," or, less poetically, "Land’s End." According to
oral tradition, this name was bestowed upon the island 1,500 years ago by a
Polynesian chief named The Great Parent, who arrived in a double canoe
with his wife and family. The modern Polynesian name is Rapa Nui, taken
from the name Rapanui, which refers to the people and their language.
Rapa Nui is the most isolated settled place on Earth. Currently a special
territory of Chile, Rapa Nui is 2,360 miles from Santiago, the capital of Chile.
The nearest inhabited land, Pitcairn Island, is 1,200 miles away, and only
about 60 people live there!
Despite being so far away from other human settlements, Rapa Nui has had
a rich culture. The great huge stone statues were quarried and sculpted in
place and then somehow moved, all 900 or so of them, to various places
around the island. These mighty megaliths tower over the landscape and
create an atmosphere of brooding mystery. Rapanui legends tell of chiefs
and priests and other people with divine power who could command the
statues to walk to their places.
Research has shown that the statues were somehow sculpted and moved
using stone, wood, rope, and human power. Several researchers have tried
to move the statues, using materials that were available to the original
Rapanui stoneworkers. These teams have been successful, but so far none
have duplicated the feat of the artists who came before the Europeans, the
29. According to “A Fragile Island Paradise,” “Rapa Nui has had a rich
culture, along with some interesting mysteries connected to the island.”
After reading both “A Fragile Island Paradise” and “Statues of Land's
End,” write one to two paragraphs explaining how Rapa Nui has earned a
reputation for being mysterious. Cite evidence from both passages to
support your response.
A. “The oldest name for Rapa Nui, given by the Polynesian people who
settled the island, is Te Pito Te-Henua.”
B. “This name has been translated into English as ‘The Navel of the
World,’ or, less poetically, ‘Land’s End.’”
C. “The modern Polynesian name for the island is Rapa Nui, taken from
the name Rapanui, which refers to the people of the island and their
language.”
1
meed: reward
"Address at the Opening Ceremonies of the Brooklyn Bridge" in the public domain.
Part 1:
Carefully re-read Low’s address, paying particular attention to the claims
he makes about the bridge’s future impact on New York City. While
reading, look for answers to these questions:
• How would the Brooklyn Bridge affect the economy of New York City?
• How would it improve the lives of people?
• How would it “make New York smaller,” and why was this idea
important?
As you read, take notes as you discover answers to the above questions.
Part 3:
Compile your findings into a brief research paper. Write a rough draft,
then revise your draft into a finished response.
Scoring:
Your research paper will be scored based on the following criteria:
• A clear focus on the main topic and questions of the task as well as
clear, focused answers to the questions.
• The information in the research paper is supported with evidence from
the address and from reliable outside sources.
• The language in the research paper is appropriate for the task and is
grammatically correct.
32. Why did Seth Low most likely mention John Augustus Roebling’s
contribution in the first paragraph? How does this acknowledgment set
the tone and theme for the address? In a one-paragraph response, use
details from “Address at the Opening Ceremonies of the Brooklyn Bridge”
to support your answer.
My fellow Americans:
I’m sure you’ve heard that Nancy and I are traveling a long way from home
this week. We’ve already flown more than 9,000 miles, stopping off in the
beautiful islands of Hawaii to visit the citizens of our 50th State; and then
across the International Dateline to Guam, where the rays of each sunrise
first touch the Stars and Stripes; and then on to our primary destination,
China, one of the world’s oldest civilizations and a country of great
importance in today’s Pacific community of nations.
This is our second trip to Asia in the last 6 months. It demonstrates our
awareness of America’s responsibility as a Pacific leader in the search for
regional security and economic well-being. The stability and prosperity of
this region are of crucial importance to the United States. The nations
comprising the Pacific Basin represent our fastest growing trading markets.
Many say that the 21st century will be the century of the Pacific.
Our relations with China have continued to develop through the last four
administrations, ever since President Nixon made his historic journey here in
1972. In 1978 the Chinese leadership decided to chart a new course for their
country, permitting more economic freedom for the people in an effort to
modernize their economy. Not surprisingly, the results have been positive.
Today China’s efforts to modernize, foster the spirit of enterprise, open its
doors to the West, and expand areas of mutual cooperation while opposing
Soviet aggression make it a nation of increasing importance to America and
Excerpt from “Radio Address to the Nation on the Trip to China” by President Ronald
Reagan. April 28, 1984.
33. Which excerpt from “Radio Address to the Nation on the Trip to China” suggests
that the Chinese are not as different from Americans as many might think?
A. “In 1978 the Chinese leadership decided to chart a new course for
their country, permitting more economic freedom for the people in an
effort to modernize their economy.”
B. “The streets are normally filled with people riding bicycles. All of you
who like bikeriding would love Beijing.”
D. “We can learn much from the rich history of China and from the
wisdom and character of her people.”
34. Which is the most likely reason Reagan balanced his reports of meetings
with political and economic leaders with accounts of his sightseeing in
“Radio Address to the Nation on the Trip to China”?
Dear Editor:
Thank you for publishing the recent article about trends in American work
productivity. I have researched this very topic extensively and would like to
provide even more alarming information for your readers.
The more Americans work, the less productive we are. That’s the surprising
finding from a review of studies related to Americans and vacation time. And
workers in the country that we might think of as the least industrious—
France—are actually more productive than their American counterparts.
Americans usually think of themselves as the world’s great workaholics. And
it is true that we take less vacation time and work more hours than people in
other developed countries. Every other industrialized nation has a national
law requiring employers to offer holidays or vacations, but not the United
States.
The European Union requires a minimum of 20 paid vacation days a year
and some countries offer more, like the French (30 days) and the British
(28). In the United States, paid vacation increases with seniority, which
means that Americans lucky enough to receive paid vacation would have to
stay on a job for 20 years to get as much as Europeans get the day they
start work. And on top of that, some countries actually offer younger
workers more time off. Germany gives people between one and six days off
based on age. Of course, what’s the point of vacation if you can’t spend a
buck on fun? In some countries, workers also get holiday pay.
Let’s compare that to our own plight. Of working Americans, 23 percent get
no paid vacation or paid holidays, and the average of those who do get some
time off is “less than the minimum legal standard set in the rest of the
world’s rich economies,” according to the Center for Economic and Policy
Research. The Center found that, without a national mandate, employers are
free to pick and choose who receives which benefits. Little surprise, then,
that people who are paid less, or who work part time or work for smaller
35. How does the author of “Vacation and Presenteeism” use rhetoric to
convey his purpose?
D. He asks Americans to use their full vacation time and to push for
mandated vacations by using statistics to compare and contrast
European and American productivity.
37. The article “Vacation and Presenteeism” implies that Americans do not
realize how unproductive they are in their jobs. Which detail best
supports this inference?
D. “‘Europe can afford its long holidays because we simply get more
done.’”
C. “Of course, what's the point of vacation if you can’t spend a buck on
fun?”
I think it will interest you if I set forth the fundamentals of this planning for
national recovery; and this I am very certain will make it abundantly clear to
you that all of the proposals and all of the legislation since the fourth day of
March have not been just a collection of haphazard schemes but rather the
orderly component parts of a connected and logical whole . . .
For years the Government had not lived within its income. The immediate
task was to bring our regular expenses within our revenues. That has been
done . . .
It was a vital necessity to restore purchasing power [for individual citizens]
by reducing the debt and interest charges upon our people, but while we
were helping people to save their credit it was at the same time absolutely
essential to do something about the physical needs of hundreds of
thousands who were in dire straits at that very moment. Municipal and State
aid were being stretched to the limit. We appropriated half a billion dollars to
supplement their efforts and in addition, as you know, we have put 300,000
young men into practical and useful work in our forests and to prevent flood
and soil erosion. The wages they earn are going in greater part to the
support of the nearly one million people who constitute their families.
39. Which statement made by Roosevelt in “Excerpt from FDR’s Fireside Chat
3” is most easily validated for the American listeners?
A. “...all of the legislation since the fourth day of March have not been
just a collection of haphazard schemes but rather the orderly
component parts of a connected and logical whole...”
B. “[F]irst, we are using the utmost care to choose labor creating quick-
acting, useful projects...”
40. Which sentence from “FDR’s Fireside Chat 3” best supports the idea that
different sectors of the economy are mutually dependent and
interconnected?
C. “I promised action. Congress did its part when it passed the farm and
the industrial recovery acts. Today we are putting these two acts to
work and they will work if people understand their plain objectives.”
1
yearns: grieves
2
coz: cousin
3
Saint Crispin’s day: feast day of twins Saint Crispin and Saint Crispinian, martyrs
Excerpt from play “Henry V,” by William Shakespeare. Published by B. Tauchnitz, 1868.
D. A soldier who follows his leader into battle will earn a share of all the
rewards of victory.
42. What ideas about masculinity and war does Henry’s speech convey to the
soldiers? Write one paragraph, using details from “Excerpt from Henry V”
to support your answer.
Chapter III
While little Sebastian Bach was laboriously copying out music by pale
moonlight, because of his great love for it, another child of the same age
was finding the greatest happiness of his life seated before an old spinet,
standing in a lumber garret.1 He was trying to make music from those half
dumb keys. No one had taught him how to play; it was innate genius that
guided his little hands to find the right harmonies and bring melody out of
the old spinet.
The boy's name was George Frederick Handel, and he was born in the
German town of Halle, February 23, 1685. Almost from infancy he showed a
remarkable fondness for music. His toys must be able to produce musical
sounds or he did not care for them. The child did not inherit a love for music
from his father, for Dr. Handel, who was a surgeon, looked on music with
contempt, as something beneath the notice of a gentleman. He had decided
his son was to be a lawyer, and refused to allow him to attend school for
fear some one might teach him his notes. The mother was a sweet gentle
woman, a second wife, and much younger than her husband, who seemed to
have ruled his household with a rod of iron.
When little George was about five, a kind friend, who knew how he longed to
make music, had a spinet sent to him unbeknown to his father, and placed
in a corner of the old garret. Here the child loved to come when he could
After this secret practising had been going on for some time, it was
discovered one night, when little George was enjoying his favorite pastime.
He had been missed and the whole house went in search. Finally the father,
holding high the lantern in his hand and followed by mother and the rest of
the inmates, reached the garret, and there found the lost child seated at his
beloved spinet, quite lost to the material world. There is no record of any
angry outburst on the father's part and it is likely little George was left in
peace.
One day when the boy was seven years old, the father was about to start for
the castle of the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, to see his son, a stepbrother of
George, who was a valet de chambre to the Duke. Little George begged to
go too, for he knew there was music to be heard at the castle. In spite of his
father's refusal he made up his mind to go if he had to run every step of the
way. So watching his chance, he started to run after the coach in which his
father rode. The child had no idea it was a distance of forty miles. He strove
bravely to keep pace with the horses, but the roads were rough and muddy.
His strength beginning to fail, he called out to the coachman to stop. His
father, hearing the boy's voice looked out of the window. Instead of scolding
the little scamp roundly, he was touched by his woebegone appearance, had
him lifted into the coach and carried on to Weissenfels.
George enjoyed himself hugely at the castle. The musicians were very kind
to him, and his delight could hardly be restrained when he was allowed to
try the beautiful organ in the chapel. The organist stood behind him and
arranged the stops, and the child put his fingers on the keys that made the
big pipes speak. During his stay, George had several chances to play; one
was on a Sunday at the close of the service. The organist lifted him upon the
bench and bade him play. Instead of the Duke and all his people leaving the
chapel, they stayed to listen. When the music ceased the Duke asked: "Who
is that child? Does anybody know his name?" The organist was sent for, and
then little George was brought. The Duke patted him on the head, praised
his playing and said he was sure to become a good musician. The organist
then remarked he had heard the father disapproved of his musical studies.
The Duke was greatly astonished. He sent for the father and after speaking
highly of the boy's talent, said that to place any obstacle in the child's way
would be unworthy of the father's honorable profession.
1
garret: a small, unfinished attic
43. Write one paragraph explaining why the author of “George Frederick
Handel” chose to use the third-person point of view in the passage, and
describe how the use of alliteration develops the theme.
There is no creature with which man has surrounded himself that seems so
much like a product of civilization, so much like the result of development on
special lines and in special fields, as the honey-bee. Indeed, a colony of
bees, with their neatness and love of order, their division of labor, their
public-spiritedness, their thrift, their complex economies, and their
inordinate love of gain, seems as far removed from a condition of rude
nature as does a walled city or a cathedral town.
The honey-bee’s great ambition is to be rich, to lay up great stores, to
possess the sweet of every flower that blooms. She is more than provident.
Enough will not satisfy her; she must have all she can get by hook or by
crook. She comes from the oldest country, Asia, and thrives best in the most
fertile and long-settled lands.
Yet the fact remains that the honey-bee is essentially a wild creature, and
never has been and cannot be thoroughly domesticated. Its proper home is
the woods, and thither every new swarm counts on going; and thither many
do go in spite of the care and watchfulness of the bee-keeper. If the woods
in any given locality are deficient in trees with suitable cavities, the bees
resort to all sorts of makeshifts; they go into chimneys, into barns and out-
houses, under stones, into rocks, and so forth. Several chimneys in my
locality with disused flues are taken possession of by colonies of bees nearly
every season.
One day, while bee-hunting, I developed a line that went toward a
farmhouse where I had reason to believe no bees were kept. I followed it up
Suggested Time:
Task Overview:
Students will examine the poem “The Brooklyn Bridge” by Edna Dean
Proctor and make notes about the structure of the poem. They will then
compose their own poem with a similar structure.
Student Directions:
In her poem “The Brooklyn Bridge,” Edna Dean Proctor makes a powerful
statement through verse about New York’s largest bridge. Examine her
poem, paying careful attention to how she uses structure to convey
ideas. Then, write your own poem on a similar subject that follows a
structure resembling Proctor’s.
Part 1:
Examine and analyze Proctor’s poem. You may need to read it several
times, each time looking for different details. As you read, take notes on
what you discover. Look for answers to these questions:
Part 2:
After carefully examining Proctor’s poem, write your own poem that
follows the same structure as hers. Choose a topic that lends itself to the
format, and write at least six eight-line verses. After you have finished
writing, revise your poem as needed. You may find it helpful to ask a
classmate for their advice on how your poem could be improved.
Scoring:
Your poem will be scored based on the following criteria:
The Social Security Act was the subject of intense debate in Congress in
1935, at time when the country was still in the midst of the Great
Depression. Below, Representative Allen Treadway of Massachusetts
expresses his concerns about and objections to selected aspects of the bill.
This bill contains such vital issues that it should be thoroughly and
completely discussed, and, I hope, very materially amended before it
reaches a final vote…
It has been my firm effort to become convinced of the merits of the bill, and
I have approached the several subjects with an open mind. However, I have
come to the conclusion that the demerits of the measure far outweigh the
merits…
FAVOR OLD-AGE PENSIONS, AID TO CHILDREN, ETC.
In the first class are titles I, IV, V, and VI. granting aid to the States for old-
age pensions, for the care of dependent children, for maternal and child
welfare, and for public health. They carry with them an appropriation for
each of the various purposes, which will aggregate less than $100,000,000
the first year. I am in favor of all of these titles.
OPPOSED TO OTHER TITLES
The other group consists of titles II and VIII relating to compulsory
contributory annuities1, and titles III and IX relating to unemployment
48. On which statement would the authors of both passages most likely
agree?
49. The authors of “Why Social Security?” end the passage with a reference
to the colonists and frontiersmen. Write one paragraph explaining why
the authors chose to use this reference to support their position. Use
details from the passage to support your answer.
A. The authors did not suggest the ways in which the federal funds
would be delivered to states.
B. The authors did not clarify whether older workers with jobs would be
C. The authors did not suggest the possibility that states would spend
the funds put aside for unemployed people.
D. The authors did not clarify how federal funds put towards
administration costs would help lessen unemployment.
Nothing better illustrates the elasticity of American democratic life than the
fact that within a span of forty years Abraham Lincoln and Theodore
Roosevelt were Presidents of the United States. Two men more unlike in
origin, in training, and in opportunity, could hardly be found.
Lincoln came from an incompetent Kentuckian father, a pioneer without the
pioneer's spirit of enterprise and push; he lacked schooling; he had barely
the necessaries of life measured even by the standards of the Border; his
companions were rough frontier wastrels, many of whom had either been, or
might easily become, ruffians. The books on which he fed his young mind
were very few, not more than five or six, but they were the best. And yet in
spite of these handicaps, Abraham Lincoln rose to be the leader and example
of the American Nation during its most perilous crisis, and the ideal
Democrat of the nineteenth century.
Theodore Roosevelt, on the contrary, was born in New York City, enjoyed
every advantage in education and training; his family had been for many
generations respected in the city; his father was cultivated and had
distinction as a citizen, who devoted his wealth and his energies to serving
his fellow men. But, just as incredible adversity could not crush Abraham
Lincoln, so lavish prosperity could not keep down or spoil Theodore
Roosevelt.
In his "Autobiography" he tells us that "about 1644 his ancestor, Claes
Martensen van Roosevelt, came to New Amsterdam as a 'settler'—the
euphemistic name for an immigrant who came over in the steerage of a
sailing ship in the seventeenth century. From that time for the next seven
generations from father to son every one of us was born on Manhattan
Island." For over a hundred years the Roosevelts continued to be typical
Dutch burghers in a hard-working, God-fearing, stolid Dutch way, each
leaving to his son a little more than he had inherited. During the Revolution,
52. How does the author develop the idea of “the elasticity of American
democratic life” at the beginning of “Excerpt from Theodore Roosevelt:
An Intimate Biography”?
53. What organizational pattern does the author of “An Excerpt from
Theodore Roosevelt: An Intimate Biography” use to develop his main
ideas?
C. chronological order
Mr. Speaker, when a young woman graduates from college and starts
looking for a job, she is likely to have a frustrating and even demeaning
experience ahead of her. If she walks into an office for an interview, the first
question she will be asked is, “Do you type?”
There is a calculated system of prejudice that lies unspoken behind that
question. Why is it acceptable for women to be secretaries, librarians, and
teachers, but totally unacceptable for them to be managers, administrators,
doctors, lawyers, and Members of Congress?
The unspoken assumption is that women are different. They do not have
executive ability, orderly minds, stability, leadership skills, and they are too
emotional.
It has been observed before, that society for a long time, discriminated
against another minority, the blacks, on the same basis—that they were
different and inferior …
As a black person, I am no stranger to race prejudice. But the truth is that in
the political world I have been far oftener discriminated against because I
am a woman than because I am black.
Prejudice against blacks is becoming unacceptable although it will take years
to eliminate it. But it is doomed because, slowly, white America is beginning
to admit that it exists. Prejudice against women is still acceptable. There is
very little understanding yet of the immorality involved in double pay scales
1
tokenism: making only a symbolic effort
2
AFL-CIO: American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations
3
stigmatized: regarded as worthy of disgrace or extreme disapproval
B. Colleges often did not prepare women well enough for entering the
job market.
How did you get involved with theater and how did you decide you wanted
to be a director?
I got into theater in high school by working on the costume crew and taking
theater classes. I did not ever see myself as a director until I was a senior
and ended up directing a class production of Charlotte’s Web. After that, I
directed a one-act play and worked as the assistant director on a faculty-
directed school production. Directing really clicked for me and felt like
something I wanted to keep doing.
What are the first things you have to concern yourself with as the director of
a play?
The first thing you have to do is find a script. Once you have a script, your
thought process goes in two different directions at more or less the same
time. You have to figure out what the production is going to look like—the
visual and design part of the show. You also have to determine what the
play is about. This may seem obvious, but it often ends up being harder than
it sounds.
There are different ways to ascertain what your play is about. The way I’ve
been taught is to pin down the “central verb” of the play. What is the play
doing? That becomes your jumping off point for the rest of the process.
Our central verb was “to build.” The play is about building, but it also deals
with two notions associated with the verb. The first act is about the
construction part of building, while the second act is about the destruction
part.
Do each character and each scene have their own verbs as well?
Yes. You start out by determining the verb for the play. With that, each
character has their driving action for the whole play. Then, that breaks down
into each scene: What’s the driving action for the scene or the driving action
for the characters in the scene?
Sometimes you go in knowing actors you want for particular roles or having
strong ideas about the kind of actor who will fit a role. Usually I will come up
with a list of qualities that I want in each actor. Sometimes it is purely a
physical thing. If a character is described in the script as tall, then a short
person is not going to work, regardless of his acting skills.
At some point in the audition process, you’re going to end up with a whole
bunch of actors and you need to figure out which will work and which won’t.
Auditions are about making actors go through a set of actions to see if they
can do what you want them to. I’ve come up with a set of tests for
discerning if they have the qualities that I need. I also try to provide props
for actors during auditions, because how actors handle objects is really
important.
Your job as a director is really to make sure that all of the pieces of the
production fit together. You become the central clearinghouse for all the
different creative jobs that are happening on the production, and it’s your
responsibility to make sure that everybody is on the same page and
everybody is telling the same story. Depending on your relationship with
your designers and how your designers like to work, the process can pan out
many different ways. Typically you will go to your designer and say, “This is
my vision and how I want the production to look. These are the scenes I
want to highlight.” The designers will then work up ideas. Then, you make
sure that what they came up with fits with your vision.
I really like that you get to be closely involved with both the nitty-gritty
details and the big picture.
What was the biggest challenge you faced directing Winter House?
Another aspect that was really hard was that we ended up having a first act
that, in the text, didn’t have a verb. A major part of directing is learning to
be as specific as possible, and you learn when you get into rehearsals that
even a verb you thought was perfect is not specific enough. As we were
working through Winter House, we realized there is a lot of stage business
the actors were doing—unpacking boxes, mainly—that seemed totally
separate from the emotional and intellectual action of building a home.
Then, we realized that the central verb of the play is not “to build” but “to
nest.” That helped the actors a lot. Even though it seems weird to have a
first act that’s watching people move into a house, that process of nesting is
really what the first act was about.
A little bit, but having only nineteen days, we didn’t want her to do too much
rewriting, because that would then be new material for the actors to have to
memorize. Much of the solution was rethinking the action and trying to turn
mundane actions into interesting actions.
Figuring out how to handle the transition between the two acts, in which
seven years elapse, was difficult. We didn’t want to have an intermission in a
production that was so short. We could have written in the program that Act
II takes place seven years later, but there was a danger that many in the
audience wouldn’t take note of that and would be confused by what was
happening on stage. We finally settled on staging a series of vignettes,
separated by blackouts, with music over the whole thing, to show the
passage of time. We really struggled with how to make the transition seem
organic. We didn’t want to lay out specific events in the intervening time. We
wanted to show the passage of time without showing specific story. I think it
worked surprisingly well.
55. In “Careers in the Arts: Interview with a Theater Director,” readers get a
better idea of what a director’s job entails. Write one to two paragraphs
in which you explain at least three responsibilities of a director of a play.
Use details from the passage to support your explanation.
56. In “Careers in the Arts: Interview with a Theater Director,” readers get a
clear idea of what a director′s job entails. Write one paragraph analyzing
how the interview is structured and how connections are drawn between
the different aspects of theater direction. Use details from the passage
for support.
Cross of Gold
Cross of Gold
Excerpt from Cross of Gold
by William Jennings Bryan
A. Bryan incorrectly states that cities rely upon farms for food.
C. Bryan falsely assumes that there are only two possible ideas of
government.
D. Bryan incorrectly states that the gold standard is the only standard of
civilization.
Over a century ago Washington laid the corner stone of the Capitol in what
was then little more than a tract of wooded wilderness here beside the
Potomac. We now find it necessary to provide by great additional buildings
for the business of the Government … The material problems that face us to-
day are not such as they were in Washington’s time, but the underlying facts
of human nature are the same now as they were then. Under altered
external form we war with the same tendencies toward evil that were
evident in Washington’s time, and are helped by the same tendencies for
good. It is about some of these that I wish to say a word to-day.
In Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress you may recall the description of the Man with
the Muck-rake, the man who could look no way but downward, with the
muck-rake in his hand; who was offered a celestial crown for his muck-rake,
but who would neither look up nor regard the crown he was offered, but
continued to rake to himself the filth of the floor …
This man typifies the person who in this life consistently refuses to see aught
Excerpt from Tinker et al. v. Des Moines Independent Community School District et al.
Excerpt from Tinker et al. v. Des Moines Independent Community School District et al.
Excerpt from Tinker et al. v. Des Moines Independent Community
School District et al.
by the Supreme Court of the United States
In 1965, the United States was several years deep in the Vietnam
war, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy was calling for a truce. Three
students in Des Moines, Iowa, planned to wear black armbands to
protest the war and support the proposed truce. The school
administration forbade this act of protest and banned the wearing of
armbands. The Supreme Court ruled on the case of Tinker et al. v.
Des Moines Independent Community School District et al. on
February 24, 1969, and Mr. Justice Fortas delivered the opinion of
the Court.
Excerpt from Tinker et al. v. Des Moines Independent Community School District et al. US
Supreme Court (393 U.S. 503). February 24, 1969.
58. Although they write about different subjects and in different time
periods, the authors of “Excerpt from Tinker et al. v. Des Moines
Independent Community School District et al.” and “Excerpt from The
Man With the Muck-Rake” share common ideals. Which ideals do the
authors most value and associate with the United States? Write a one
paragraph response using details from both passages to support your
answer.
A. “The District Court recognized that the wearing of an armband for the
purpose of expressing certain views is the type of symbolic act that is
within the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.”
B. “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their
constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the
schoolhouse gate.”
C. “In order for the State in the person of school officials to justify
prohibition of a particular expression of opinion, it must be able to
show that its action was caused by something more than a mere
desire to avoid the discomfort and unpleasantness that always
accompany an unpopular viewpoint…”
D. “It is also relevant that the school authorities did not purport to
prohibit the wearing of all symbols of political or controversial
significance…Instead, a particular symbol—black armbands worn to
exhibit opposition to this Nation’s involvement in Vietnam—was
singled out for prohibition.”
Excerpt from The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861–1865
Excerpt from The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861–1865
Excerpt from The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil
War, 1861–1865
by Leander Stillwell
One important feature in the life of a soldier was the matter of his pay, and
a few words on that subject may not be out of place. When I enlisted in
January, 1862, the monthly pay of the enlisted men of a regiment of infantry
was as follows: First sergeant, $20; duty sergeants, $17; corporals and
privates, $13. By act of Congress of May 1st, 1864, the monthly pay of the
enlisted men was increased, and from that date was as follows: First
sergeant, $24; duty sergeants, $20; corporals, $18; privates, $16. That rate
existed as long, at least, as we remained in the service. The first payment
made to our regiment was on May 1st, 1862, while we were in camp at Owl
Creek, Tennessee. The amount I received was $49.40, and of this I sent $45
home to my father at the first opportunity. For a poor man, he was heavily
in debt at the time of my enlistment, and was left without any boys to help
him do the work upon the farm, so I regarded it as my duty to send him
every dollar of my pay that possibly could be spared, and did so as long as I
was in the service. But he finally got out of debt during the war. He had
good crops, and all manner of farm products brought high prices, so the war
period was financially a prosperous one for him. And, to be fair about it, I
will say that he later repaid me, when I was pursuing my law studies at the
Albany, New York, Law School, almost all the money I had sent him while in
the army. So the result really was that the money received by me, as a
soldier, was what later enabled me to qualify as a lawyer.
There were a few occasions when an article of diet was issued called
"desiccated potatoes." For "desiccated" the boys promptly substituted
"desecrated," and "desecrated potatoes" was its name among the rank and
file from start to finish. It consisted of Irish potatoes cut up fine and
thoroughly dried. In appearance it much resembled the modern preparation
called "grape nuts." We would mix it in water, grease, and salt, and make it
up into little cakes, which we would fry, and they were first rate. There was
a while when we were at Bolivar, Tennessee, that some stuff called
"compressed vegetables" was issued to us, which the boys, almost
unanimously, considered an awful fraud. It was composed of all sorts of
vegetables, pressed into small bales, in a solid mass, and as dry as threshed
straw. The conglomeration contained turnip-tops, cabbage leaves, string-
beans (pod and all), onion blades, and possibly some of every other kind of
a vegetable that ever grew in a garden. It came to the army in small boxes,
about the size of the Chinese tea-boxes that were frequently seen in this
country about fifty years ago. In the process of cooking, it would swell up
prodigiously,—a great deal more so than rice. The Germans in the regiment
would make big dishes of soup out of this "baled hay," as we called it, and
they liked it, but the native Americans, after one trial, wouldn't touch it. I
think about the last box of it that was issued to our company was pitched
into a ditch in the rear of the camp, and it soon got thoroughly soaked and
loomed up about as big as a fair-sized hay-cock. "Split-peas" were issued to
us, more or less, during all the time we were in the service. My
understanding was that they were the ordinary garden peas. They were split
in two, dried, and about as hard as gravel. But they yielded to cooking,
made excellent food, and we were all fond of them. In our opinion, when
properly cooked, they were almost as good as Yankee beans.
Passing from the topic of army rations, I will now take leave to say here,
with sincerity and emphasis, that the best school to fit me for the practical
affairs of life that I ever attended was in the old 61st Illinois during the Civil
War. It would be too long a story to undertake to tell all the benefits derived
from that experience, but a few will be alluded to. In the first place, when I
was a boy at home, I was, to some extent, a "spoiled child." I was
exceedingly particular and "finicky" about my food. Fat meat I abhorred, and
wouldn't touch it, and on the other hand, when we had chicken to eat, the
gizzard was claimed by me as my sole and exclusive tid-bit, and "Leander"
always got it. Let it be known that in the regiment those habits were gotten
over so soon that I was astonished myself.
"The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861–1865" in the public
domain.
60. Write one to two paragraphs that explain how Stillwell uses a comment
of French General Napoleon to develop the ideas in his memoir, “The
Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-
1865.” Use details from the text to support your answer.
61. Which sentence from ″Story of a Common Soldier″ best supports the
inference that the author matured during the war?
A. “The amount I received was $49.40, and of this I sent $45 home to
my father at the first opportunity.”
B. “But other articles of diet were also issued to us, some of which we
D. “Passing from the topic of army rations, I will now take leave to say
here, with sincerity and emphasis, that the best school to fit me for
the practical affairs of life that I ever attended was in the old 61st
Illinois during the Civil War.”
63. Which excerpt from “The Art of Melted Sand” best explains why the glass
An Important Change
Through Executive Order 10924, signed on March 1, 1961, President John F.
Kennedy started the Peace Corps to foster “world peace and friendship.”
More specifically, he viewed the Peace Corps as a way of challenging U.S.
citizens to volunteer to help people throughout the developing world. In the
fifty years since its creation, more than 210,000 Peace Corps volunteers
have served in 139 countries.
As stated on its official website, the Peace Corps has a three-part mission:
1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for
trained men and women.
2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the
people served.
3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of
Americans.
This mission illustrates the shift that has taken place in United States foreign
policy since World War II. Prior to the war, the United States avoided
collaborations and interactions with foreign countries through a policy known
as “isolationism.” However, the start of the Cold War and membership in the
United Nations guaranteed that the United States would never again exist as
Claire Lea is a 34-year-old former Peace Corps volunteer who now recruits
new volunteers from the student population of the University of Missouri.
64. Which excerpt from “The Peace Corps: A Giving Spirit” explains Claire
Lea's volunteer experience in the Peace Corps?
A. "Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained
men and women."
65. In “The Peace Corps: A Giving Spirit,” the author provides a brief history
of the organization and its goals, along with personal insight from a
Peace Corps recruiter. Write one to two paragraphs analysing how the
author develops ideas about volunteerism and the Peace Corps
throughout the passage and makes connections between them. Include
details from the passage to support your answer.
67. “The Peace Corps: A Giving Spirit” presents facts about a federal
program initiated by President Kennedy in 1961. Write one paragraph
explaining the central idea of this passage and analyzing the rhetoric
(style of expression) used by the Peace Corps to appeal to the public and
encourage volunteerism. Use details from the passage to support your
answer.
68. In “President Truman’s Address before the NAACP,” Truman argues that
civil rights should entail “not protection of the people against the
Government, but protection of the people by the Government.” Write one
paragraph in which you explain how Truman introduces and develops this
idea in his speech. Use details from the speech to support your response.
Excerpt from "Statement to the Court Upon Being Convicted of Violating the Sedition Act,
1918"
Excerpt from "Statement to the Court Upon Being Convicted of Violating the Sedition Act, 1918"
Excerpt from “Statement to the Court Upon Being Convicted of
Violating the Sedition Act, 1918”
by Eugene Debs
Your Honor, years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I
made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth. I
said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it, and
while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in
prison, I am not free.
I listened to all that was said in this court in support and justification of this
prosecution, but my mind remains unchanged. I look upon the Espionage
Law as a despotic1 enactment in flagrant conflict with democratic principles
and with the spirit of free institutions …
Your Honor, I have stated in this court that I am opposed to the social
system in which we live; that I believe in a fundamental change-but if
possible by peaceable and orderly means …
I am thinking this morning of the men in the mills and the factories; of the
men in the mines and on the railroads. I am thinking of the women who for
a paltry wage are compelled to work out their barren lives; …
I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does
absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions
1
despotic: oppressive, tyrannical
Speech “Statement to the Court Upon Being Convicted of Violating the Sedition Act,” by
Eugene Debs. Delivered September 18, 1918.
1
squalor: extreme poverty, filth
2
bane: cause of great distress or annoyance
Speech “Annual Message to the Congress on the State of the Union, 1964,” by Lyndon B.
Johnson. Delivered January 8, 1964.
71. In the “Excerpt from ‘State of the Union Address, 1964,’” President
Johnson introduces a list of goals the nation must accomplish to combat
poverty. How does he arrange this list? How are his goals introduced?
How are the connections made between the goals? Write one or two
paragraphs answering these questions, using details from the passage to
support your answer.
72. In his “Share Our Wealth” speech, Long articulates the reasons he
favors economic and social change in the United States. Analyze two of
his main claims, focusing on how they are developed and refined
throughout the speech. Write one or two paragraphs that explain your
analysis of Long’s claims using evidence from the speech to support your
answer.
How many well-educated young people today would be able to read the
above paragraph easily and understand what it means? The paragraph is
printed in a handwriting font, similar to the cursive writing American
students learn in elementary school. Once these students venture into the
world, however, they will find that they use cursive infrequently at best.
Unless one plans a career as an archivist, digging through the handwritten
correspondence of historical figures, cursive writing is of limited use. Yet, our
current educational system may insist upon including it in the curriculum,
possibly at the expense of something potentially more useful. Of course,
cursive writing can be a lovely method of expressing thoughts on paper, but
in this day of blogging and posting and texting, who will take the time to
read something handwritten?
Cursive as Art
One third-grade teacher was asked recently whether cursive writing still
needed to be taught to American students. She only stared, dumbfounded,
as if she had just been asked to cease instruction in mathematics or
American history. “Cursive is such a beautiful way of writing,” she explained.
“It would be a shame if it were lost to our next generation of authors and
philosophers.”
If we want to teach a beautiful style of writing to our interested students,
though, we might teach them actual calligraphy, a style of beautiful writing,
in art class. Cursive, in everyday use, is just slanting, connected lines. Its
beauty will always be overshadowed by its impracticality. In practice, it just
does not make sense for students to learn cursive. Cursive takes longer to
Cursive No More
There was once a time and place for the teaching of cursive, just as there
was a time and place for teaching students how to cut and sharpen a quill
into a pen. That time is in the past, however, and that place is lost forever.
Students need to spend their time learning technology and trigonometry,
physics and philosophy, and language and literature. If they ever need to
read something in cursive, surely there will be an “app” for that.
73. Which evidence from “The Curse of Cursive” best supports the author’s
claim that cursive writing is unnecessary for refining fine motor skills?
74. Evaluate the author’s argument in “The Curse of Cursive.” Explain why
the reasoning is not valid. Identify any false statements or examples of
illogical reasoning. Write one paragraph, using specific examples from
the text to support your answer.
75. Analyze and explain how the author of “The Curse of Cursive”
presents the argument against teaching cursive. Pay special attention to
the order in which points are made and the connections that are drawn
between them. Write one to two paragraphs, using specific examples
Fossilization
Fossilization
Fossilization
At a beach, you may have picked up shells, examined their contours and
surfaces, and considered the function of a clam shell hinge, or the spirals of
snails, cowries, or other gastropods. Can you imagine having this experience
up in the Appalachian Mountains? Though mountains may be the last place
you would connect with the beach, imprints of shells are found in rock there.
In fact, these imprints show the same hinges and spirals as the shells
themselves. Examining rocks such as these, you realize the presence of these
imprints suggests that the mountains were once under water.
Fossils fascinate people because they provide a glimpse of what earth was like
in the past. Paleontologists, or scientists who study fossils, make this
fascination their life’s work. The name comes from paleo-, the Greek word for
“ancient.”
Shell markings and other ancient imprints are called trace fossils. These fossils
include impressions of footprints, which are clues to where organisms traveled,
and burrows, showing where organisms lived. The remains of ancient
organisms are another type of fossil. Dinosaur bones are the most famous
remains, but fossilized remains also include insects in amber, frozen wooly
mammoths, desiccated, or dried out, plants, ancient cat teeth recovered from
tar pits, and such lowly objects as coprolites, which are petrified feces. All
types of fossils have one thing in common. They are evidence of organisms
that lived in the distant past.
Fossilization, or the process by which remains become a fossil, depends on
certain conditions. Most important, the traces or remains have to be at least
partially intact and in place for a very long time. A buried plant or bone,
though, is likely to be broken by animals digging in the area, dissolved by rain
or groundwater, or eroded by wind or rushing water. Even remains that
survive these disturbances usually decay in place, as was the fate of the
remains that became coal and other fossil fuels people extract from the earth
and use today. The objects that do persist under layers of sedimentary rock
may still be lost if that rock goes through metamorphosis, or extreme
Turn It Off: Why Our Community Should Limit Screen Time for Teenagers
Turn It Off: Why Our Community Should Limit Screen Time for Teenagers
Turn It Off: Why Our Community Should Limit Screen Time for
Teenagers
To the Editor of the Liberty Times,
Sincerely,
Janet Hincherman
Concerned Parent
77. Which summary of “Turn It Off: Why Our Community Should Limit
Screen Time for Teenagers” best presents the author’s arguments?
B. Parents must control how much time teens spend in front of screens
by limiting their teenagers to no more than two hours a day of
television watching, video games, or computer use. Also, parents
should make sure their children do their homework first.
78. What is the author’s main argument in “Turn It Off: Why Our Community
Should Limit Screen Time for Teenagers”? Write a paragraph that
identifies the author’s main argument and explains how well the author
uses reasons, facts, opinions, and other types of evidence to convince
readers. Use details from the passage to support your explanation.
There has appeared in our time a particular class of books and articles which
I sincerely and solemnly think may be called the silliest ever known among
men. They are much more wild than the wildest romances of chivalry and
much more dull than the dullest religious tract. Moreover, the romances of
chivalry were at least about chivalry; the religious tracts are about religion.
But these things are about nothing; they are about what is called Success.
On every bookstall, in every magazine, you may find works telling people
how to succeed. They are books showing men how to succeed in everything;
they are written by men who cannot even succeed in writing books. To begin
with, of course, there is no such thing as Success. Or, if you like to put it so,
there is nothing that is not successful. That a thing is successful merely
means that it is; a millionaire is successful in being a millionaire and a
donkey in being a donkey. Any live man has succeeded in living … But,
passing over the bad logic and bad philosophy in the phrase, we may take it,
as these writers do, in the ordinary sense of success in obtaining money or
worldly position. These writers profess to tell the ordinary man how he may
succeed in his trade or speculation—how, if he is a builder, he may succeed
as a builder; how, if he is a stockbroker, he may succeed as a stockbroker.
They profess to show him how, if he is a grocer, he may become a sporting
yachtsman; how, if he is a tenth-rate journalist, he may become a peer …
This is a definite and business-like proposal, and I really think that the
people who buy these books (if any people do buy them) have a moral, if
not a legal, right to ask for their money back. Nobody would dare to publish
Excerpt from collection, All Things Considered, by G. K. Chesterton. Published by Methuen &
Co., 1908.
79. In “Excerpt from ‘The Fallacy of Success,’” how does Chesterton use the
example of the high jump to illustrate his notion about the “ways of
succeeding”?
Once the seat of the French royal court, the Louvre Palace in Paris is now the
world’s most famous art museum and an important symbol of French
national identity. Begun in 1546 by King Francis I on the ruins of a former
medieval fortress, the Louvre’s immense complex consists of interconnected
wings and courtyards. Opened as a museum during the French Revolution in
1793, the Louvre Museum houses some of history’s best-known art
treasures, including da Vinci’s immortal Mona Lisa.
A Shocking Proposal
Overlooking the Seine River, which divides the city of Paris in two, and
adjacent to the popular Tuileries Garden, the Louvre reminds Parisians daily
of their civic pride. So when French President François Mitterrand launched a
project in 1983 to build a new entrance to the Louvre that better
accommodated its thousands of daily visitors, the great public outcry that
followed came as little surprise. It was not only the prospect of change that
upset the French public, but also Mitterand’s choice of architect and that
architect’s shocking proposal.
The architect was I.M. Pei, who was neither French nor European, but,
instead, an American of Chinese birth and origin. Pei was already a world-
renowned architect, famous for his designs of the East Building of the
National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the John F. Kennedy
Presidential Library and Museum in Boston (for which he was commissioned
by Jacqueline Kennedy herself). He was also winner of the 1983 Pritzker
Prize, architecture’s highest honor.
Despite his renown, Pei’s radical idea to place a large, glass pyramid
structure at the center of the Louvre’s vast main courtyard, the Cour
Napoléon, shocked critics and public alike. Detractors argued that the
pyramid would dominate the courtyard and overshadow the palace, and that
its futuristic appearance would clash too much with the original structure.
80. According to “A New Angle on the World,” I.M. Pei has had tremendous
influence on architecture. Write one paragraph explaining how Pei’s
design for the new entrance to the Louvre demonstrates an essential
element of his architectural style. Use details from the passage to
support your response.
The Ensemble
Ensemble playing simply refers to music made by multiple players and
multiple instruments. Nearly every genre of music employs the ensemble,
from the classical orchestra, jazz bands, and old time string bands all the
way to the modern rock and roll power trio drums, bass, and electric guitar.
Rhythm, melody, and harmony can certainly be achieved by a solo player on
a single instrument, but the power of the ensemble lies in breaking down the
elements of music and utilizing specialized instruments to perform individual
tasks. Drums, for instance, are specifically designed to provide powerful and
defined rhythm, while the violin is designed to project soaring melodies.
Sonic range is a consideration in an ensemble. An instrument’s range is the
total amount of notes it is capable of producing, from its lowest note to its
highest. Different instruments have vastly different ranges, so when used
together, multiple instruments can achieve tremendous sonic range.
Perfect Harmony
After examining the evolution of a few musical instruments, we end with a
broader notion of harmony. In its simplest terms, harmony is the
combination of musical notes used to create a pleasing effect for the ear. A
few voices can achieve this without any instruments at all. However, step
back and listen to an orchestra and you will hear a deeper sense of the word
“harmony,” one that moves through history and crosses oceans.
All of those instruments, combinations of wood, glue, and strings, many of
them with designs that have not changed in hundreds of years, perfectly
evolved to blend together because they have evolved alongside each other.
Generations of craftsmanship and engineering at work vibrate perfectly
together, projecting into the air in perfect balance, all with the singular
purpose of serving the song.
1
scale: the length of the string from the bridge to the nut, which is located by the
instrument’s tuners
82. How does “Excerpt from A Negro Explorer at the North Pole” develop the
central idea that Henson is an expert on the Arctic?
A. midday
B. twilight
C. early morning
D. late afternoon
Chapter 14
The Fringe of the Great Northwest: Saskatoon and Edmonton
Saskatoon, the distributing city for the middle of Saskatchewan, was to give
the Prince a memorable day. It was here that he obtained his first insight
into the life and excitements of the cowboy. Saskatoon, in addition to the
usual reception functions, showed him a “Stampede,” which is a cowboy
sports meeting.
The Prince arrived in the town at noon, and drove through the streets to the
Park and University grounds for the reception ceremonies. It is a keen,
bright place, seeming, indeed, of sparkling newness in the wonderful
clarified sunlight of the prairie.
It is new. Saskatoon is only now beginning its own history. It is still sorting
itself out from the plain which its elevators, business blocks and delightful
residential districts are yet occupied in thrusting back. It is a characteristic
town on the uplift. It snubs and encroaches upon the illimitable fields with its
fine American architecture, and its stone university buildings. It has new
suburbs full of houses of symmetrical Western comeliness in a tract wearing
the air of Buffalo Bill.
It grows so fast that you can almost see it doing it. It has grown so fast that
it has outstripped the guide-book makers. They talk of it in two lines as a
84. In “Excerpt from Westward with the Prince of Wales,” why is the order of
events for the the day the Prince went to the “Stampede” significant?
A. The author described the men who rode bucking horses before he
described the bull riding to emphasize the variety of activities at the
“Stampede.”
C. The author told about the Prince’s procession before describing the
“Stampede” itself to emphasize the importance of the Prince to the
festivities.
For more than 100 years, from the late 18th to the late 19th century,
Hopewell Furnace was the center of a self-contained rural society of 200–
300 people, all of whose work was directly or indirectly related to the
production of iron. Many of these people lived in tenant houses furnished by
the company. Much of their food was grown on acreage belonging to the
company. They bought everything they couldn’t grow or make themselves
from the company store or itinerant peddlers. The heart of the community
was the glowing furnace, whose cycles of filling and tapping set the pace of
life.
A clear-cut paternalistic hierarchy of relationships characterized village
society. The daily lives of the workers varied with the work they performed;
their skills and responsibilities determined their social positions. During his
term as ironmaster, Clement Brooke sat at the top of the economic and
social pyramid, sharing profits and power only with his absentee partners.
From his comfortable home overlooking the entire furnace community, the
ironmaster made policy decisions, assumed responsibility for the successful
operation of the enterprise, and largely controlled the lives of the furnace
employees and their families. The ironmaster’s mansion was at once family
home, business headquarters, boarding house, and social center. The
ironmaster and his family lived in the fashionable style of country gentry,
wearing fine clothing and enjoying expensive furniture and other luxuries. A
A. "Farmers and farm workers developed the arable land of the village and grew
much of its food."
Part 2:
In small groups, take turns sharing the information you found. As a
group, come to consensus on one National Historic Site worthy of
comparing to The Hopewell Village Community. Make a list of features of
your selected site in comparison to the criteria that gave Hopewell Village
Community its status. You will have 15 minutes to participate in this
small-group discussion.
Part 3:
As a large group, take turns sharing the one National Historic Site your
small group selected. Have one person share the characteristics of your
site. You will have 15 minutes to participate in this large-group
discussion.
Part 4:
Finally, individually, reflect on the National Historic Sites your peers
shared in comparison to The Hopewell Village Community that you read
about in the National Park Service excerpt. Compose a response that
answers several questions, all of which should have been answered to
If you are lucky, you live in one of those parts of the world where Nature has
one last fling before settling down into winter's sleep. In those lucky places,
as days shorten and temperatures become crisp, the quiet green palette of
summer foliage is transformed into the vivid autumn palette of reds,
oranges, golds, and browns before the leaves fall off the trees. On special
years, the colors are truly breathtaking.
How does autumn color happen?
For years, scientists have worked to understand the changes that happen to
trees and shrubs in the autumn. Although we don't know all the details, we
do know enough to explain the basics and help you to enjoy more fully
Nature's multicolored autumn farewell. Three factors influence autumn leaf
color—leaf pigments, length of night, and weather, but not quite in the way
we think. The timing of color change and leaf fall are primarily regulated by
the calendar, that is, the increasing length of night. None of the other
environmental influences—temperature, rainfall, food supply, and so on—are
as unvarying as the steadily increasing length of night during autumn. As
days grow shorter, and nights grow longer and cooler, biochemical processes
in the leaf begin to paint the landscape with Nature's autumn palette.
Where do autumn colors come from?
A color palette needs pigments, and there are three types that are involved
in autumn color.
• Chlorophyll, which gives leaves their basic green color. It is necessary for
photosynthesis, the chemical reaction that enables plants to use sunlight
to manufacture sugars for their food. Trees in the temperate zones store
these sugars for their winter dormant period.
• Carotenoids, which produce yellow, orange, and brown colors in such
things as corn, carrots, and daffodils, as well as rutabagas, buttercups,
and bananas.
Both chlorophyll and carotenoids are present in the chloroplasts of leaf cells
throughout the growing season. Most anthocyanins are produced in the
autumn, in response to bright light and excess plant sugars within leaf cells.
During the growing season, chlorophyll is continually being produced and
broken down and leaves appear green. As night length increases in the
autumn, chlorophyll production slows down and then stops and eventually all
the chlorophyll is destroyed. The carotenoids and anthocyanins that are
present in the leaf are then unmasked and show their colors.
Certain colors are characteristic of particular species. Oaks turn red, brown,
or russet; hickories, golden bronze; aspen and yellow-poplar, golden yellow;
dogwood, purplish red; beech, light tan; and sourwood and black tupelo,
crimson. Maples differ species by species—red maple turns brilliant scarlet;
sugar maple, orange-red; and black maple, glowing yellow. Striped maple
becomes almost colorless. Leaves of some species such as the elms simply
shrivel up and fall, exhibiting little color other than drab brown.
The timing of the color change also varies by species. Sourwood in southern
forests can become vividly colorful in late summer while all other species are
still vigorously green. Oaks put on their colors long after other species have
already shed their leaves. These differences in timing among species seem
to be genetically inherited, for a particular species at the same latitude will
show the same coloration in the cool temperatures of high mountain
elevations at about the same time as it does in warmer lowlands.
How does weather affect autumn color?
The amount and brilliance of the colors that develop in any particular
autumn season are related to weather conditions that occur before and
during the time the chlorophyll in the leaves is dwindling. Temperature and
moisture are the main influences.
A succession of warm, sunny days and cool, crisp but not freezing nights
seems to bring about the most spectacular color displays. During these days,
lots of sugars are produced in the leaf but the cool nights and the gradual
closing of veins going into the leaf prevent these sugars from moving out.
These conditions—lots of sugar and lots of light—spur production of the
brilliant anthocyanin pigments, which tint reds, purples, and crimson.
Because carotenoids are always present in leaves, the yellow and gold colors
87. In the article “Why Leaves Change Color,” the author explains why leaf
fall is beneficial to deciduous trees. Write one paragraph explaining how
the author develops this idea in the last section, “What does all this do
for the tree?” Use details from the passage to support your answer.
Part 2:
Convert your planning into a visual aid that you can effectively use to
explain the process to a small group of students.
Part 3:
Present your understanding of the process of autumn leaf color to your
small group. Make strategic use of your visual representation to enhance
your reasoning and evidence. You will have five minutes to present your
findings.
Scoring:
Your work will be scored based upon the following:
• how well you interpret the information in the article and use additional
findings from credible online sites
• how well you visualize the steps in the process and then transform
those steps into a visual representation
• how well you demonstrate the connections between the steps
• how clearly you orally communicate your ideas with the help of your
visual representation
89. Which statement from “The Work of the Colorado River” best supports
the claim that the river has interesting physical features?
A. “At first the banks of the river were low, and its course was easily
turned one way or another.”
B. “The canyon was so deep that rocks standing in the bottom, which
were in reality higher than the Seville cathedral, appeared no taller
than a man.”
C. “Another party discovered the mouth of the river and called it,
because of their safe arrival, The River of Our Lady of Safe Conduct.”
Did you know that numerous cultures have games played with “balls”
made of such substances as grass and caribou hair,or which were
coconuts, oranges, or pig bladders? For centuries, people in different
cultures and times have had a penchant for kicking a ball of some
sort to a specific goal. Soccer1 is probably the most popular game
worldwide although it has grown slowly in popularity here in the
United States.
1
Soccer: a game played on a rectangular field with net goals at each end; teams of eleven
players use their feet to move a ball down the field and score by kicking the ball into the
opponent's goal
2
World Cup: a soccer tournament held every four years to determine which qualifying
national team is the world champion
91. With which statement would the author most likely agree?
B.
C.
Soccer will become more popular than football.
How does the excerpt above contribute the author’s claim that soccer has
become a popular sport?
93. Ervin began his speech by referring to the supporters of the equal rights
amendment. What was his attitude and tone toward the supporters? How
might beginning the speech in this way affect how listeners reacted to
the rest of his speech? Consider your answers to these questions and
write a one-paragraph response. Use details from the passage to support
your answer.
The reader will perhaps understand that at first everything was so strange
about me, and my position was the outcome of such unexpected adventures,
that I had no discernment of the relative strangeness of this or that thing. I
followed the llama up the beach, and was overtaken by Montgomery, who
asked me not to enter the stone enclosure. I noticed then that the puma in
its cage and the pile of packages had been placed outside the entrance to
this quadrangle.
I turned and saw that the launch had now been unloaded, run out again, and
was being beached, and the white-haired man was walking towards us. He
addressed Montgomery.
“And now comes the problem of this uninvited guest. What are we to do with
him?”
“He knows something of science,” said Montgomery.
“I’m itching to get to work again—with this new stuff,” said the white-haired
man, nodding towards the enclosure. His eyes grew brighter.
“I daresay you are,” said Montgomery, in anything but a cordial tone.
“We can’t send him over there, and we can’t spare the time to build him a
new shanty; and we certainly can’t take him into our confidence just yet.”
1
saturnine: melancholy
Excerpt from novel The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells. Published by the Garden City
Publishing Company, 1896.
94. What mood does the writer establish in “Excerpt from The Island of Dr.
Moreau”? Write two to three paragraphs explaining which details
contribute to this mood. Support your response with details from the
passage.
95. Which sentence from “The Island of Dr. Moreau” best illustrates that
Moreau has a mysterious past?
A. “‘I’m itching to get to work again—with this new stuff,’ said the
white-haired man, nodding towards the enclosure.”
B. “He twisted his heavy mouth into a faint smile—he was one of those
saturnine people who smile with the corners of the mouth down,—
and bowed his acknowledgment of my complaisance.”
C. “‘We usually have our meals in here,’ said Montgomery, and then, as
if in doubt, went out after the other. ‘Moreau!’ I heard him call, and
for the moment I do not think I noticed.”
I see a great nation, upon a great continent, blessed with a great wealth of
natural resources. Its hundred and thirty million people are at peace among
themselves; they are making their country a good neighbor among the
nations. I see a United States which can demonstrate that, under democratic
methods of government, national wealth can be translated into a spreading
volume of human comforts [until now] unknown, and the lowest standard of
living can be raised far above the level of mere subsistence.
But here is the challenge to our democracy: In this nation I see tens of
millions of its citizens—a substantial part of its whole population—who at this
very moment are denied the greater part of what the very lowest standards
of today call the necessities of life.
I see millions of families trying to live on incomes so meager that the pall of
family disaster hangs over them day by day.
I see millions whose daily lives in city and on farm continue under conditions
labeled indecent by a so-called polite society half a century ago.
I see millions denied education, recreation, and the opportunity to better
their lot and the lot of their children.
I see millions lacking the means to buy the products of farm and factory and
by their poverty denying work and productiveness to many other millions.
I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished.
97.
Student Directions: In President Roosevelt’s and President Johnson’s
speeches, each president described challenges faced by Americans. You
will write an essay in which you identify the challenges outlined in each
speech and the various programs that each president endorsed as a way
of addressing these problems: Roosevelt’s New Deal programs and
Johnson’s Great Society programs.
Part 1:
Conduct research to answer the following questions:
Use reliable outside sources to answer the questions and make notes on
your findings. Be sure to record publication information, such as the title,
author, and publication date, and to clearly identify notes from each
source so that you can cite it appropriately in your essay.
Part 2:
Use the speeches and your research notes to write an essay that explains
the major concerns each president addresses and the programs that they
promoted to address these concerns. Include an introduction and a
conclusion that compares the major concerns and the associated
programs for each administration.
Scoring:
Your essay will be scored based on the following criteria:
Play
Play
“Play”
Excerpt from Study of Child Life
by Marion Foster Washburne
Even given freedom and sympathy, the child needs something more in order
to play well: he needs the right materials. The best materials are those that
are common to him and to the rest of the world, far better than expensive
toys that mark him apart from the world of less fortunate children. Such toys
are not in any way desirable, and they may even be harmful. What he needs
are various simple arrangements of the elements—earth, air, and water.
(1) Earth.
Mud-pies
The child has a noted affinity for it, and he is specially happy when he has
plenty of it on hands, face, and clothes. The love of mud-pies is universal;
children of all nationalities and of all degrees of civilization delight in it. No
activity could be more wholesome.
Sand
Next to mud comes sand. It is cleaner in appearance and can be brought
into the house. A tray of moistened sand, set upon a low table, should be in
Clay
Clay is more difficult to manage indoors, because it gets dry and sifts all
about the house, but if a corner of the cellar, where there is a good light,
can be given up for a strong table and a jar of clay mixed with some water,
it will be found a great resource for rainy days. If modeling aprons of strong
material, buttoned with one button at the neck, be hung near the jar of clay,
the children may work in this material without spoiling their clothes. Clay-
modeling is an excellent form of manual training, developing without forcing
the delicate muscles of the fingers and wrists, and giving wide opportunity
for the exercise of the imagination.
Digging
Earth may be played with in still another way. Children should dig in it; for
all pass through the digging stage and this should be given free swing. It
develops their muscles and keeps them busy at helpful and constructive
work. They may dig a well, make a cave, or a pond, or burrow underground
and make tunnels like a mole. Give them spades and a piece of ground they
can do with as they like, dress them in overalls, and it will be long before
you are asked to think of another amusement for them.
Gardens
In still another way the earth may be utilized, for children may make
gardens of it. Indeed, there are those who say that no child's education is
complete until he has had a garden of his own and grown in it all sorts of
seeds from pansies to potatoes. But a garden is too much for a young child
to care for all alone. He needs the help, advice, and companionship of some
older person. You must be careful, however, to give help only when it is
really desired; and careful also not to let him feel that the garden is a task
to which he is driven daily, but a joy that draws him.
(3) Water.
Perhaps the very first thing he learns to play with is water. Almost before he
knows the use of his hands and legs he plays with water in his bath, and
sucks his sponge with joy, thus feeling the water with his chief organs of
touch, his mouth and tongue. A few months later he will be glad to pour
water out of a tin cup. Even when he is two or three years old, he may be
amused by the hour, by dressing him in a woolen gown, with his sleeves
rolled high, and setting him down before a big bowl or his own bath-tub half
full of warm water. To this may be added a sponge, a tin cup, a few bits of
wood, and some paper. They should not be given all at once, but one at a
time, the child allowed to exhaust the possibilities of each before another is
added. Still later he may be given the bits of soap left after a cake of soap is
used up. Give him also a few empty bottles or bowls and let him put them
away with a solid mass of soap-suds in them and see what will happen.
98. Which sentence from “Play” best supports the inference that all children
can and should be provided toys from nature in order to make the world
A. “Even given freedom and sympathy, the child needs something more
in order to play well: he needs the right materials.”
B. “The best materials are those that are common to him and to the
rest of the world, far better than expensive toys that mark him apart
from the world of less fortunate children.”
D. “They should not be given all at once, but one at a time, the child
allowed to exhaust the possibilities of each before another is added.”
99. In “Play,” Marion Foster Washburne claims that children do not need
manufactured toys. Do you agree or disagree with this claim? Write one
or two paragraphs to explain, using details from “Play” to support your
answer. Make sure to use a formal style and objective tone in your
answer.
100. Which sentence provides the best explanation for why the author of
“Play” recommends earth, air, and water as superior play materials for
children?
101. What is the main idea covered by Marion Foster Washburne in “Play”?
Write one to two paragraphs summarizing the main idea and key points
in the passage. Use evidence from the passage for support.
On March 5, 1841, the United States Senate found itself deep in debate over
who should be the official Senate printer. The majority of senators wanted to
fire the current printer while the minority supported their retention and were
willing to talk at length about the subject. In fact, they talked for six days,
taking advantage of a Senate rule which allowed them to refuse to yield the
floor to others. This debate was the Senate’s first filibuster.
Essentially, the filibuster is a tactic used to extend, potentially indefinitely,
debate on a measure. This effectively prevents the measure from coming to a
“Yea” or “Nay” vote. The origin of the word filibuster reflects its somewhat
questionable status. The word refers to the buccaneers who plundered Spanish
ships plying the commercial trade route between Spain and South America. A
filibusterer was essentially a pirate.
What is ironic is that the Founders saw the Senate, with its six-year terms and
representation of a whole state instead of a single region, as practicing a more
mature and thoughtful approach to legislation than the House. The filibuster
was intended to be a check against partisan actions and feelings. However, the
dramatic increase in the use of the filibuster has made it more a partisan
strategy than a deliberative tool.
One of the most famous and noble filibusters is a fictional one: the scene from
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington in which Jimmy Stewart’s character talks to the
point of exhaustion to postpone a bill and to assert his innocence concerning a
related scandal. Filibusters are rarely so romantic. In 1957, Sen. Strom
Thurmond filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act
of 1957. In 1964, southern Democratic senators filibustered for 75 hours in
order to prevent the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This included a
14-hour speech by Sen. Robert Byrd that showed “the extent to which a mind
warped with . . . prejudice will go—even in the hallowed halls of Congress,”
according to a local NAACP president upon its completion. Byrd said later that
he regretted his remarks.
Filibusters have included things such as Louisiana senator Huey Long’s
102. The author of “The ‘Art’ of the Filibuster” takes a position on the validity of
the filibuster as a legislative tool. Write one paragraph that answers these
questions:
103. How does Johnson present his ideas about a “Great Society” in “Lyndon
Johnson’s Great Society Speech”? Write a one-paragraph description of
the technique he uses to present his ideas and an explanation of the
connections he draws between these ideas. Use details from the speech
to support your answer.
104. Read this sentence from “Lyndon Johnson's Great Society Speech.”
The challenge of the next half century is whether we have the
wisdom to use that wealth to enrich and elevate our national
life, and to advance the quality of our American civilization.
How does this sentence support Johnson's purpose in his speech?
D. It emphasizes the fact that the nation has the wealth and ability to
improve quality of life.
Captain Earthship
Captain Earthship
Captain Earthship
How would you like to build a ship? Live in a ship? Create a new kind of dwelling? If you
are creative and patient enough, you can be the captain of your own Earthship. Some
things to consider: an Earthship does not float or move in water. It does not fly. The only
water it will touch will be the rain and snow that hits the roof. An Earthship is a house,
not any sort of ship at all!
An architect named Michael Reynolds promotes the design and construction of Earthship
homes in many parts of the world. He believes there are multiple benefits to the Earthshi
home design that can help people live better and help the environment.
Design
The most important element of the Earthship design is the foundation wall, which is
composed mostly of flattened tires. Recycled tires and soil are used to create solid bricks
that are the diameter of a car tire. The wall is built into a hillside, much like a basement,
Benefits
Living in an Earthship is currently an experiment in living “green,” or living in an
environmentally conscious way. It is also a way to live with very few monthly expenses.
This can be beneficial to people interested in construction and the environment. Recycling
old car tires to build the foundation wall of a house saves them from going to a landfill.
Maintaining a house that can run on only solar power saves electricity. Most Earthship
residents store rainwater in large underground cisterns and then treat it, or clean it, for
drinking and bathing. Even though the resident must learn a bit about using the solar
panels and water filters, the key benefit of using solar power and rain water is that there
are no utility bills to pay every month.
Another benefit of an Earthship is that it stays cool in the summer and warm in the
winter. The north side of the house is like a basement; the wall, surrounded by soil,
maintains a cool temperature. In the winter, the sun shining through the south-facing
windows warms the house and the north wall, built into the soil, keeps that temperature
constant. This also keeps utility bills at almost zero.
Lastly, Earthships are designed with many windows in strategic places to best capture
sunlight. Plants and produce can be grown in an attached sun room of the Earthship
home. This is beneficial for the environment and for the family living in an Earthship
because they are able to reap a harvest of fresh fruits and vegetables right on their porch
all year long.
Where can you visit an Earthship? Most Earthships are built in rural areas. Many have
been built in the American Southwest. There is a neighborhood in northern New Mexico
where all the homes are Earthships. Even in the harsh desert climate with extreme
temperatures, Earthships have proven to be successful dwellings. Due to evidence that
living in an Earthship can improve people’s quality of life, with less money spent, there is
105. In the Design section of “Captain Earthship,” the author explains the design of an
earthship. Write one to two paragraphs analyzing how the following section, Benefits
builds on the ideas from Design and further develops these ideas.
Include details from “Captain Earthship” for support.
Practice Makes . . .
Practice Makes . . .
Practice Makes . . .
Imagine this scenario: A young girl watches a basketball game on television.
She sees her idol, the dominant player of her generation, score what seems
like an astronomical number of points and grab nearly as many rebounds.
The girl’s father, who is watching the game with her, says wonderingly, “I
have never seen such a gifted basketball player.”
Or how about this: A man attends a symphony performance. The featured
musician is a celebrated violinist who has been performing since age
thirteen. “Can you imagine giving concerts at such a young age?” he hears a
woman next to him exclaim. “Some people just have that inborn musical
talent,” he adds.
Deliberate Practice
“Ridiculous,” say the skeptics. “If it all comes down to practice, then the kid
who takes weekly music lessons would be Mozart—and that is obviously not
the case.” In this context, however, “practice” refers not to repetitive piano
scales but to something very different, a process more precisely referred to
as “deliberate practice.” Psychologist K. Anders Ericsson coined this term in
1993 to account for a phenomenon he discovered in his research. According
106. In the passage “Practice Makes” the author makes claims regarding the
role genetics has on an individual, as opposed to the roles the
environment and work ethic have on the talent of an individual.
Write an essay to identify the author’s claim regarding genetics and
nature vs. environment and work ethic. Evaluate the claim as being
either logical or invalid, using evidence from the passage to either
support or reject the author’s claims.
Your essay will be scored on the following criteria:
Speech “At Madison Square Garden” by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Delivered October 31,
1936.
107. Why did President Roosevelt frequently refer to the idea of peace in
“Excerpt from FDR’s Speech at Madison Square Garden”?
108. Which of the following paragraphs best summarizes the central idea of
“Blame It on the Moon”?
A. Studying the moon further will provide additional insight into the
dynamic relationship between Earth and its closest neighbor. More
than just a glowing crescent or orb in the sky, the moon is essential
for life on Earth as we know it.
B. The moon came from Earth and is still connected to Earth in many
ways. The moon and Earth share a similar composition. Earth’s
rotation, axis, and tides are maintained by the steady gravitational
pull of the moon. Last, the moon provides essential night-time light
to sustain nocturnal hunting activities.
by Henry Adams
The chief charm of New England was harshness of contrasts and extremes of
sensibility — a cold that froze the blood, and a heat that boiled it — so that
the pleasure of hating — one's self if no better victim offered— was not its
rarest amusement; but the charm was a true and natural child of the soil,
not a cultivated weed of the ancients. The violence of the contrast was real
and made the strongest motive of education. The double exterior nature
gave life its relative values. Winter and summer, cold and heat, town and
country, force and freedom, marked two modes of life and thought, balanced
like lobes of the brain. Town was winter confinement, school, rule, discipline;
straight, gloomy streets, piled with six feet of snow in the middle; frosts that
made the snow sing under wheels or runners; thaws when the streets
became dangerous to cross; society of uncles, aunts, and cousins who
expected children to behave themselves, and who were not always gratified;
above all else, winter represented the desire to escape and go free. Town
was restraint, law, unity. Country, only seven miles away, was liberty,
diversity, outlawry, the endless delight of mere sense impressions given by
nature for nothing, and breathed by boys without knowing it.
Boys are wild animals, rich in the treasures of sense, but the New England
boy had a wider range of emotions than boys of more equable climates. He
felt his nature crudely, as it was meant. To the boy Henry Adams, summer
was drunken. Among senses, smell was the strongest—smell of hot pine-
woods and sweet-fern in the scorching summer noon; of new-mown hay; of
ploughed earth; of box hedges; of peaches, lilacs, syringas; of stables,
barns, cow-yards; of salt water and low tide on the marshes; nothing came
amiss. Next to smell came taste, and the children knew the taste of
Excerpt from The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams. Published by The Riverside
Press, 1918.
109. How does the author of “Excerpt from The Education of Henry Adams”
develop his point of view?
110. Which statement from the passage supports the idea that the Voting
Rights Act of 1965 is a necessary step to ensure the equality of rights?
C. “But 95 years have passed since the 15th amendment gave all
Negroes the right to vote.”
D. “But however viewed, the denial of the right to vote is still a deadly
wrong.”
B. “It means that dedicated leaders must work around the clock to
teach people their rights and their responsibilities.”
Movies and television shows that focus on a mysterious illness are scarily
popular today. The plots are similar: a mysterious and uncontrollable illness
is afflicting the population, usually in a large urban area. Scientists unravel
the mystery and rescue the populace from dire consequences. Fortunately,
such occurrences are fictional. Or are they? Most students have heard the
term “the black death,” also known as “the plague.” The words send chills
down the spines of almost anyone who hears it, even epidemiologists and
doctors. Beyond the purely scientific community, horrific images of affected
European towns and villages infest the minds of students who studied the
event in world history courses.
In the early Middle Ages, people had limited knowledge about effective ways
to prevent or cure disease or arrest its proliferation. They had little
understanding of epidemics. If they had, perhaps the events from 660 years
ago would have proceeded differently. At that time, between 1348 and
1350, a quarter of the population of Europe died from bubonic plague,
commonly called “black death” because of the symptomatic dark splotches
that blossomed on the skin of victims.
The contagion dispersed intermittently yet rapidly across the European
continent. Investigators pinpoint the inception of the epidemic to the winter
of 1348 in port cities in Italy. The scourge spread northward through Italy
and by summer had begun ravaging Switzerland, Hungary, Austria, and was
bursting out in France and Spain. The contagion had traversed the English
Channel to England by December, and for the next two years advanced
across the entire European continent, infecting Norway and Sweden in
winter 1350.
Medical sleuths studying the epidemic noticed a pattern in its dispersal. The
disease proliferated quickly in the spring and summer; it decelerated
noticeably in the winter. The scientific detectives reasoned that the
advancement of whatever was causing the disease was impeded by cold
weather. Investigators noted that in addition to the episodic spread, there
Further research indicated that the pandemic had begun in China in the early
1300s. It marched westward on caravans and ships from China, one of the
busiest trading nations in the world. Chinese silk and other goods were
hauled throughout Asia and the Middle East on caravans and ships. At each
stop rats scurried from hiding places and dispersed throughout the city. The
cities along the Silk Road were ravaged by the plague, where crowding and
unsanitary conditions promoted its spread. Medical historians theorize that
the plague was introduced to Europe when rats abandoning trading vessels
in Italian ports carried infected fleas onto the land. The rest is history.
Turn the calendar to today. Bubonic plague still exists. In the United States,
10 to 15 scattered cases are diagnosed each year. Worldwide, there are
reports of 1,000 to 3,000 cases annually. However, the term “plague” is not
feared now as it was in the 1300s. The setting is very different.
Epidemiologists have the latest scientific implements to battle illness. In the
D. history of the disease, the Ebola virus, the spreading of the disease
Excerpt from speech, “Address at Gettysburg,” by Woodrow Wilson. Delivered July 4, 1913.
“The President’s Farewell Address to the American People” in the public domain.
116. Read this sentence from “Excerpt from The President’s Farewell Address
to the American People.”
I was a soldier in the First World War, and I know what a soldier
goes through. I know well the anguish that mothers and fathers
and families go through.
Why did Truman most likely include this rhetorical detail?
Purr-fect Predators
Purr-fect Predators
Purr-fect Predators
When we think of invasive species—non-native plants and animals that pose
a threat to the environment where they are introduced—we may imagine
exotic marine creatures, like zebra mussels, or fearsome reptiles, like large
Burmese pythons, critters that cause harm in very limited locations. There is
one particular invasive species in the United States, however, that is
responsible for the deaths of billions of birds and small mammals each year.
While those figures are staggering, what is even more shocking is that many
of us harbor these predators in our very own homes.
Early in 2013, a scientific study documenting the impact of outdoor cats on
our natural world was published in an online scientific journal. Scientists
from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service estimated that domestic cats in the United States kill about
2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion mammals a year. This includes both cats
owned as pets that spend all or part of their day outdoors, and stray or feral
cats that live outside.
Most of us do not think of our cherished family pets as members of an
invasive species, but, in fact, that is what they are. Cats are native to
northeast Africa. They were first domesticated and bred in Egypt more than
4,000 years ago. They were brought to the United States in the 1880s as a
means of controlling rodent infestations associated with agriculture. This
must have seemed like a good idea at the time; cats excel at hunting and
killing rodents. However, native small mammals are an important part of a
healthy, diverse ecosystem. Unfortunately, cats do not distinguish between
critters we consider pests and others whose numbers we actually want to
protect!
Most of the mammals killed by these cuddly kitties are native species, like
shrews, chipmunks, and voles. Many of the birds hunted and killed by cats
are migratory songbirds, which are federally protected. While the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service report is only one of many that have been published
over the years, the estimated kill rates in this recent report are two to four
times higher than reported in previous studies. In short, domestic cats are
Rapidly Reproducing
Today, cats may be the most widespread predators in the world. Their
numbers are growing globally, even as songbirds and other animals cats
prey on are in decline.
Cats in the United States now number more than 77 million. Cats that are
family pets have many advantages over native predators. They are
protected from predators, starvation, and disease—factors that keep the
populations of native predators under control.
Unlike many native predators, cats are not territorial, so they can exist in
higher densities than native predators and may out-compete them for food.
Of course, our pets do not need to kill to survive, but their hunting instinct is
strong. They will hunt and kill even if they are not hungry.
Unaltered cats are also prolific breeders. An average female cat can have
three litters a year, with four to six kittens per litter.
The latest study estimates that pet cats are responsible for only about 20
percent of the birds and 11 percent of the mammals killed each year. The
bulk of the killing is done by the nation’s 80 million or so stray cats. These
cats have no owners, but have gotten lost or strayed away from home.
Others were simply abandoned by their owners or are the offspring of such
cats.
Many animal welfare organizations support and run programs in which stray
and feral cats are humanely captured, vaccinated, spayed or neutered,
and—if they cannot be adopted—returned to the outdoor colony from which
they came. Supporters of this approach say this is a humane alternative to
large-scale euthanasia, and that, since they cannot reproduce, a colony of
neutered cats will eventually disappear.
Opponents say that trap-and-release programs actually make the cat
population problem worse because they unintentionally encourage people to
abandon unwanted pets to outdoor colonies. (Abandoning pets this way is
illegal, but all too common.) Many of these colonies are lovingly fed by well-
meaning volunteers. Since cats are not strictly territorial, new cats
frequently join existing colonies. Some colonies are huge. One in Key Largo,
Florida, has an estimated 1,000 cats. Ensuring that all animals in a colony
this size are vaccinated and spayed or neutered is a very big undertaking!
Of course, cats are not ultimately responsible for killing native wildlife—
You may have heard that drinking a glass of warm milk before going to bed
can help one sleep. Conversely, an old tale claims that eating cheese before
bed will cause both restlessness and odd dreams.
A Cheesy Experiment
Why would cheese cause wakefulness while milk would induce sleep? A few
years ago, the British Cheese Board sought to answer the question, “Does
cheese cause nightmares?” They discovered that cheese, like milk, seems to
aid in producing quality sleep when eaten in small quantities before bed.
Furthermore, the type of cheese eaten seems to affect the type of dreams
that individuals may experience.
Though not conclusive, the British Cheese Board study yielded some
interesting data. Participants were asked to eat a very small piece of cheese
(equivalent to four-fifths of an ounce) about half an hour before bedtime.
The participants were then asked to record their dreams when they woke up
in the morning.
Two hundred volunteers signed up, and each one ate a small piece of cheese
every night for a week. At the end of the week, 72 percent of the
participants in the study reported having had a sound sleep every night, and
67 percent could remember all of their dreams. Not a single participant
Tryptophanic Relaxation
Scientists cannot definitively determine why cheese helps promote good
sleep, or why specific cheeses induce specific types of dreams. But many
nutritionists and doctors postulate that the reason for better sleep may have
to do with cheese’s rich repository of an essential amino acid called
tryptophan. Tryptophan is called an essential amino acid because it is vital
for normal bodily function, but the body cannot produce it naturally.
Therefore, tryptophan must be obtained from food sources.
Tryptophan is a precursor for producing a molecule in the body called
serotonin. In turn, serotonin is used to make melatonin, a key chemical in
reducing stress levels and regulating sleep. According to the National Sleep
Foundation, carbohydrates make tryptophan more available to the brain. So
meals or snacks that are heavy in carbohydrates and rich in protein—
specifically tryptophan—can especially promote a sleepy effect in some
individuals.
In addition to cheese, turkey is a good source of tryptophan and has been
credited with why so many individuals feel sleepy after eating a big
Thanksgiving dinner. However, while tryptophan may play a small role in the
desire for a post-Thanksgiving dinner nap, it is more likely that the large
amounts of carbohydrates in the turkey meal, such as from mashed potatoes
and pumpkin pie, are causing the effect. Anytime a large meal is eaten, the
body’s systems switch to a less alert state.
An interesting experiment would be to discover if other cheeses, such as
Swiss cheese or cottage cheese, have the same effect on sleep patterns.
Another would be to eat a small quantity of other foods that contain
significant amounts of tryptophan before bed to see if they have the same
results as in the British Cheese Board experiment. Turkey is one good
source, but chicken, fish, tofu, nuts, beans, and egg whites are all replete
with tryptophan too. Pleasant dreams!
118. In “Sleepy Milk, Scary Cheese?” the author describes the possible
effects of food on sleep patterns. Write one to two paragraphs
explaining one of the effects described in the article. Use details from
the article to support your response.
Ladies and gentlemen, tonight as we celebrate the one hundred and forty-
first birthday of one of the greatest men in American history, I would like to
be able to talk about what a glorious day today is in the history of the world.
As we celebrate the birth of this man who with his whole heart and soul
hated war, I would like to be able to speak of peace in our time, of war
being outlawed, and of world-wide disarmament. These would be truly
appropriate things to be able to mention as we celebrate the birthday of
Abraham Lincoln.
Five years after a world war has been won, men’s hearts should anticipate a
long peace, and men’s minds should be free from the heavy weight that
comes with war. But this is not such a period for this is not a period of
peace. This is a time of the “cold war.” This is a time when all the world is
split into two vast, increasingly hostile armed camps—a time of a great
armaments race …
The one encouraging thing is that the "mad moment" has not yet arrived for
the firing of the gun or the exploding of the bomb which will set civilization
about the final task of destroying itself. There is still a hope for peace if we
finally decide that no longer can we safely blind our eyes and close our ears
to those facts which are shaping up more and more clearly. And that is that
we are now engaged in a show-down fight—not the usual war between
nations for land areas or other material gains, but a war between two
diametrically opposed ideologies.
1
repudiated: denied the truth or validity
Excerpt from speech “Speech at Wheeling, West Virginia, Read into the Congressional
Record,” by Joseph McCarthy. Delivered February 9, 1950.
119. Read this sentence from “Speech at Wheeling, West Virginia, Read into
the Congressional Record.”
. . . [W]e are now engaged in a show-down fight—not the usual
C. the escalation of the arms race between the United States and
Soviet Russia
1
by name: Chaser’s owner wrote the name of each toy in indelible marker on the toys so
that he would remember the names and use them consistently.
120. In the final paragraph of “Chaser, the Border Collie,” the author
describes the roles of nature and nurture in Chaser’s extraordinary
abilities. Explain what the author means by nature and nurture, and
why these two concepts are important for understanding the article.
Use details from the article to support your answer.
121.
Student Directions: In “Chaser, the Border Collie,” the author asks
whether Chaser is “the Einstein of dogs” or a typical border collie.
Analyze how the author resolves this question over the course of the
article. In your analysis, include a response about whether you find the
author’s ideas, evidence, and conclusion, persuasive.
Part 1:
Begin your analysis. First, reread the passage carefully. Then identify
these elements of the passage:
Take notes about the effectiveness of the author’s ideas, evidence, and
the order in which the author presents them. Identify any parts of the
passage in which a person might reasonably disagree with the author’s
conclusions about Chaser, or in which the author leaves some issues
unresolved. Finally, write reasons for your own conclusions about
Chaser.
Part 2:
Scoring:
Excerpt from "Decade Speech: On the Progress of Education and Industrial Avocations for
Women"
Excerpt from "Decade Speech: On the Progress of Education and Industrial Avocations for Women"
Excerpt from "Decade Speech: On the Progress of Education and
Industrial Avocations for Women"
by Matilda Joslyn Gage
Matilda Joslyn Gage was a dedicated abolitionist, whose home was
on the Underground Railroad. She was eventually attracted to the
women’s suffrage movement, becoming a speaker and writer for the
cause from the mid- to late-1800s.The following excerpt is from a
speech of hers called “Decade Speech: On the Progress of Education
and Industrial Avocations for Women.”
[I]t has fallen upon me to especially call your attention to the advanced
educational facilities enjoyed by the women of 1870, compared with those
enjoyed by the women of 1850 …
The progress of education for women was for years very slow. Although the
first grant of land in the United States for a public schoolhouse was made by
a woman, it was not the sex to which she belonged that enjoyed its benefits.
Even the common-school system of Massachusetts, which is pointed to with
so much pride, was originated for boys alone. Thomas Hughes, in his Boston
speech the other day, declared that England had derived her educational
inspiration from the common-school system of Massachusetts. It was the
admission of girls to its benefits, an admission primarily made by certain
districts to secure their quota of school money. It was the admission of girls
to common-school advantages, which made of that system what it now is.
Twenty years ago girls stood upon an equality with boys in common-schools,
but not elsewhere had they equal educational advantages. Two colleges at
that time, Oberlin and Antioch, professed to admit women upon an equality,
but in 1850, no woman in them was allowed to deliver, or even read her own
graduating oration. Her presence upon the platform was considered out of
place, and if her thoughts were given to the world, the college demanded
their utterance through a man’s mouth.
Excerpt from speech, “Decade Speech: On the Progress of Education and Industrial
Avocations for Women,” by Matilda Joslyn Gage. Published by Journeymen Printers’ Co-
operative Association, 1871.
122. What is the most likely reason Gage adds specific examples to the final
paragraph of “Excerpt from Decade Speech: On the Progress of
Education and Industrial Avocations for Women”?
“I saw the Golden Spike driven at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869. I had
a beef contract to furnish meat to the construction camps of Benson and
West ...
On the last day, only about 100 feet were laid, and everybody tried to have
a hand in the work. I took a shovel from an Irishman, and threw a shovel
full of dirt on the ties just to tell about it afterward.
A special train from the west brought Sidney Dillon, General Dodge, T. C.
Durant, John R. Duff, S. A. Seymour, and a lot of newspaper men …
Another train made up at Ogden carried the band from Fort Douglas, and the
leading men of Utah Territory …
California furnished the Golden Spike. Governor Tuttle of Nevada furnished
one of silver. General Stanford ... presented one of gold, silver, and iron
from Arizona. The last tie was of California laurel.
When they came to drive the last spike, Governor Stanford, president of the
Central Pacific, took the sledge, and the first time he struck he missed the
spike and hit the rail.
What a howl went up! ... [E]verybody yelled with delight. ‘He missed it. Yee.’
The engineers blew the whistles and rang their bells. Then Stanford tried it
again and tapped the spike and the telegraph operators had fixed their
instruments so that the tap was reported in all the offices east and west, and
On May 10, 1869, a crowd of railroad workers, politicians, and local citizens
gathered at Promontory Point, Utah. They cheered as a final, gold-plated
railroad spike was driven in, linking the Central Pacific Railroad and the
Union Pacific Railroad. Together, the railroads helped connect the eastern
United States and the western United States, forming the first
transcontinental railroad. This railroad stretched for 1,907 miles, from
Sacramento, California, to Council Bluffs, Iowa. At Council Bluffs, the
railroad connected to other rail lines, which ran to eastern and midwestern
cities.
The project was the result of a great deal of effort and expense. Research on
potential routes for a transcontinental railroad had begun in 1853, as
scientists and surveyors spent years gathering information on western
Fawnia, with blushing face, made [Dorastus] this ready answer: ‘Sir, what
richer state than content, or what sweeter life than quiet? We shepherds are
not born to honour, nor [serve] beauty; the less care we have to fear fame
or fortune. We count our attire brave enough if warm enough, and our food
dainty if to suffice nature. Our greatest enemy is the wolf, our only care in
safe keeping our flock. Instead of courtly ditties we spend the days with
country songs. Our [daydreams] are homely thoughts, delighting as much to
talk of Pan and his country pranks, as ladies to tell of Venus and her wanton
toys. Our toil is in shifting the folds1 and looking to the lambs, easy labours—
oft singing and telling tales, homely pleasures. Our greatest wealth not to
covet, our honour not to climb, our quiet not to care. Envy looketh not so
low as shepherds. Shepherds gaze not so high as ambition. We are rich in
that we are poor with content, and proud only in this, that we have no cause
to be proud.’
This witty answer of Fawnia so inflamed Dorastus’ fancy, as he commended
himself for making so good a choice, thinking if her birth were answerable to
her wit and beauty, that she were a fit mate for the most famous prince in
the world. He, therefore, began to sift her more narrowly on this manner:
‘Fawnia, I see thou art content with country labours, because thou knowest
not courtly pleasures. I commend thy wit, and pity thy want; but wilt thou
leave thy father’s cottage and serve a courtly mistress?’
‘Sir,’ quoth she, ‘beggars ought not to strive against fortune, nor to gaze
Pandosto, or, The Historie of Dorastus and Fawnia in the public domain.
124. After reading the excerpt from Pandosto, imagine that a number of
years have passed. Write a two- or three-page narrative about a later
meeting between Dorastus and Fawnia. Your narrative should:
1
Perdita: name based on the Latin word meaning “lost”
2
ewes: female sheep
126. In “Excerpt from Pandosto," what does Fawnia’s change of heart reveal
D. She begins to see the contradiction between her actions and how
she truly feels.
“An Address to the Congress of the United States” in the public domain.
To many people it is not quite clear just what the Federal Suffrage
Amendment is and how the suffragists aim to secure it. Such an amendment
to the Constitution of the United States would make woman suffrage
universal throughout the country without giving the people an opportunity to
vote upon it. It is necessary for the passage of such an amendment that it
should secure a two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives and in the
Senate and that it should be signed by the president. It then goes before the
legislatures of all the states, and if 36 of these endorse it, it becomes a law
in all the states. That is, if the legislatures of 36 of the smaller and more
sparsely settled states will endorse the amendment, woman suffrage can be
forced upon the millions of people in [larger, more populous states] where
suffrage has recently been defeated by big majorities.
In speaking of the granting of woman suffrage by federal amendment, the
New York World,1 of August 4, says:
“It is to be done by a method which gives Nevada, with a population of
81,875, the same power as New York, with a population of 9,113,279. It is a
measure to enable Idaho to say who shall vote in electing a mayor of New
York City and Montana to say who shall vote in electing an alderman in
Buffalo.
The population of the United States by the census of 1910 was 91,972,266.
More than 50,000,000 of this population is centered in the twelve states of
1
New York World: daily newspaper published in New York City from 1860 through 1931
2
referendum: submission of a proposed legislative measure to the popular vote
3
Christabel Pankhurst: British suffragist leader
127. Which statement best describes how the authors of both passages drew
on important documents to support their arguments?
128. Which sentence from Roosevelt’s “State of the Union Address, 1942”
best supports Roosevelt’s claim that the United States had not been
B. “The act of Japan at Pearl Harbor was intended to stun us—to terrify
us to such an extent that we would divert our industrial and military
strength to the Pacific area, or even to our own continental
defense.”
Nowadays, refraining from picking one’s teeth with a knife and not eating
with one’s hands are instructions so commonplace and elementary that no
one has to be given this advice before sitting down to enjoy a meal at the
dinner table. However, these words of wisdom have not always rung true. In
fact, at one time both practices were acceptable dining practices, even at the
most refined of tables.
Good table manners grew out of a desire to show honor at the privilege of
eating with the host, and began as a way to distinguish social class. Today,
many people believe that table etiquette is a thing of the past, pointing to
such things as a slump in families sitting down together for traditional meals
along with the dramatic rise of fast-food restaurants, where an entire meal
can be eaten without the use of eating utensils. Ironically, the beginning of
the end in American table etiquette is often blamed on Thomas Jefferson,
who himself had impeccable table manners. Jefferson championed equality
and disdained false civility, and often downplayed his own manners. As
President, he relaxed protocols, feeling they imposed an artificial distinction
among people who were created equal.
Early man had no use for table manners. The act of hunting and gathering
was time-consuming and success was not guaranteed. Therefore, food was
eaten in haste and solitude. However, with the advent of agriculture in the
Near East around 9000 B.C., food sources became more abundant and
reliable, leading to communal eating practices and rules for the preparation
and consumption of food.
Although today we could not imagine sitting down for a meal without being
presented with a knife, spoon, and fork, the combination of these three
utensils is a rather recent development. The fork may now be the most
relied upon of the three during a meal, but historically it has been the
hardest sell. In fact, in its infancy, the use of a fork for eating was seen as
scandalous and immoral.
Knives, on the other hand, have been around ever since Homo erectus, and
because of their necessity for hunting, their legitimacy has never been in
question. The knife, as a tool and a weapon, has existed for 1.5 million
years. Yet the specific design of the table knife is of relatively new origin.
Hosts did not provide dinner guests with a knife in the Middle Ages3 and,
therefore, most people carried their own knives in sheaths attached to their
belts. These knives were narrow and their sharp points were used to spear
food to raise it to one's mouth.
The customary rounded-tipped table knife can be credited to Duc de
Richelieu, cardinal and chief minister to France’s Louis XIII. Richelieu cringed
at the sight of high-ranking men using their knives to pick food out of their
teeth, a practice that had been deplored by etiquette books for at least three
hundred years. In the 1630s, Richelieu was so disgusted by the practice that
he ordered the points to be filed down from the house knives. French
hostesses, also at their wit’s end to halt the practice, began placing orders
for the rounded knives.
Long after knives were adopted for table use, however, they continued to be
used as weapons. Thus, the multi-purpose nature of the knife always posed
the possible threat of danger at the dinner table. In 1669, King Louis XIV of
France declared all pointed knives on the street and used at the table illegal.
Not only were new knives to be made with blunted tips, all existing table
knives were to be rounded off to reduce the potential for violence. The
blunted knife rapidly spread to other European countries, including England.
The spoon, the third of the table triumvirate, has existed for 20,000 years.
Like the knife, users of spoons never suffered the ridicule those using a fork
endured. The origin of the word spoon comes from the Anglo-Saxon spon,
meaning chip, and a spoon was a thin, slightly curved piece of wood, dipped
into porridge or soupy foods. Spoons have been unearthed from the
Paleolithic era, and spoons of wood, stone, ivory, and gold have been
discovered in Egyptian tombs.
In Italy, during the 1400s, “apostle spoons” were very popular among
wealthy Venetians and Tuscans. Usually made of silver, the spoons’ handles
were made into a figure of an apostle. An apostle spoon was considered the
1
Byzantine Empire: the continuation of the Roman Empire in the East, especially after the
deposition of the last emperor in Rome (476 A.D.), extinguished by the fall of its capital
Constantinople in 1453
2
Doge: the chief magistrate in the former republics of Venice and Genoa
3
Middle Ages: the period of European history encompassing the 5th to the 15th centuries
B. The spoon was most easily accepted as an eating utensil for the
dinner table.
C. The upper class influenced many ideas about what were and were
not acceptable practices at the table.
"Robin Hood"
"Robin Hood"
"Robin Hood"
Excerpt from Poems Published
by John Keats (edited by M. Robertson)
John Keats was an English poet of the Romantic period. His poems
are known for their vivid, sensory images and strong emotion. In
1818, his friend John Hamilton Reynolds sent him two poems about
Robin Hood. In response, Keats wrote the poem “Robin Hood,” in, as
he put it “the spirit of outlawry.” The poem was published in the
collection Poems Published in 1820.
To A Friend.
1
wight: living creature
2
Gamelyn: hero of The Tale of Gamelyn, a British poem from about 1350 that tells of a
man who becomes an outlaw in the forest.
3
grenè shawe: green wood
130. The first two stanzas of “Robin Hood” begin with the word no. What is
the most likely effect of beginning the poem in this way?
131. How does the author develop a prominent theme in “Robin Hood”?
132. Based on details in the poem “Robin Hood,” which description of Robin
Hood is accurate?
As he was turning the handle of the door, his eye fell upon the portrait Basil
Hallward had painted of him. He started back as if in surprise … [t]hen he
went on into his own room, looking somewhat puzzled. After he had taken
the button-hole out of his coat, he seemed to hesitate. Finally, he came
back, went over to the picture, and examined it. In the dim arrested light
that struggled through the cream-coloured silk blinds, the face appeared to
him to be a little changed. The expression looked different. One would have
said that there was a touch of cruelty in the mouth …
He turned round and, walking to the window, drew up the blind. The bright
dawn flooded the room and swept the fantastic shadows into dusky corners,
where they lay shuddering. But the strange expression that he had noticed
in the face of the portrait seemed to linger there, to be more intensified
even. The quivering ardent sunlight showed him the lines of cruelty round
the mouth as clearly as if he had been looking into a mirror after he had
done some dreadful thing.
He winced and, taking up from the table an oval glass framed in ivory
Cupids, one of Lord Henry’s many presents to him, glanced hurriedly into its
polished depths. No line like that warped his red lips. What did it mean?
He rubbed his eyes, and came close to the picture, and examined it again.
There were no signs of any change when he looked into the actual painting,
and yet there was no doubt that the whole expression had altered …
He threw himself into a chair and began to think. Suddenly there flashed
1
aeon: immeasurably long period of time
A. deep confusion
B. earnest feelings
C. sincere affection
D. worried thoughts
The book 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was written by French
author Jules Verne and first published in 1870. It still is widely
viewed as ranking among the greatest science fiction books in the
history of literature. In this excerpt, Verne describes a character’s
astonishment with what he encounters during his exploration of
deep waters.
We had now arrived on the first platform, where other surprises awaited me.
Before us lay some picturesque ruins, which betrayed the hand of man....
There were vast heaps of stone, amongst which might be traced the vague
and shadowy forms of castles and temples, clothed with a world of
blossoming zoophytes,1 and over which, instead of ivy, sea-weed and fucus2
threw a thick vegetable mantle. But what was this portion of the globe which
had been swallowed by cataclysms? Who had placed these rocks and stones
like cromlechs3 of prehistoric times? Where was I? Whither had Captain
Nemo's fancy hurried me?
I would have fain have asked him; not being able to, I stopped him, -I
seized his arm. But shaking his head, and pointing to the highest point of
the mountain, he seemed to say:
“Come, come along; come higher!”
I followed, and in a few minutes I had climbed to the top, which for a circle
of ten yards commanded the whole mass of rock. I looked down the side we
had just climbed. The mountain did not rise more than seven or eight
hundred feet above the level of the plain; but on the opposite it commanded
from twice that height the depths of this part of the Atlantic. My eyes ranged
far over a large space lit by a violent fulguration. In fact, the mountain was a
volcano. At fifty feet above the peak, in the midst of a rain of stones and
[slag], a large crater was vomiting forth torrents of lava which fell in a
cascade of fire into the bosom of the liquid mass. Thus situated, this volcano
lit the lower plain like an immense torch, even to the extreme limits of the
1
zoophyte: plantlike animal
2
fucus: flat, brown seaweed
3
cromlechs: megalithic tombs with large flat stone laid on upright ones
134. In the excerpt from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, what is the
narrator's attitude toward Captain Nemo after being taken to Atlantis?
C. The narrator becomes more curious about Captain Nemo and wants
to know more about him.
135. How do the narrator’s feelings develop from the beginning to the end of
the excerpt from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea?
B. The narrator starts out feeling curious about his surroundings, then
becomes excited to discover that they had found themselves in
Atlantis.
C. The narrator starts out feeling anxious about his future with Captain
Nemo, then becomes angry about the way he has been treated by
Captain Nemo.
D. The narrator starts out feeling angry at Captain Nemo for putting
him in a dangerous situation, then becomes frightened by the
volcano spewing lava.
Sacajawea
Sacajawea
“Sacajawea”
Excerpt from Sacajawea and Other Poems
by Capt. R. K. Beecham
1
Great Father: United States President Thomas Jefferson
2
tabba-bones: Shoshone word for white men
“Sacajawea and Other Poems” in the public domain. Photo of Sacajawea statue in the public
domain.
136. What is one of the central ideas of “Sacajawea,” and how is it developed
and shaped by key details? Write one paragraph and use details from
the poem to support your explanation.
137. How does the author structure the story in “The Sapphires of Lily
Finding no game off the coast of Italy, Baron Franz d’Epinay is looking for
new places to hunt when the boat captain tells him about The Island of
Monte Cristo.
“Do you see that island?” continued the captain, pointing to a conical pile
rising from the indigo sea.
“Well, what is this island?”
“The Island of Monte Cristo.”
“But I have no permission to shoot over this island.”
“Your excellency does not require a permit, for the island is uninhabited.”
“Ah, indeed!” said the young man. “A desert island in the midst of the
Mediterranean must be a curiosity.”
“It is very natural; this island is a mass of rocks, and does not contain an
acre of land capable of cultivation.”
“To whom does this island belong?”
“To Tuscany.”
“What game shall I find there!”
“Thousands of wild goats.”
“Who live upon the stones, I suppose,” said Franz with an incredulous smile.
“No, but by browsing the shrubs and trees that grow out of the crevices of
the rocks.”
“Where can I sleep?”
1
Adamastor: mythological character that symbolizes forces of nature
Excerpt from The Count of Monte-Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Published by Chapman and
Hall, 1846. In the public domain.
138. Both “The Sapphires of Lily McGill” and the excerpt from The Count of
Monte Cristo feature a main character who is going on a journey. Write
one paragraph comparing the two characters’ journeys. How does the
author of “The Sapphires of Lily McGill” develop details from Dumas’s
writing in a new way? Use details from the passages to support your
answer.
139. “Robin Hood. To a Friend” describes what Sherwood Forest is like now
that Robin Hood and his men no longer live there. Use details from the
poem to write an objective, one-paragraph summary of “Robin Hood. To
A Friend.”
from Chapter VI
All this while the stranger had been eyeing Robin attentively and listening to
his voice as though striving to recall it.
“If I mistake not,” he said slowly at last, “you are that famous outlaw, Robin
140. The theme of loyalty and commitment is seen in both “Robin Hood: To a
Friend.” and “How Robin Hood Met Will Scarlet.” Write one paragraph
analyzing the representation of this theme in the poem and the prose
passage. Use details from both texts to support your answer.
141. In “How Robin Hood Met Will Scarlet,” Will tells Robin that Maid Marian
told him “she could never forget the happy days in the greenwood.” In
“Robin Hood. To a Friend.,” Keats portrays a contrast between the
happy days Marian refers to with the world he knows.
Which sentence best expresses the values Keats sees in his present
world versus those of Robin Hood’s forest as portrayed in the poem?
Long, long ago, after Uther Pendragon died, there was no King in Britain,
and every Knight hoped to seize the crown for himself. The country was like
to fare ill when laws were broken on every side, and the corn which was to
give the poor bread was trodden underfoot, and there was none to bring the
evildoer to justice. Then, when things were at their worst, came forth Merlin
the magician, and fast he rode to the place where the Archbishop of
Canterbury had his dwelling. And they took counsel together, and agreed
that all the lords and gentlemen of Britain should ride to London and meet
on Christmas Day, now at hand, in the Great Church. . . . And on Christmas
morning, as they left the church, they saw in the churchyard a large stone,
and on it a bar of steel, and in the steel a naked sword was held, and about
it was written in letters of gold, ‘Whoso pulleth out this sword is by right of
birth King of England.’ . . . Then those Knights who fain would be King could
not hold themselves back, and they tugged at the sword with all their might;
but it never stirred.
. . . But the lords and gentlemen-at-arms cried out that every man had a
right to try to win the sword, and they decided that on New Year’s Day a
tournament should be held, and any Knight who would, might enter the lists.
. . . Among them was a brave Knight called Sir Ector, who brought with him
Sir Kay, his son, and Arthur, Kay’s foster-brother. Now Kay had unbuckled
his sword the evening before, and in his haste to be at the tourney had
forgotten to put it on again, and he begged Arthur to ride back and fetch it
for him. But when Arthur reached the house the door was locked, for the
women had gone out to see the tourney, and though Arthur tried his best to
get in he could not. . . . ‘I will take that sword in the churchyard, and give it
to him’; and he galloped fast till he reached the gate of the churchyard. Here
he jumped down and tied his horse tightly to a tree, then, running up to the
A. lawlessness
B. monarchy
C. nature
D. war
143. Explain how the character of Sir Kay develops over the course of “The
Drawing of the Sword.” Write one to two paragraphs, using specific
details from the passage to support your answer.
Excerpt from Goethe’s Travels in Italy, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Published by
George Bell and Sons, 1885.
Excerpt from The Emancipated Vol. 1, by George Gissing. Published by Richard Bentley and
Son, 1890.
144. Which statement best describes how “Excerpt from The Emancipated”
draws on “Excerpt from Travels in Italy”?
B. Mrs. Lessingham feels the same longing for travel that Goethe
expresses in his writing.
C. Mrs. Spence acts as a guide for her guests just as Goethe says he
wished to do for his friends and neighbors.
A Day in Chicago
A Day in Chicago
A Day in Chicago
I always thought the city was a lot like a huge, carnivorous zoo animal,
exotic and beautiful, but best observed from a safe distance.
That was one of the profound thoughts I had while riding on the commuter
train to Chicago one Sunday morning late last spring. It’s a 90-minute ride
from our house in Oakmont, so I had plenty of time to think. I had brought a
book with me, but I was too excited about the day ahead and too captivated
by the scenery to concentrate on reading.
I hadn’t seen my best and oldest friend, Sydney, in months. She and her
family used to live down the street from us, but her father got a new job last
year and they moved to an apartment in Chicago. Today, Sydney and I were
going to have a whole day together. I’d been saving my babysitting money
for a more than a few weeks. I planned to snag a few souvenirs.
The magnificent skyline of Chicago came into view, but as we got closer to
downtown, I remembered why I was not all that crazy about going to the
city. Oakmont may not be the most exciting place in the world, but at least
the people are friendly and you aren’t going to go deaf from the car horns
and screeching brakes from the elevated trains.
“Melanie!” I heard someone call my name as I made my way into Union
Station’s enormous waiting room. I saw Sydney waving in the distance and
running toward me. Behind her was her older brother, Edward. My parents
wouldn’t hear of us wandering the mean streets of Chicago on our own.
Edward is nice enough, except he hasn’t figured out that Sydney and I are
not little kids anymore.
“You look so awesome!” I said to Sydney, as we gave each other a big hug.
“It looks like the city is not treating you too badly.”
“Oh, Chicago is great!” she said. “It’s totally different when you live here.
You’ll love it. We’re going to have a fabulous time today!”
We emerged into the daylight and suddenly Edward pointed at a bus up
ahead and started yelling at us to run for it! One minute we were happily
145. The narrator of “A Day in Chicago” is reunited with her best friend
Sydney on her day trip to the city, which she feels is “best viewed at
street level, preferably with your best friend.” Write one paragraph
describing how the narrator’s interactions with Sydney helped her
change her original view of the city.
146. In "A Day in Chicago," the narrator changes her opinion of the big city
after spending a day there with friends. Write one to two paragraphs
explaining the reasons the narrator changed her opinion of the city. Cite
specific details from the passage to support your answer.
D. It implies that Edward likes to brag about his knowledge of the city
to his companions.
Published in 1621, The History of Tom Thumb was the first printed
English fairy tale. The main character is, as his name suggests, is
thumb sized.
Tom was never any bigger than his father’s thumb, which was not a large
thumb neither; but as he grew older, he became very cunning . . .
Tom Thumb’s mother once took him with her when she went to milk the
cow; and it being a very windy day, she tied him with a needleful of thread
to a thistle, that he might not be blown away. The cow, liking his oak-leaf
hat, took him and the thistle up at one mouthful. While the cow was chewing
the thistle, Tom, terrified at her great teeth, which seemed ready to crush
him in pieces, roared, “Mother, mother!” as loud as he could bawl.
“Where are you, Tommy, my dear Tommy?” said his mother.
“Here, mother, here in the red cow’s mouth.”
The mother began to cry and wring her hands; but the cow, surprised at the
odd noises in her throat, opened her mouth and let him drop out. His mother
clapped him into her apron, and ran home with him. Tom’s father made him
a whip of a barley straw to drive the cattle with, and being one day in the
field he slipped into a deep furrow. A raven flying over picked him up with a
grain of corn, and flew with him to the top of a giant’s castle by the seaside,
where he left him; and old Grumbo, the giant, coming soon after to walk
upon his terrace, swallowed Tom like a pill, clothes and all. Tom presently
made the giant very uncomfortable, and he threw him up into the sea. A
great fish then swallowed him. This fish was soon after caught, and sent as a
present to King Arthur. When it was cut open, everybody was delighted with
little Tom Thumb. The king made him his [own]; he was the favourite of the
whole court; and, by his merry pranks, often amused the queen and the
knights of the Round Table. The king, when he rode on horseback,
frequently took Tom in his hand; and if a shower of rain came on, he used to
Excerpt from “Tom Thumb,” by Dinah Maria Mulock Craik. Published by Macmillian and Co.,
1868.
149. Which sentence from “from The History of Tom Thumb” supports the
idea that King Arthur is highly sociable?
A. “This fish was soon after caught, and sent as a present to King
Arthur.”
B. “When it was cut open, everybody was delighted with little Tom
Thumb.”
C. “The king made him his [own]; he was the favourite of the whole
court; and, by his merry pranks, often amused the queen and the
knights of the Round Table.”
150. Which of these best describes the author’s tone in “The History of Tom
Thumb”?
Mrs. Hurstwood was not aware of any of her husband’s moral defections,
though she might readily have suspected his tendencies, which she well
understood. She was a woman upon whose action under provocation you
could never count. Hurstwood, for one, had not the slightest idea of what
she would do under certain circumstances. He had never seen her
thoroughly aroused. In fact, she was not a woman who would fly into a
passion. She had too little faith in mankind not to know that they were
erring. She was too calculating to jeopardise any advantage she might gain
in the way of information by fruitless clamour. Her wrath would never wreak
itself in one fell blow. She would wait and brood, studying the details and
adding to them until her power might be commensurate with her desire for
revenge. At the same time, she would not delay to inflict any injury, big or
little, which would wound the object of her revenge and still leave him
uncertain as to the source of the evil. She was a cold, self-centered woman,
with many a thought of her own which never found expression, not even by
so much as the glint of an eye.
Hurstwood felt some of this in her nature, though he did not actually
perceive it. He dwelt with her in peace and some satisfaction. He did not fear
her in the least—there was no cause for it. She still took a faint pride in him,
which was augmented by her desire to have her social integrity maintained.
She was secretly somewhat pleased by the fact that much of her husband’s
property was in her name, a precaution which Hurstwood had taken when
his home interests were somewhat more alluring than at present. His wife
Excerpt from novel Sister Carrie, by Theodore Dreiser. Published by Harper & Brothers,
1900.
151. Which statement describes the interaction between Mr. Hurstwood and
his wife in “Excerpt from Sister Carrie”?
A. They are civil to each other, but their mutual dislike is evident.
D. They fear the loss of each other’s respect, even though they both
know what is happening.
“The Cat and the Mice.” Excerpted from Folk Tales from Tibet, collected and translated by
Capt. W.F. O’Connor. Published by Hurst and Blackett, LTD., 1906.
152. Read this sentence from “The Cat and the Mice.”
When the mice heard this they were greatly pleased, for they
thought that now, at last, they would be free from all danger
from their former enemy, the cat.
Based on the sentence, what can the reader infer about the mice?
153. Which effect does the repetitive action of the mice walking by the cat in
a procession create in “The Cat and the Mice”?
A. mystery
B. tension
C. tragedy
D. weariness
154. Read this sentence from “The Cat and the Mice.”
She made a fierce leap right into the middle of the mice, who,
however, were thoroughly prepared for her, and in an instant
they scuttled off in every direction to their holes.
Which phrase best defines the word scuttled?
The Eridu Genesis tells many tales from Sumerian mythology. Sumer
was a region in southern Mesopotamia, now modern-day Iraq. The
Genesis was found on a single fragmented tablet and dated to 2150
BCE. The passage below is the flood story, one tale from the Eridu
Genesis. This story describes how the gods grew frustrated with all
of the noise humans were making, so they crafted a plan to quiet
humanity by flooding the world.
Ziusudra, a king and priest, prayed and gave reverence to the gods every
day. While praying one day, he witnessed visions of the gods in secretive
conversation. He learned that the gods were angry with the humans for
making such great noise. They were plotting to flood the world to rid
themselves of the clamor of humanity. The gods then swore oaths of secrecy
by touching their throats, which meant they would forfeit their lives if they
broke their oaths.
The god Enki, however, took pity on humanity and warned Ziusudra of the
coming flood. Enki told Ziusudra to craft a tremendous boat and to put on
the boat a pair of every animal—one male and one female—to help ensure
the persistence of life in the world.
The tremendous deluge came as expected, the flood-bearing storm lasting
seven days and seven nights and sweeping over the whole of humanity.
After the storm subsided, Enlil, greatest among the gods, was enraged to
find survivors. However, Ziusudra explained the kindness of the god Enki
and offered bountiful sacrifices to the rest of the gods. Enlil’s anger
subsided, and he decided to reward Ziusudra with immortality, sending him
to live east over the mountains of Dilmur.
155. The Epic of Gilgamesh makes several changes to the story of Eridu
Genesis. Which is the most significant change to the original story?
A. The author mentions that the survivor sends birds to search for
hospitable land.
B. The author does not mention why the gods decide to rid the world of
humanity.
C. The author mentions the group of laborers who build a boat for the
survivors.
D. The author does not mention whether the gods take an oath of
secrecy.
A Winter's Day
A Winter's Day
Excerpt from A Winter's Day
by Joanna Baillie
1
pithless: feeble
A. alarming
B. content
C. grieving
D. fatigued
D. A man who provides for his family is master of the house, and other
family members should attend particularly to him.
The Scholarship
The Scholarship
The Scholarship
“And the final two recipients of the National Ocean Exploration College
Scholarship this year are Tia James and Amanda Marks. Congratulations, Tia
and Amanda.”
Tia and Amanda, best friends since their first day aboard the NOE vessel as
research interns, internally squealed with glee at the reading of their names.
As Amanda eagerly walked toward Dr. Cole’s desk to accept her award, Tia
stood rooted to the ship floor in shock, her face frozen in a smile that
revealed both joy and confusion. Amanda had pulled her toward the front of
the room to join the other recipients of the scholarship.
Tia simply could not believe that nine months of hard work, pages of essays
about why they were the best candidates for the scholarship, and days of
anxiously waiting had paid off, especially not after the mishap with her
application. As she shook Dr. Cole’s hand and accepted the ornately
bordered certificate stating that she, Tia James, was the recipient of a full
college scholarship to study marine biology, she remembered Dr. Cole’s
response when she went to hand in her application.
“I’m sorry, Tia, but you are too late. The deadline for the application was
two days ago,” Dr. Cole had replied.
“I know, Dr. Cole,” Tia had sighed. “I was just nervous to apply because I
was not sure if I really wanted to attend college after the internship was
over. But last night I stayed up late reading about that jellyfish we found
yesterday; when I woke up this morning, I knew that studying marine
biology in college next year was the best option for me.”
“I see, Tia. Well, I will add your application to the pile, but many of the
interns were able to turn their application in on time, so I don’t know
whether we will be able to consider you.”
“Thanks anyway, Dr. Cole,” Tia had said and walked back to her room
dejectedly. She understood that she might not get the scholarship, but after
B. The final revelation from Dr. Cole allows Tia’s award to be viewed in
a new way.
160. In “The Scholarship,” what does Dr. Cole’s change of heart reveal about
his character?
161. Identify the theme of “The Scholarship.” Write one to two paragraphs
using details from the passage to explain and analyze how this theme is
developed.
162. Discuss how the theme of sacrifice is depicted in the excerpt from
“Twelfth Night” and “The Scholarship.” Write one or two paragraphs and
use details from both texts to support your answer.
163. What does the ending of the excerpt from Tales of Shakespeare reveal
about Perdita’s conflicting feelings or motivations?
A. Though she is first angry with Polixenes, Perdita then pities him for
his ignorance.
For eleven years, I had not seen Joe nor Biddy with my bodily Eyes,—though
they had both been often before my fancy in the East1,—when, upon an
evening in December, an hour or two after dark, I laid my hand softly on the
latch of the old kitchen door. I touched it so softly that I was not heard, and
looked in unseen. There, smoking his pipe in the old place by the kitchen
firelight, as hale and as strong as ever, though a little gray, sat Joe; and
there, fenced into the corner with Joe’s leg, and sitting on my own little stool
looking at the fire, was—I again!
“We giv’ him the name of Pip for your sake, dear old chap,” said Joe,
delighted, when I took another stool by the child’s side (but I did not rumple
his hair), “and we hoped he might grow a little bit like you, and we think he
do.” . . .
“Biddy,” said I, when I talked with her after dinner, as her little girl lay
sleeping in her lap, “you must give Pip to me one of these days; or lend him,
at all events.”
“No, no,” said Biddy, gently. “You must marry.”
“So Herbert and Clara say, but I don’t think I shall, Biddy. I have so settled
down in their home, that it’s not at all likely. I am already quite an old
1
East: referring to India
2
ensued: followed
3
incompatible: unable to exist peacefully
Excerpt from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Published by Riverside Press, 1868. In
the public domain.
164. Dickens describes Estella as “the figure,” even referring to the figure as
“it” instead of “she” before revealing who she is. What effect does this
choice create for readers?
None of them knew the color of the sky. Their eyes glanced level, and were
fastened upon the waves that swept toward them. These waves were of the
hue of slate, save for the tops, which were of foaming white, and all of the
men knew the colors of the sea. The horizon narrowed and widened, and
dipped and rose, and at all times its edge was jagged with waves that
seemed thrust up in points like rocks.
Many a man ought to have a bath-tub larger than the boat which here rode
upon the sea. These waves were most wrongfully and barbarously abrupt
and tall, and each froth-top was a problem in small boat navigation.
The cook squatted in the bottom and looked with both eyes at the six inches
of gunwale which separated him from the ocean. His sleeves were rolled
over his fat forearms, and the two flaps of his unbuttoned vest dangled as
he bent to bail out the boat. Often he said: “Gawd! That was a narrow clip.”
As he remarked it he invariably gazed eastward over the broken sea.
The oiler, steering with one of the two oars in the boat, sometimes raised
himself suddenly to keep clear of water that swirled in over the stern. It was
a thin little oar and it seemed often ready to snap.
The correspondent, pulling at the other oar, watched the waves and
wondered why he was there.
The injured captain, lying in the bow, was at this time buried in that
profound dejection and indifference which comes, temporarily at least, to
even the bravest and most enduring when, willy nilly, the firm fails, the
Excerpt from “The Open Boat” from The Open Boat and Other Stories by Stephen Crane.
Published by William Heinemann, 1898. In the public domain.
B. He is describing how the captain lost his belongings when the ship
sank.
A Fabulous Job
A Fabulous Job
A Fabulous Job
166. Imagine that the story “A Fabulous Job” is being made into a movie.
What types of music would best go with the scene where Kellie and Luis
Montoni was alone. “I sent for you,” said he, “to give you another
opportunity of retracting your late mistaken assertions concerning the
Languedoc estates. I will condescend1 to advise, where I may command.—If
you are really [misled] by an opinion, that you have any right to these
estates, at least, do not persist in the error—an error, which you may
perceive, too late, has been fatal to you. Dare my resentment no further,
but sign the papers.”
“If I have no right in these estates, sir,” said Emily, “of what service can it
be to you, that I should sign any papers, concerning them? If the lands are
yours by law, you certainly may possess them, without my interference, or
my consent.”
“I will have no more argument,” said Montoni, with a look that made her
tremble. “What had I but trouble to expect, when I condescended to reason
with a baby! But I will be trifled with no longer … Sign the papers.” …
“Never, sir,” replied Emily; “that request would have proved to me the
injustice of your claim, had I even been ignorant of my right.”
Montoni turned pale with anger, while his quivering lip and lurking eye made
1
condescend: come down to a less dignified level
2
affectation: fake or artificial display
1
sempstresses: seamstresses
Excerpt from Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift. Published by Rand, McNally & Company,
1912.
Casey’s Revenge
Casey’s Revenge
Casey’s Revenge
by Grantland Rice
Which statement describes the effect of using the words blighted and
pall?
B. These words create a formal, resigned tone, which reveals the deep
importance of the game.
C. These words create a serious, tragic tone, which contrasts with the
simple, happy tone of the next line.
"The Stonecutter"
"The Stonecutter"
"The Stonecutter"
Excerpt from The Crimson Fairy Book
edited by Andrew Lang
Story titled “The Stonecutter” found in The Crimson Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang.
Published by Longmans, Green, and Co., 1903.
170. Many different cultures have their own folk tales. What can readers infer
about Japanese culture based on “The Stonecutter,” a Japanese folk
tale? Write one paragraph that explains aspects of Japanese culture as
it relates to the tale, using details from the tale to support your answer.
171. Which is the most likely effect of the author’s use of repetition in “The
Stonecutter”?
B. It establishes a cycle.
172. Which detail from “The Stonecutter” best develops the idea that
unlimited power is dangerous?
C. The stonecutter’s anger against the sun makes him wish to be the
sun.
The Violin
The Violin
The Violin
After Rachel finished playing the passage from Bach’s Violin Concerto in A
Minor, Igor Petrov looked at her and said, “Where did you go wrong?” His
accent made it easy to believe that he had graduated from a famous Russian
conservatory.
“On my first trill? I feel like I started it on the lower note, instead of the
upper.”
“Precisely, but you recovered nicely, and you didn’t stop or slow down for
your mistake. This is good? Now, where will improvement come?”
“I was thinking my phrasing could be more dynamic – do you have any
ideas?” Rachel knew full well that Petrov would be brimming with ideas, but
it usually turned out better for her if she asked for his help.
“You must allow the longer notes between the trills to, eh, decay a bit. This
makes each trill sound bigger, without weighing down the melody. Do you
understand?”
Rachel thought she did, but she shook her head anyway because she loved
to hear Petrov play. Heaven on Earth, she called it.
“Like this—listen.” Rachel could scarcely believe the same notes issued from
his bow as from hers, but she understood, that much Petrov clearly
observed in her face.
“That’s enough for today. You’ll be perfect by this fall’s concert. Bach, my
dear Rachel, no one in the history of this auditorium has ever played Bach.
You will be the first, and the youngest soloist.” Petrov smiled wryly and
shook his head.
“Bach at fifteen – dare to dream, Rachel. Dare to dream.” The knock at the
door disturbed Petrov’s reverie.
“Now go along and help Marta while I mold my next victim,” Mr. Petrov said,
chuckling.
Rachel wouldn’t dream of calling Mrs. Petrov “Marta,” even after getting to
173. Why does the author of “The Violin” include the description of Rachel's
first encounter with the instrument toward the middle of the passage
rather than at the beginning? Write one paragraph in which you analyze
how this structural decision affects the passage. Use details from the
passage to support your response.
Agitation of spirit kept me awake for many long hours; but at length I again
slumbered. Upon arousing, I found by my side, as before, a loaf and a
pitcher of water. A burning thirst consumed me, and I emptied the vessel at
a draught. It must have been drugged; for scarcely had I drunk, before I
became irresistibly drowsy. A deep sleep fell upon me—a sleep like that of
174. At what point does the narrator in the "Excerpt from The Pit and the
Pendulum" clearly understand the situation?
175. Which sentence from “The Pit and the Pendulum” best supports the
inference that the narrator seeks a distraction from his frightening
situation?
A. “By a wild sulphurous lustre, the origin of which I could not at first
determine, I was enabled to see the extent and aspect of the
prison.”
D. “It might have been half an hour, perhaps even an hour, (for I could
take but imperfect note of time) before I again cast my eyes
upward.”
Anna's Choice
Anna's Choice
Anna’s Choice
Anna took a deep breath and cautiously cracked open the heavy door to the
family restaurant. The familiar aromas of fresh basil and oregano normally
soothed her weary nerves. Today, however, they only stimulated her dread
of the inevitable confrontation that would erupt when her father learned of
her recent decision. She clutched a crisp manila envelope tightly to her
chest, hoping its reassuring presence would calm her nerves, and she
stepped tentatively into her second home, the family restaurant, Bel Cibo.
The restaurant represented more to Anna’s father than a business. Bel Cibo
was the embodiment of a passion, the passion of one determined man who
had sacrificed to achieve his ambitions. Anna knew that her father hoped
that she and her brother Dominique would share his passion and that one
day he could pass the restaurant on to them, and maybe even further down,
he could watch his grandchildren proudly operate the restaurant he had
worked so hard to create.
“Papa,” Anna called out as she tentatively set foot in the restaurant.
“Anna!” her father shouted to her from inside the kitchen. “Come see the
new cabinets! Have you ever seen such exquisite craftsmanship?” he asked.
As she opened the door to the kitchen, her father laughed boisterously and,
like a child overwhelmed by the sight of a live elephant in a zoo, pointed at
the ornate cabinets installed just the day before.
“Oh, Papa,” Anna said softly, wearing a half smile, “they’re lovely.”
Sadly, Anna possessed little of her father’s passion for the Bel Cibo. After
school, she would wait on tables alongside Dominique. She remembered
how, during a break one day months earlier, she had watched her brother
enthusiastically greet a soccer teammate—a soccer teammate she knew
Dominique detested. It was the young man who had beaten out Dominique
for the starting position right before the team played in the championship
match.
If Dominique had passed the boy on a sidewalk, her normally defiant brother
176. How does the author’s use of flashback in “Anna’s Choice” represent a
177. Which sentence from “Anna’s Choice” best supports the inference that
Anna and her father have similar personalities?
A. “Anna took a deep breath and cautiously cracked open the heavy
door to the family restaurant.”
A. basis
B. development
C. representation
D. structure
Tarzan was anxious to return to the cabin and continue his investigations of
its wondrous contents.
So, early one morning, he set forth alone upon his quest.
In another moment he was at the cabin, and after a short time had again
thrown the latch and entered.
He commenced a systematic search of the cabin; but his attention was soon
riveted by the books which seemed to exert a strange and powerful influence
over him, so that he could scarce attend to aught else for the lure of the
wondrous puzzle which their purpose presented to him.
Among the other books were a primer, some child's readers, numerous
picture books, and a great dictionary. All of these he examined, but the
pictures caught his fancy most, though the strange little bugs which covered
the pages where there were no pictures excited his wonder and deepest
thought.
His little face was tense in study, for he had partially grasped, in a hazy,
nebulous way, the rudiments of a thought which was destined to prove the
key and the solution to the puzzling problem of the strange little bugs.
Slowly he turned the pages, scanning the pictures and the text for a
repetition of the combination B-O-Y. Presently he found it beneath a picture
of another little ape and a strange animal which went upon four legs like the
jackal and resembled him not a little. Beneath this picture the bugs
appeared as:
And so he progressed very, very slowly, for it was a hard and laborious task
which he had set himself without knowing it—a task which might seem to
you or me impossible—learning to read without having the slightest
knowledge of letters or written language, or the faintest idea that such
things existed.
By the time he was seventeen he had learned to read the simple, child's
primer and had fully realized the true and wonderful purpose of the little
bugs.
No longer did he feel shame for his hairless body or his human features, for
now his reason told him that he was of a different race from his wild and
hairy companions. He was a M-A-N, they were A-P-E-S, and the little apes
which scurried through the forest top were M-O-N-K-E-Y-S. He knew, too,
that old Sabor was a L-I-O-N-E-S-S, and Histah a S-N-A-K-E, and Tantor an
E-L-E-P-H-A-N-T. And so he learned to read. From then on his progress was
rapid. With the help of the great dictionary and the active intelligence of a
healthy mind endowed by inheritance with more than ordinary reasoning
powers he shrewdly guessed at much which he could not really understand,
and more often than not his guesses were close to the mark of truth.
179. What does Tarzan′s description of letters as “strange little bugs which
covered the pages where there were no pictures” reveal about him?
180. What inference about the author′s beliefs on reading can be drawn from
“An Excerpt from Tarzan of the Apes?”
C. The author believes that reading is important for most people but
that it is not a useful skill for someone like Tarzan.
181. “Excerpt from Tarzan of the Apes” describes how Tarzan learns to read
without previous knowledge of letters or written language. How does
learning to read help him realize that he is a human and not an ape?
Use details from the passage to support your response.
B. “September! You don’t mean that I’ve slept since May! God in
heaven! Why, it is incredible.”
D. Surely I had never seen this city nor one comparable to it before.
Raising my eyes at last towards the horizon, I looked westward.
"If"
British poet Rudyard Kipling wrote the famous poem “If” in 1910. It
quickly became very popular in Great Britain for its depiction of
personal poise‚ determination‚ and character. Today the poem is
enjoyed worldwide.
If you can keep your head when all about you ____
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; 1
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you‚ knaves:
But make allowance for their doubting too; dishone
(5) If you can wait and not be tired by waiting‚ st men
Or being lied about‚ don’t deal in lies‚ 2
pitch-
Or being hated‚ don’t give way to hating‚ and-
And yet don’t look too good‚ nor talk too wise: toss: a
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; game in
which
(10) If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
players
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
toss
And treat those two impostors just the same; coins at
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken a
Twisted by knaves1 to make a trap for fools‚ target;
(15) Or watch the things you gave your life to‚ broken‚ the
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools; winner
If you can make one heap of all your winnings keeps
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss‚2 the
And lose‚ and start again at your beginnings coins
(20) And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone‚ Poem
And so hold on when there is nothing in you “If,” by
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on! ” Rudyar
(25) If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue‚ d
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch‚ Kipling.
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you‚ Publishe
If all men count with you‚ but none too much; d in
If you can fill the unforgiving minute Reward
Test 10th Passages Page 545/769
s and
(30) With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run‚
Fairies,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it‚
1910.
185. Which statement best summarizes the central theme of "If"?
186. Based on the poem “If,” which sentence about British culture in Kipling’s
time is likely true?
C. Gender roles were more rigidly defined than they are today.
D. Children were more familiar with games of chance than they are
today.
Excerpt from novel, O Pioneers!, by Willa Sibert Cather. Published by Houghton Mifflin
Company, 1913.
Using details from the passage, write one paragraph that explains what
Carl likely means by “the worst of it.”
“What on earth made you contradict the major at dinner last night?”
[Everard] asked. “I was not at the table, but some one told me of the
incident; and I felt very sorry about it. What could you know of Miss Thyra
Flowerdew?”
“Well, considering that she is in my profession, of course I know something
about her,” said the little girl.
“Confound it all!” he said, rather rudely. “Surely there is some difference
between the bellows-blower and the organist.”
“Absolutely none,” she answered; “merely a variation of the original theme!”
When she had faithfully done her work she played a few simple melodies,
such as she knew the old woman would love and understand; and she
1
intermezzo: a short movement in a long piece of music
2
table d’hote: “the host’s table;” a table at dinner where guests sit with their host
Excerpt from story, “The Bird on its Journey,” by Beatrice Harraden. Found in Stories by
English Authors, published by Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1901.In the Public Domain.
188. The little girl in “The Bird on Its Journey” interacts with other characters in a deliberate
and consistent way. Write one to two sentences that describe her interactions and
explain how her interactions advance the plot of the story.
189. After Will Gamewell finds Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest, Robin decides
to change Will's name to Will Scarlet. In one to two paragraphs, explain
why Robin changes Will's name and why he decided on “Will Scarlet” for
the new name. Use details from “How Robin Hood Met Will Scarlet” to
support your response.
Characters
DIDO, queen of Carthage
AENEAS, hero in search of a home and blown by a storm to the city of
Carthage
ILIONEUS, companion of Aeneas
ASCANIUS, son of Aeneas
190. Which excerpt from “Dido, Queen of Carthage” best supports the
inference that Dido wishes to marry Aeneas and have him join her
kingdom?
191. What is Aeneas most likely feeling at the end of “Excerpt from Dido,
Queen of Carthage”?
The boat backed out from New Orleans at four in the afternoon, and it was
‘our watch’ until eight. Mr. Bixby, my chief, ‘straightened her up,’ plowed her
along past the sterns of the other boats that lay at the Levee, and then said,
‘Here, take her; shave those steamships as close as you’d peel an apple.’ I
took the wheel, and my heart-beat fluttered up into the hundreds; for it
seemed to me that we were about to scrape the side off every ship in the
line, we were so close. I held my breath and began to claw the boat away
from the danger; and I had my own opinion of the pilot who had known no
better than to get us into such peril, but I was too wise to express it. In half
a minute I had a wide margin of safety intervening between the ‘Paul Jones’
and the ships; and within ten seconds more I was set aside in disgrace, and
Mr. Bixby was going into danger again and flaying me alive with abuse of my
cowardice. I was stung, but I was obliged to admire the easy confidence with
which my chief loafed from side to side of his wheel, and trimmed the ships
so closely that disaster seemed ceaselessly imminent. When he had cooled a
little he told me that the easy water was close ashore and the current
outside, and therefore we must hug the bank, up-stream, to get the benefit
of the former, and stay well out, down-stream, to take advantage of the
latter. In my own mind I resolved to be a down-stream pilot and leave the
up-streaming to people dead to prudence.
Now and then Mr. Bixby called my attention to certain things. Said he, ‘This
is Six-Mile Point.’ I assented. It was pleasant enough information, but I
could not see the bearing of it. I was not conscious that it was a matter of
any interest to me. Another time he said, ‘This is Nine-Mile Point.’ Later he
said, ‘This is Twelve-Mile Point.’ They were all about level with the water’s
edge; they all looked about alike to me; they were monotonously
unpicturesque. I hoped Mr. Bixby would change the subject. But no; he
would crowd up around a point, hugging the shore with affection, and then
say: ‘The slack water ends here, abreast this bunch of China-trees; now we
192. In the passage from Life on the Mississippi, how does Mark Twain
develop the idea that a job can lead to self-knowledge? Write one
As soon as dinner was over he set out again for the wood-lot, not daring to
linger till Jotham Powell left. The hired man was still drying his wet feet at
the stove, and Ethan could only give Mattie a quick look as he said beneath
his breath: “I’ll be back early.”
He fancied that she nodded her comprehension; and with that scant solace
he had to trudge off through the rain.
He had driven his load half-way to the village when Jotham Powell overtook
him, urging the reluctant sorrel1 toward the Flats. “I’ll have to hurry up to do
it,” Ethan mused, as the sleigh dropped down ahead of him over the dip of
the school-house hill. He worked like ten at the unloading, and when it was
over hastened on to Michael Eady’s for the glue. Eady and his assistant were
both “down street,” and young Denis, who seldom [volunteered] to take
their place, was lounging by the stove with a knot of the golden youth of
Starkfield. They hailed Ethan with ironic compliment and offers of
[friendliness]; but no one knew where to find the glue. Ethan, consumed
with the longing for a last moment alone with Mattie, hung about impatiently
while Denis made an ineffectual search in the obscurer corners of the store.
“Looks as if we were all sold out. But if you’ll wait around till the old man
1
sorrel: a horse (with a reddish-brown coat)
2
ministrations: actions done to help a person or animal
Excerpt from Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton. Published by Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1914.
194. Which sentence from “Excerpt from Ethan Frome” best supports the
inference that Mattie has strong feelings of affection for Ethan?
A. “She was bending over a pan on the stove; but at the sound of his
step she turned with a start and sprang to him.”
C. “She looked away from him uncertainly. ‘I don’t know. She went
right up to her room.’”
D. “She and Ethan looked at each other in silence; then she said, as
she had said the night before: ‘I guess it’s about time for supper.’”
Characters
ARIEL, a spirit, who is in the service of Prospero and hoping to win his
freedom by helping Prospero realize his plan
FERDINAND, the son of the king of Naples, who has recently washed up on
the shore of Prospero and Miranda’s island after a shipwreck and believes
that his father has drowned
PROSPERO, the former duke of Milan, who was forced to flee to a deserted
island
MIRANDA, Prospero’s daughter, who has lived almost her whole life on a
deserted island and who has never met any men besides her father and one
of his servants
FERDINAND: Where should this music be? I’ th’ air or th’ earth?
It sounds no more; and sure it waits upon
Some god o’ th’ island. Sitting on a bank,
Weeping again the King my father’s wreck,
This music crept by me upon the waters,
Allaying both their fury and my passion
With its sweet air; thence I have follow’d it,
Or it hath drawn me rather. But ’tis gone.
No, it begins again.
PROSPERO: No, wench; it eats and sleeps and hath such senses
As we have, such. This gallant5 which thou seest
Was in the wreck; and but he’s something stain'd
With grief, that’s beauty’s canker,6 thou mightst call him
A goodly person. He hath lost his fellows,
And strays about to find ’em.
FERDINAND: O, if [pure],
And your affection not gone forth, I’ll make you
The Queen of Naples.
1
whist: grow quiet
2
featly: nimbly
3
chanticleer: rooster
4
knell: sound of a bell
5
gallant: young, fashionable man
6
canker: ruin
7
Vouchsafe: Grant
195. You will perform a close reading of a second excerpt from The Tempest.
You will read the passage and write a summary to check your
comprehension. You will also prepare and give a three-minute
presentation on The Tempest, outlining major themes and discussing
the characters.
Part 1:
Select another significant excerpt from The Tempest. Ask your teacher
to recommend a selection that contains significant themes and action.
The passage should contain dialogue (rather than a long soliloquy) and
should be important to the plot. The passage should be at least 80 lines
long. Using reputable sources, conduct background research on the
play. Familiarize yourself with the characters, history, and basic plot. Be
prepared to summarize the plot effectively.
Part 2:
Carefully read your selected passage. It may help you to “translate” the
Shakespearean English into contemporary English. Keep a dictionary at
hand to look up any words you are unsure of. Outline the main ideas of
the passage, and be able to describe how the passage reflects the
overall conflicts in the work.
Part 3:
Prepare and deliver a three-minute presentation for the rest of your
class. You must be able to concisely summarize the plot of The Tempest
based on your readings of the excerpts as well as outside research. You
must fill all three minutes, but you may not go over, and you should not
sound rushed. Practice your presentation in pairs until you are able to
present in a calm, concise fashion.
Scoring:
• understanding of texts
• background research
• ability to concisely and clearly describe the events in the text
• ability to deliver presentation in time allotted with appropriate
198. Which statement best explains what Ferdinand means in “from The
Tempest” when he says “Myself am Naples”?
B. He is travelling to Naples.
199. How does the character of Ferdinand develop over the course of the text
in “from The Tempest”?
200. In “from The Tempest” why does Miranda most likely think that
Ferdinand is “a thing divine”?
201. Read this excerpt from “An Excerpt from Hard Times.”
They had been lectured at, from their tenderest years; coursed,
like little hares. Almost as soon as they could run alone, they
had been made to run to the lecture-room.
What does the phrase coursed, like little hares suggest about Mr.
Gradgrind’s treatment of his children?
A. Mr. Gradgrind constantly pursues the children and herds them into
the classroom for lessons.
B. Mr. Gradgrind instructs the children so forcefully that they run from
him and hide to avoid the lessons.
Excerpt from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Excerpt from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Excerpt from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson’s book, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde, was published in 1886. The story revolves around Dr.
Henry Jekyll, who formulates a potion that creates a separate, evil
identity that shares his body. The following excerpt is from the
beginning of the book’s final chapter, “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement
of the Case.”
With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the
intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial
discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not
truly one, but truly two … It was on the moral side, and in my own person,
that I learned to recognise the thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw
that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness,
even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was
radically both; and from an early date, even before the course of my
scientific discoveries had begun to suggest the most naked possibility of
such a miracle, I had learned to dwell with pleasure, as a beloved day-
dream, on the thought of the separation of these elements. If each, I told
myself, could but be housed in separate identities, life would be relieved of
all that was unbearable; the unjust delivered from the aspirations might go
his way, and remorse of his more upright twin; and the just could walk
steadfastly and securely on his upward path, doing the good things in which
he found his pleasure, and no longer exposed to disgrace and penitence by
the hands of this extraneous evil …
I hesitated long before I put this theory to the test of practice. I knew well
that I risked death … But the temptation of a discovery so singular and
profound, at last overcame the suggestions of alarm … late one accursed
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the public domain.
203. Read this excerpt from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
This familiar that I called out of my own soul, and sent forth
alone to do his good pleasure, was a being inherently malign and
villainous; his every act and thought centred on self …
King Henry IV of England reigned from 1399 to 1413, after seizing the
British throne from King Richard II. The following scene is taken from
Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 2, in which the dying King Henry IV must turn
his crown over to his son.
Characters
PRINCE, Hal, the Prince of Wales, a son of King Henry IV, and the first in line
to the throne of England
CLARENCE, a son of King Henry IV
PRINCE HUMPHREY, a son of King Henry IV
WARWICK, nobleman and ally of the king
KING, Henry IV, the ruling king of England, whose health is declining
PRINCE: Who saw the Duke of Clarence?
KING: The Prince hath ta’en it hence. Go, seek him out.
Is he so hasty that he doth suppose
My sleep my death?
Find him, my lord of Warwick; chide him hither.
1
physic: medicine
2
Exeunt: exit
3
biggin: cap or nightcap
4
suspire: breathe
5
rigol: circle
6
filial: befitting a son or daughter
7
lineal: hereditary
8
engrossed: collected
9
cank’red: corrupted
10
martial: military
11
engrossments: cares
Excerpt from Henry IV, Part 2 by William Shakespeare, from First Folio. 1623. In the public
domain.
D. The behavior of two sons with their ailing father supports the theme
of optimism as a source of power.
205. Baron Franz d′Epinay, the main character in the excerpt from ″The
Count of Monte Cristo,″ is a member of the nobility. The nobility was
considered the highest social class in Europe during the time in which
Dumas′s novel was set. Write one to two paragraphs in which you
analyze what Dumas′s depiction of Franz might indicate about the
European nobility during this time period. Consider Franz′s actions, his
attitude, his speaking style, and his interactions with other
characters. Use details from the passage to support your answer.
by Jane Austen
1
barouche-landau: crane-neck carriage with two-way folding top
2
mother-in-law’s: stepmother’s
3
Miss Woodhouse: Emma
C. Frank is careless and unaware that his actions are conveying ideas
D. Frank seems to be a devoted suitor for Emma and commits all of his
words and actions to impressing her.
A Small Thing
A Small Thing
A Small Thing
“Why can’t she stay in Tom’s room? Why do I have to move?”
Clarissa was indignant, incensed. A young woman of fifteen, she had a
famously fiery temper; her cheeks and forehead would flush red when she
was upset, and at the moment, she was certainly that. Her eyes narrowed
and the corners of her mouth tightened as she glared at her mother.
“Because the skylight in Tom’s room has just started to leak. There’s no time
to get it fixed before Grandma gets here, and the dripping will keep her
awake. Tom says he doesn’t mind, as long as there’s a pan to catch the
water for now. He’s a sound sleeper anyway,” Clarissa’s mother, Leanna,
gently explained, though impatience with her daughter’s stubbornness
creased her brow and threatened to compromise the usual calm with which
she preferred to speak to her children.
“So? Grandma won’t even notice,” Clarissa insisted, thrusting her arms
across her chest, folding one over the other and pinning her elbows to her
sides.
Clarissa’s mother imperiously lifted her chin, and she looked at Clarissa
down her nose. “This is not a discussion. I’m sorry you’re not happy, but
you’re sleeping on the pullout couch downstairs. They’re on their way from
the airport now. Get whatever you need from your room before Grandma
gets here.”
“Tom and Clarissa are so excited to see you, Mom.” Clarissa’s father, David,
fiddled with the tuner on the radio as he and his mother—Clarissa and Tom’s
grandmother—got situated in his car in the airport parking lot. “Clarissa’s
been talking about it all week.”
In truth, Clarissa had been talking about it all week, but whining would have
been a more accurate description. She had been anything but excited or
gracious. Faced with temporary eviction from her room—her space—Clarissa
had grown obstinate in the last few days, disagreeable over the most trivial
events and combative purely for the sake of being combative.
208. Why does David agree with Margaret that Clarissa is a “selfless girl”?
A. He does not want Margaret to know how upset Clarissa was about
giving up her room.
1
doughtily: valiantly
2
damsel: young lady
3
vermilion: bright reddish-orange
4
craven: cowardly
Excerpt from “Lancelot or The Knight of the Cart” in the public domain.
209. Which sentence from Lancelot, or the Knight of the Cart best supports
the conclusion that Lancelot and the Queen have met before?
A. “In wonder they all [made] haste to ask, ‘Who is this knight who
fights so well?’”
B. “And the Queen privily called a clever and wise damsel to her and
said, ‘Damsel, you must carry a message and do it quickly and with
few words.’”
D. “And the Queen, as she watche[d] him, was happy and well-
pleased, for she [knew] full well, though she [did] not say it, that
this [was] surely Lancelot.”
210. Which statement best describes Lancelot in both Lancelot, or The Knight
of the Cart and “The Madness of Sir Launcelot”?
A. Lancelot strives for great achievements but must try harder to win
approval.
Johann David Wyss's The Swiss Family Robinson begins with the
Zermatt family shipwrecked on a tropical island. In this excerpt,
they discuss the merits of creating a permanent shelter for
themselves in a tree.
Chapter III
“I gave Jack some twine, and scrambling up one of the curious open-air
roots, he succeeded in measuring round the trunk itself, and made it out to
be about eighteen yards. I saw no sort of fruit, but the foliage is thick and
abundant, throwing delicious shade on the ground beneath, which is
carpeted with soft green herbage, and entirely free from thorns, briars, or
bushes of any kind. It is the most charming resting place that ever was
seen, and I and the boys enjoyed our mid-day meal immensely in this
glorious palace of the woods, so grateful to our senses after the glare and
heat of our journey thither. The dogs joined us after a while. They had
lingered behind on the seashore, and I was surprised to see them lie down
and go comfortably to sleep without begging for food, as they do usually
when we eat.
“The longer we remained in this enchanting place, the more did it charm my
fancy; and if we could but manage to live in some sort of dwelling up among
the branches of those grand, noble trees, I should feel perfectly safe and
happy. It seemed to me absurd to suppose we should ever find another
Excerpt from The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss, edited by William H. G. Kingston.
Published by George Routledge & Sons, Limited, 1891. In the public domain.
211. Consider the words Mr. and Mrs. Robinson use when they speak to each
other. What do their discussions reveal about their relationship? Write a
one-paragraph response, using details from the passage to support your
answer.
Mrs. John Dashwood now installed herself mistress of Norland; and her
mother and sisters-in-law were degraded to the condition of visitors. As
such, however, they were treated by her with quiet civility; and by her
husband with as much kindness as he could feel towards anybody beyond
himself, his wife, and their child…
Mrs. John Dashwood did not at all approve of what her husband intended to
do for his sisters. To take three thousand pounds1 from the fortune of their
dear little boy would be impoverishing him to the most dreadful degree. She
begged him to think again on the subject. How could he answer it to himself
to rob his child, and his only child too, of so large a sum? And what possible
claim could the Miss Dashwoods, who were related to him only by half blood,
which she considered as no relationship at all, have on his generosity to so
large an amount. It was very well known that no affection was ever
supposed to exist between the children of any man by different marriages;
and why was he to ruin himself, and their poor little Harry, by giving away
all his money to his half sisters?
“It was my father’s last request to me,” replied her husband, “that I should
assist his widow and daughters.”
“He did not know what he was talking of, I dare say; ten to one but he was
light-headed at the time. Had he been in his right senses, he could not have
thought of such a thing as begging you to give away half your fortune from
your own child.”
1
pounds: basic monetary unit of England
2
prodigious: enormous
3
mean: stingy
4
want: need
5
annuity: amount of money paid yearly
6
sixpence: six pennies
7
mother-in-law: stepmother
212. Based on “Excerpt from Sense and Sensibility,” which statement is most
likely true about cultural expectations during the time this story took
place?
4
Gath: ancient city in Palestine
5
Goliath: huge Philistine soldier killed by David in the Bible
6
visages: faces
7
quiescent: calmly at rest
8
indolent: slow to develop
Excerpt from poem “The Task” from The Task and Other Poems by William Cowper.
Published by Cassell & Company, Ltd, 1891.
213. Cowper does not describe the weather outside the home until the very
end of this section of “The Task.” Why might Cowper have chosen to
structure the poem in this way? What is the effect of this choice? Write
214. According to the excerpt from “The Task,” which statement is most
likely true about the rural English culture in which the poem was
written?
C. Only serious thought was valued, and there was no place for fantasy
or imagination.
215. Which sentence best explains how Cowper draws on another literary
source in “The Task”?
A. The reference to Goliath from the Bible helps illustrate the size of
the mirrors in the speaker’s drawing room.
C. The speaker refers to the figure of Goliath from the Bible to express
I wanted to go and look at a place right about the middle of the island that
I’d found when I was exploring; so we started and soon got to it, because
the island was only three miles long and a quarter of a mile wide.
This place was a tolerable long, steep hill or ridge about forty foot high. We
had a rough time getting to the top, the sides was so steep and the bushes
so thick. We tramped and clumb around all over it, and by and by found a
good big cavern in the rock, most up to the top on the side towards Illinois.
The cavern was as big as two or three rooms bunched together, and Jim
could stand up straight in it. It was cool in there. Jim was for putting our
traps in there right away, but I said we didn’t want to be climbing up and
down there all the time.
Jim said if we had the canoe hid in a good place, and had all the traps in the
cavern, we could rush there if anybody was to come to the island, and they
would never find us without dogs. And, besides, he said them little birds had
said it was going to rain, and did I want the things to get wet?
So we went back and got the canoe, and paddled up abreast the cavern, and
lugged all the traps up there. Then we hunted up a place close by to hide the
canoe in, amongst the thick willows. We took some fish off of the lines and
set them again, and begun to get ready for dinner.
The door of the cavern was big enough to roll a hogshead1 in, and on one
side of the door the floor stuck out a little bit, and was flat and a good place
to build a fire on. So we built it there and cooked dinner.
1
hogshead: large barrel
Excerpt from novel, Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain. Published by Charles L. Webster and
Company, 1885.
1
turn the grass: to scatter grass for drying after it has been cut by a scythe
2
whetstone: a flat stone for sharpening edged tools
3
butterfly weed: a North American milkweed with bright orange flowers
217. How do the speaker’s feelings about the mower change throughout “The
218. Which phrase best describes the speaker’s change of attitude from the
beginning of “The Tuft of Flowers” to the end?
219. What does Sebastian and Antonio’s friendship in “Twelfth Night” reveal
about the culture in the early 17th century? Write a paragraph, using
details from the play, to support your answer.
Excerpt from Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell. Published by Daily Sketch Publications, 1915.
221. Black Beauty's words in “Excerpt from Black Beauty” convey a definite
impression of his master. What kind of master does he portray, and how
do Black Beauty's thoughts about his master advance the plot in the
passage? Write a one to two paragraph response, using details and
evidence from the passage to support your answer.
Autumn Cove
Autumn Cove
Autumn Cove
222. In the poem “Autumn Cove,” the speaker describes an autumn forest.
How does the speaker use of figurative and connotative language help
to develop the setting? Write one to two paragraphs to explain your
answer. Use details from the poem for support.
Emma leaned her elbows on the windowsill and looked mournfully out over
the backyard next door where her neighbors Alice and Jamal were engaged
in a boisterous game of one-on-one soccer. Alice took possession of the ball
while Jamal guarded a goal indicated by a few sticks in the ground.
Emma shifted her gaze to the open notebook resting in front of her. Across
the top of a glaring blank page she had written, “Helpful Hints for Having
Fun.” She could hear her friends laughing as the ball caromed back and forth
between them.
Alice and Jamal were always organizing neighborhood events, such as local
soccer tournaments and community talent shows. Emma pitched in by
rounding up chairs for the audience, making sure that the referee had a
whistle, and keeping the refreshment table stocked during intermission. She
didn’t mind taking responsibility for these routine tasks. On the contrary, she
was happy to be steady, reliable, helpful, practical Emma.
“Emma is eminently practical,” her father would always say in his gentle,
half-joking manner. Her mother loved to tell the story of how Emma would
examine the price of each item when she was just a toddler sitting in the
grocery cart. As she grew older she learned basic first aid, compost
gardening, and elementary home repair. Now, at fifteen, she was the one
her friends consulted for advice on everything from baking scrumptious
brownies to techniques for repainting an old wooden dresser to make it
appear brand-new.
None of that, however, could solve her problem with her current project.
Emma had decided to write a book, Helpful Hints for Practically Everything,
to share with her friends and family. Emma envisioned a sensible, sturdy
book with her name on the cover, of a convenient size and shape to tote
anywhere.
In keeping with her usual methodical approach, she had consulted her
English teacher, Ms. Maldonado, who had helped her break her work down
223. In “Helpful Hints for Having Fun,” Emma is described as very serious
and responsible. What qualities do her friends display? In one
paragraph, explain how Emma’s friends and their ideas influence
Emma’s perspective about life. Use details from the passage to support
your answer.
Characters
ANTIGONE, daughter of Oedipus and sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and
Ismene
ISMENE, daughter of Oedipus and sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Antigone
(1)ANTIGONE: Own sister of my blood, one life with me,
Ismene, have the tidings caught thine ear?
Say, hath not Heaven decreed to execute
On thee and me, while yet we are alive,
All the evil Oedipus bequeathed?
All horror, All pain, all outrage, falls on us! And now
Excerpt from play, Antigone, by Sophocles, translated by Lewis Campbell. Published by John
Murry, 1896.
224. Based on the details in “Excerpt from Antigone,” which sentence best
characterizes the attitudes of ancient Greek society toward funeral
rites?
No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have
supposed her born to be an heroine. Her situation in life, the character of
her father and mother, her own person and disposition, were all equally
against her. Her father was a clergyman, without being neglected, or poor,
and a very respectable man, though his name was Richard—and he had
never been handsome. He had a considerable independence besides two
good livings—and he was not in the least addicted to locking up his
daughters. Her mother was a woman of useful plain sense, with a good
temper, and, what is more remarkable, with a good constitution. She had
three sons before Catherine was born; and instead of dying in bringing the
latter into the world, as anybody might expect, she still lived on—lived to
have six children more—to see them growing up around her, and to enjoy
excellent health herself. A family of ten children will be always called a fine
family, where there are heads and arms and legs enough for the number;
but the Morlands had little other right to the word, for they were in general
very plain, and Catherine, for many years of her life, as plain as any. She
had a thin awkward figure, a sallow skin without colour, dark lank hair, and
strong features—so much for her person; and not less unpropitious1 for
heroism seemed her mind. She was fond of all boy’s plays, and greatly
preferred cricket not merely to dolls, but to the more heroic enjoyments of
infancy, nursing a dormouse, feeding a canary-bird, or watering a rose-bush.
Indeed she had no taste for a garden; and if she gathered flowers at all, it
1
unpropitious: unfavorable for
2
“Beggar’s Petition”: a poem written by Rev. Thomas Moss and published in 1769
3
profligacy: state of being extravagant and wild
4
vicissitudes: changes and fluctuations in condition or situation
B. Girls should be taught only the skills needed to manage the home.
C. Girls and boys should be taught together by tutors who came into
their homes.
226. Which sentence from Northanger Abbey best describes how Catherine
changes over time?
B. “Not that Catherine was always stupid—by no means; she learnt the
fable of ‘The Hare and Many Friends’ as quickly as any girl in
England.”
C. “Her love of dirt gave way to an inclination for finery, and she grew
clean as she grew smart; she had now the pleasure of sometimes
hearing her father and mother remark on her personal
improvement.”
D. “She had reached the age of seventeen, without having seen one
amiable youth who could call forth her sensibility, without having
inspired one real passion, and without having excited even any
admiration but what was very moderate and very transient.”
It was a fearsome walk, and one which will be with me so long as memory
holds. In the great moonlight clearings I slunk along among the shadows on
the margin. In the jungle I crept forward, stopping with a beating heart
whenever I heard, as I often did, the crash of breaking branches as some
wild beast went past. Now and then great shadows loomed up for an instant
and were gone—great, silent shadows which seemed to prowl upon padded
feet. How often I stopped with the intention of returning, and yet every time
my pride conquered my fear, and sent me on again until my object should
be attained.
At last (my watch showed that it was one in the morning) I saw the gleam of
water amid the openings of the jungle, and ten minutes later I was among
the reeds upon the borders of the central lake … Close to the water’s edge
there was a huge isolated block of lava. Up this I climbed, and, lying on the
top, I had an excellent view in every direction.
The first thing which I saw filled me with amazement … I saw discs of light in
every direction, ruddy, clearly-defined patches, like the port-holes of a liner
in the darkness. For a moment I thought it was the lava-glow from some
volcanic action; but this could not be so. Any volcanic action would surely be
down in the hollow and not high among the rocks. What, then, was the
alternative? It was wonderful, and yet it must surely be. These ruddy spots
must be the reflection of fires within the caves … There were human beings,
then, upon the plateau. How gloriously my expedition was justified! Here
1
quicksilver: mercury
In another fifty yards there was a second turn, this time toward the left! but
it was more of a gentle curve, and we took it without trouble. After that it
was plain sailing, though as far as I could know, there might be most
anything ahead of us, and my nerves strained to the [snapping point] every
instant. After the second turn the channel ran comparatively straight for
between one hundred and fifty and two hundred yards. The waters grew
suddenly lighter, and my spirits rose accordingly. I shouted down to those
below that I saw daylight ahead, and a great shout of thanksgiving
reverberated through the ship. A moment later we emerged into sunlit
water, and immediately I raised the periscope and looked about me upon
the strangest landscape I had ever seen.
We were in the middle of a broad and now sluggish river, the banks of which
were lined by giant, arboraceous ferns, raising their mighty fronds fifty, one
hundred, two hundred feet into the quiet air. Close by us something rose to
the surface of the river and dashed at the periscope. I had a vision of wide,
distended jaws, and then all was blotted out. A shiver ran down into the
tower as the thing closed upon the periscope. A moment later it was gone,
and I could see again. Above the trees there soared into my vision a huge
1
ether: a liquid formerly used to put a patient to sleep before an operation
227. Both “Excerpt from The Lost World” and “Excerpt from The Land That
Time Forgot” describe the discovery and exploration of a prehistoric
world. How does Doyle creates a microcosm, or miniature example, of
natural change over time in “Excerpt from The Lost World” ? How does
Burroughs build upon and transform Doyle’s ideas in “Excerpt from The
Land That Time Forgot”? Write one to two paragraphs to explain, using
details from both passages to support your answer.
228. Which excerpt from “Excerpt from The Lost World” best supports the
inference that Malone highly values his work as a journalist?
A. “How often I stopped with the intention of returning, and yet every
time my pride conquered my fear, and sent me on again until my
object should be attained.”
B. “The first thing which I saw filled me with amazement … I saw discs
of light in every direction, ruddy, clearly-defined patches, like the
port-holes of a liner in the darkness.”
C. “My attention was soon drawn away from these distant sights and
brought back to what was going on at my very feet.”
D. “I reflected as I walked that few men in the world could have spent
a stranger night or added more to human knowledge in the course
of it.”
1
pension: small hotel or inn
Excerpt from A Room With a View, by E. M. Forester. Published by Alfred P. Knopf, Inc.,
1922.
229. Which statement best describes how Miss Bartlett’s feelings about the
old man affect the plot of “Excerpt from A Room with a View”?
B. She secretly respects the old man, which makes her uncertain about
whether to accept his offer.
D. She is baffled by the old man’s eccentric behavior, which leads her
to request assistance from the other ladies dining nearby.
A. dancing
B. morning
C. space
D. water
R. WALTON.
1
satiate: satisfy completely
2
conjectures: judgments based on incomplete information
3
requisite: required
4
effusions: outpourings
5
inuring: becoming accustomed to something unpleasant
6
entreated: asked for in earnest; begged
Excerpt from Frankenstein by Mary W. Shelley. Published by Colburn and Bentley, 1831. In
the public domain.
by Jules Verne
Phileas Fogg left home at half-past eleven, and having placed his right foot
before his left exactly five hundred and seventy-five times, and his left foot
before his right five hundred and seventy-six times, he arrived at the Reform
Club in Pall Mall, and immediately went up to the dining-room and took his
place at his usual table, where his breakfast awaited him. The meal was
composed of one “side-dish,” a delicious little bit of boiled fish, a slice of
underdone roast beef with mushrooms, a rhubarb and gooseberry tart, and
some Cheshire cheese; the whole washed down with several cups of
excellent tea, for which the Reform Club is celebrated.
At forty-seven minutes after twelve he rose from table and went into the
drawing-room; there the servant handed him an uncut copy of The Times,
which Phileas Fogg folded and cut with a dexterity which denoted a practised
hand. The perusal of this journal occupied him till a quarter to four, and then
The Standard sufficed till dinner-time. This repast was eaten under the same
conditions as his breakfast, and at twenty minutes to six he returned to the
saloon and read The Morning Chronicle.
About half an hour later, several of Mr. Fogg’s friends entered the room and
collected round the fireplace. These gentlemen were his usual partners at
They comprised Andrew Stuart, an engineer; the bankers, John Sullivan and
Samuel Fallentin; Thomas Flanagan, the brewer; and Gauthier Ralph, one of
the directors of the Bank of England;—all rich, and men of consequence,
even in that club which comprised so many men of mark.
“On the contrary,” replied Ralph, “I am in hopes that we shall be able to put
our hand upon the thief. We have detectives in America and Europe, at all
the principal ports, and it will be no easy matter for him to escape the
clutches of the law. . . .”
When it was certain that a robbery had been committed, the most skilful
detectives were sent down to Liverpool and Glasgow and other principal
ports, also to Suez, Brindisi, New York, &c., with promises of a reward of two
thousand pounds, and five per cent on the amount recovered. In the
meantime, inspectors were appointed to observe scrupulously all travellers
arriving at and departing from the several seaports.
Now there was some reason to suppose, as The Morning Chronicle put it,
that the thief did not belong to a gang, for during the 29th of September a
well-dressed gentlemanly man had been observed in the bank, near where
the robbery had been perpetrated. An exact description of this person was
fortunately obtained, and supplied to all the detectives; and so some
sanguine persons, of whom Ralph was one, believed the thief could not
escape.
As may be imagined, nothing else was talked about just then. The
probabilities of success and failure were warmly discussed in the
newspapers, so it was not surprising that the members of the Reform Club
should talk about it, particularly as one of the deputy-governors of the bank
was present.
“Well,” said Stuart, “I maintain that the chances are in favour of the thief,
who must be a sharp one.”
“Oh, come!”
“I can’t tell,” replied Stuart; “but the world is big enough, at any rate.”
“It used to be,” said Phileas Fogg, in an undertone. “Cut, if you please,” he
added, handing the cards to Flanagan.
Conversation was then suspended, but after the rubber Stuart took it up
again, saying:
“What do you mean by ‘used to be?’ Has the world grown smaller, then?”
“Of course it has,” replied Ralph. “I am of Mr. Fogg’s opinion; the world has
grown smaller, inasmuch as one can go round it ten times quicker than you
could a hundred years ago. That is the reason why, in the present case,
search will be more rapid, and render the escape of the thief easier.”
But the incredulous Stuart was not convinced, and he again returned to the
subject.
“I must say, Mr. Ralph,” he continued, “that you have found an easy way
that the world has grown smaller, because one may now go round it in three
months.”
“Heaven forbid,” cried Stuart; “but I will bet you a cool four thousand that
such a journey, under such conditions, is impossible.”
“Yes.”
“I will.”
“When?”
“Oh, this is all nonsense,” replied Stuart, who began to feel a little vexed at
Fogg’s persistence; “let us continue the game.”
Andrew Stuart took up the cards, and suddenly put them down again.
“Look here, Mr. Fogg,” he said; “if you like, I will bet you four thousand.”
“All right,” said Mr. Fogg; then, turning towards the others, he said: “I have
twenty thousand pounds deposited at Baring’s. I will willingly risk that sum.”
“But, Mr. Fogg, this estimate of eighty days is the very least time in which
the journey can be accomplished.”
“But to succeed you must pass from railways to steamers, from steamers to
railways, with mathematical accuracy.”
“Very well, then,” said Fogg, “the Dover mail starts at 8.45; I will go by it.”
233. How does the author introduce the central idea of the "Excerpt from
Around the World in 80 Days?"
D. A discussion about the hunt for bank robbers presents the theory
that detectives were involved in the robbery.
We must now go on board, and our first cause of surprise will be the
deception relative to the tonnage of the schooner, when viewed from a
distance. Instead of a small vessel of about ninety tons, we discover that she
is upwards of two hundred; that her breadth of beam is enormous; and that
those spars, which appeared so light and elegant, are of unexpected
dimensions. Her decks are of narrow fir planks, without the least spring or
rise; her ropes are of Manilla hemp, neatly secured to copper belaying-pins,
and coiled down on the deck, whose whiteness is well contrasted with the
bright green paint of her bulwarks: her capstern1 and binnacles2 are cased in
fluted mahogany, and ornamented with brass; metal stanchions protect the
skylights, and the bright muskets are arranged in front of the mainmast,
while the boarding-pikes are lashed round the mainboom.
In the centre of the vessel, between the fore and main masts, there is a long
brass 32-pounder fixed upon a carriage revolving in a circle, and so arranged
that in bad weather it can be lowered down and housed; while on each side
of her decks are mounted eight brass guns of smaller calibre and of exquisite
workmanship. Her build proves the skill of the architect; her fitting-out, a
judgment in which nought has been sacrificed to, although everything has
been directed by, taste; and her neatness and arrangement, that, in the
person of her commander, to the strictest discipline there is united the
1
capstern: rotation machine used to apply force to ropes and cables of a ship
2
binnacles: enclosures for a ship’s compasses
234. Which statement best describes the narrator’s impression of the ship’s
design in the passage from “The Pirate and the Three Cutters”?
The Bicycle
The Bicycle
The Bicycle
I stood in the center of our garage, its door raised and open. The late-
morning sun cast its luminescence over the cement-and-wood room, the
articles toward the front of the garage lit up with warm, yellow light, while
things toward the back stayed muted in reflected brightness and shadow.
My dad walked up next to me and dropped a hand on my shoulder.
“Anything of yours that you don’t use anymore, Kyle, drag it outside. We’ll
see about taking it somewhere so that maybe someone else can get some
use out of it.”
I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of spending the day uncluttering the
garage, but I stepped forward from beneath his hand and replied, “Yeah,
I’ve got it.”
“Great,” he answered as he turned to head back into the house. “I’ll be out
back in a few minutes mowing the lawn, so if you’re not sure about
something, it can wait until after that.”
As he walked away, I started sifting through a cardboard box stuffed with
old baseball gloves, balls, and the like. We never used these anymore, so I
hefted it and carried it out onto our sunbaked driveway. I squinted to save
my eyes from the brightness of the white concrete, and I’d already begun
perspiring in the few moments I’d spent directly in the sunlight. I walked
back into the garage, and once I reached the shade of its confines, I stood
and waited for the green dots clouding my vision to subside. When the
murkiness cleared, I found my eyes resting on an old bicycle—my old
bicycle.
The metal of its handlebars was dulled with time and use, the once brilliant
sheen replaced with a filmy residue that was slightly sticky to the touch. The
rubber of the tires was cracked and weathered, with thin lines crisscrossing
the worn treads. The seat was hard and uneven, inhospitable to anyone, I
decided, as I swung one leg over the bike and straddled it, gingerly settling
myself into the seat as I grasped the worn handgrips. This bike was shiny
and clean once, a bike any child would have been proud to own. I thought
235. Which sentence from “The Bicycle” best illustrates Kyle’s feelings about
the bicycle he finds in the garage?
A. “The metal of its handlebars was dulled with time and use, the once
brilliant sheen replaced with a filmy residue that was slightly sticky
to the touch.”
B. “The rubber of the tires was cracked and weathered, with thin lines
crisscrossing the worn treads.”
C. “It was old, dingy, and too small for my use, but seeing it and
sitting astride it again kindled fond memories and stirred pride and
adoration for my father.”
Excerpt from Robinson Crusoe Chapter IV: The First Weeks on the Island
Excerpt from Robinson Crusoe Chapter IV: The First Weeks on the Island
Excerpt from Robinson Crusoe
Chapter IV: The First Weeks on the Island
by Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe tells the tale of a young man’s
quest to find adventure. Along the way, he is shipwrecked on an
island. In this excerpt from Chapter 4, Crusoe, the narrator of the
tale, tells what life is like during his first weeks on the island.
1
sustenance: food and water
2
egress: a way to exit
3
contrivance: accomplishment
4
prodigious: extraordinary amount
Excerpt from The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Published by The
236. Which statement supports the conclusion that Crusoe believes he will
never leave the island?
B. “... for I raised a kind of wall up against it of turfs, about two feet
thick on the outside; and after some time (I think it was a year and
a half) I raised rafters from it....”
He had now entered the skirts of the village. A troop of strange children ran
at his heels, hooting after him, and pointing at his gray beard. The dogs,
too, not one of which he recognized for an old acquaintance, barked at him
as he passed. The very village was altered; it was larger and more populous.
There were rows of houses which he had never seen before, and those which
had been his familiar haunts had disappeared. Strange names were over the
doors—strange faces at the windows—every thing was strange. His mind
now misgave him; he began to doubt whether both he and the world around
him were not bewitched. Surely this was his native village, which he had left
but the day before. There stood the Kaatskill mountains—there ran the silver
Hudson at a distance—there was every hill and dale precisely as it had
always been—Rip was sorely perplexed—"That flagon last night," thought he,
"has addled my poor head sadly!"
It was with some difficulty that he found the way to his own house, which he
approached with silent awe, expecting every moment to hear the shrill voice
of Dame Van Winkle. He found the house gone to decay—the roof fallen in,
the windows shattered, and the doors off the hinges. A half-starved dog that
looked like Wolf was skulking about it. Rip called him by name, but the cur
snarled, showed his teeth, and passed on. This was an unkind cut indeed—
"My very dog," sighed poor Rip, "has forgotten me!"
He entered the house, which, to tell the truth, Dame Van Winkle had always
kept in neat order. It was empty, forlorn, and apparently abandoned. This
desolateness overcame all his connubial fears—he called loudly for his wife
and children—the lonely chambers rang for a moment with his voice, and
then all again was silence.
He now hurried forth, and hastened to his old resort, the village inn—but it
too was gone. A large rickety wooden building stood in its place, with great
gaping windows, some of them broken and mended with old hats and
petticoats, and over the door was painted, "the Union Hotel, by Jonathan
237. How does the author create a sense of mystery about the amount of
time that has passed since Rip Van Winkle has been home?
1
Avouch: confirm, declare as a fact
2
weal: well-being
3
gauntlet: protective glove, worn as part of medieval armor
4
gage: something that is thrown down as a challenge to fight; in this case, the gauntlet
Excerpt from play “Wilhelm Tell,” by Friedrich Schiller. Found in Dramatic Works of Friedrich
Schiller, translated by Coleridge, Churchill, and Martin. Published by George Bell and Sons,
1908.
238. What can readers infer about the political structure of Switzerland at the
time “Wilhelm Tell” takes place?
Portrait of a Lady
Portrait of a Lady
Excerpt from The Portrait of a Lady
by Henry James
Chapter I
Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than
the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. There are
circumstances in which, whether you partake of the tea or not—some people
of course never do,—the situation is in itself delightful. Those that I have in
mind in beginning to unfold this simple history offered an admirable setting
to an innocent pastime. The implements of the little feast had been disposed
upon the lawn of an old English country-house, in what I should call the
perfect middle of a splendid summer afternoon. Part of the afternoon had
waned, but much of it was left, and what was left was of the finest and
rarest quality. Real dusk would not arrive for many hours; but the flood of
summer light had begun to ebb, the air had grown mellow, the shadows
were long upon the smooth, dense turf. They lengthened slowly, however,
and the scene expressed that sense of leisure still to come which is perhaps
the chief source of one's enjoyment of such a scene at such an hour. From
five o'clock to eight is on certain occasions a little eternity; but on such an
occasion as this the interval could be only an eternity of pleasure. The
persons concerned in it were taking their pleasure quietly. . . . The shadows
on the perfect lawn were straight and angular; they were the shadows of an
old man sitting in a deep wicker-chair near the low table on which the tea
had been served, and of two younger men strolling to and fro, in desultory
talk, in front of him. The old man had his cup in his hand; it was an
unusually large cup, of a different pattern from the rest of the set and
painted in brilliant colours. He disposed of its contents with much
circumspection, holding it for a long time close to his chin, with his face
turned to the house. His companions had either finished their tea or were
239. Read the sentence from “Excerpt from The Portrait of a Lady.”
One of them, from time to time, as he passed, looked with a
certain attention at the elder man, who, unconscious of
observation, rested his eyes upon the rich red front of his
dwelling....
What can be inferred from this sentence?
A.
D. that the young man is growing impatient with the elder man
E. that the young man is trying to find a way to warn the elder man
Ulysses
Ulysses
Ulysses
by Alfred Tennyson
B. It shows that Ulysses feels that no one knows him, revealing the
theme of isolation and loneliness.
D. It shows that Ulysses has little involvement with people outside his
circle of friends, revealing the theme of social injustice.
A Helping Hand
A Helping Hand
A Helping Hand
“You’re wasting your time, Sis,” Elissa’s father chided her. Elissa, fifteen
years old and full of hope and energy, was already one foot out the door, her
backpack slung over her shoulder.
“You never know, Dad,” she replied, tossing her head slightly. “She can
learn it.”
“She’s from a different generation, honey,” Elissa’s mother chimed in. “She
didn’t grow up with computers; it’s all completely foreign to her. She doesn’t
have a cell. She doesn’t even have an answering machine, let alone voice
mail. Her TV still has rabbit ears.”
“Huh? Rabbit ears?
“Antennas,” her mother explained. “How can I put this nicely? She’s
technologically, um, challenged.”
“I know it has been slow going, but, I really think she can do it, and we’re
going to keep trying,” Elissa replied, and she skipped on out the door, down
to the sidewalk, and down the few blocks to her great-grandmother’s house,
where her technologically challenged “Nana” awaited the day’s lesson.
Elissa’s great-grandmother had sighed one day not that long ago, sadly
relating her frustration at not being able to keep in contact with her family,
especially the great-grandchildren. Everyone had been moving forward into
the world of e-mail and social media, and her world—a world of handwritten
letters, personal phone calls, and personal visits to people’s homes—was
fading away. She saw less and less of her family these days, and it bothered
her.
“I feel like I’m being left behind as the rest of world moves further and
further away,” she confided to Elissa sadly one day, “and I don’t want to be.”
“I can help, Nana,” Elissa replied.
Elissa had taken it upon herself to solve this problem: she decided she would
A. She is hesitant to use them, but her love for her family motivates
her to learn more about them.
B. She is nervous about using them, because she wishes people still
wrote letters to communicate.
C. She is eager to learn more about them, because they will help her
understand her great-grandchildren.
1
poop: a smaller deck above a ship’s main afterdeck
3
bends: eyebrows
4
yarely frame: nimbly perform
Excerpt from play Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare. Published by Munroe &
Francis, 1807.
Excerpt from “Antony” from The Lives of Noble Grecians and Romans
Excerpt from “Antony” from The Lives of Noble Grecians and Romans
Excerpt from “Antony”
from The Lives of Noble Grecians and Romans
by Plutarch
The Egyptian queen Cleopatra (70/69 BCE–30 BCE) was the last
pharoah of ancient Egypt. She was also the wife of Marc Antony,
controller of Rome’s eastern lands. The following excerpt from
“Antony,” in Plutarch’s The Lives of Noble Grecians and Romans,
describes the first time Cleopatra showed herself to her future
husband.
She received several letters, both from Antony and from his friends, to
summon her. But she took no account of these orders. And at last, as if in
mockery of them, she came sailing up the river Cydnus in a barge with
gilded stern and outspread sails of purple, while oars of silver beat time to
the music of flutes and fifes and harps. She herself lay all along under a
canopy of cloth of gold, dressed as Venus in a picture, and . . . young boys .
. . stood on each side to fan her. Her maids were dressed like Sea Nymphs
and Graces,1 some steering at the rudder, some working at the ropes. The
perfumes diffused themselves from the vessel to the shore, which was
covered with multitudes, part following the galley up the river on either
bank, part running out of the city to see the sight. The marketplace was
quite emptied. And Antony at last was left alone sitting upon the tribunal,
1
Graces: Greek goddesses who gave charm and beauty
Excerpt from “Antony” found in Plutarch’s Lives Volume V, translated by John Dryden and
edited A. H. Clough. Published by Little, Brown and Company, 1888.
242. Read these lines from “‘Excerpt from Antony’ in The Lives of Noble
Grecians and Romans.”
On her arrival, Antony sent to invite her to supper. She thought
it fitter he should come to her. So, willing to show his good
humor and courtesy, he complied and went.
How does Shakespeare’s description of Cleopatra’s instructions to
Antony in “Excerpt from Antony and Cleopatra” compare with Plutarch’s
account of this event?
Chapter 1
The family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex. Their estate was
large, and their residence was at Norland Park, in the centre of their
property, where, for many generations, they had lived in so respectable a
manner as to engage the general good opinion of their surrounding
acquaintance. The late owner of this estate was a single man, who lived to a
very advanced age, and who for many years of his life, had a constant
1
seven thousand pounds: In today's dollars, 7,000 pounds of Britain's currency is the
equivalent to approximately $267,238.00.
243. The theme of “excerpt from Sense and Sensibility" is noblesse oblige, a
French term meaning “nobility obliges.” Write an essay explaining
this theme and analyze its development throughout the text, using
evidence from the passage and from online sources to support your
response.
Your essay will be scored using the following criteria:
Timaeus
Timaeus
Excerpt from Timaeus
by Plato
Timaeus is one of the dialogues written by the ancient Greek
philosopher Plato. It was written around the year 360 BCE. In this
excerpt, Plato provides the first mention of the underwater city of
Atlantis and describes it in a mix of history and folk myth as a kind
of past paradise that has captivated the interest of people ever
since.
Many great and wonderful deeds are recorded of your state in our histories.
But one of them exceeds all the rest in greatness and valour. For these
histories tell of a mighty power which unprovoked made an expedition
against the whole of Europe and Asia, and to which your city put an end.
This power came forth out of the Atlantic Ocean, for in those days the
Atlantic was navigable; and there was an island situated in front of the
straits which are by you called the Pillars of Heracles; the island was larger
than Libya and Asia put together, and was the way to other islands, and
from these you might pass to the whole of the opposite continent which
surrounded the true ocean; for this sea which is within the Straits of
Heracles is only a harbour, having a narrow entrance, but that other is a real
sea, and the surrounding land may be most truly called a boundless
continent. Now in this island of Atlantis there was a great and wonderful
empire which had rule over the whole island and several others, and over
parts of the continent, and, furthermore, the men of Atlantis had subjected
the parts of Libya within the columns of Heracles as far as Egypt, and of
Europe as far as Tyrrhenia. This vast power, gathered into one, endeavoured
to subdue at a blow our country and yours and the whole of the region
within the straits; and then, Solon, your country shone forth, in the
excellence of her virtue and strength, among all mankind. She was
preeminent in courage and military skill, and was the leader of the Hellenes.
And when the rest fell off from her, being compelled to stand alone, after
having undergone the very extremity of danger, she defeated and triumphed
over the invaders, and preserved from slavery those who were not yet
subjugated, and generously liberated all the rest of us who dwell within the
244. How did Plato develop his theme in this excerpt from Timaeus? Write
one paragraph that describes the theme and its development. Use
details from the passage to support your answer.
Since the beginning of the campaign Lieutenant Laré had taken two
cannon from the Prussians. His general had said: “Thank you, lieutenant,”
and had given him the cross of honor.
As he was as cautious as he was brave, wary, inventive, wily and
resourceful, he was entrusted with a hundred soldiers and he organized a
company of scouts who saved the army on several occasions during a
retreat.
But the invading army entered by every frontier like a surging sea. Great
waves of men arrived one after the other, scattering all around them a scum
of freebooters. General Carrel’s brigade, separated from its division,
retreated continually, fighting each day, but remaining almost intact, thanks
to the vigilance and agility of Lieutenant Laré, who seemed to be everywhere
at the same moment, baffling all the enemy’s cunning, frustrating their plans
…
One morning the general sent for him.
“Lieutenant,” said he, “here is a dispatch from General de Lacère, who will
be destroyed if we do not go to his aid by sunrise to-morrow. He is at
Blainville, eight leagues from here. You will start at nightfall with three
hundred men, whom you will echelon along the road. I will follow you two
hours later. Study the road carefully; I fear we may meet a division of the
enemy.”
1
Comte de Ronfi: the nobleman who owns the castle as well as the land on which the
soldiers are traveling
2
francs: former currency of France
245. Read this excerpt from the beginning of “Lieutenant Laré’s Marriage.”
Since the beginning of the campaign Lieutenant Laré had taken
two cannon from the Prussians. His general had said: “Thank
you, lieutenant,” and had given him the cross of honor.
What plot details do these descriptions of Lieutenant Laré at the
beginning of the passage provide?
C. They give the impression that the war has been mostly slow and
uninteresting.
Many years since, a long time before the French revolution, my uncle had
passed several months at Paris. The English and French were on better
terms, in those days, than at present, and mingled cordially together in
society. The English went abroad to spend money then, and the French were
always ready to help them: they go abroad to save money at present, and
that they can do without French assistance. Perhaps the travelling English
were fewer and choicer then, than at present, when the whole nation has
broke loose, and inundated the continent. At any rate, they circulated more
readily and currently in foreign society, and my uncle, during his residence
in Paris, made many very intimate acquaintances among the French
noblesse.1
Some time afterwards, he was making a journey in the winter-time, in that
part of Normandy called the Pays de Caux, when, as evening was closing in,
he perceived the turrets of an ancient chateau rising out of the trees of its
walled park, each turret with its high conical roof of gray slate, like a candle
with an extinguisher on it.
“To whom does that chateau belong, friend?” cried my uncle to a meager,
but fiery postillion,2 who, with tremendous jack boots and cocked hat, was
floundering on before him.
“To Monseigneur the Marquis de—,” said the postillion, touching his hat,
partly out of respect to my uncle, and partly out of reverence to the noble
name pronounced. My uncle recollected the Marquis for a particular friend in
Paris, who had often expressed a wish to see him at his paternal chateau.
1
noblesse: aristocrats; persons of noble rank
2
postilion: driver of a horse-drawn carriage
3
divers: various; several
4
jerkins: jackets
5
ear-locks: sections of hair worn in front of or near the ears
Excerpt from novel Tales of a Traveller, by Geoffrey Crayon (Washington Irving). Published
by L. Baudry, 1824.
246. In "Tales of a Traveller," various parts of the uncle's life are followed;
but then the focus shifts to the life of the marquis. How does the author
use these characters to develop the story?
Write an essay in which you analyze the character of either the uncle or
marquis. In your response, discuss how this character is presented, how
he interacts with others, and how the character helps to advance the
plot or develop the theme. Use details from the passage to support your
analysis.
Nor, perchance,
If I were not thus taught, should I the more
Suffer my genial spirits to decay:
For thou art with me, here, upon the banks
Of this fair river; thou, my dearest Friend,
My dear, dear Friend, and in thy voice I catch
The language of my former heart, and read
My former pleasures in the shooting lights
Of thy wild eyes. Oh! yet a little while
May I behold in thee what I was once,
My dear, dear Sister! And this prayer I make,
Knowing that Nature never did betray
The heart that loved her; ’tis her privilege,
Through all the years of this our life, to lead
From joy to joy: for she can so inform
The mind that is within us, so impress
With quietness and beauty, and so feed
With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,
Rash judgments, nor the sneers of selfish men,
Nor greetings where no kindness is, nor all
The dreary intercourse of daily life,
1
roe: deer
2
recompence: payment for loss or damage
3
interfused: mixed together
Poem titled “Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey” by William Wordsworth, from
Lyrical Ballads, with Pastoral and Other Poems. Published by Longman, Hurst, Rees, and
Orme, 1805. In the public domain.
In those old, old times, there lived two brothers who were not like other
men, nor yet like those Mighty Ones who lived upon the mountain top. They
were the sons of one of those Titans who had fought against Jupiter and
been sent in chains to the strong prison-house of the Lower World.
The name of the elder of these brothers was Prometheus, or Forethought;
for he was always thinking of the future and making things ready for what
might happen to-morrow, or next week, or next year, or it may be in a
hundred years to come. The younger was called Epimetheus, or
Afterthought; for he was always so busy thinking of yesterday, or last year,
or a hundred years ago, that he had no care at all for what might come to
pass after a while.
For some cause Jupiter had not sent these brothers to prison with the rest of
the Titans.
Prometheus did not care to live amid the clouds on the mountain top. He
was too busy for that. While the Mighty Folk were spending their time in
idleness, drinking nectar and eating ambrosia, he was intent upon plans for
making the world wiser and better than it had ever been before.
He went out amongst men to live with them and help them; for his heart
was filled with sadness when he found that they were no longer happy as
they had been during the golden days when Saturn was king. Ah, how very
poor and wretched they were! He found them living in caves and in holes of
the earth, shivering with the cold because there was no fire, dying of
starvation, hunted by wild beasts and by one another-the most miserable of
all living creatures.
“If they only had fire,” said Prometheus to himself, “they could at least warm
themselves and cook their food; and after a while they could learn to make
Excerpt from “The Story of Prometheus” from Old Greek Stories by James Baldwin. In the
public domain.
Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the fireplace, cross-indexing his
records … while I at the other was deep in one of Clark Russell’s fine sea
stories until the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text
and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of the sea
waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother’s, and for a few days I was a
dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker Street.
“Why,” said I, glancing up at my companion, “that was surely the bell. Who
could come tonight? Some friend of yours, perhaps?”
“Except yourself I have none,” he answered. “I do not encourage visitors.”
“A client, then?”
“If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out on such a day
and at such an hour. But I take it that it is more likely to be some crony of
the landlady’s.”
Sherlock Holmes was wrong in his conjecture, however, for there came a
step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He stretched out his long arm
to turn the lamp away from himself and towards the vacant chair upon which
a newcomer must sit.
“Come in!” said he.
1
pince-nez: eyeglasses held in place by a spring gripping the nose
Excerpt from story “The Five Orange Pips,” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Found in The
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, published by Harper & Brothers, 1892.
249. Which excerpt from “The Five Orange Pips” best supports the idea that
Sherlock Holmes enjoys solitude?
C. “He stretched out his long arm to turn the lamp away from himself
and towards the vacant chair upon which a newcomer must sit.”
Leo Tolstoy ranks among the greatest Russian authors of all time.
His novel, Anna Karenin, was published in installments in a
magazine from 1873–1877.
1
majolica: style of pottery covered with opaque glaze
2
ma chère: French term of affection meaning “my dear”
3
epigram: clever or amusing remark that expresses an idea
4
attaché: a diplomatic official or military officer assigned to an embassy in
a foreign country
250. Based on the passage, which sentence about the culture represented in
the excerpt from Anna Karenin is most likely true?