Valley View Jr High The Man Who Saved 1000 Babies

1. Which is a central idea of the article?  

• A Vivien Thomas trained many heart surgeons. 
•  Vivien Thomas helped develop a procedure to help babies with a dangerous heart condition
• C At Vanderbilt, Vivien Thomas’s official job title was “janitor.”
• D Many people lost their jobs during the Great Depression

2. Reread the last two paragraphs of the section “Shattered Plans.” What does author Lauren Tarshis mean by “Little did he know”?

• A Thomas did not know how much he would earn.  
• B Thomas did not know that most universities did not accept African-American students.
•  Alfred Blalock did not know that Thomas was extraordinarily gifted.
• D Thomas did not know that he would work with Alfred Blalock for many, many years. 

3. Which of the photos or captions on pages 6-7 does NOT contribute to an understanding of blue-baby syndrome?

• A the picture of a healthy heart  
• B the caption “The Heart”  
• C the pictures of Blalock, Thomas, and Taussig 
• D the caption “The Surgery”  

4. Tarshis writes, “Heart surgery was considered the Mount Everest of medicine.” This line contains

• A imagery that helps you picture Mount Everest. 
• B a simile that tells you heart surgeons are tall. 
• C personification that describes Mount Everest as a person with a strong heart. 
•  a metaphor telling you that surgeons viewed heart surgery as the ultimate challenge. 

5. The detail that Thomas’s job title was “janitor” after six years of working in the lab with Blalock 

• A demonstrates the racism that Thomas and other African-Americans encountered. 
• B shows that Johns Hopkins made frequent errors in job classifications. 
• C explains that Thomas worked as a janitor.  
• D demonstrates that Blalock was unappreciative of Thomas’s contributions. 

6. On page 8, Tarshis states that Thomas expected to watch Eileen Saxon’s surgery from the gallery. Why would Thomas have expected this? 

• A Blalock had kept Thomas’s contributions secret. 
• B Helen Taussig had told Thomas that he would have to watch the surgery from the gallery.
• C There was much racism at Johns Hopkins, plus, Thomas was not officially a doctor. 
• D Thomas had never tried the surgery on a baby. 

7. An example of someone treating Thomas unfairly because of the color of his skin would best fit into which of the following sections?

• A The first section
• B “No Ordinary Worker”
• C “A Call to Action”
• D It would not fit in this article

8. Lauren Tarshis writes that Thomas “blazed a trail” for other African-Americans in medicine. What does she mean?

• A He helped make it possible for other African-Americans to have careers in medicine.
• B He enjoyed hiking and the outdoors
• C He set fire to a trail.
• D He created a pathway for African-Americans through segregated cities.

9. Which of the following is an example of the racial discrimination Thomas experienced?

• A When he moved to Maryland, he had a hard time finding a place to live.
• B His job title at Vanderbilt was janitor
• C John Hopkins waited 32 years before awarding him an honorary doctorate.
• D All of the above

10. What is the purpose of including images of actual babies on the title pages?

• A To show some of the babies saved by Thomas’s surgery
• B To put into perspective how important Thomas’s work was
• C To interest the reader in working with children
• D To change the perception that babies are unimportant