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

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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. 

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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”  

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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