8th ELAR STAAR Review

Many of the foods and beverages Americans eat and drink contain empty calories — calories from solid fats and/or added sugars. Solid fats and added sugars add calories to the food but few or no nutrients. For this reason, the calories from solid fats and added sugars in a food are often called empty calories. Learning more about solid fats and added sugars can help you make better food and drink choices.

Which sentence from the selection is an opinion?

• a. Many of the foods and beverages Americans eat and drink contain empty calories — calories from solid fats and/or added sugars.

• b. Solid fats and added sugars add calories to the food but few or no nutrients.

• c. For this reason, the calories from solid fats and added sugars in a food are often called empty calories.

• d. Learning more about solid fats and added sugars can help you make better food and drink choices.

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Make physical activity a regular part of the day Choose activities that you enjoy and can do regularly. Fitting activity into a daily routine can be easy — such as taking a brisk 10 minute walk to and from the parking lot, bus stop, or subway station. Or, join an exercise class. Keep it interesting by trying something different on alternate days. Every little bit adds up and doing something is better than doing nothing. Make sure to do at least 10 minutes of activity at a time, shorter bursts of activity will not have the same health benefits. For example, walking the dog for 10 minutes before and after work or adding a 10 minute walk at lunchtime can add to your weekly goal. Mix it up. Swim, take a yoga class, garden or lift weights. To be ready anytime, keep some comfortable clothes and a pair of walking or running shoes in the car and at the office. The International Space Station is a unique place – a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. It is a microgravity laboratory in which an international crew of six people live and work while traveling at a speed of five miles per second, orbiting Earth every 90 minutes. The space station has been continuously occupied since November 2000. In that time, more than 200 people from 15 countries have visited.

The author wrote this article most likely to-

• a. Encourage people to find easy ways to fit physical activity into their day.

• b. To explain why people are so overweight.

• c. Persuade the reader to join a gym.

• d. Compare several different types of exercises.

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The International Space Station is a unique place – a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. It is a microgravity laboratory in which an international crew of six people live and work while traveling at a speed of five miles per second, orbiting Earth every 90 minutes. The space station has been continuously occupied since November 2000. In that time, more than 200 people from 15 countries have visited. The author wrote this article most likely toa. Encourage people to find easy ways to fit physical activity into their day. b. To explain why people are so overweight. c. Persuade the reader to join a gym. d. Compare several different types of exercises.

What does the word convergence mean in paragraph 1?

• a. separating

• b. coming together

• c. showing

• d. fascination

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If you live anywhere El Niño has important impacts, you've heard forecasters say this year's event looks just like the monster El Niño of 1997-98. NASA satellite images of the Pacific Ocean in November 1997 and November 2015 show almost identical, large pools of warm water in the eastern equatorial Pacific. The National Weather Service has forecast that impacts this winter will resemble those in 1997, when California and the South suffered floods, mudslides and tornadoes, while residents of the Upper Midwest saved $2 billion to $7 billion in heating costs throughout their unusually warm winter. Phishing is a scam in which you receive a fraudulent e-mail designed to steal your identity or vital personal information, such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers, debit card PINs, and passwords. A phishing e-mail often asks you to verify this type of information. The e-mail may state that your account has been compromised or that one of your accounts was charged incorrectly, but you must click on a link in the e-mail or reply with your bank account number to confirm your identity or protect your account. Legitimate companies never ask for your password or account number via e-mail. The email may even threaten to disable your account, if you don't reply, but don't believe it. .

The author emphasizes the idea that-

• a. In past, El Niño has done a lot of damage.

• b. The El Niño could have a large impact on many people living in the United States this year.

• c. El Niño will be a good thing for most people.

• d. There is not comparison between this El Niño and any of the previous El Niños.

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Youth Violence is a Significant Public Health Problem Violence among children and adolescents is a significant public health concern. In 1999,1 violence claimed the lives of more than 3,200 Americans ages 19 and under—that’s an average of 9 deaths per day—making the homicide rate for young people in the United States the highest among developed countries. Homicide is the second leading cause of death among 15- to 19-year-olds and the third leading cause of death among children ages 10 to 14. - Centers for Disease Control Over the years, the rapid evolution of technology in various forms has significantly influenced the way people live and interact. Televisions, record players, computers, and VCRs changed how people learned, were entertained, stayed connected, and explored. In the past two decades, these devices have been joined or replaced by cell phones, i-Pods, MP3 players, DVDs, and PDAs (personal digital assistants). These new technologies have become a mainstay for how people, particularly children and adolescents, communicate and are entertained. Technology affords young people many benefits: the ability to talk to people worldwide, to more easily and regularly communicate with family and peers, and to make rewarding social connections that may be difficult to make in person. Some young people report that they feel better about themselves online than they do in the real world and feel it is easier to be accepted on-line. In addition, the growing accessibility of the internet through cell phones and wireless computer access allows adolescents to quickly and easily increase their knowledge about a broad number of topics.

The author supports his argument with -

• a. Expert testimony from police officers

• b. Data about the number of deaths from violence

• c. Facts about the most common acts of violence

• d. Opinions from employees at the Centers for Disease Control

Bullying is a form of youth violence. CDC defines bullying as any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths who are not siblings or current dating partners that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated. Bullying may inflict harm or distress on the targeted youth including physical, psychological, social, or educational harm. Bullying can include aggression that is physical (hitting, tripping), verbal (name calling, teasing), or relational/social (spreading rumors, leaving out of group). A young person can be a perpetrator, a victim, or both (also known as “bully/victim”). - Centers for Disease Control DESTINATION MARS. FIRST STOP... THE ARCTIC? Before heading to Mars, space scientists and engineers are traveling to the Canadian Arctic to live and work in the Haughton impact crater. Its climate and geology are as Mars-like as can be found on Earth—cold temperatures, low precipitation, and permanently frozen impact-ejected rubble. The Haughton crater provides opportunities to test new technologies and field procedures and to study human behaviors that result from extended contact in close quarters. The knowledge gained from these investigations is being used to plan, design, and ultimately to conduct the first manned and continued robotic missions to Mars and other planets and their moons.

-United States Arctic Research Commission

Based on information in the selection, which of these would most likely be true?

• a. A student is bullied by his older brother.

• b. A girl is bullied by her boyfriend.

• c. A girl gets bullied by a boy in her English class but she bullies a girl in her math class.

• d. A boy is bullied by his 35 year old uncle.

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THE ARCTIC IMPACTS OUR WEATHER The “polar vortex” events of early 2014, when frigid air descended into the continental United States, demonstrate the direct impact the Arctic has on Northern Hemisphere weather. Because the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the global average, the equator-to-pole temperature difference and sea ice cover are decreasing, and these impact weather. The normally straight-flowing jet stream, which separates the northern mass of cold air swirling counterclockwise (polar vortex) from more southerly air masses, becomes wavier to the north and south, bringing icy Arctic air to mid-latitudes of the United States, Europe, and Asia. Scientists are researching this weather pattern to see if it will result in more frequent and longer-duration cold-air outbreaks. At the same time, an increasing number of storms with greater rainfall and stronger winds is projected for Western Europe, and higher snowfall is expected in Eurasia.

The author organizes the selection by -

• a. explaining problems and supplying solutions

• b. describing the polar vortex

• c. listing effects of the polar vortex

• d. describing causes and effects of the polar vortex.

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She touched his shirt. It was dry. But Tom knew what she would touch next. He said

quickly, “Some of us put water on our heads because we were hot. My hair is not dry yet.”

He watched her face. Yes, she believed him. He was safe. And Aunt Polly was glad to

believe that he had been good.

From “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain

She was surprised to find the cottage-door standing open, and when she went into the

room, she had such a strange feeling that she said to herself: 'Oh dear! how uneasy I feel

today, and at other times I like being with grandmother so much.' She called out: 'Good

morning,' but received no answer; so she went to the bed and drew back the curtains.

There lay her grandmother with her cap pulled far over her face, and looking very strange.

From “Little Red Riding Hood” by Brothers Grimm

The point of view from which the story is told give the reader insight into –

• a. Aunt Polly’s motivation for touching Tom’s hair

• b. Tom’s feelings about Aunt Polly

• c. Tom’s thoughts when Aunt Polly is touching his hair and Aunt Polly’s joy that Tom behaved

• d. where Tom went to get his hair wet

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One fine evening a young princess put on her bonnet and clogs, and went out to take a

walk by herself in a wood; and when she came to a cool spring of water, that rose in the

midst of it, she sat herself down to rest a while. Now she had a golden ball in her hand,

which was her favorite plaything; and she was always tossing it up into the air, and

catching it again as it fell. After a time she threw it up so high that she missed catching it

as it fell; and the ball bounded away, and rolled along upon the ground, till at last it fell

down into the spring. The princess looked into the spring after her ball, but it was very

deep, so deep that she could not see the bottom of it. Then she began to bewail her loss,

and said, 'Alas! if I could only get my ball again, I would give all my fine clothes and

jewels, and everything that I have in the world.‘

From The Frog Prince by The Grimm Brothers

And when the princess opened the door the frog came in, and slept upon her pillow as before,

till the morning broke. And the third night he did the same. But when the princess awoke on

the following morning she was astonished to see, instead of the frog, a handsome prince,

gazing on her with the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, and standing at the head of

her bed.

He told her that he had been enchanted by a spiteful fairy, who had changed him into a frog;

and that he had been fated so to abide till some princess should take him out of the spring,

and let him eat from her plate, and sleep upon her bed for three nights. 'You,' said the prince,

'have broken his cruel charm, and now I have nothing to wish for but that you should go with

me into my father's kingdom, where I will marry you, and love you as long as you live.'

From Frog Prince by Brothers Grimm

Which event triggers the main problem in the excerpt?

• a. The ball rolls into the spring.

• b. The princess throws the ball too high in the air.

• c. The princess can’t find her ball.

• d. The princess promises her fine clothes and jewels to get the ball

  back.

It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted

me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man.

He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I

think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture –a pale blue eye, with a

film over it. Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees – very

gradually –I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the

eye forever.

From The Tell Tale Heart

What causes the narrator to decide to kill the old man?

• a. Urashima is demanding but the boys are rowdy.

• b. Urashima is concerned but the boys are cruel.

• c. Urashima is cowardly but the boys are obnoxious.

• d. Urashima is caring but the boys are considerate.

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