Unit 3 Concepts Review

Today, many people who fly planes carry parachutes. The word “parachute” means “protects against a fall.” If a person jumps from an airplane, the parachute will open. Parachutes catch the air and make people fall more slowly. Many people parachute for fun. Other times, parachutes help people stay safe.

Which sentence would BEST support the information in the paragraph?

• The first airplane was flown by the Wright Brothers in 1903.

• Thousands of people fly in airplanes every day in America.

• A parachute is like a backpack with a large sheet folded inside.

• People say that flying airplanes is a very safe thing to do.

Mrs. Clara Clark was planting flowers when she spotted a bear in her backyard. Surprisingly, she didn't panic. Instead, she walked calmly into the house and called Wildlife Rescue. Just as she was about to tell them her address, there was a knock on the door. When she opened the door, there stood the bear! The bear was laughing as it waved at her! Mrs. Clark couldn't believe her ears when the bear said, "Good morning, Mrs. Clark."

She recognized the voice. It was just Tommy from down the street. As he took off the bear's head, he said, "Fooled you, didn't I?" Mrs. Clark laughed.

Choose the sentence that BEST summarizes the story.

• Mrs. Clark thinks bears are cute.

• Neighbors like to play jokes on each other.

• Tommy dressed up as a bear and played a joke on Mrs. Clark.

• Mrs. Clark was very upset when she thought about Tommy's joke.

Excerpt from A Step Back in Time

Elizabeth Mohn

³ Come to La Grand Maison and take a step back in time. This extraordinary home, which was nearly demolished, has been closed to outsiders for one hundred years. During that time, none of the original artifacts—not a single valuable painting or priceless sculpture—were removed or altered. This gargantuan building is thirty thousand square feet, and its historical details allow visitors to travel back to the late 1800s, when the building was first constructed.

Which of these BEST describes the purpose of the advertisement (section three) included in the passage?

• to disgust readers

• to persuade readers

• to frighten readers

• to bore readers

Flying boats have a fuselage, or body, that looks and acts like a ship’s hull. This hull enables them to float on water very easily. Two small floats underneath its wings keep the flying boat stable in rough water. These seaplanes are usually larger and more stable on water than floatplanes are. A floatplane is a seaplane that has two long floats, called pontoons, under the fuselage. This is the only part of the plane that touches the water. Unlike flying boats, floatplanes often come in a wide variety of sizes. An amphibious vehicle can be either a flying boat or a floatplane with wheels. This allows the aircraft to land on both land and water.

Which BEST describes the purpose of paragraph 2?

• to explain how seaplanes are used

• to encourage people to use seaplanes

• to list all of the types of seaplanes

• to describe the different parts of seaplanes

Excerpt from So You Want to be a Teacher?

Dennis Tyler

A. There’s More to Life Than Your Salary:

While it is true that the pay is (and stays) relatively low, teachers usually don’t starve. Being a teacher means having a modest and humble lifestyle, but not being impoverished. If nothing else, the pay is reliable; no one budgets better than teachers who get paid the same amount once a month and have to make that paycheck last right up to the next one. Besides, there are many other (non-monetary) compensations for the low pay.

Which statement BEST summarizes the section, There's More to Life Than Your Salary?

• The pay for teachers slowly rises over time, but not as fast as inflation rises

• Teachers, because they only get paid once a month, are some of the best budget-makers around.

• A teacher’s paycheck is very reliable; it always arrives at the same time and in the same amount.

• While it is true that teachers don’t make a lot of money, there are many other (non-monetary) compensations for the low pay and they don't live in poverty.

If you were writing an essay arguing that school uniforms should be mandated, which sentence would function BEST as supporting evidence?

• When students wear uniforms, they often complain about having to dress the same as everyone else.

• Some school uniforms are rather ugly, but others are quite attractive.

• When students wear their own clothes to school unkind comparisons hurt students.

• Most teachers are in favor of school uniforms, but most students dislike school uniforms.

Which choice most effectively displays the concept of comparison and contrast?

• Neither of the moons of Mars are terribly large.

• People used to speculate that there might be life on Venus.

• Venus and Mars are both planets which at one time were said to contain life.

• While they are almost the same size, Earth and Venus have very different terrains.

Why would an author use a chronological structure when writing a biography?

• To examine a problem and offer a solution.

• To explain events in the life of a person in sequence.

• To show cause and effect of a person's decisions in life.

• To discuss similarities and differences between two people.

If a writer wished to compare and contrast two things effectively, what would be the best way to proceed?

• to argue for a certain point of view

• to tell a story with plenty of descriptive detail

• to discuss a problem and then tell how a solution was found

• to discuss the ways in which two things are alike and different

Excerpt from New Kid on the Block

Mary McCormick

⁶After our hellos, I asked He-Ping if he was interested in taking a walk around the new neighborhood. He smiled and said he wouldn’t miss it for the world. I was happy to see that he wasn’t a hermit - he liked getting out of his house. I took He-Ping to the river and showed him the salamanders relaxing on the banks. He-Ping smiled at the sight of the little creatures. Then he told me that in China, some of the salamanders were huge.

When He-Ping says that he wouldn't miss it for the world, he means that

• he is not sure.

• he does not know if he is allowed.

• he really wants to go.

• he thinks his mom should know.