Perspective RS

Read the excerpt from The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone.

"Next to the statues and the head, the slab seems unimpressive at first glance. It is roughly the size of a tabletop—three feet nine inches long, two feet four and a half inches wide, and eleven inches thick. But many experts would say that this rather small piece of rock was more valuable than any of the larger objects in the room. For it is the famed Rosetta Stone, which gave nineteenth-century scholars their first key to the secrets of ancient Egypt."

Which words in the excerpt best show that Giblin views the Rosetta Stone as very important?

• statues and unimpressive

• more valuable and famed

• rather small and piece of rock

• larger objects and scholars

Read the line of text from The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone.

"But many experts would say that this rather small piece of rock was more valuable than any of the larger objects in the room."

In this line of text, the author makes his viewpoint clear about the

• reign of Pharaoh Amenophis III who discovered the Rosetta Stone.

• reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II who discovered the Rosetta Stone.

• Rosetta Stone’s use of hieroglyphs to describe life in ancient Egypt.

• Rosetta Stone’s use of hieroglyphs to explain weather patterns.

Read the excerpt from The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone by James Cross Giblin.

"However they obtained it, the Greeks couldn’t resist adding their own original "explanations" to the definitions. For example, a Greek writer named Horapollo said correctly that the picture of a goose stood for the word "son." But then he explained that this was because geese took special care of their young, which was completely inaccurate. He wrote that the image of a rabbit meant "open" because a rabbit's eyes never close—an equally false statement."

Which phrase shows the author’s feelings about Horapollo’s ideas?

• However they obtained it

• a Greek writer named Horapollo

• the image of a rabbit meant "open"

• completely inaccurate

Read the excerpt from The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone by James Cross Giblin.

"Before the Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799, no one knew how to read Egyptian hieroglyphic writing. Its meaning had been lost for almost 1400 years. But countless visitors to Egypt over the centuries had tried to decipher the mysterious symbols. This is the story of their attempts, and of how the Rosetta Stone finally enabled scholars to unlock the Egyptian past."

This excerpt contains four sentences of fact and _______

• four sentences of opinion.

• two sentences of opinion.

• one sentences of opinion.

• zero sentences of opinion.

Read the excerpt from The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone by James Cross Giblin.

"However they obtained it, the Greeks couldn’t resist adding their own original "explanations" to the definitions. For example, a Greek writer named Horapollo said correctly that the picture of a goose stood for the word "son." But then he explained that this was because geese took special care of their young, which was completely inaccurate."

Which part of a strong argument is the final sentence of the excerpt?

• the counterclaim

• the evidence

• the reason

• the claim

The author of The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone makes his views clear to the reader

• by using the second person point of view.

• by describing his own experiences.

• by avoiding the use of counterclaims.

• by using a mix of fact and opinion.

In The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone, the author uses opinions and evidence to clearly communicate his viewpoint by exposing the

• inaccuracies of other scholars.

• greed of invading armies.

• unfair treatment of the pharaohs.

• validity of earlier scientists’ ideas.