2nd Benchmark Test Prep

Which phrase helps the reader understand the meaning of the word mandatory in paragraph 8?

• “…not the stereotypical school uniform associated with private schools…” (paragraph 2)

• “…mostly khaki and blue or khaki and red shirt/blouse and skirt/pants…” (paragraph 2)

• “…wearing a uniform can decrease the risk of violence and theft…” (paragraph 3)

• “…defines what clothes must be worn to school.” (paragraph 6)

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CCSS.L.9-10.4

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19 Interestingly, even when evidence is available, educators’ perceptions could be at odds with it. For example, a study of educators in 38 North Carolina high schools found that 61% of the responding principals and assistant principals believed that there was a reduction in cases of misbehavior on campus when school uniforms were introduced. In reality, the data showed no change in incidents of crime, violence, and suspensions.

What can be inferred from paragraph 19?

• Administrators exaggerate the effectiveness of school uniforms.

• Students do not always comply with the school uniform policy.

• School uniforms are not as necessary as administrators would believe.

• The effects of school uniforms are often presumed but not actually real.

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25 Decreased discipline problems, increased attendance and increased academic achievement may not be achieved just by wearing khaki and blue. But there may be other benefits, such as, it could help a school promote its brand through a uniform look. School uniforms may also serve as a symbol of commitment to academic achievement.

How does paragraph 25 develop the author’s ideas?

• Paragraph 25 presents an alternative perspective on school uniforms to the critique developed in previous sections.

• Paragraph 25 summarizes the author’s conclusions about school uniforms gathered from personal observations.

• Paragraph 25 explains why research on the effects of school uniforms has yielded conflicting results.

• Paragraph 25 supports the author’s claim that school uniforms are a failed policy that should be abandoned.

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CCSS.RI.9-10.5

Read the excerpt from paragraph 4.

…the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured.

What effect does Wilson’s word choice have on the speech?

• It expresses an optimistic tone about the outcome of the war.

• It expresses an anxious tone about beginning a long and drawn-out conflict.

• It expresses an accepting tone about the inevitability of being drawn into war.

• It expresses an honored tone about the country upholding responsibilities to the world.

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CCSS.L.9-10.5

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1 Hattie Ophelia Wyatt was born on February 1, 1878, on a farm near Bakerville, Tennessee. Her parents William Carroll Wyatt, a farmer and shopkeeper, and Lucy Mildred Burch Wyatt raised four children. Hattie Wyatt briefly attended Ebenezer College in Hustburg, Pennsylvania. At age 14, she entered the Dickson (Tennessee) Normal College and received a B.A. in 1896. She taught school for several years in rural Arkansas, along with her Dickson fiancé, Thaddeus Horatio Caraway. The couple married in 1902 and raised three sons, all future West Point cadets: Robert, Paul, and Forrest. Thaddeus Caraway rose quickly through the political ranks in Arkansas, serving as a prosecuting attorney, winning election to four terms in the U.S. House and two terms in the U.S. Senate. A fiery orator, he earned the epithets1 “Fighting Thad” and “Caustic Caraway.”

• “…her Dickson fiancé…”

• “…prosecuting attorney...”

• “…winning election to four terms in the U.S. House…”

• “A fiery orator…”

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Which quotation from the passage support the inference that Caraway used gender stereotypes of the time period to her political advantage?

• “In 1920, during Thaddeus’s first run for the Senate, Hattie Caraway worked in his campaign headquarters, spoke on his behalf, and received much of the credit for his election.” (paragraph 2)

• …Hattie Caraway played down her experience as a congressional wife. ‘After equal suffrage in 1920,’ she recalled, ‘I just added voting to cooking and sewing and other household duties.’” (paragraph 2)

• “Hattie Caraway, however, offered Governor Parnell a safe choice to sidestep choosing from a field of Arkansas politicians who coveted the seat…” (paragraph 3)

• “But behind the facade of the dutiful widow was a woman who had every intention of not surrendering her seat to a chosen male successor.” (paragraph 4)

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CCSS.RI.9-10.1

Read the excerpt from paragraph 7.

Known as “Silent Hattie” because she spoke on the floor just 15 times in her career, Caraway nonetheless had a facile wit. She once explained her tendency to avoid speeches: “I haven’t the heart to take a minute away from the men. The poor dears love it so.”

How does the author use rhetoric to develop the purpose of the passage?

• The author uses imagery to describe Caraway’s poise and presence on the Senate floor.

• The author uses irony to show that Caraway was a better senator than her male counterparts.

• The author uses an exaggerated nickname to highlight how resistant Caraway was to public speaking and attention.

• The author uses a sarcastic quote from Caraway to illustrate her cleverness as a political figure.

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CCSS.RI.9-10.6

2 In our English ants, the workers in each species are all similar except in size, but among foreign species there are some in which there are two or even more classes of workers, differing greatly not only in size, but also in form. The differences are not the result of age nor of race, but are adaptations to different functions, the nature of which, however, is not yet well understood. Among the termites, those of one class certainly seem to act as soldiers, and among the true ants also some have comparatively immense heads and powerful jaws. It is doubtful, however, whether they form a real army. Bates1 observed that on a foraging expedition, the large-headed individuals did not walk in the regular ranks, nor on the return did they carry any of the booty, but marched along at the side, and at tolerably regular intervals, “like subaltern2 officers in a marching regiment.”…

In paragraph 2, what does the author mean by the term foraging ?

• research

• military

• hunting

• hiding

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Which quotation support the inference that ants are intelligent insects?

• “The community consists, in addition to the young, of males, which do no work, of wingless workers, and one or more queen mothers, who have at first wings, which, however, after one marriage flight, they throw off, as they never leave the nest again…” (paragraph 1)

• “In our English ants, the workers in each species are all similar except in size, but among foreign species there are some in which there are two or even more classes of workers, differing greatly not only in size, but also in form.” (paragraph 2)

• “The communities of ants are sometimes very large, numbering even up to 500,000 individuals; and it is a lesson to us, that no one has ever yet seen a quarrel between any two ants belonging to the same community.” (paragraph 4)

• “They have domestic animals, and indeed it is not going too far to say that they have domesticated more animals than we have. Of these the most important are Aphides…” (paragraph 6)

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CCSS.RI.9-10.1

Read the excerpt from paragraph 2.

Bates observed that on a foraging expedition, the large-headed individuals did not walk in the regular ranks, nor on the return did they carry any of the booty, but marched along at the side, and at tolerably regular intervals, “like subaltern officers in a marching regiment.”

How does the author use rhetoric to support his point of view of ants?

• The author uses a simile to describe ants as orderly in the way they move.

• The author uses a metaphor to describe ants as aggressive and eager to fight.

• The author uses irony to describe ants as followers that act without thought.

• The author uses imagery to describe ants as frenzied and constantly moving.

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