RI 8.4: Analyzing Word Meanings in Informational Text

Paul Ancel, an important poet of the twentieth century, was born in Bukovina, Romania. He wrote under the pseudonym Paul Celan, an anagram of his last name. Unlike his parents, who were deported and killed in Nazi labor camps, Celan was interned by the Nazi for 18 months before he could escape and join the Red Army. Following World War II, Celan wandered between borders when Bukovina was erased from the world map. He was an immigrant in Paris for a while. Although he was freed from the Nazi labor camps in 1944, his spirit never recuperated from the horrendous experiences. Celan's most noted poem Death Fugue exposes his need of healing.

Which word from the paragraph helps the reader understand the meaning of the word recuperated?

• wandered

• escape

• erased

• healing

excerpt from The Fabric of Civilization: A Short Survey of the Cotton Industry in the United States

by Unknown

The Individuality of the Cotton Fiber

It is a curious ruling of fate which makes the spinning of cotton fiber possible. There are many other short vegetable fibers, but cotton is the only one which can profitably be spun into thread. Hemp and flax, its chief vegetable competitors, both have long fibers. The individuality of the cotton fiber lies in its shape. Viewed through a microscope, the fiber is seen to be, not a hollow cylinder, but rather a flattened cylinder, shaped in cross-section something like the figure eight. But the chief and valuable characteristic is that the flattened cylinder is not straight but twisted. It is this twist which gives its peculiar and overwhelming importance to cotton, for without this apparently fortuitous characteristic, the spinning of cotton, if possible at all, would result in a much weaker and less durable thread. The twist makes the threads "kink" together when they are spun, and it is this kink which makes for strength and durability.

Though the cotton plant seems to be native to South America, Southern Asia, Africa, and the West Indies, its cultivation, was largely confined at first to India, and later to India and the British West Indies. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the West Indies, because of their especial fitness for growing the longer staples were supplying about seventy per cent. of the food of the Lancashire spindles. The United States having made unsuccessful attempts to produce cotton in the early days of the colonies, first became an important producing country toward the end of the eighteenth century. American Upland cotton, by reason of its comparatively short staple, and the unevenness of the fibers, as well as the difficulty of detaching it from the seed, was decidedly inferior to some other accessible species.

How does the use of the word "inferior" in the last sentence of the passage change the tone of the passage?

• It shows that one kind of cotton is superior to all others.

• It identifies the challenges that exist with cotton based on the region it is grown in.

• It creates a barrier between the types of cotton that are grown.

• It shows how everything can be classified if someone were to think hard about it.

Ballet is one of the most widely performed types of concert dance. Each year, thousands of people flood theaters to see ballerinas put on shows. Choreographers plan each movement and step the dancers make. Countless hours of preparation go into practicing routines before dance concerts.

Classical ballet is a very difficult dance style to master. It strictly follows traditional ballet technique. Dancers are expected to properly use their bodies to execute and artistically express routines. Good technique requires that dancers have proper alignment. Dancers’ heads, shoulders, and hips are supposed to line up perfectly. Ballet places a lot of emphasis on the lines of the body. “Good lines” are a combination of the body a dancer is born with and the development that comes from training.

The proper positioning of the feet is especially important to ballet dancing. Turnout is the basis for all ballet movements. In this position, the legs are rotated outward from the hips down, and the knee and foot are turned away from the center of the body. A perfect turnout is measured at a 180-degree line between the feet when the dancer is in first position with his or her heels touching. The knees are also supposed to touch, and correct posture includes straightened legs.

One of the most recognizable classical ballet techniques is en pointe dancing. This skill requires that dancers wear special shoes that allow them to dance on the tips of their toes for extended periods of time. It takes a lot of training and strength to dance en pointe. The entire body—including legs, back, ankles, and abdominal muscles—is used for this technique. Dancers can injure themselves or permanently damage their feet if they start pointe dancing too early.

Which sentence from the passage best helps readers determine that alignment has something to do with posture?

• Choreographers plan each movement and step the dancers make.

• The entire body—including legs, back, ankles, and abdominal muscles—is used for this technique.

• Dancers' heads, shoulders, and hips are supposed to line up perfectly.

• The knees are also supposed to touch, and correct posture includes straightened legs.

The Red Planet

Look to the eastern sky on a spring evening, and you'll see the reddish orb that is the planet Mars. The red hue is its trademark, distinguishing it from the other close planets. Its color can be attributed to the dusty blanket of rust, or iron oxide, that appears on the surface. The wind carries some of the dust into the atmosphere, making Mars appear red—hence its nickname, the Red Planet.

This answer is too simple for scientists, however. They want to know where the iron oxide came from. One theory has it that it came about early in the planet's evolution when there were rivers of warm water on Mars. The theory suggests that this water carved the long, serpentine channels that can be observed winding throughout the planet. Scientists know that Mars has more iron on its surface than other planets in our solar system. The warm water likely wore away at the iron-rich rocks. The oxygen in the water was then combined with the iron, and they formed iron oxide. As the water naturally evaporated, some of the rust particles would have been picked up. These eventually would have fallen as part of raindrops, spreading the rust all over the planet. Of course, this process would have happened at a glacial pace, over billions of years.

As scientists continue to explore Mars, newer theories arise about how the planet achieved its color. No matter how the planet got its color, the reddish hue makes Mars unique and a real treat for planet watchers.

Why does the author use the word serpentine in the second paragraph?

• to show that the river channels are shaped like a snake

• to illustrate how deep the river channels are on Mars

• to suggest that snakes once lived in the rivers on Mars

• to explain that the rivers are poisonous, like some snakes

American scientist Benjamin Franklin invented the glass harmonica, also known as the Franklin harmonica, in the early 1760s. It is a mechanical version of the much simpler musical glasses that were popular at that time. These were a set of glass bowls of different sizes that were arranged from smallest to largest to produce distinct pitches. The bowls were fine-tuned by filling them partially with water. In the Franklin model, shallow glass basins are attached to a horizontal spindle that is revolved by a crank attached to a pedal. The spindle is placed in a trough of water so that the glasses are kept wet. The shimmering, bell-like sound is produced by touching the fingers to the wet edges. This instrument was popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

What is the meaning of the word pitches as it is used in this passage?

• short, lofted shots in golf

• frequencies of sound waves reaching the ear (musical)

• the distance between adjacent threads on a screw

• baseball tosses

Read the sentence from the first paragraph.

"Cephalopods can change the color, pattern, and texture of their skin to camouflage, or hide, themselves."

Which sentence best helps readers determine the meaning of texture?

Cephalopods

The octopus, squid, and cuttlefish are members of a class of animals called cephalopods. These animals have a very special ability. Cephalopods can change the color, pattern, and texture of their skin to camouflage, or hide, themselves. For example, an octopus can blend in with coral, plants, or the sea floor. In less than a second, an octopus can change the color of its skin to match another object. The octopus can also change its shape. It can make its skin look bumpy or smooth to imitate the surface of another object. This ability helps these animals hide from predators.

Scientists have studied cephalopods in order to learn how they change their appearance. The secret to their color-changing talent comes from their chromatophores. An octopus has thousands of these specialized skin cells all over its body. Chromatophores can make many different colors and patterns. However, scientists still do not know how cephalopods control the cells. Scientists will continue to study these animals to find out more about their special ability.

• These animals have a very special ability.

• In less than a second, an octopus can change the color of its skin to match another object.

• It can make its skin look bumpy or smooth to imitate the surface of another object.

When most people think of pyramids, they immediately think of Egypt. It is a little known fact that Sudan has 220 extant pyramids—the most in the world. These are pyramids that tourists can still see today, though many of their treasures have been removed during the process of excavation. Sudan’s pyramids were constructed around 300 B.C. to serve as tombs for kings and queens, and they only took a few hundred years to build. Not only does Egypt have fewer pyramids (approximately 120), but in Egypt they took a lot longer to build (3000 years)!

Archeologists studying the pyramids of Sudan can learn a lot about indigenous architecture and burial customs. Each necropolis showcases the mummified remains of different royal lineages. The bodies were often placed in huge granite sarcophagi—far roomier than the coffins we use today. Other finds include the remains of bows and arrows, horse harnesses, furniture, pottery, colored glass, and many other artifacts attesting to extensive trade with Egypt and the Hellenistic world during antiquity.

As it is used in the passage, the word indigenous most nearly means

• originating in a particular region.

• developing in recent times.

• lacking significant insight.

• having little historical value

The Mayan civilization flourished in Central America from roughly 2,000 B.C. to 900 A.D. Their cultural achievements are numerous, and include sophisticated art, architecture, mathematical, and astronomical systems. The Mayan also inherited much of the knowledge of earlier civilizations, such as the Olmec and Zapotec. Through a process of cultural diffusion, many cultural developments—such as the calendar and a written language—were passed from these Mesoamerican peoples on to the Mayan, who further developed them.

For reasons that are still debated, most of the Mayan city centers went into decline during the 8th and 9th centuries. Anthropologists have dated this decline from the cessation of monumental inscriptions and large-scale architectural construction. Although there is no universally accepted theory to explain the collapse, scientists do have several hypotheses.

Some scholars have recently theorized that an intense two-hundred-year drought led to the collapse of Mayan civilization. Others suggest that large populations of the Mayan people succumbed to epidemic disease. There is also evidence that the Mayan population exceeded carrying capacity of the environment due to unsustainable agricultural practices and overhunting.

What is a cessation?

• a style

• an invention

• an end

• a change

Entomology

Entomology, the study of insects, is not a small field of study. Most of the known organisms on the planet are defined as insects, and many of them have been around for millions of years. This is astounding considering other arthropods, like spiders, are not even classified as insects even though they contain the same divided body and several appendages. Entomology not only involves the identification of these insects, but also aids other areas of scientific study directly affected by an insect's existence, such as morphology, biomechanics, and even robotics.

Some of the more concerning topics of study involving entomology include the production and storage of our food and the transmission of insect-borne diseases, which are often reasons to limit the population growth of certain insect groups. In contrast, it is important for entomologists to find out how to protect certain endangered species and ultimately help preserve the delicate ecosystems these insects help to build. One example of an important ecosystem is the one created by the honeybee, which works with its environment to pollinate crops and produce honey worldwide.

The studies that derive from entomology also help daily human interaction with insects in fields like pest management and agriculture. The work that these scientists do has far-reaching effects that often go unnoticed.

What does the word ecosystems mean in the context of the passage?

• dwellings that have been created as a means to protect an insect from harm

• a network of interconnecting parts aimed to protect endangered species

• the economical structure that is a result of human-insect interaction

• communities of biological elements that work together with their environment

Anthropology is the study of humanity. Stated another way, it is the scientific study of human life. Anthropologists are scientists. Their job is to examine and observe all aspects of what we know as human. Anthropologists are interested in the history, evolution, society, and culture of all humans who have ever existed.

The field of anthropology is divided into more specific areas. Biological anthropology is the study of humans as physical organisms. Through time, humans have evolved into a complex life form unique to the animal kingdom. Another area, cultural anthropology, is the study of the culture and society of humans. We humans live together in groups or societies that are based on relationships with one another. Each society shares certain values and attitudes about life. The manner in which people think and behave defines the culture of the society. Yet another branch of anthropology is archaeology. Archaeologists study ancient civilizations by recovering and analyzing artifacts and relics.

Anthropology is the study of everything human, from the prehistoric past to the modern-day present. The knowledge from this science has helped us better understand humans and human nature. Like all animals, we are born with genetically inherited traits that direct much of our lives. Yet, unlike other animals, we are capable of interacting with the world in an exceptional manner through our learned behaviors.

Based on the context of the passage, what does human nature mean?

• behavior that is considered imperfect

• behavior that humans share with animals

• ability to act morally and ethically

• traits and qualities common to all humans