Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science

Which of the following words best replaces ticklish as it is used in the passage below (paragraph 6)?

"Black powder is ticklish stuff. When it’s damp, nothing will set it off. When it’s too dry or mixed in the wrong formula, almost anything can set it off, without warning."

• calm

• exciting

• touchy

• hilarious

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

The following passage from the excerpt (paragraph 13) mainly suggests that fill in the blank___________.

"Dr. Williams examines Phineas’s head. He can’t believe that this man is still alive. His skull is cracked open, as if something has popped out from the inside. Accident victims are often too shaken to know what happened, so Dr. Williams turns to Phineas’s workmen for the story, but Phineas insists on speaking for himself. He tells Dr. Williams that the iron went right through his head."

• Phineas is trying not to show how much pain he is in

• the fact that Phineas survived the accident doesn’t make sense

• everyone is angry that Phineas for not being careful

• no one is sure of what happened before Phineas’s accident

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.1

The excerpt from Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science is told in the fill in the blank__________ tense, from a fill in the blank__________ point of view.

• past; first-person

• past, third-person

• present; first-person

• present; third-person

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.10

CCSS.RI.8.10

CCSS.RI.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.7.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

Which passage from the excerpt most strongly suggests that Phineas is in danger of having an accident?

• “All day, Phineas must keep an eye on his diggers to make sure they keep up. All the time between, Phineas and his assistant are working with touchy explosives.”

• “Phineas is twenty-six years old, unmarried, and five feet, six inches tall, short for our time but about average for his.”

• “Phineas’s special skill is blasting. With well-placed charges of black gunpowder, he shatters rock.”

• “Yet for many others—psychologists, medical researchers, doctors, and especially those who suffer brain injuries—Phineas Gage will become someone worth knowing.”

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Which of the following selections best summarizes a main idea of the excerpt?

• Work safety conditions for railroad construction workers needed to be improved.

• Phineas’s accident was likely his own fault.

• Phineas must not have told people the whole story about his accident.

• The fact that Phineas survived his accident changed our understanding of the human brain.

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

Which of these inferences about Phineas is best supported by the text?

• Phineas did not feel the pain from his skull splitting after his accident.

• Phineas will make a full recovery from the accident.

• Phineas’s men really enjoyed their jobs.

• Phineas is a very lazy and slow worker on the railroad.

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.1