Spiders Test Review

Read this sentence from paragraph 1 of "Spiders Could Theoretically Eat Every Human on Earth in One Year."

There's a good chance at least one spider is staring at you right now, sizing you up from a

darkened corner of the room, eight eyes glistening in the shadows.

How does the phrase "sizing you up" contribute to the tone of the paragraph?

• by creating a sense of unease as the reader realizes how common spiders are

• by telling the reader that they should be afraid of spiders

• by creating a sense of wonder about how abundant spiders are

• by showing uncertainty about whether the spider or the reader would win in a fight

Read the paragraph from "Spiders Could Theoretically Eat Every Human on Earth in One Year."

Spiders mostly eat insects, although some of the larger species have been known to snack

on lizards, birds and even small mammals. Given their abundance and the voraciousness of their appetites, two European biologists recently wondered: If you were to tally up all the food eaten by the world's entire spider population in a single year, how much would it be?

Select the word that comes from a Latin word meaning "overflowing."

• species

• abundance

• population

• biologists

 Select two statements that describe the significance of the question at the end of paragraph 2 of "Spiders Could Theoretically Eat Every Human on Earth in One Year."

• the author is presenting the research question that the article elaborates on

• the author is asking the reader how much they estimate spiders eat yearly

• the author uses the question to transition between the topic of how many spiders there are to how much they eat

• the author is encouraging the reader to think about why spiders are so hungry and preserving their food sources

In paragraph 6 how does the author develop the argument that spiders could eat all humans on earth in a year?

• by introducing how researchers structured their research

• by using statistics about how much spiders eat

• by making guesses about how long it would take for spiders to eat a 200 pound human

• by providing their opinions about how important spiders are to the ecosystem

What is the purpose of paragraph 5 of "Spiders Could Theoretically Eat Every Human on Earth in One Year"?

• it summarizes previous paragraphs and acts as a transition

• it explains how scientists know how much spiders eat

• it compares how much spiders eat with how much humans eat

• it compares how much spiders eat with the biomass of all humans

Select two pieces of evidence from "Spiders Could Theoretically Eat Every Human on Earth in One Year" that support that spiders are very abundant on earth?

• "These numbers yielded some interesting factoids on their own. For instance, one study estimated

  that global average spider density stands at about 131 spiders per square meter. " (paragraph 7)

• "Spiders mostly eat insects, although some of the larger species have been known to snack

  on lizards, birds and even small mammals." (paragraph 2)

• "Spider biologists have also generally found that spiders consume approximately 10 percent of their body

  weight in food per day. That's equivalent to a 200-pound man eating 20 pounds of meat each day." (paragraph 9)

• "A recent entomological survey of North Carolina homes turned

  up spiders in 100 percent of them, including 68 percent of bathrooms and more than three-quarters of bedrooms." (paragraph 1)

How does the speaker's perspective shift in "Spiders in the night"?

• The speaker shifts from loving spiders to hating spiders

• The speaker shifts from being afraid of spiders to being more comfortable with them

• The speaker shifts from discussing their own love of spiders to trying to influence the reader to except spiders

• The speaker shifts from thinking that spiders are disgusting to thinking they are beautiful

In "Spiders in the Night," which lines best show the speaker's shift in perspective?

• "I love the spiders in the night:" (line 1)

• "Their nimble skills are such a sight!" (line 10)

• "do not be filled with utmost dread,for they will bind your heart up tight," (lines 17-18)

• "With tenderness, my skin they bite.Their passion is my bleeding red," (lines 13-14)

Read line 10 from "Spiders in the Night."

Their nimble skills are such a sight!

What does nimble mean in this context?

• clumsy

• graceful

• beautiful

• slow

Read paragraph 9 from "Arachne." Which of the underlined words comes from a Latin word meaning "twisted apart."

"The goddess touched the rope and touched the maiden. “Live on, wicked girl,” she said. “Live on and spin, both you and your descendants. When men look at you they may remember that it is not wise to strive with Athena.”

At that the body of Arachne shriveled up; and her legs grew tiny, spindly, and distorted. There before the eyes

of the spectators hung a little dusty brown spider on a slender thread."

• descendants

• spectators

• spindly

• distorted