Amplify 7C: Brain Science Reading Assessment

Review paragraph 6. Which statement BEST summarizes the paragraph without personal opinions or judgments?

• Steinberg has carried out more studies on adolescence than Blakemore, the author of this book.

• Steinberg's findings on adolescent behavior are the most compelling findings that have been published in recent years.

• Steinberg, a researcher who has studied risk-taking in adolescents, is trying to convince the public that adolescents should not be prosecuted for breaking the law.

• Steinberg, a researcher who has studied risk-taking in adolescents, argues that brain development should be considered when young people are accused of crimes.

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CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

Paragraph 12 states that the author’s team decided the sign of a mature brain region was that it had ceased ________.

• growing

• changing

• aging

• reacting

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CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

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Which of the following BEST describes the author's purpose in writing this passage?

• To prove that Steinberg and Casey's work left important questions unanswered

• To explain Steinberg and Casey's theories and how her own team helped provide evidence for them

• To show how her own team's evidence disproved Steinberg and Casey's theories

• To argue that her team's work was the foundation for theories that Steinberg and Casey later developed

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CCSS.RI.6.6

CCSS.RI.7.6

CCSS.RI.7.9

CCSS.RL.6.6

CCSS.RL.7.6

If Phineas survived with a large piece of his cortex destroyed, then what does the cortex do? Across America and Europe, doctors are fiercely divided over this very question. There are two rival schools.

Which word in this excerpt provides the strongest context clue for the meaning of 'rival'?

• Doctors

• Fiercely

• Divided

• Schools

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CCSS.RI.6.4

CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

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Which sentence states a conclusion the Whole Brainers draw from the case of Phineas Gage?

• They conclude that, Unfortunately, the Whole Brainers have no hard evidence for their theory" (19).

• They conclude that a weak electrical current applied to the exposed brain of a laboratory animal will make certain muscles twitch involuntarily and certain senses sharpen or go dead (21).

• They conclude that, If you have a weak organ, it will be small and you'll have a dip or depression in your skull (22).

• Therefore, say the Whole Brainers, the whole brain must be able to perform any function of one part. (23)

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CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.7.8

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RL.6.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

According to the text, how would Whole Brainers explain how the brain is structured?

• The brain is one 'whole intelligence' and any part of the brain can give instruction or thought.

• The brain is divided into a group of organs, each of which has a specific function.

• The brain is divided into specific areas, many of which interact with each other to control specific functions.

• The brain was the seat of intelligence, emotions, and will.

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CCSS.RI.6.7

CCSS.RI.7.7

CCSS.RL.7.7

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Which sentence from paragraph 20 BEST summarizes the Localizers' belief about how the brain is structured? Choose one of the underlined sentences below.

• They are followers of the Austrian Dr. Gall, who started the brain revolution by declaring that the brain was the seat of intelligence, emotions, and will.

• Dr. Gall called his brain science 'phrenology' (a made-up Greek word).

• By any name, the Localizers, or Phrenologists, believe that 'organs' inside the brain control specific functions.

• Unfortunately, the Phrenologists have no way of knowing which part of the brain controls what. 'Benevolence' cannot be seen on the outside of the brain.

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CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

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Which sentence from paragraph 20 BEST shows how the Localizers' research was limited by a lack of technology? Choose one of the underlined sentences below.

• They are followers of the Austrian Dr. Gall, who started the brain revolution by declaring that the brain was the seat of intelligence, emotions, and will.

• Dr. Gall called his brain science 'phrenology' (a made-up Greek word).

• By any name, the Localizers, or Phrenologists, believe that 'organs' inside the brain control specific functions.

• Unfortunately, the Phrenologists have no way of knowing which part of the brain controls what.

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CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

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CCSS.RL.8.2

Why does the author include paragraph 21 between paragraphs 20 and 22?

• To support the claim that Phrenologists in 1850 'have no way of knowing which part of the brain controls what' (20)

• To explain how the technology used by Phrenologists in 1850 worked

• To explain what Phrenologists believed the bumps on a person's skull reveal about his or her brain

• To explain how later researchers will be able to use technology to visualize brain activity in ways that researchers in 1850 weren't able to do

Which TWO sentences should be included in a summary of paragraphs 18-27?

• His injury is not at the back of his head in the cerebellum or at the bottom of the brain near the brain stem. (18)

• One group thinks the brain is a 'whole intelligence,' that is, that your brain is one interconnected 'mind. (18)

• His opponents believe in 'localized function'; that is, they believe that the brain is divided into specific areas that control specific things. (20)

• Dr. Sizer tries to disguise the source of his report to the American Phrenological Journal in 1851, writing, 'We have been informed by the best authority that after the man recovered, and while recovering, he was grossly profane, coarse, and vulgar, to such a degree that his society was intolerable to decent people. (24)

• The human brain, it turns out, is both localized and interconnected. (27)

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CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RL.8.2