Excerpt from Snowflake Bentley

12. Part A: How does the narrator describe the time period of this passage and its events?

• The events in this passage happened after Bentley became famous and moved to the city.

• The events in this passage happened long ago on a farm.

• The events in this passage were imagined and never really happened.

• The events in this passage happened recently on a farm.

13. Part B: Which detail from the passage supports the correct answer to Part A?

• “In the days when farmers worked with ox and sled and cut the dark with lantern light, there lived

  a boy who loved snow more than anything in the world.” (paragraph 1)

• “When he was sixteen, Willie read of a camera with its own microscope.” (paragraph 5)

• “He wrote about snow and published his pictures in magazines.” (paragraph 11)

• “He gave speeches about snow to faraway scholars and neighborhood skywatchers.” (paragraph

  11)

14. Which sentence BEST supports the central idea of the passage?

• “He expected to find whole flakes that were the same . . .” (paragraph 4)

• “‘Fussing with snow is just foolishness,’ his father said.” (paragraph 6)

• “Even so his first pictures were failures . . .” (paragraph 7)

• “‘Now everyone can see the great beauty in a tiny crystal,’ he said.” (paragraph 7)

15. What does the information in paragraph 9 suggest about the author’s point of view?

• The author believes that Bentley could have been more careful.

• The author respects Bentley’s many different interests.

• The author admires Bentley’s dedication.

• The author questions the methods Bentley used.

16. What do the details in paragraph 9 help the reader understand about Willie Bentley? Select

two answers.

• He was willing to spend a lot of money to purchase the equipment needed to photograph

  snowflakes.

• He was able to learn from his mistakes and develop a procedure for catching and photographing

  snowflakes.

• He was persuaded to photograph other things in nature by his parents and neighbors, who were not

  interested in pictures of snowflakes.

• He was discouraged with the process of trying to photograph snowflakes, some winters only

  getting a few good pictures.

• He was dedicated to his goal of photographing snowflakes, spending many cold hours outside for a

  few good pictures.

17. Which of the following would be most helpful to a reader’s understanding of this text?

• a map of Bentley’s town in Vermont

• a photograph of Bentley’s parents

• a timeline of Bentley’s experiments with snowflakes

• a diagram of how snowflakes form and fall