Reading Comprehension Cold Reads

1.

Part A

How does the language of the first three paragraphs of “A New System” differ from the rest of the passage?

• a. The first three paragraphs use formal language, while the rest of the passage uses an informal tone.

• b. The first three paragraphs use colorful imagery, while the rest of the passage provides factual details.

• c. The first three paragraphs use direct address, while the rest of the passage is written an informational tone.

• d. The first three paragraphs give factual details, while the rest of the passage uses persuasive language.

Which sentence from the first three paragraphs best supports your answer to part A?

• a. “It might begin at a fair.”

• b. “And so you agree--you walk with the stranger along the hot, dusty roads... ”

• c. “In fact, among the immigrants, it was called ‘gone to Tapu,’ which was not a specific place.”

• d. “It meant something like ‘disappeared’ or vanished,’ and carried a hint of evil or danger.”

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Read this sentence from paragraph 4 of “A New System.”

This was called indenture: the new way to find

people to work the sugar fields.

What is the meaning of the word indenture?

• a. An offer for a new life brought about by kindness

• b. An agreement to work brought about by intimidation

• c. A migration of people brought about by need

• d. A station in life brought about by tradition

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Which sentence from the first four paragraphs best helps in understanding the meaning of indenture?

• a. “You’re there to sell vegetables, to pick up a job for the day, or maybe just to enjoy the sights.”

• b. “Or he might buy you some roti (bread) and lentils, promise a new life, and good money, enough to send back to your poor mother and father. ”

• c. “Fine, but I have fed you for the past few days, and you must pay me back.”

• d. “The Demerara is a river in Guyana, but the words was also used to refer to a region, an even to the colony itself.”

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1. Read this sentence from from paragraph 9 of “A New System.”

It is as if the hands on a great national clock

were moving together toward high noon.

What is the meaning of the authors’ use of figurative language?

• a. The era of condoning slavery in other lands and denying the right to vote to many was coming to an end in England.

• b. The frequency of slave rebellions in British territories and the influence of the English aristocracy was rapidly increasing.

• c. The decrease in the profits of the slavers and the loss of power of the English nobles was creating an economic crisis.

• d. The increase in the profits of the slavers and the rise of power of the English nobles was creating an economic boom.

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Read “Crossing the Black Water” from Part Four of Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science by Marc Aronson and Maria Budhos. Then answer the questions.

1.

Part A

What is the authors’ purpose in introducing the topic of religion in the first paragraph?

• a. to illustrate the diversity of religion of the Indian people

• b. to explain how leaving the country to work in sugar went against customary Hindu beliefs

• c. to inform readers about the decline of the Hindu religion in Indian society

• d. to persuade readers that offering Indian people work that goes against their religion is wrong

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Part B

Which sentence from the passage best supports your answer to part A?

• a. “Leaving home to find work was not a new idea.”

• b. “But most Indians were Hindus.”

• c. “There were Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Catholics, Parsees, Jains, even Indian Jews”

• d. “Anyone who made that fateful passage became impure, polluted. ”

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1. Which sentence accurately states the advantage of including the photographs of Indian Sugar workers and the caption underneath?

.

• a. The photographs indicate that an equal number of Indian men and women found work in the colonies.

• b. The photographs indicate that many Indian sugar workers eventually replaced the plantation managers

• c. The photographs illustrate that many Indian sugar workers adapted to English culture.

• d. The photographs illustrate the strong connection the Indian sugar workers had to their culture.

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1. How do the authors make distinctions between the situations of the “enslaved Africans” and the “Indian indentures”?

• a. The Indian indentures were “no more than cheap labor to keep the plantations running”, while the Africans were property and part of the family.

• b. The Indian indentures were “still individuals” as is evidenced by their “identification disk[s],” while the Africans “lost their names” and were “pure property.”

• c. The Indian indentures’ “journey was long,” but the Africans’ “Middle Passage” on ships “lasted for twenty-seven weeks.”

• d. The Indian indentures experienced “homesickness” and some “wasted away out of sadness” while the Africans did not experienced homesickness.

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