ELA 6A - Modified Final Exam

Although we ate just two hours ago, we are still hungry for dinner. Which word in the sentence is a subordinating conjunction?

• for

• still

• just

• although

from “The Importance of Trade”

by William B. Hafford
 

1   Like all ancient economies, Assyria’s was based on its ability to produce food. Without food, people cannot survive and a nation cannot function. Most Assyrians were engaged in raising plants and animals for food.

2   But the Assyrians were particularly known for another economic activity: They traded with other peoples for the resources they lacked or wanted. At first, they did this most likely to secure luxury items such as gold and silver.

3   Private commerce grew quickly and, by 1950 b.c., the Assyrians had developed a network that stretched more than 840 miles, that is, from Assur in Assyria to Kanesh in Anatolia and beyond.

4   The network carried woolen cloth and tin (important for making bronze) by donkey caravan to be exchanged for silver at Kanesh. Each donkey carried about 150 pounds, and there could be up to 100 donkeys per caravan.

5   Silver, which was mined in the Anatolian mountains, was used as money in Assyria. Since a merchant could receive, for the same number of trade goods, more than twice the amount of silver at Kanesh than anywhere else in Mesopotamia, the Assyrians quickly realized the possibility for profit. They then exploited it for the next 200 years.

6   Although no coins existed at this time—and none would be minted anywhere in the world for more than 1,000 years—the Assyrians used many business practices and principles that we would recognize today. They calculated the value of goods in silver units by weight, and silver was even lent out at interest. They financed their trade network with silver, using it to purchase land, raw materials, and a variety of merchandise.

7   The texts found at Kanesh allow us to trace business activities. Some tell of a man named Imdi-Ilum who held more than 220 pounds of silver as his liquid assets (money he could access readily). This amount is roughly equivalent to the total pay a typical laborer of the period would earn if he worked 1,000 years! Today, the equivalent pay would be well over $10 million, making Imdi-Ilum the first recorded millionaire!

8   We do not know why the trade network eventually collapsed. When Assyria recovered in the 14th century b.c. and the state grew to encompass the northern Euphrates, traders relied less on land routes and more on rivers.

9   With the increase in military power, the forcible taking of goods and people from other lands also supplemented the imperial economy. In time, the conquered peoples became a part of the enlarged agricultural economy of the Assyrian Empire.

Women in Business

10  Women played a key role in the Old Assyrian trade network. Although wealth was passed down along the male line, Assyrian men were not always considered the most capable at managing business affairs.

11  It was common for Assyrian merchants in Kanesh to send letters to their daughters, sisters, or wives at home. The records show that it was largely the women of the trading families who maintained the main business in Assur. They not only manufactured cloth for trade, but also managed accounts, purchased and sold goods, land, and houses, and organized supplies for the donkey caravans that would be sent on the long trek to Anatolia. While most traveling merchants were men, some women were active in Kanesh as well.

What is the author's main purpose for writing the article?

• • 
    

    to explain what made the Assyrian economy expand

• to explain why ancient economies valued silver

• o explain the value of donkeys to ancient trade routes

What is the main purpose of integrating information from different sources?

• to explain a topic, idea, or detail in a new way

• to identify multiple information sources in one place

• to figure out how many sources of information exist

• to show how information is similar and different

Read the passage. Then answer the questions.

from “The Importance of Trade”

by William B. Hafford
 

1   Like all ancient economies, Assyria’s was based on its ability to produce food. Without food, people cannot survive and a nation cannot function. Most Assyrians were engaged in raising plants and animals for food.

2   But the Assyrians were particularly known for another economic activity: They traded with other peoples for the resources they lacked or wanted. At first, they did this most likely to secure luxury items such as gold and silver.

3   Private commerce grew quickly and, by 1950 b.c., the Assyrians had developed a network that stretched more than 840 miles, that is, from Assur in Assyria to Kanesh in Anatolia and beyond.

4   The network carried woolen cloth and tin (important for making bronze) by donkey caravan to be exchanged for silver at Kanesh. Each donkey carried about 150 pounds, and there could be up to 100 donkeys per caravan.

5   Silver, which was mined in the Anatolian mountains, was used as money in Assyria. Since a merchant could receive, for the same number of trade goods, more than twice the amount of silver at Kanesh than anywhere else in Mesopotamia, the Assyrians quickly realized the possibility for profit. They then exploited it for the next 200 years.

6   Although no coins existed at this time—and none would be minted anywhere in the world for more than 1,000 years—the Assyrians used many business practices and principles that we would recognize today. They calculated the value of goods in silver units by weight, and silver was even lent out at interest. They financed their trade network with silver, using it to purchase land, raw materials, and a variety of merchandise.

7   The texts found at Kanesh allow us to trace business activities. Some tell of a man named Imdi-Ilum who held more than 220 pounds of silver as his liquid assets (money he could access readily). This amount is roughly equivalent to the total pay a typical laborer of the period would earn if he worked 1,000 years! Today, the equivalent pay would be well over $10 million, making Imdi-Ilum the first recorded millionaire!

8   We do not know why the trade network eventually collapsed. When Assyria recovered in the 14th century b.c. and the state grew to encompass the northern Euphrates, traders relied less on land routes and more on rivers.

9   With the increase in military power, the forcible taking of goods and people from other lands also supplemented the imperial economy. In time, the conquered peoples became a part of the enlarged agricultural economy of the Assyrian Empire.

Women in Business

10  Women played a key role in the Old Assyrian trade network. Although wealth was passed down along the male line, Assyrian men were not always considered the most capable at managing business affairs.

11  It was common for Assyrian merchants in Kanesh to send letters to their daughters, sisters, or wives at home. The records show that it was largely the women of the trading families who maintained the main business in Assur. They not only manufactured cloth for trade, but also managed accounts, purchased and sold goods, land, and houses, and organized supplies for the donkey caravans that would be sent on the long trek to Anatolia. While most traveling merchants were men, some women were active in Kanesh as well.

What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?

• to explain that better life-boat training is essential for ship travel

• to describe the features designed for high-paying customers

• to explain how and why the ship sank, despite being carefully built

• to share troubling statistics, as well as anecdotes, about the tragedy

What is the meaning of the word commerce in paragraph 3?

3   Private commerce grew quickly and, by 1950 b.c., the Assyrians had developed a network that stretched more than 840 miles, that is, from Assur in Assyria to Kanesh in Anatolia and beyond.

• business

• stores

• mines

• networks

Part B: Which sentence from the article best supports the answer to Part A, that "commerce" means "business" in the following sentence?

Private commerce grew quickly and, by 1950 b.c., the Assyrians had developed a network that stretched more than 840 miles, that is, from Assur in Assyria to Kanesh in Anatolia and beyond.

• "They traded with other peoples for the resources they lacked or wanted." (paragraph 2)

• "Silver, which was mined in the Anatolian mountains, was used as money in Assyria." (paragraph 5)

• "They calculated the value of goods in silver by weight...." (paragraph 6)

• "In time, the conquered peoples became a part of the enlarged agricultural economy." (paragraph 9)

What does sprawls mean as it is used in paragraph 5?

Some big cities don't have many nearby towns to engulf, so these cities grow explosively. An exploder city erupts from its inner core. Pressure from a ballooning population forces its edges ever outward. The city sprawls unchecked into the empty rural regions surrounding it. Its growth is rapid. Unlike an engulfer, an exploder does have a single downtown district. The district typically has an important regional function. It may be a major transportation hub, or an industrial complex of factories, or a banking and financial center. Sometimes an exploder is a capital city, and its downtown is the seat of a government. Because an exploder is centralized, its population may be quite densely packed. This growth pattern is common among the younger monster cities of the Global South—the developing countries of the Southern Hemisphere. Exploders such as Lagos, Nigeria, and Dhaka, Bangladesh, are commonly found in the nations of Africa, Asia, and South America.

• expands

• bursts

• maintains

• reproduces

Read the passage from “Parrots That Eat Dirt.” Then answer the questions.

from “Parrots That Eat Dirt”

by Jack Myers

1 In all the world there are just a few special places to see many colorful parrots in the wild. The most famous is at a bend of the Manu River in southern Peru, a small spot in the vast Amazon rain forest.

2 Early each morning a thousand or more parrots can be seen as they come to a bank of the river. These are the large chattery parrots also called macaws. Most of them are red and green, but there are other kinds with yellow and blue or scarlet feathers mixed in. Bird watchers come from all over the world to see the sight of those birds on display.

3 The idea of all those parrots coming together naturally leads to a question: what brings them? Just watching gives a surprising answer. They are eating dirt from the riverbank. 

The Dirt They Eat

4 This is not just any old dirt. They carefully pick out a special layer that runs along the bank. By learning to recognize particular parrots, watchers can see that many come for their dirt breakfast almost every day.

5 We live in sheltered homes and eat carefully prepared foods. For most of us, the idea of eating dirt seems distasteful or, you could say, just plain dirty. But for wild animals it is common enough that there is even a special word for it: geophagy.

6 Dr. James Gilardi, a scientist studying the wild parrots, set out to find out why they were eating that special dirt. Were the parrots seeking soil minerals that were low in their foods? No, there were no needed minerals in the favorite soil that were not also in their foods.

7 Some birds use geophagy just to get grit (pebbles or coarse sand) to help their gizzards grind up food. But that didn’t fit the special soil layer the parrots were choosing. They liked a layer that was mostly smooth clay with tiny particles down to sizes of a millionth of an inch. So the parrots were not eating soil for its grit or minerals.

8 Dr. Gilardi kept at it until he did find an explanation for the parrots’ geophagy. The answer starts with an understanding of their other eating habits.

Bitter Foods

9 Parrots eat a lot of the fruit of forest trees. Fleshy fruits (think of peaches) are invitations to be eaten by animals. But the seeds inside are doubly protected. They are hard and tough. They also contain special chemicals called alkaloids that make them bitter or even poisonous if broken up.

10 Most animals chew up only the fleshy part of the fruit but pass the whole seeds into their feces. For the plants, that’s a great system. Their seeds are unharmed, and the animals do them a great service by scattering their seeds.

11 A seed contains a little embryo plant all ready to grow. It also has a food storehouse with enough goody to get it started growing. By not chewing up those protected seeds, most animals are losing some very good food. But not parrots. They have hard bills and strong jaws that can crunch even the hardest seeds.

12 Parrots seem to have a special food source all to themselves. They can break the tough seed coats and chew up the seeds of forest trees. But there is that second part of the seeds’ defense. How do the parrots live with the poisonous alkaloids inside the seeds?

The Contents of Clay

13 Dr. Gilardi wondered if eating clay had something to do with that problem. He knew that naturally occurring clay has some special properties. It is made of small particles that carry a negative electric charge. Its particles can bind positively charged molecules, such as those of alkaloids. In a parrot’s stomach, even a small amount of clay might bind the alkaloids and keep them from being poisonous.

“Parrots That Eat Dirt” by Jack Myers from HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN. Copyright © 2001 by Highlights for Children, Inc., Columbus, Ohio. Reprinted by permission.

How does the author introduce Dr. James Gilardi in the passage?

• by identifying the focus of his research

• by outlining the steps in one of his experiments

• by describing the qualities that have made him successful

• by listing questions that he has successfully investigated in his work