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WorksheetsIn La Rinconada, Peru, Searching for Beauty in Ugliness
Total questions: 20
Worksheet time: 41mins
Read this excerpt from "In La Rinconada, Peru, Searching for Beauty in Ugliness."
The green is gone. The earth is turned. What you see as Mount Ananea looms into view is a lunar landscape, pitted with orange lakes that reek of cyanide.
What does this imagery most emphasize about the setting?
the destruction caused by mining operations
the terrible smell caused by lack of plumbing
the surprising beauty in the midst of ugliness
the way extreme temperatures affect the landscape
Read this excerpt from "In La Rinconada, Peru, Searching for Beauty in Ugliness."
Gold ripped from Sleeping Beauty's entrails will glitter on Cartier and Tiffany counters around the world.
What important idea do the sensory details in this excerpt convey most clearly?
There is beauty to be found in all places.
The demand for gold is leading to global violence.
La Rinconada and its people pay a high price for others' luxury.
The government of Peru has abandoned the people of La Rinconada.
Read this excerpt from "In La Rinconada, Peru, Searching for Beauty in Ugliness."
I suddenly saw the tin rooftops gleam like a mantle of diamonds. As the sun moved over the snow, the ravished mountain seemed to ripple with ribbons of color.
To which sense do these details appeal?
taste
sight
smell
touch
The author of "In La Rinconada, Peru, Searching for Beauty in Ugliness" implies that early stories about the amount of gold available may have been exaggerated. Which excerpt from the text best supports this idea?
Down the centuries, the quest for El Dorado has held the South American continent in thrall, luring generations of fortune hunters to its far reaches
The geologic exuberance known as the Cordillera of the Andes has yielded a fount of treasure...
Nowhere has Peru's frenzy for gold been so fevered as in the mountains that surround Lake Titicaca
Gold no longer rolls from the mountain in chunks the size of a man's head (if indeed it ever did)
As explained in "In La Rinconada, Peru, Searching for Beauty in Ugliness," why did the locals that live below La Rinconada form furious protests?
they wanted all mining operations to leave the area
they wanted mining operations to be safer for locals
they wanted the Peruvian military to leave their land
they wanted La Rinconada restored to its original beauty
What surprising thing does the author of “In La Rinconada, Peru, Searching for Beauty in Ugliness” witness on her trip?
beautiful landscapes
hunger and hardship
environmental destruction
fleeting moments of joy
According to “In La Rinconada, Peru, Searching for Beauty in Ugliness,” why do government officials rarely visit La Rinconada?
There are no luxury hotels for visitors to stay in.
The people there are so angry that officials would feel unwelcome.
Thin air and bitter cold make the place uninviting.
Mining companies have made safe travel to the peak difficult.
According to the author of “In La Rinconada, Peru, Searching for Beauty in Ugliness,” how has the landscape at La Rinconada changed? Choose three options.
There used to be grassland.
There used to be leaping fish.
There used to be sparkling lakes.
There used to be a milder climate.
There used to be medicinal plants.
How do the people at La Rinconada find gold? Choose two options.
They pound gold out of the rock.
They use devices to locate gold in the mine.
They fish for gold in the toxic lakes.
They pour cyanide to reveal gold inside rock.
They look for chunks that have rolled out of stone.
Which of the following is an example of an intemperate climate?
harsh winters and hot summer
mostly cool days with a short rainy seasons
slight changes in temperature from season to season
warm and sunny weather year round
Which of these people would most likely be described as marauding?
boxers competing in a close match
teenagers driving fast with loud music blaring
soldiers protecting land from foreign invasion
bandits looking for goods to steal
What is the meaning of despoiled?
damaged badly and stripped of its value
corrupted by greed and ambition
decreasing at a fast rate
decayed and no longer able to be eaten
The La Rinconada miners do backbreaking work in hopes of becoming rich. What does the author think of their chances of striking it rich?
It is more likely to happen in a different country.
It is possible only for the hardest of the workers.
It could happen if a worker is extremely lucky.
It is no longer possible because gold is so rare.
What does the author mean when she says that Peru is “like a beggar sitting on a bench of gold”?
Many Peruvians are still poor despite Peru’s abundant natural resources.
Peruvians live in poverty while neighboring countries are wealthy.
Wealthy tourists stay in luxurious hotels while Peruvians live in shacks.
Peru’s government is pleading with companies to mine its gold.
A reader of “In La Rinconada, Peru, Searching for Beauty in Ugliness” can conclude that the company overseeing mining at La Rinconada does not care about the workers there. Which details from the text best support this conclusion? Choose three options.
Electricity was installed only to fuel the mine machinery.
The king’s mines from the 1700s collapsed under the weight of glaciers.
Multinational companies are setting up mining operations in other places.
Mined ore is washed with cyanide and pounded with mercury.
Usually mild-mannered locals expressed rage about mining conditions in the area.
Which of the following statements from “In La Rinconada, Peru, Searching for Beauty in Ugliness” is most clearly an example of the author’s personal observation?
The work outdoors is often done by women and children. The work in the damp, freezing shafts is done by men.
Peru is one of the world’s leading producers of silver and one of Latin America’s most exuberant founts of precious metal.
Wandering the ice-mud streets of La Rinconada, one can’t help but hope that this gold town’s days are numbered.
Although Peru is small (slightly smaller than Alaska), it encompasses a virtual panoply of landforms.
Which sentence best describes the personal feelings that the author of “In La Rinconada, Peru, Searching for Beauty in Ugliness” has toward the people of La Rinconada?
She blames them for not obtaining a formal education.
She admires them for remaining human in brutal conditions.
She considers them naive for risking their lives for nothing.
She is angry with them for risking their children’s lives.
What is one the meaning of the Latin root -temp-?
health
wealth
time
memory
The word temperance contains one of the meanings of the Latin root -temp- plus the suffix -ance, which means “indicating an action, state, or condition, or quality.” Based on this information, what is the most likely meaning of the word temperance?
a time of illness
a timelessness or eternity
long-lasting time of calmness
a condition marked by restraint
Read this excerpt from “In La Rinconada, Peru, Searching for Beauty in Ugliness.”
For all the masks of Tutankhamun, for all the headdresses of the Lord of Sipan, for all the bling and glitter of Fifth Avenue, the total amount of gold that humans have been able to pull is a mere 170,000 metric tons, barely enough to fill two Olympic swimming pools. More than half of it has been mined in the last 50 years.
Some of this, mind you, has been done responsibly. But as earth is heaved and ore carved from the unruly cliffs of Ananea, the glacier and nearby lakes have sent toxic injections to the sparkling waters of Lake Titicaca.
Which ideas does the author develop by providing these facts? Choose three options.
There is a limited amount of gold available.
People value gold now more than in the ancient past.
It is possible to mine gold without causing a lot of harm.
.Gold mines all over the world are lowering the cost of gold.
Mining can cause environmental damage beyond the site of a mine.
