Which of the following sentences has correct subject-verb agreement?

How is repetition used to develop the tone of the poem below?

"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

How is end rhyme used to make connections between the stanzas in the poem below?

"Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

What events in the story did NOT contribute to the character of Max being overwhelmed?

"Best Friends to Boyfriend/Girlfriend"

Ever since they were kids, Julie and Max had been best friends. They went to kindergarten together. They went to summer camp together, They hung out together every weekend. But suddenly, things between the two had started to change.

Max started playing on the football team and didn’t have much time for Julie anymore. He was always busy, and he never seemed to make it to study hall, where the two used to swap stories about their favorite (or least favorite) teachers. In class, Julie noticed that Max never seemed to have his homework done on time anymore. She even noticed that he got a D on his last paper. She knew something was going on with him – but what?

At first, Julie decided to play it cool and see how things went. She tried waiting in the hall for Max after class to see if she could ask if he was OK. But days went by, and he never had time to stop. He’d rush right past her in the hall, only to leave her feeling even worse about what was happening between them.

Even though she wasn’t sure she could handle the situation herself, Julie didn’t want to talk to her parents because she was afraid they would tell her not to hang out with Max anymore. She barely saw him as it was, so she knew it would just make things worse if her parents didn’t approve of him. She didn’t want to tell Max’s parents either because she didn’t want him to get in trouble. Still, it seemed like something needed to change.

Julie decided to go to one of her school counselors and let her know she was concerned. When she walked into Mrs. Smith’s room, she was surprised to see that Max was already sitting there.

“I’m sorry, I’ll come back,” Julie said.

“No, stay,” said Max. “Maybe you can help.”

Julie was surprised to find that Max had visited the counselor’s office for the same reason she had: he was starting to feel overwhelmed with all of the things he was supposed to be doing as a student, an athlete and a friend. He needed some guidance on how to determine what truly mattered, and how to divide his time between all of the things that were important to him.

When she realized that Max was still the same old Max (just a little more stressed), Julie was relieved. She was also happy to know that he had come to the conclusion on his own, without her having to talk to someone else about it. She decided it was a sign they were both growing up.

In the passage below, what do we know about how the Egyptian pyramids were built?

"Egyptian Pyramids"

Today, we have high-tech cranes and other machines to help us create massive skyscrapers and other modern works of architecture. Still, some of the most breathtaking architecture in the world, such as the ancient pyramids of Egypt, were created before those high-tech machines even existed. So how did those ancient civilizations create them?

Believe it or not, though they are one of the most studied and admired relics in history, there is no evidence to tell historians exactly how the Ancient Egyptians built the pyramids. Thus, they have been left to create their own theories as to how Egyptians created such amazing and awe-inspiring works of art.

According to one theory, the Egyptians placed logs under the large stone blocks in order to roll or transport them to the pyramid building location. Large groups of men would work to push or pull them into place (although historians also disagree on whether these men were slaves or skilled artisans). Still more, once the men moved the blocks to the pyramid location, they needed to lift them to ever-increasing heights to reach the top levels of the pyramid as it grew. Without modern cranes, many scientists have been baffled as to how they were able to do it. Some believe they used a ramp system that would allow them to roll the blocks upward around or through the pyramids; others believe they must have used a combination of pulleys and lifts. Still, most agree that once they did, they used a mixture of gravel and limestone to help fill any crevices and hold the mound together.

With such a primitive yet impressive building process, it’s obvious that the pyramids must have taken a great deal of time to build. With an estimated 2 million blocks weighing an average of 2.5 million tons each, the Great Pyramid of Giza, for instance, is estimated to have taken some 20 years to build. At 481-feet tall, it held the record of tallest building for 3,800 years – not bad for a building created almost entirely by hand.

Even though scientists don’t know exactly how the Egyptians did it, they do know that the method the Egyptians used to build pyramids changed over time. In the early days, the pyramids were made completely of stone, with limestone used to create the main body and higher quality limestone being used for the smooth outer casing. Later on, the pyramids were made mostly of mud brick with a limestone casing. Though they were likely much easier to build, they didn’t stand up nearly as well over time, leaving archaeologists with even fewer clues about their creation.

In the poem below, the narrator of this selection is a child. How does the author's choice of narrator's affect the tone of the poem?

"The Land of Nod" by Robert Louis Stevenson

From breakfast on through all the day

At home among my friends I stay,

But every night I go abroad

Afar into the Land of Nod.

All by myself I have to go,

With none to tell me what to do—

All alone beside the streams

And up the mountain-sides of dreams.

The strangest things are there for me,

Both things to eat and things to see,

And many frightening sights abroad

Till morning in the Land of Nod.

Try as I like to find the way,

I never can get back by day,

Nor can remember plain and clear

The curious music that I hear.

What is the best summary of the moral or message of the poem below?

“The Dog and the Wolf” by Marmaduke Park

Our neighbors sometimes seem to be

A vast deal better off than we;

Yet seldom 'tis they really are,

Since they have troubles too to bear,

Which, if the truth were really known,

Are quite as grievous as our own.

What literary element does the author of this poem use to create humor?

"My Shadow" by Robert Louis Stevenson

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,

And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.

He is very, very like me, from the heels up to the head;

And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—

Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;

For he sometimes shoots up taller, like an india-rubber ball,

And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.

Based on the details in the story below, where can you infer where the story begins (setting)?

"Scouting for Boys"

Hi! Stop Thief!” shouted old Blenkinsopp as he rushed out of his little store near the village. “He’s stolen my sugar. Stop him.”

Stop whom? There was nobody in sight running away, “Who stole it?” asked the policeman.

“I don’t know, but a whole bag of sugar is missing. It was there only a few minutes ago.” The policeman tried to track the thief but it looked a pretty impossible job for him to single out the tracks of the thief from among dozens of other footprints about the store. However, he presently started off hopefully, at a jog-trot, away out into the bush. In some places he went over hard stony ground but he never checked his pace, although no footmarks could be seen. People wondered how he could possibly find the trail. Still he trotted on. Old Blenkinsopp was feeling the heat and the pace.

At length he suddenly stopped and cast around having evidently lost the trail. Then a grin came on his face as he pointed with his thumb over his shoulder up the tree near which he was standing. There, concealed among the branches, they saw a young man with the missing bag of sugar.

How had the policeman spotted him? His sharp eyes had described some grains of sugar sparkling in the dust. The bag leaked, leaving a slight trail of these grains. He followed that trail and when it came to an end in the bush he noticed a string of ants going up a tree. They were after the sugar, and so was he, and between them they brought about the capture of the thief.

Old Blenkinsopp was so pleased that he promptly opened the bag and spilled a lot of the sugar on the ground as a reward to the ants.

He also appreciated the policeman for his cleverness in using his eyes to see the grains of sugar and the ants, and in using his wits to see why the ants were climbing the tree.

In the play below, What is one way the stage directions help contribute meaning to the scene?

from Blessings by Mary Hall Surface

LIGHTS UP on the “looking spot,” an outcropping of rock on the peak of a ridge, high above the valley below. JESSE is leading the way. They are just arriving.

1 JESSE. (Entering.) It gets cooler, brighter, right at the bend. See?

2 RENE. (Entering.) And thinner. The air feels thinner.

3 JESSE. Cause it is.

(RENE reaches the top. She looks out for the first time.)

4 RENE. Oh my gosh.

5 JESSE. Like it?

6 RENE. I didn’t know sunsets came like this! How high are we?

7 JESSE. High as you can get without ropes. See that ridge? Sheer rock-face. I scale that once a year. Since I was twelve. It’s my test.

8 RENE. Are those little color specks houses?

9 JESSE. Ben Lomand. And that way, if the fog’s up, you can see the ocean and the lighthouse from Seal Rock, flickering, kinda like a heartbeat.

10 RENE. How’d you find this?

11 JESSE. Sniffed it out. (RENE laughs.) All right. Review. First turn?

12 RENE. When you smell the (Proud of remembering.) “eucalyptus,” follow the smell.

13 JESSE. Good. Next turn.

14 RENE. At the tallest redwood with the . . . uh . . .

15 JESSE. Burl. Think curl. Wood curling.

16 RENE. Burl that looks like a big bump on a giant nose. Then follow the nose.

17 JESSE. Until—

18 RENE. You see the blue-gray rock. Then straight up the trail, carpeted with “golden orange-brown” needles, sniffing the air cool. Watch the trees for bright, then Tah-dah!

19 JESSE. Great map, huh?

20 RENE. The best! (RENE crosses to have a seat near the edge.) Jeez!!

21 JESSE. Careful. There’s no map for gettin’ you back up if you fall.

22 RENE. Sorry.

(They settle into sitting.)

23 RENE. Man, I’ve got to bring my paints up here.

24 JESSE. You paint?

25 RENE. Watercolor.

26 JESSE. What of?

27 RENE. Maps. Picture maps. Of places. Uncle Randy says you make amazing mirrors. From redwood.

28 JESSE. Don’t know how amazing they are. But I make ‘em. And sell ‘em. So people can see themselves in the—through the wood.

29 RENE. What else do you do?

30 JESSE. Like to cook. Like poems. Ever written a poem?

31 RENE. I don’t do poems. Too many words. Is that a river?

32 JESSE. Runs all the way to the ocean. I hike the whole length of it. Ever seen where a river and the ocean meet?

33 RENE. I’m not sure.

34 JESSE. Down at Sunset Beach. You can see it flow clear down the mountain ‘til it forms a riverbed right on the beach, in the sand. The water looks real clear. Light. Not like the ocean at all. Like it’s not really supposed to be there, but it is. Then the waves just lap up and catch it, little bit at a time. Then it all changes.

35 RENE. What’s it like having Uncle Randy live in your house?

(JESSE looks right at RENE, surprised by her directness.)

36 RENE. Do you wish he’d go away? That it could be all yours again?

37 JESSE. Don’t know how I’m supposed to answer that.

(RENE waits for an answer.)

38 JESSE. Rene, I’ve spent a lot of days, nights, too, wishin’ that things weren’t the way they are. But yeah. I wish I’d never had to sell the cabin and all you people had stayed back in San Francisco—

39 RENE. San Raphael.

40 JESSE. Takes away the pattern. New rhythm—gets me off beat.

41 RENE. (Getting up.) I should head back now.

42 JESSE. Rene—

43 RENE. I just do the map backwards, right?

44 JESSE. Rene, wait. Please don’t think . . . I’m not used to lots of new people. I’m not . . . wanting to be a . . . I don’t know.

45 RENE. (Enjoying repeating what he said to her.) A what?

46 JESSE. (Enjoying it, too.) I don’t know.

47 RENE. You’ve got stranger-invasion.

48 JESSE. (Laughs.) Will it kill me?

49 RENE. I don’t like them either. Strangers.

50 JESSE. What do you like?

51 RENE. Being by myself. I understand me when everybody else is lost. (JESSE laughs.) Let’s go back.

52 JESSE. Rene, first, would you read this? (JESSE takes a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket. He hands it to RENE.) It’s a poem. Real short. I wrote it about this place.

53 RENE. (Glancing at the page.) It’s nice.

54 JESSE. No, aloud. I need to hear it.

55 RENE. I . . . I’ll read it later, Jesse. After dinner. You’re gonna eat with us, aren’t you?

(JESSE nods)

56 RENE. Great! Now, sniffin’ for that needle carpet.

57 JESSE. (As they exit, playfully.) They’re “yellow” orange-brown, you know.

58 RENE. Golden orange-brown!

59 JESSE. (Laughing.) Whatever!

(RENE and JESSE exit. LIGHTS OUT. Music transition.)

CURTAIN

END OF PLAY

As used in the passage below, what is the meaning of the word resolutely?

“I will do anything to save the people,” the Yellow Dragon said resolutely.

What does the word tore in suggest in the passage below?

I turned my bike around and rode a few times in front of our house, just in case Mom was looking for me. I called out, “Hi Mom. I haven’t gone anywhere.” I saw her face in the window, curlers piled high, and she waved a dish towel at me. I waved back, and when she disappeared, I again tore my bike around the curve onto Sarah Street. I was free. The wind flicked my hair and cooled my ears. I did figure eights, rode up the curbs and onto lawns, bumped into trees, and rode over a garden hose a hundred times because I liked the way the water sprang up from the sprinkler after the pressure of my tires. I stopped when I saw a kid my age come down a porch. His machinery for getting around was a tricycle. Big baby, I thought, and said, “You can run over my leg with your trike if you want.” I laid down on the sidewalk, and the kid, with fingers in his mouth, said, “OK.”

What is the meaning of the word great in the passage below?

Every one may not know what breaking in is, therefore I will describe it. It means to teach a horse to wear a saddle and bridle, and to carry on his back a man, woman or child; to go just the way they wish, and to go quietly. Besides this he has to learn to wear a collar, a crupper, and a breeching, and to stand still while they are put on; then to have a cart or chaise fixed behind, so that he cannot walk or trot without dragging it after him; and he must go fast or slow, just as his driver wishes. He must never start at what he sees, nor speak to other horses, nor bite, nor kick, nor have any will of his own; but always do his master’s will, even though he may be very tired or hungry; but the worst of all is, when his harness is once on, he may neither jump for joy nor lie down for weariness. So you see this breaking in is a great thing.

In the story below, how does the mother’s perspective about the neighboring street affect the narrator?

from “The Bike” by Gary Soto

(1) My first bike got me nowhere, though the shadow I cast as I pedaled raced along my side. The leaves of bird-filled trees stirred a warm breeze and litter scuttled out of the way. Our orange cats looked on from the fence, their tails up like antennas. I opened my mouth, and wind tickled the back of my throat. When I squinted, I could see past the end of the block. My hair flicked like black fire, and I thought I was pretty cool riding up and down the block, age five, in my brother’s hand-me-down shirt.

(2) Going up and down the block was one thing, but taking the first curve, out of sight of Mom and the house, was another. I was scared of riding on Sarah Street. Mom said hungry dogs lived on that street, and red anger lived in their eyes. Their throats were hard with extra bones from biting kids on bikes, she said.

(3) But I took the corner anyway. I didn’t believe Mom. Once she had said that pointing at rainbows caused freckles, and after a rain had moved in and drenched the streets, after the sparrows flitted onto the lawn, a rainbow washed over the junkyard and reached the dark barrels of Coleman pickle. I stood at the window, looking out, amazed and devious, with the devilish horns of my butch haircut standing up. From behind the window, I let my finger slowly uncurl like a bean plant rising from earth. I uncurled it, then curled it back and made a fist. I should remember this day, I told myself.

(4) I pedaled my squeaky bike around the curve onto Sarah Street, but returned immediately. I braked and looked back at where I had gone. My face was hot, my hair sweaty, but nothing scary seemed to happen. The street had looked like our street: parked cars, tall trees, a sprinkler hissing on a lawn, and an old woman bending over her garden. I started again, and again I rode the curve, my eyes open as wide as they could go. After a few circle eights I returned to our street. There ain’t no dogs, I told myself. I began to think that maybe this was like one of those false rainbow warnings.

(5) I turned my bike around and rode a few times in front of our house, just in case Mom was looking for me. I called out, “Hi Mom. I haven’t gone anywhere.” I saw her face in the window, curlers piled high, and she waved a dish towel at me. I waved back, and when she disappeared, I again tore my bike around the curve onto Sarah Street. I was free. The wind flicked my hair and cooled my ears. I did figure eights, rode up the curbs and onto lawns, bumped into trees, and rode over a garden hose a hundred times because I liked the way the water sprang up from the sprinkler after the pressure of my tires. I stopped when I saw a kid my age come down a porch. His machinery for getting around was a tricycle. Big baby, I thought, and said, “You can run over my leg with your trike if you want.” I laid down on the sidewalk, and the kid, with fingers in his mouth, said, “OK.”

(6) He backed up and slowly, like a tank, advanced. I folded my arms behind my head and watched a jay swoop by with what looked like a cracker in its beak, when the tire climbed over my ankle and sparks of pain cut through my skin. I sat up quickly, my eyes flinging tears like a sprinkler.

(7) The boy asked, “Did it hurt?”

(8) “No,” I said, almost crying.

(9) The kid could see that it did. He could see my face strain to hold back a sob, two tears dropping like dimes into the dust. He pedaled away on his bucket of bolts and tossed it on his front lawn. He looked back before climbing the stairs and disappeared into the house.

From “The Bike” by Gary Soto from A SUMMER LIFE, copyright © University Press of New England, Lebanon, NH. Reprinted with permission pages 19–21.

Choose the phrase that helps the reader understand that the meaning of the word classify is "to categorize."

Geologists classify rocks in three groups, according to the major Earth processes that formed them. The three rock groups are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Anyone who wishes to collect rocks should become familiar with the characteristics of these three rock groups. Knowing how a geologist classifies rocks is important if you want to transform a random group of rock specimens into a true collection.

Which phrase in the passage below helps the reader understand that the word nascent means "beginning to develop"?

Natalia would suffer permanent injury to her upper spine. Physical therapy, massage, and acupuncture helped ease the pain, but her nascent career was over before it had begun. “I feel fortunate because I can walk,” says Natalia. “But I can’t turn my head all the way to the left and right. I can’t bend backwards. And I can’t dance.”