The clock ticked slowly, as it always did at the school on Saturday. The detention room was full, but no two students sat next to one another. The supervisor, Mr. England monitored the students closely. Kyle Brennan felt a cough building in the back of this throat. Mr. England had already warned him about disrupting the silence, so he did not want to cough. He attempted to stifle it, but the itch in his throat grew and the cough became more difficult to stifle. Mr. England looked at him with contempt. Mr. England could see Kyle squirming. He felt that Kyle was doing this for attention. Mr. England would give him what he wanted.

What Point of view is this written in?

Sheila rubbed her fingers through Buttercup's mane. Sheila loved Buttercup. Buttercup had been Sheila's steed for five years now, and the two felt bonded beyond words. This was good because, as a horse, Buttercup had no words. Buttercup neighed softly. She loved when Sheila was near her. Sheila giggled, and then she remembered that she had a treat for Buttercup. Sheila pulled a red and yellow apple from her backpack and gave it to Buttercup. Buttercup felt cherished.

What Point of View is this written in?

"Scalpel," said Dr. Chang. Nurse Mead handed him the scalpel. Dr. Chang examined the unconscious patient. Dr. Chang thought about times in the past that he had done this procedure. He remembered performing it on an elderly woman. The operation had been a success. That made Dr. Chang smile, but then he remembered that each time was different. They didn't all end in celebrations. Dr. Chang tightened his focus while holding the scalpel like a pencil.

What point of view is this written in?

What is the RHYME SCHEME of this poem?

--

Roses are red,

We have the FLU.

I can't smell anything

And neither can YOU

What is the rhyme scheme for the poem “Dreams”?

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Mark took Christie her food and laid it on the side table. She looked peaceful while she slept, and he did not want to wake her.

What point of view is this question written in?

How do you tell a poem's rhyme scheme?

Guinea pigs are not pigs, and they’re not from Guinea. These tiny rodents haven’t always been used for little experiments. Guinea pigs have been used as folk medicine in many parts of South America. These cute, gentle creatures are also used in religious ceremonies. Did you know that they make excellent pets? If trained, a little guinea pig will climb into your hands and crawl with delight!

Which of these best describes the author's attitude toward guinea pigs?

What is the rhyme scheme for these lines from “If”?

If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;

If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

The prefix RE means...

What is the meaning of the word PREVIEW?

The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be held in Brazil. It will be the 20th year of the World Cup. Brazil was chosen in October of 2007 to host the 2014 competition. Earlier in the year, South America had been chosen as the continent for the contest. Brazil was the only country to put in a bid. This is the second time Brazil will host the World Cup. The country hosted it in 1950. It is the first World Cup to be held in South America since 1978, when Argentina hosted. No other South American country has hosted the World Cup more than once.

What is the best way to summarize this paragraph?

Rosa Parks has been called the "mother of the civil rights movement." She is one of the most important people of the 20th century. In December of 1955, she refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white passenger. The bus driver had her arrested. She was sent to court. She was found guilty of breaking the law.

Her act sparked a boycott of the bus system by blacks. Blacks refused to use the buses for more than a year. The boycott introduced the country to a man named Martin Luther King, Jr. People all over the country came to know King. Soon, the U.S. Supreme Court made segregation on city buses against the law.

Over the next forty years, Rosa Parks helped make Americans aware of the history of the civil rights struggle. She earned many honors, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize. She is an example of courage and strength. She inspires all Americans to live free.

The summary of this passage is:

Which of the below statements best summarizes the passage?

April's parents were dog breeders and their kennels were often filled with a litter of puppies. April helped care for the dogs by bathing them and giving them the best food and water.

April's class had also been learning how to care for animals in their science lessons, so she was thrilled when her teacher announced a field trip to an animal shelter. The shelter manager, Rachel, led the class into the kennel area where dogs and cats sat along opposite walls of the building. April was stunned by what she saw. Some dogs looked like they had been starved before coming to the shelter.

"What happened to these dogs?" April asked.

"These dogs are here because their owners did not care for them properly," Rachel replied. "We try to keep the animals healthy so they can go to good homes. If you know someone who wants to adopt a pet, please tell them about our shelter."

April decided to take action and she printed flyers with information about the shelter. April's parents handed them out to people who bought their puppies. The following day April received permission to post a flyer at her school. That afternoon, April received a phone call at home.

"Hi, April, this is Rachel. I wanted to thank you for creating flyers for the shelter. Our adoptions have already started to increase!"

"You're welcome! I just wanted to help rescue the puppies."

The fire hungrily devoured everything in its path.

What type of figurative language is this?

What type of figurative language is this?

Standing tall and frozen like statues in a vacant courtyard

he Federal Aviation Administration (F.A.A.) has announced a 10-year, $11 billion plan to modernize the air travel system and reduce snarl. The plan is great as far as it goes. It is a mixture of dozens of improvements to be made over time. Many are already working on a trial basis, and each will do a little good. For instance, a new runway at a busy airport can add 1 percent to overall airline traffic capacity. The F.A.A. proposes building new runways at 15 busy airports. Together it says its measures should add 30 percent to total system capacity by 2010.

What can the reader infer about the author's attitude toward the F.A.A.?

The town of Madisonville, Texas was hit by a strong storm in late July. Most of the city lost power for several hours, and damage was severe in parts of the city. The Lakeside Cafe, famous for its misspelled sign saying, “Chicken-Fried Stake,” lost its roof in the storm. Amazingly, no employees or customers were injured. John Paxton, who was eating in the restaurant at the time, said, “They told us there was no way to know if it was a tornado or not. Well, I’ve never seen this kind of damage from anything but a tornado.”

Fallen limbs and downed power lines were also common problems across the city, blocking passage down dozens of streets. Crews worked for days without pause to restore power and to cut and haul away large limbs. With many businesses closed until power could be restored, hundreds of local residents found themselves stuck at home without electricity and therefore without air conditioning. Local woman Sally H. was sitting on her front porch, fanning herself with a shoe catalog. “It’s hot,” she said. “Normally, I would enjoy a day off of work, but this isn’t a normal day off.”

The hospital was able to stay open and powered by electricity generators. Furman Simms, working the front desk, said it seemed almost like a normal day. “We saw more people today than usual,” he explained, “but it wasn’t bad. We never ran out of beds. I expected it to be a lot busier.”

The reader can infer that hundreds of Madisonville residents were probably

After each event at the Olympic games, a medal ceremony is held to award the winner, second, and third-place competitors or teams. During the ceremony, the medalists stand on a three-tiered platform, and are given their medals by a member of the International Olympic Committee. The medals are gold for first place, and silver and bronze for second and third place, respectively.

Winning a medal in the Olympics is no easy task. Choosing a sport that is most appropriate for the age, experience, and athleticism of the athlete is key. Once a sport is selected, practice and training begins. Many say that it takes as many as 10,000 hours of practice to be ready to compete in the Olympics. Choosing a sport that the athlete loves makes the chance of an Olympic experience much more possible.

What is one of the central ideas of the passage?

"Why must I take off my shoes?" Riku asked his father. He noticed that other people kept their shoes on when they entered the Japanese garden. The stone path looked as though it might hurt the bottoms of his feet.

"It is a Japanese tradition," Riku's father said in a gruff voice. "By taking off our shoes, we recognize that the garden is special. Also, it helps us relax once we are inside the garden."

Riku's father placed their shoes in a designated cubby near the garden's front gate. Then he took his son's hand. They walked to a large plot of gravel, in the middle of which were several jagged stones. The gravel had been raked around the stones in a circular pattern.

"The gravel is supposed to look like water," Riku's father explained. "The lines around the stones represent ripples."

Riku looked curiously up at his father. "Why are you whispering?" he asked his father.

"A Japanese garden is traditionally a quiet place," Riku's father said and waved dismissively at a man nearby who was talking on his cell phone. "He does not understand."

Riku wanted to move on to the next site, but his father forbade it. "We must remain here until our minds grow quiet," he said.

Riku stared at the smooth, raked gravel. After several minutes, he realized his father was right: It did look like water.

Finally, when the other visitors had moved on, Riku's father pointed to a stone path that curved around a maple tree. "It is tradition to go slowly, and to be aware," Riku's father said.

Riku nodded and tried his best to be patient as he followed in his father's footsteps. The rocks were all smooth underfoot except for one that was uneven.

When Riku's father reached the uneven rock, he paused. "Do you feel the difference?" he whispered to his son.

Riku nodded.

"Now, look up." Riku's father pointed at a spot in the trees. There, a small but colorful paper lantern hung from a branch. "This is our reward," he said.

Which event contributes most to the "reward" at the end of the story?

Today, young people have less contact with senior citizens than in years past. What a shame! One reason for this situation is that families often live far apart. In the past, aging family members were commonly cared for by their kids. As a result, grandkids and grandparents had more opportunity to spend time together. Nowadays, senior citizens often live in assisted living communities when they need care. Instead of their families taking care of them, medical professionals do. The result is that children have less opportunity to spend time with senior citizens. More importantly, children are denied the wisdom of their grandparents. Grandparents also experience negative effects by this separation. They are being denied the company of youth. In turn, senior citizens can lose touch with the current world.

Which sentence from the paragraph supports the idea that young people suffer when they do not spend time with the elderly?

The Hood Middle School basketball team shuffled into the locker room, tired and sweaty. They sat on the benches and began changing clothes to go home. They were all very quiet. A few minutes later, their coach walked in. "Men!" he shouted, "I'm proud of you. You showed heart out there today. I saw a lot of courage. If you continue to play with that much spirit, I can guarantee you we will make the playoffs!" The team looked up at him, looked at each other, and continued packing up their things without speaking a word.

Which of these statements is supported by the paragraph?

Thomas Jefferson was born in western Goochland County, Virginia. In 1760 he entered the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He later studied law and was reasonably successful as a lawyer, but his main source of income came from farming his land. In 1767 Jefferson began work on his mountaintop estate, Monticello, near what is now Charlottesville, Virginia. He designed the mansion himself.

Which of the following can the reader infer from the passage above?

Alfonso's parents never expected much from him. It is not that they did not love him, but rather that they had watched him develop many bad habits when he was growing up. They watched him abandon projects because he felt he was not working to his full potential. They watched him jump from interest to interest, rarely focusing on anything. They thought these habits would set him up for failure. They were wrong.

Alfonso began learning and writing about music when he was 15. His tendency to quit working on something that did not live up to the expectations he had for himself made him a great editor of his own work. His tendency to jump from interest to interest made him knowledgeable about many different kinds of music. Today, Alfonso is a well-known writer. His parents are quite proud of him.

How would the story be different if it were written from Alfonso's point of view?

i can’t concentrate when You’re around.

i feel like i’m floating and can’t come down.

But really, i don’t even want to land.

i just want You to hold my hand.

You’re all i think about when i’m in home room.

i dream about lunch. Can noon come soon?

But i’m living with a little pain.

You don’t even know my name!

Poets often play with words and punctuation to create a special effect in the poem. Why did the poet choose to use a lowercase "I" in the poem?

Behavior

In late summer and autumn, American black bears devour high-protein foods such as acorns. They build fat layers, and then they retreat to a den, dead tree, or thicket to sleep during colder months. Most black bears are active around dawn and dusk. Black bears, except for females with young, generally search for food alone. Adult males do not tolerate other bears, except during breeding season. Females tolerate other bears except for unrelated females.

Like many animals, they seldom attack unless cornered, threatened, or wounded. They are less likely to attack humans than grizzly bears and typically flee for cover as soon as they identify a human visitor.

Interesting Facts

The biggest American black bear ever recorded was a male from North Carolina that weighed 881 lbs. The "teddy bear" owes its name to a young black bear cub Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot on a hunting trip. Christopher Robin Milne named his teddy Winnie-the-Pooh after Winnipeg, a black bear which he and his father often saw at the London Zoo.

The word "Behavior" is in bold print in this passage because

Chapter 2:Campaign Speeches -11

Chapter 3:Rally Speeches - 37

Chapter 4:National Crisis Speeches - 52

Chapter 5:Defense Speeches - 67

Chapter 6:National Policy Speeches - 91

Chapter 7:Inaugural Addresses - 131

According to this excerpt from a Table of Contents, on which page would the reader look for a speech given before an election by one of the candidates?

Cruise ships might be a fun way to take a vacation, but they do far too much damage to the environment. The ships are harmful to marine life. Research suggests that cruise ships produce more than three times the amount of CO₂ that airplanes do. Furthermore, cruise-ship passengers do not spend enough time at a given destination to learn about its culture. Thus, the passengers do not promote local culture. The next time you want to take a vacation, try taking a train or plane to your destination instead.

Read the last sentence of the paragraph. It is clear that the author wants readers to

Most people have wondered about the differences between horses and zebras. To understand the difference, you must first understand exactly what a horse is. The horse is a hoofed, plant-eating mammal of the family Equidae. This family includes domestic horses, wild horses, and zebras. All are swift, plains-dwelling herd animals who eat coarse grass.

Horses, as we know them, evolved in North America and spread over the world. They were hunted by early humans and put to work by Asian nomads. Until the mid-20th century, horses were widely used for warfare, agriculture, and transportation. Today, most horses are used for farming purposes. Few modern horses roam wild.

On the other hand, most zebras live in open plains or brush country. Mountain zebras like rocky hillsides. Zebra herds on the Serengeti of East Africa can be as large as 200,000 zebras. All travel in family groups led by a stallion. The plains zebras usually mix with other grazing animals, such as wildebeest and antelopes.

You would have to look at the DNA of horses and zebras to understand their physical differences. Zebras and horses have very similar bodies except for their skins!

How is the passage above organized?