Select the best evidence to support the statement that the Tin Woodman is kindhearted.

Once, indeed, the Tin Woodman stepped upon a beetle that was crawling along the road, and killed the poor little thing. This made the Tin Woodman very unhappy, for he was always careful not to hurt any living creature; and as he walked along he wept several tears of sorrow and regret. These tears ran slowly down his face and over the hinges of his jaw, and there they rusted. When Dorothy presently asked him a question the Tin Woodman could not open his mouth, for his jaws were tightly rusted together.

In the following passage, a boy named Alistair has joined a group of strangers whom he met while traveling. Select the best evidence to support the statement that Alistair is not particularly brave for his age.

If the men had intended to harm him, then they could have done it already. Alistair wasn't as strong or as fearsome as a bull. Even for a twelve-year-old boy—which is what he was, after all—he was considered timid.

At the edge of the forest, the group passed by an enormous blackened tree stump. It was even thicker than the sequoias Alistair had seen during a family trip out west, and though he wanted to examine it closer, the tall man advised against it.

Select the best evidence to support the statement that the children would rather get wet than wear the calfskins.

By the end of October the rain had come, falling heavily upon the six-inch layer of dust which had had its own way for more than two months.. . .To shield us from the rain, Mama issued us dried calfskins which we flung over our heads and shoulders like stiff cloaks. We were not very fond of the skins, for once they were wet they emitted a musty odor which seeped into our clothing and clung to our skins. We preferred to do without them; unfortunately, Mama cared very little about what we preferred.

Select the best evidence to support the statement that Jess regularly runs barefoot.

His dad had the pickup going. He could get up now. Jess slid out of bed and into his overalls. He didn't worry about a shirt because once he began running he would be hot as popping grease even if the morning air was chill, or shoes because the bottoms of his feet were by now as tough as his worn-out sneakers.

"Where you going, Jess?" May Belle lifted herself up sleepily from the double bed where she and Joyce Ann slept.

Select the best evidence to support the statement that Johnny has a good memory.

I got tired of watching him do it all, so I started digging into the sack myself. "Wheee!" I sat down on a dusty chair and stared. "A paperback copy of Gone with the Wind! How'd you know I always wanted one?"

Johnny reddened. "I remembered you sayin' something about it once. And me and you went to see that movie, 'member? I thought you could maybe read it out loud and help kill time or something."

"Gee, thanks." I put the book down reluctantly. I wanted to start it right then.

Select the best evidence to support the statement that the narrator's house doesn't have running water.

My house stood silently peeking back at me through the trees, a square box painted dark green. . . . It was the only home I'd ever known, and I loved it. I loved its silver-painted corrugated iron roof, which slanted down into gutters that flowed into the round water tank in the back. It made nice sounds in the rain. The only water we had was what we caught off the roof. Not like Billy's house, where they had water pipes from the street, and a bathroom inside the house.

"Hey," Billy whispered, quickly moving off the trail into the trees. His blond hair glowed where the sun hit it, but mostly he was in the shade.

The following passage is about three girls—Kirsti, Annemarie, and Ellen—coming home from school during the German occupation of Denmark in World War II. Select the best evidence to support the statement that during the war, some supplies were scarce (hard to find, not much of).

Kirsti was chattering as she took off her sweater in the center of the apartment living room. "But I wasn't scared. Annemarie was, and Ellen, too. But not me!"

Mrs. Johansen rose quickly from the chair by the window where she'd been sitting. Mrs. Rosen, Ellen's mother, was there, too, in the opposite chair. They'd been having coffee together, as they did many afternoons. Of course it wasn't really coffee, though the mothers still called it that: "having coffee." There had been no real coffee in Copenhagen since the beginning of the Nazi occupation. Not even any real tea. The mothers sipped at hot water flavored with herbs.

The following passage is about a character going to a zoo. Select the best evidence to support the statement that the character is from out of town.

The zoo was on the edge of a wide desert valley, with a view of cactus-dotted hills above and, in the flats spread out beneath, flocks of small white houses. He went there after a meeting in Scottsdale, to fill an empty afternoon. He was restless in his hotel and had seen the zoo in a tourist brochure, with a picture of a wolf.

In a series of arid gardens connected by pathways there was a hummingbird enclosure and an aviary, a beaver pond and a pool for otters; there were Mexican parrots squawking, bighorn sheep on artificial cliffs, an ocelot curled up in a rocky crevice and a sleek bobcat pacing restlessly.

Select the best evidence to support the statement that the narrator feels that he should accept his appearance for what it is.

When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home. I was wishing I looked like Paul Newman—he looks tough and I don't.. . .I have light-brown, almost-red hair and greenish-gray eyes. I wish they were more gray, because I hate most guys that have green eyes, but I have to be content with what I have. My hair is longer than a lot of boys wear theirs, squared off in back and long at the front and sides.. . .

I had a long walk home and no company, but I usually lone it anyway.

Select the best evidence to support the statement that Dr. Kaleer believes that to explore the solar system, different countries need to work together.

The President of the United States had echoed Kennedy's forty-year-old promise "We must go to the Moon!" by proclaiming that this would be the "Century of the Solar System.". . .

The rays of the just-risen Sun were catching the wisps of steam emerging from the cracks in the lava, and Dr. Kaleer was reminded of the morning mists that gathered in the Labyrinth of Night. Yes, it was easy to believe that he was already on Mars, with his colleagues from half a dozen countries. This time, no one nation would—or indeed could—go it alone.

He was returning to the helicopter when some premonition, some movement glimpsed out of the corner of his eye, made him stop.

The following passage is about a young girl named Francie. Select the best evidence to support the statement that the nickel-and-dime store is not as amazing as Francie thinks.

And what was on Broadway in Williamsburg, Brooklyn? Nothing—only the finest nickel-and-dime store in all the world! It was big and glittering and had everything in the world in it . . . or so it seemed to an eleven-year-old girl. Francie had a nickel. Francie had power.. . .

Arriving at the store, she walked up and down the aisles handling any object her fancy favored. What a wonderful feeling to pick something up, hold it for a moment, feel its contour, run her hand over its surface and then replace it carefully. Her nickel gave her this privilege.. . .Money was a wonderful thing, she decided.

The following passage is narrated by a girl named Esperanza, who just moved into a new house with her family. Select the best evidence to support the statement that Esperanza likes the house on Mango Street better than some other places her family has lived.

We didn't always live on Mango Street. Before that we lived on Loomis on the third floor, and before that we lived on Keeler. Before Keeler it was Paulina, and before that I can't remember. But what I remember most is moving a lot.. . .By the time we got to Mango Street we were six—Mama, Papa, Carlos, Kiki, my sister Nenny, and me.

The house on Mango Street is ours, and we don't have to pay rent to anybody, or share the yard with the people downstairs, or be careful not to make too much noise, and there isn't a landlord banging on the ceiling with a broom. But even so, it's not the house we'd thought we'd get.

Select the best evidence to support the statement that John Jacob Astor trusted his wife more than he trusted anyone else.

In 1790, John Jacob Astor married Sarah Todd. Her mother was a Brevoort, and it was brought about by her coming to Astor to buy furs with which to make herself a coat. Her ability to judge furs and make them up won the heart of the dealer.. . .

This marriage was a business partnership as well as marital and proved a success in every way. Sarah was a worker, with all the good qualities of patience, persistence, industry, and economy. When her husband went on trips she kept store. She was the only partner in which he ever had total faith. And faith is the first requisite in success.

The following passage is a conversation at a dinner party between the narrator and some friends. Select the best evidence to support the statement that Gatsby is a well-known person.

"You live in West Egg," she remarked contemptuously. "I know somebody there."

"I don't know a single—"

"You must know Gatsby."

"Gatsby?" demanded Daisy. "What Gatsby?"

Before I could reply that he was my neighbor, dinner was announced; wedging his tense arm imperatively under mine, Tom Buchanan compelled me from the room as though he were moving a checker to another square.

Slenderly, languidly, their hands set lightly on their hips, the two young women preceded us out onto a rosy-colored porch, open toward the sunset, where four candles flickered on the table in the diminished wind.

"Why candles?" objected Daisy, frowning. She snapped them out with her fingers.