Excerpt from "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros

“Whose is this?” Mrs. Price says, and she holds the red sweater up in the air for all the class to see. “Whose? It’s been sitting in the coatroom for a month.”

“Not mine,” says everybody. “Not me.”

“It has to belong to somebody,”Mrs. Price keeps saying, but nobody can remember. It’s an ugly sweater with red plastic buttons and a collar and sleeves all stretched out like you could use it for a jump rope. It’s maybe a thousand years old and even if it belonged to me I wouldn’t say so.

Select TWO (2) pieces of evidence that shows how Rachel feels about the red sweater.

Gaston sat self absorbed, taking in the attention he received. The tavern was filled with admiring fans singing the praises of his brawn and mighty muscles. He felt deserving of every bit of flattery, as he believed himself to be the strongest, most perfect specimen of a man that ever lived. He smiled at the thought of the day a very lucky woman would be proud to be called Gaston’s wife.

What is the overall tone of the passage?

Gaston sat self absorbed, taking in the attention he received. The tavern was filled with admiring fans singing the praises of his brawn and mighty muscles. He felt deserving of every bit of flattery, as he believed himself to be the strongest, most perfect specimen of a man that ever lived. He smiled at the thought of the day a very lucky woman would be proud to be called Gaston’s wife.

How does word choice affect the tone of the passage?

Read the following sentence.

The rural poor did not have access to the best land. What they were left with was cold weather, hilly and unforgiving farmland, and hunger.

What is the definition of the word "unforgiving" as is it used in the selection above?

Excerpt from The Magic Pitcher by Nancy Bell

Long, long ago there lived far away in India a woodcutter called Subha Datta and his family, who were all very happy together. The father went every day to the forest near his home to get supplies of wood, which he sold to his neighbors, earning by that means quite enough to give his wife and children all that they needed. Sometimes he took his three boys with him, and now and then, as a special treat, his two little girls were allowed to trot along beside him. The boys longed to be allowed to chop wood for themselves, and their father told them that as soon as they were old enough he would give each of them a little axe of his own. The girls, he said, must be content with breaking off small twigs from the branches he cut down, for he did not wish them to chop their own fingers off. This will show you what a kind father he was, and you will be very sorry for him when you hear about his troubles.

What does the phrase “quite enough” suggest in the passage?

Cutting Through Clutter by Chloe Reichel

Thrift stores across the United States have been overwhelmed with donations in the wake of Netflix’s January 2019 release of “Tidying Up,” a series starring Marie Kondo, professional organizer and author of The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. The premise is simple: She wants you to identify and remove all items in your home that do not “spark joy.” The items are thanked for their service before hitting the curb or the donation box. After tidying your home according to her methods, Kondo promises, it will stay organized forever. “If you adopt this approach — the KonMari Method — you’ll never revert to clutter again,” she writes in her book. Moreover, the tidiness will alter more than your home. Uncluttered space transfers into the mental realm, too: “When you put your house in order, you put your affairs and your past in order, too,” Kondo writes. “As a result, you can see quite clearly what you need in life and what you don’t and what you should and shouldn’t do.” It’s quite the claim, and, as evidenced by the response to her show, appeals to many.

What is the effect of the word “overwhelmed” in the passage?

The Last Dream of Old Oak by Hans Christian Andersen

In the forest, high up on the steep shore, and not far from the open seacoast, stood a very old oak-tree. It was just three hundred and sixty-five years old, but that long time was to the tree as the same number of days might be to us; we wake by day and sleep by night, and then we have our dreams. It is different with the tree; it is obliged to keep awake through three seasons of the year, and does not get any sleep till winter comes. Winter is its time for rest; its night after the long day of spring, summer, and autumn. On many a warm summer, the Ephemera, the flies that exist for only a day, had fluttered about the old oak, enjoyed life and felt happy and if, for a moment, one of the tiny creatures rested on one of his large fresh leaves, the tree would always say, “Poor little creature! your whole life consists only of a single day. How very short. It must be quite melancholy.”

Which words in the passage help explain the meaning of “melancholy”?

What is the tone of the passage below?

A vaccine is a preparation of killed or weakened germs that is injected under the skin and causes the blood to produce antibodies against the disease. Effective vaccines, for instance, have been developed for small pox, rabies, and polio.

What is the tone of the passage below?

Each year in the middle of February, when slush is underfoot and the sky is a depressing gray, I begin dreaming of warm beaches, tropical fruits and sunsets. If only I could save enough for a winter vacation! Maybe next year I’ll win the lottery. Meanwhile, I’ll read travel brochures and sigh.

Which words and phrases best show the sentimental tone in the passage below?

I got out of the old car and took a few halting steps up the driveway. A cloud of warmth drifted out of the window and embraced me like a comforting hug. I knew that smell: fresh bread that Papa had just taken from the oven. I heard the familiar pitch of his whistle as he slowly stirred tomato soup on the stovetop. I ran to open the screen door because, now, I knew where I was. I was home.