Ancient Paintings

Archaeologists working in two recently discovered limestone caves in Sarawak, Malaysia, have found a collection of 51 paintings estimated to be 6,000 to 12,000 years old. The images are unusual in their medium, manner of display, and subject matter. These are not merely wall or ceiling paintings. Stones—some as small as notebooks, some as large as doors—have been chipped and otherwise shaped to form rough canvases for painted individual works. 

Some of the pieces are stacked, while others are arranged upright in an overlapping pattern so that one can “flip through” the smaller pieces in the collection with relative ease. Hunters, warriors, and hunted animals, the typical cave art subjects, are mostly absent from these works. Instead, domestic scenes are represented, including food preparations, family meals, and recreational activities.

Though no tools have been found in the area, the lines’ fineness suggests the use of sophisticated animal-hair brushes. Gypsum, manganese, malachite, and other minerals were painstakingly ground and mixed with binding materials such as vegetable and animal oils to form the paints. One probable reason for the high level of artistry is that the paintings may have been produced in the open air, where the light was good, and then brought into the cave.

However, it is the purpose of the paintings that is the most curious. Most interestingly, it may be that the collection represents a sort of family tree. Many paintings appear to feature some of the same people, and it is tempting to think of these works as family portraits. Indeed, one figure, seen as a child with a mark on its forehead—the stone has been chipped away to represent the mark—is shown in other paintings as both a young person and an adult with the same mark.

Which piece of text evidence from the passage would best convey that the Malaysian painters were skilled artists?

Inventions

Every day it seems, new inventions surface that promise to add value to our day-to-day lives. But did you know, many of the inventions we interact with daily were developed entirely by accident? 

Take the microwave, for instance. This accidental invention was developed by engineer Percy Spencer who, upon experimenting with a microwave-emitting magnetron, found that the candy bar in his pocket had begun to melt. Spencer was then able to harness this radiation into the microwave we use today to make snack time a speedy process!

Perhaps one of today’s most well-known accidental inventions, the potato chip, was born when a customer kept requesting that his french fries be sliced thinner and made crispier. Though chef George Crum responded with the chips as a joke, they quickly became a favorite snack worldwide! 

Even the match is a result of accidental invention. When pharmacist John Walker was stirring chemicals, he noticed that the end of his stirring stick had dried into a hardened lump. When attempting to scrape the dried residue off, a flame sparked, and so did Walker’s idea to turn this accident into a helpful tool!

So, the next time your science experiment doesn’t go as planned, or you burn what you have cooked on the stove, keep in mind that some of today’s most valued inventions were discovered when the inventor least expected it!

According to the passage, who invented the potato chip?

Inventions

Every day it seems, new inventions surface that promise to add value to our day-to-day lives. But did you know, many of the inventions we interact with daily were developed entirely by accident? 

Take the microwave, for instance. This accidental invention was developed by engineer Percy Spencer who, upon experimenting with a microwave-emitting magnetron, found that the candy bar in his pocket had begun to melt. Spencer was then able to harness this radiation into the microwave we use today to make snack time a speedy process!

Perhaps one of today’s most well-known accidental inventions, the potato chip, was born when a customer kept requesting that his french fries be sliced thinner and made crispier. Though chef George Crum responded with the chips as a joke, they quickly became a favorite snack worldwide! 

Even the match is a result of accidental invention. When pharmacist John Walker was stirring chemicals, he noticed that the end of his stirring stick had dried into a hardened lump. When attempting to scrape the dried residue off, a flame sparked, and so did Walker’s idea to turn this accident into a helpful tool!

So, the next time your science experiment doesn’t go as planned, or you burn what you have cooked on the stove, keep in mind that some of today’s most valued inventions were discovered when the inventor least expected it!

According to the passage, what was John Walker doing when a flame sparked and helped him create the match?

Adapted from Aesop’s The Ants & the Grasshopper (620-560 BCE)

One bright day in late autumn, a family of Ants were bustling about in the warm sunshine, drying out the grain they had stored up during the summer, when a starving Grasshopper, his fiddle under his arm, came up and humbly begged for a bite to eat.

"What!" cried the Ants in surprise, "haven't you stored anything away for the winter? What in the world were you doing all last summer?"

"I didn't have time to store up any food," whined the Grasshopper; "I was so busy making music that before I knew it, the summer was gone."

The Ants shrugged their shoulders in disgust.

"Making music, were you?" they cried. "Very well; now dance!" And they turned their backs on the Grasshopper and went on with their work.

Which piece of text evidence supports the following claim?

Grasshopper is lazy and irresponsible.

Adapted from "The Brook" by Alfred Lord Tennyson in Volume V. Nature of The World's Best Poetry (1904)

Come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally,
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley.

By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges,
By twenty thorps, a little town,
And half a hundred bridges.

Till last by Philip's farm I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.

I chatter over stony ways,
In little sharps and trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the pebbles.

With many a curve my banks I fret
by many a field and fallow,
And many a fairy foreland set
With willow-weed and mallow.

I chatter, chatter, as I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.

I wind about, and in and out,
with here a blossom sailing,
And here and there a lusty trout,
And here and there a grayling,

And here and there a foamy flake
Upon me, as I travel
With many a silver water-break
Above the golden gravel,

And draw them all along, and flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.

I steal by lawns and grassy plots,
I slide by hazel covers;
I move the sweet forget-me-nots
That grow for happy lovers.

I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance,
Among my skimming swallows;
I make the netted sunbeam dance
Against my sandy shallows.

I murmur under moon and stars
In brambly wildernesses;
I linger by my shingly bars;
I loiter round my cresses;

And out again I curve and flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.

This poem is told from the perspective of __________.

Passage 1

Ecuador, in South America, is home to 417 types of frogs and toads. Many of these species, or types of frogs, are at risk of dying out. In the last 50 years, many amphibian species have gone extinct. Salamanders, frogs, and toads are all amphibians. Amphibians are animals that spend part of their life in water and part on land, and have backbones. Amphibians must live near water. Amphibians are in trouble because their habitat is being destroyed as trees are being cut down to make room for farms and roads. Amphibians also absorb pollution easily, because they breathe through their skin. Amphibians are usually the first to disappear when an environment is under threat from pollution. Due to pollution, some frogs are born with deformed, or wrongly shaped, body parts, such as extra legs and eyes. Frogs with deformed body parts are a clue for scientists that an environment is suffering. Between the destruction of their habitats and risks to frogs from pollution, frogs are at risk of endangerment and extinction. 

Scientists are working to save amphibians from their plight. Scientists want the government to pass laws that protect amphibian habitats and limit pollution. 

Passage 2

My name is Maria and I am an amphibian conservation biologist. My job is to protect amphibians and their natural habitats, develop educational programs and exhibits to engage the public about amphibian conservation, and research to develop tools that will allow scientists to reintroduce amphibians back into the wild. Conservation biologists are scientists who study and protect animals and their environments.  I work in a zoo, but I often travel to places like Ecuador or Brazil to observe a variety of amphibians in their natural habitats. Brazil, for example, has 1,022 different types of frogs, toads and salamanders! In my work at the zoo, I specialize in only a small portion of that number. Here in the zoo, we have many amphibians in our care because some or all of their natural habitats were destroyed.  We are not alone in our work to protect amphibians. Many people, in many kinds of jobs, are helping protect amphibians and their habitats. I partner with other scientists and lawyers, like my friend Fernanda,  to help create laws that best support the conservation, or protection, of amphibians. Fernanda is an environmental lawyer who works to create laws like the Endangered Species Act that protect wildlife and their homes. She, in turn, needs to partner with government workers who can lobby and vote to help get laws passed. Together, our goal is to work together to build a world where these amphibians have safe space to live outside of the zoo, in their natural habitat, protected from pollution or loss of space. We are working with a facility in Brazil to build protected space for amphibians to be released from the zoo and into a space where they can thrive.

In passage 1, the text is written with what point of view?

Passage 1

Ecuador, in South America, is home to 417 types of frogs and toads. Many of these species, or types of frogs, are at risk of dying out. In the last 50 years, many amphibian species have gone extinct. Salamanders, frogs, and toads are all amphibians. Amphibians are animals that spend part of their life in water and part on land, and have backbones. Amphibians must live near water. Amphibians are in trouble because their habitat is being destroyed as trees are being cut down to make room for farms and roads. Amphibians also absorb pollution easily, because they breathe through their skin. Amphibians are usually the first to disappear when an environment is under threat from pollution. Due to pollution, some frogs are born with deformed, or wrongly shaped, body parts, such as extra legs and eyes. Frogs with deformed body parts are a clue for scientists that an environment is suffering. Between the destruction of their habitats and risks to frogs from pollution, frogs are at risk of endangerment and extinction. 

Scientists are working to save amphibians from their plight. Scientists want the government to pass laws that protect amphibian habitats and limit pollution. 

Passage 2

My name is Maria and I am an amphibian conservation biologist. My job is to protect amphibians and their natural habitats, develop educational programs and exhibits to engage the public about amphibian conservation, and research to develop tools that will allow scientists to reintroduce amphibians back into the wild. Conservation biologists are scientists who study and protect animals and their environments.  I work in a zoo, but I often travel to places like Ecuador or Brazil to observe a variety of amphibians in their natural habitats. Brazil, for example, has 1,022 different types of frogs, toads and salamanders! In my work at the zoo, I specialize in only a small portion of that number. Here in the zoo, we have many amphibians in our care because some or all of their natural habitats were destroyed.  We are not alone in our work to protect amphibians. Many people, in many kinds of jobs, are helping protect amphibians and their habitats. I partner with other scientists and lawyers, like my friend Fernanda,  to help create laws that best support the conservation, or protection, of amphibians. Fernanda is an environmental lawyer who works to create laws like the Endangered Species Act that protect wildlife and their homes. She, in turn, needs to partner with government workers who can lobby and vote to help get laws passed. Together, our goal is to work together to build a world where these amphibians have safe space to live outside of the zoo, in their natural habitat, protected from pollution or loss of space. We are working with a facility in Brazil to build protected space for amphibians to be released from the zoo and into a space where they can thrive.

In Passage 2, the text is written with what point of view?

Passage 1

Ecuador, in South America, is home to 417 types of frogs and toads. Many of these species, or types of frogs, are at risk of dying out. In the last 50 years, many amphibian species have gone extinct. Salamanders, frogs, and toads are all amphibians. Amphibians are animals that spend part of their life in water and part on land, and have backbones. Amphibians must live near water. Amphibians are in trouble because their habitat is being destroyed as trees are being cut down to make room for farms and roads. Amphibians also absorb pollution easily, because they breathe through their skin. Amphibians are usually the first to disappear when an environment is under threat from pollution. Due to pollution, some frogs are born with deformed, or wrongly shaped, body parts, such as extra legs and eyes. Frogs with deformed body parts are a clue for scientists that an environment is suffering. Between the destruction of their habitats and risks to frogs from pollution, frogs are at risk of endangerment and extinction. 

Scientists are working to save amphibians from their plight. Scientists want the government to pass laws that protect amphibian habitats and limit pollution. 

Passage 2

My name is Maria and I am an amphibian conservation biologist. My job is to protect amphibians and their natural habitats, develop educational programs and exhibits to engage the public about amphibian conservation, and research to develop tools that will allow scientists to reintroduce amphibians back into the wild. Conservation biologists are scientists who study and protect animals and their environments.  I work in a zoo, but I often travel to places like Ecuador or Brazil to observe a variety of amphibians in their natural habitats. Brazil, for example, has 1,022 different types of frogs, toads and salamanders! In my work at the zoo, I specialize in only a small portion of that number. Here in the zoo, we have many amphibians in our care because some or all of their natural habitats were destroyed.  We are not alone in our work to protect amphibians. Many people, in many kinds of jobs, are helping protect amphibians and their habitats. I partner with other scientists and lawyers, like my friend Fernanda,  to help create laws that best support the conservation, or protection, of amphibians. Fernanda is an environmental lawyer who works to create laws like the Endangered Species Act that protect wildlife and their homes. She, in turn, needs to partner with government workers who can lobby and vote to help get laws passed. Together, our goal is to work together to build a world where these amphibians have safe space to live outside of the zoo, in their natural habitat, protected from pollution or loss of space. We are working with a facility in Brazil to build protected space for amphibians to be released from the zoo and into a space where they can thrive.

Which pronoun is an example of those used in third person point of view?

Mrs. McCarthy asked me to come to her office. I had no idea what I did wrong.

What point of view is this?

Which pronoun is an example that would be commonly found in a piece written in second person point of view?