Comparing Argumentative Texts: Silent Spring and “A Case for Waawaatesi” — Quiz Answers

Read the excerpt from Silent Spring . In the gutters under the eaves and between the shingles of the roofs, a white granular powder still showed a few patches; some weeks before it had fallen like snow upon the roofs and the lawns, the fields and streams. Which best explains how the phrase “white granular powder” supports the author’s purpose of calling attention to the environment?

In Silent Spring , Rachel Carson presents a fictional story about what life in the US will be like if we don't save the environment. Which best describes how Winona LaDuke structures her argument in "A Case for Waawaatesi"?

Read the excerpt from Silent Spring . Yet every one of these disasters has actually happened somewhere, and many real communities have already suffered a substantial number of them. A grim specter has crept upon us almost unnoticed, and this imagined tragedy may easily become a stark reality we all shall know. Which words and phrases from the excerpt best support the author’s purpose of creating a sense of alarm about the environment? Choose three correct answers.

Read the excerpt from Silent Spring . It was a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh. In this excerpt, which phrase carries the most positive tone?

Which excerpt from Silent Spring best appeals to readers’ pathos?

Read the excerpt from Silent Spring . There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings. The town lay in the midst of a checkerboard of prosperous farms, with fields of grain and hillsides of orchards where, in spring, white clouds of bloom drifted above the green fields. In autumn, oak and maple and birch set up a blaze of color that flamed and flickered across a backdrop of pines. Which phrases in the excerpt best support the author’s purpose of creating a positive image of a town? Choose three correct answers.

Read the excerpt from Silent Spring . The roadsides, once so attractive, were now lined with browned and withered vegetation as though swept by fire.

Read the excerpt from Silent Spring . On the farms the hens brooded, but no chicks hatched. The farmers complained that they were unable to raise any pigs—the litters were small and the young survived only a few days. The apple trees were coming into bloom but no bees droned among the blossoms, so there was no pollination and there would be no fruit. The repetition of the word “no” in this excerpt helps create a tone of

Read the sentence from the first paragraph of Silent Spring . Then foxes barked in the hills and deer silently crossed the fields, half hidden in the mists of the fall mornings.

Read the excerpt from Silent Spring . It was a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh. In this excerpt, which phrase carries the most positive tone?