Diagnostic PreTest Answers

How do the events in "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” most influence Maya Angelou’s later poem, "The Caged Bird”?

Look at the timeline excerpt from Chapter Four of Windows to the Universe: Revolutions in Astronomy.1989: The first conference to discuss a space-based infrared telescope is held.1996: A committee of 18 members is selected to review designs.1997: Funding is allocated for additional studies.2002: Teams are selected to build components, and the telescope is named after former NASA administrator James Webb.What is the purpose of the first four entries of the timeline?

Read the paragraph.(1) Last week, our English class watched a hilarious movie based on a novel. (2) In it, a couple of incompetent thieves bungle their way through a heist. (3) After several escapades, a priceless painting is stolen by the thieves. (4) But then, the thieves make an impressive blunder and accidentally return it.

Read the passage and study the image from Sugar Changed the World.Slaves were given long, sharp machetes, which would be their equipment—but for some also their weapons—until the harvest was done. The cutters worked brutal, seemingly endless shifts during the harvest—for the hungry mills crushed cane from four in the afternoon to ten the next morning, stopping only in the midday heat. Slaves had to make sure there was just enough cane to feed the turning wheels during every one of those eighteen hours. They worked in teams, a man slashing the cane, a woman binding every twelve stalks into a bundle. According to one report from 1689, each pair of workers was expected to cut and bind 4,200 stalks a day. Exactly how much they cut depended on how much their mill could handle—the cutting must never get a day ahead of the grinding, for then the sugar cane would dry up.In this illustration by William Clark, enslaved people cut sugar cane.

Read the story.Anna asked her mother if she could drive the car to the store herself.Anna’s mom said, "Sure, ten-year-olds drive themselves to the store all the time!”

Read this excerpt from "A Student's Guide to Global Climate Change."Climate change might allow some infectious diseases to spread. As winter temperatures increase, ticks and mosquitoes that carry diseases can survive longer throughout the year and expand their ranges, putting more people at risk. One big concern is malaria, a deadly disease spread by mosquitoes in many hot, humid parts of the world.What can people do about it? People should take common-sense steps to avoid tick and mosquito bites, and communities can take actions to control mosquitoes, such as removing sources of standing water. It's also important for doctors to know the symptoms of diseases that could be spreading to new areas so they can diagnose and treat their patients.

Read the excerpt from "The Gift of the Magi.""Isn't it a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over town to find it. You'll have to look at the time a hundred times a day now. Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks on it."Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled."Dell," said he, "let's put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while. They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on."

Which event from chapter 7 of Holes is related as a flashback?

Read the excerpt from The Hot Zone.There she met Lieutenant Colonel Trotter, a stocky, dark-haired man whom Nancy had worked with for many years. They put on their inner gloves and taped their cuffs. Nancy put a pair of hearing protectors over her ears. She had started wearing them a while back, when people had begun to suspect that the roar of air in your suit might be loud enough to damage your hearing. They hauled on their space suits and sealed the Ziploc zippers. They edged around each other as they fiddled with their suits. People wearing biohazard space suits tend to step around one another like two wrestlers at the beginning of a match, watching the other person's every move, especially watching the hands to make sure they don't hold a sharp object. This cringing becomes instinctive.

Read the poem.Wide-eyed clowns honk noses,Toddlers shriek with glee,A rogue balloon stops with a pop,A big band blares its harmony.

Which excerpt from “The Scarlet Ibis” most foreshadows Doodle’s death?

Which excerpt from “The Scarlet Ibis” most foreshadows that the narrator will feel regret for something he has done to Doodle?

Fill in the blank.The rider tugged on the _______ of her horse to make him slow down.

Read the excerpt from The Dark Game.Mr. H. quickly began talking to his contacts in the city. Soon he heard of a British printer in Mexico City who had been falsely arrested for printing counterfeit money. Mr. H. intervened with the British minister, who got the frightened printer released from custody and the charges against him dropped. The printer, overjoyed to be free, told Mr. H. that he would welcome the opportunity to repay the agent for his intervention. As a matter of fact, Mr. H. told him, there was a favor the printer could do for him.

Read the following sentence.My family and I stayed at the Millside inn just outside of Yosemite National park.

Read the excerpt from Loom and Spindle.The working-hours of all the girls extended from five o'clock in the morning until seven in the evening, with one-half hour for breakfast and for dinner. Even the doffers were forced to be on duty nearly fourteen hours a day, and this was the greatest hardship in the lives of these children.

Read the following sentence.Corrina studied criminal justice in college in the hopes that one day she could work for the Central intelligence agency, otherwise known as the Cia.

Read this paragraph.Abram woke up at 6:30 a.m. He showered, ate breakfast, and gathered his books for school. He was on time for the bus, and he made it to homeroom early enough to compare notes with his friend Dave for that day's algebra exam. He was feeling good about the test by the time he walked into class.

Read the excerpt from Loom and Spindle.I had been to school constantly until I was about ten years of age, when my mother, feeling obliged to have help in her work besides what I could give, and also needing the money which I could earn, allowed me, at my urgent request (for I wanted to earn money like the other little girls), to go to work in the mill.

Which lines from "Madam and the Rent Man" by Langston Hughes best reflect the bold attitude working-class people were developing after the Harlem Renaissance?