AnswersTX-English II A-CRReading Strategies and Fluency

Sugar Changed the World, Part 2: Central Ideas Answers

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Read the passage from Sugar Changed the World.The year is 326 B.C. Alexander the Great stands at the Indus River in what is now Pakistan. For a decade he and his Greek soldiers have been battling their way across the known world, defeating even the mighty Persians, rulers of Asia. Alexander's string of victories only feeds his hunger to conquer all, to know all. But his men balk. Tired of fighting, homesick, they refuse to go on. Alexander realizes he cannot continue to conquer Asia, but he is too curious to stop exploring. He has already built a fleet of eight hundred ships, appointed his close friend Nearchus captain, and sent them to investigate the coast of lndia by sea.

A
Nearchus was the captain of a fleet of ships that Alexander the Great had built.
B
Alexander the Great was victorious over formidable opponents in his conquests.
C
Alexander the Great worked only with friends he trusted, such as Nearchus.
D
Alexander the Great continued exploring even though his Greek soldiers quit.
2
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Read the passage from Sugar Changed the World.One of these early Hindu writings, the Atharva Veda, speaks of an archer's bow made of sugar cane. It tells of growing a circle of sugar cane as a kind of sweet protection for a lover, and it includes specific instructions on how to use sugar cane.

A
Hindus who lived in ancient times used sugar the same way we use it today.
B
Hindus who lived in ancient times believed that sugar had powerful properties.
C
Most Hindus in ancient times had very few specific uses for sugar cane.
D
Most Hindus in ancient times searched for new ways to use sugar cane.
3

What evidence from the passage best supports the inference that sugar cane had special significance in the ancient era? Select three options.

A
"you lie down and face a three-cornered fire pot"
B
"sugar cane was now an ingredient in ceremonies involving fire"
C
"it crystallized into sweet, dark brown clumps"
D
“Perhaps that transformation itself seemed magical”
E
"sugar cane is called ikshu, which means 'something that people want'"
F
"they began to use the name sharkara, which also meant 'gravel'"
4

Which details would best fit in a summary of this passage? Select two options.

A
"in India . . . it was used as an offering in religious and magical ceremonies"
B
"the first written record of sugar"
C
"Long before the first pyramids were built in Egypt"
D
"gods gave fire to human beings"
E
"a priest could turn them into smoke and send them on to the gods"
5

Which text features would be most helpful to support the central idea of the passage? Select two options.

A
a timeline showing when Alexander the Great's power came to an end
B
a map showing the spread of Islam through much of the ancient world
C
a timeline showing when Muslim conquerors took over each part of Europe
D
a map showing how Alexander the Great spread Islam throughout the world
E
a timeline showing the spread of Muhammad's teachings
6

Read the passage and study the drawing from Sugar Changed the World.

Question illustration
A
It emphasizes how time-consuming the sugar-making process was.
B
It illustrates the importance of a warm climate to sugar production.
C
It shows the large numbers of workers and tasks required to refine sugar.
D
It clarifies the many differences between producing sugar and producing honey.
7

Read the passage from Sugar Changed the World.THE WORLD’S FIRST TRUE UNIVERSITYToday, few people have heard of Jundi Shapur. But in its time, it was an exceptional university. Jundi Shapur was built in what is now Iran sometime between the 400s and mid-500s A.D. We can only guess the dates, but we do know more about the school. It was the meeting place of the world's great minds. In 529, Christians closed the school of Athens—the last link to the academies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The remaining Greek scholars moved to Jundi Shapur. Jews joined them, as did a group of Christians called Nestorians, who had their own ancient and scholarly traditions. Persians added their voices, and one of their learned doctors set off for what is now India, to gather and translate the wisdom of the Hindus. The school created the very first teaching hospital in the world, a place where the sick were treated and young doctors learned their craft, as well as a fine observatory to track the heavens. At Jundi Shapur the best scholars west of China all gathered to think and study together. By the 600s, the doctors at the school were writing about a medicine from India named sharkara or, as the Persians called it, shaker—sugar. Indeed, scholars at Jundi Shapur invented new and better ways to refine cane into sugar. Since the school had links with many of the great civilizations of Asia, the Mediterranean, and Europe, word of sugar and the experience of tasting its special sweetness began to spread.

A
It convinces the reader that other universities are inferior.
B
It informs the reader that the text will focus on a specific school.
C
It reveals how this section of text is related to sugar.
D
It implies that the passage will describe types of universities.
8

Read the passage from Sugar Changed the World.The vast Muslim world was wonderful for the growth of knowledge. The Greeks had developed a level of practical experience and technical understanding a thousand years more advanced than anyone else nearby. The Muslims began to translate some of these ancient Greek texts. From India, Muslims learned of the zero, which allowed them to invent what we still call "Arabic” numerals. And because the Koran, the sacred book of Islam, is written in Arabic, scholars throughout the Muslim world learned to read Arabic and to share their knowledge. The Muslims swept past Jundi Shapur and learned the secrets of sugar. As they conquered lands around the Mediterranean Sea, they spread word of how to grow, mill, and refine the sweet reed.

A
The details describe the important role Muslims played in spreading knowledge throughout the world.
B
The details clarify the role Jundi Shapur played in spreading the secrets of sugar to the rest of the world.
C
The details describe how Muslims used knowledge from only the Greeks to make innovations.
D
The details reveal how important the Koran was in helping Muslims conquer other lands.
9

What evidence from the passage best supports the inference that white sugar was rarer and more valuable than brown sugar? Select two options.

A
"Egypt became the world's great sugar laboratory"
B
"The kind of sugar easiest to produce from cane is dark"
C
"drain out the dark molasses to use by itself"
D
"wanted it to be as pure, sweet, and white as possible"
E
"Egyptians figured out how to meet that need"
10

What is the central idea of a text?

A
the feeling or emotion that a text provokes in the reader
B
a conclusion based on evidence and background knowledge
C
a series of ideas that support a main point
D
the main point the author is trying to make

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