Writing a Convincing Argument — Unit test Answers

Read the excerpt from Monster.STEVEI don’t remember seeing him play ball.PETROCELLIYou having trouble remembering what you’ve seen?STEVENo, but I’ve seen a lot of ball games. I watch a lot of ball games.PETROCELLIAre you nervous? Do you want to take a few minutes?

Read the excerpt from Monster.STEVENo, but I’ve seen a lot of ball games. I watch a lot of ball games.

Read the excerpt from Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.I am in phenomenally good health right now. . . . In fact, I am in better shape than most of you.

Read the excerpt from "The New Marvel in Photography" by H. J. W. Dam.In all the history of scientific discovery there has never been, perhaps, so general, rapid, and dramatic an effect wrought on the scientific centres of Europe as has followed, in the past four weeks, upon an announcement made to the Würzburg Physico-Medical Society, at their December meeting, by Professor William Konrad Röntgen, professor of physics at the Royal University of Würzburg. The first news which reached London was by telegraph from Vienna to the effect that a Professor Röntgen, until then the possessor of only a local fame in the town mentioned, had discovered a new kind of light, which penetrated and photographed through everything. This news was received with a mild interest, some amusement, and much incredulity; and a week passed. Then, by mail and telegraph, came daily clear indications of the stir which the discovery was making in all the great line of universities between Vienna and Berlin. Then Röntgen's own report arrived, so cool, so business-like, and so truly scientific in character, that it left no doubt either of the truth or of the great importance of the preceding reports. . . .Exactly what kind of a force Professor Röntgen has discovered he does not know. As will be seen below, he declines to call it a new kind of light, or a new form of electricity. He has given it the name of the X rays.

Read the excerpt from Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.All right. A simple one, being an author in the World Book Encyclopedia. When I was a kid, we had the World Book Encyclopedia on the shelf. . . . We used to have these things called books. [laughter] And after I had become somewhat of an authority on virtual reality, but not like a really important one, so I was at the level of people the World Book would badger. They called me up and I wrote an article, and this is Caitlin Kelleher [shows slide of Caitlin wearing virtual reality headset manipulating a 3D world], and there’s an article if you go to your local library where they still have copies of the World Book. Look under V for Virtual Reality, and there it is. And all I have to say is that having been selected to be an author in the World Book Encyclopedia, I now believe that Wikipedia is a perfectly fine source for your information because I know what the quality control is for real encyclopedias. They let me in.

Read the sentence from Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.And that’s something we should not lose sight of, is that the inspiration and the permission to dream is huge.

Read the excerpt from Homecoming."Listen, I’m going to go to a phone and see where the bus station is and call them up to find out how much tickets cost. You lay low.”"Why?”Dicey decided to tell him the truth. "Just in case. I mean, three kids in a car in a parking lot at night . . . See, James, I think we’ve got to get to Bridgeport and I just don’t know what would happen if a policeman saw us. Foster homes or something, I dunno. I don’t want to risk it. But one kid . . . and I’m pretty old so it doesn’t look funny.”

Read the excerpt from Homecoming.At half-past eight, Dicey herded everybody back into the mall, to use the bathrooms they had found earlier. Later, Sammy and Maybeth fell asleep easily, curled up along the back seat. James moved up to the front with Dicey. Dicey couldn't see how they were both to sleep in the front seat, but she supposed they would manage it. James sat stiffly, gripping the wheel. James had a narrow head and sharp features, a nose that pointed out, pencil-thin eyebrows, a narrow chin. Dicey studied him in the darkening car. They were parked so far from the nearest lamppost that they were in deep shadows.

Read the excerpt from Homecoming.With her brothers and sisters near, with the two youngest asleep in the back seat, sitting as they were in a cocoon of darkness, she should feel safe. But she didn't. Though it was standing still, the car seemed to be flying down a highway, going too fast. Even the dark inside of it was not deep enough to hide them. Faces might appear in the windows at any time, asking angry questions.

Read the excerpt from Homecoming.At half-past eight, Dicey herded everybody back into the mall, to use the bathrooms they had found earlier. Later, Sammy and Maybeth fell asleep easily, curled up along the back seat. James moved up to the front with Dicey. Dicey couldn't see how they were both to sleep in the front seat, but she supposed they would manage it. James sat stiffly, gripping the wheel. James had a narrow head and sharp features, a nose that pointed out, pencil-thin eyebrows, a narrow chin. Dicey studied him in the darkening car. They were parked so far from the nearest lamppost that they were in deep shadows.With her brothers and sisters near, with the two youngest asleep in the back seat, sitting as they were in a cocoon of darkness, she should feel safe. But she didn't. Though it was standing still, the car seemed to be flying down a highway, going too fast. Even the dark inside of it was not deep enough to hide them. Faces might appear in the windows at any time, asking angry questions.

Read the excerpt from "Ellis Island.”For the most part, passengers in first or second-class accommodations disembarked in New York and entered the United States.Those in third class or "steerage" had a very different experience throughout the journey. First, they were crammed below deck in filthy conditions with everything they owned.From the port in New York, they were ferried to Ellis Island, where they might be held for hours, days, weeks, and in some cases months. The point of the inspections was to identify undesirables, such as those with a criminal record, the mentally ill, or those who could not support themselves financially. It was a frightening experience for the travelers.

Read the excerpt from "Ellis Island.”"We lived there for three days—Mother and we five children, the youngest of whom was three years old,” recalled Angelo Pellegrini, whose family moved from Italy when he was 10. "Because of the rigorous physical examination that we had to submit to, particularly of the eyes, there was this terrible anxiety that one of us might be rejected. And if one of us was, what would the rest of the family do?”Along with everyone else, Angelo’s family was examined for contagious diseases, such as chicken pox, measles, mumps, scarlet fever, and tuberculosis. If an illness could be treated, the sick were hospitalized on the island. About 2 percent were sent back to where they came from.

Read the excerpt from "Ellis Island.""We lived there for three days—Mother and we five children, the youngest of whom was three years old,” recalled Angelo Pellegrini, whose family moved from Italy when he was 10. "Because of the rigorous physical examination that we had to submit to, particularly of the eyes, there was this terrible anxiety that one of us might be rejected. And if one of us was, what would the rest of the family do?”Along with everyone else, Angelo’s family was examined for contagious diseases, such as chicken pox, measles, mumps, scarlet fever, and tuberculosis. If an illness could be treated, the sick were hospitalized on the island. About 2 percent were sent back to where they came from.

In "Ellis Island,” the author mentions medical inspections. Which central idea does this detail best support?

Read the excerpt from "Ellis Island."For 62 years, some 12 million people passed through Ellis Island for the promise of a better life in America. They came on huge steamships, the majority from Eastern Europe and Italy, the rest from other corners of the world: Lebanon, Cyprus, China, Jamaica, and numerous other places. Many had left their homelands to escape poverty, while others had fled religious persecution or war.

Read the excerpt from "Ellis Island.”Sometimes people’s surnames were changed. Bietzy to Peachey. Hecht to Heck. Many Americans can point to the fact that their family names are different from their original spelling in the "old country.” It is commonly thought that the clerks at Ellis Island misunderstood the names or decided to simplify them.

Read the excerpt from The Cruisers.LaShonda was tall, dark, and slightly wild-looking. Fashion design was her thing. She could make an entire outfit for anyone overnight.

Which statement describes a feature of The Cruisers?

Which excerpt from The Cruisers shows the passage has a first-person point of view?

Read the excerpt from The Cruisers.When Mr. Culpepper, the assistant principal and chief executioner, came in, he did it with a flourish, breathing through his nose and looking like a cross between a really mad Santa Claus and a swishy dragon."Well, what are we to say this morning?” he asked, looking over his rimless glasses. "Or have the grades said enough? Hmmm?”No response."We have noted two trends among this small group of miscreants,” Mr. Culpepper went on. "The first is that none of you are living up to your potential. And yes, we do know your individual abilities because you have all tested very well on the IQ tests. What I strongly suspect is that you just don’t care enough about education or about Da Vinci Academy for the Gifted and Talented. I’m wondering if you are really Da Vinci material.”