Ch.8 Unit Test
Read the excerpt from Billy Collins's "Man Listening to Disc." And if any of you are curious about where this aggregation, this whole battery-powered crew, is headed, let us just say that the real center of the universe, the only true point of view, is full of the hope that he, the hub of the cosmos with his hair blown sideways, will eventually make it all the way downtown. What message does Collins convey in this excerpt? Working downtown can be challenging. Music is a positive distraction to the routine of daily life. Curious people believe the world revolves around music. High volume is much better than low volume.
Music is a positive distraction to the routine of daily life.
Which is the best use of punctuation? Joel and Lisette went (to the museum) to see an exhibit on ancient Egyptian artifacts. Sandy, a wayward puppy, was taken in and adopted by a loving family. Our National Parks are (beautiful places) to appreciate the many landmarks in our country. Please refrain from talking—during the movie as to not disturb the patrons.
Sandy, a wayward puppy, was taken in and adopted by a loving family.
Read the excerpt from Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner's Freakonomics. The incentive scheme that rules sumo is intricate and extraordinarily powerful. Each wrestler maintains a ranking that affects every slice of his life; how much money he makes, how large an entourage he carries, how much he gets to eat, sleep, and otherwise take advantage of his success. The sixty-six highest-ranked wrestlers in Japan, comprising the makuuchi and juryo divisions, make up the sumo elite. A wrestler near the top of this elite pyramid may earn millions and is treated like royalty. Any wrestler in the top forty earns at least $170,000 a year. The seventieth-ranked wrestler in Japan, meanwhile, earns only $15,000 a year. Life isn't very sweet outside the elite. Low-ranked wrestlers must tend to their superiors, preparing their meals and cleaning their quarters, and even soaping up their hardest-to-reach body parts. So ranking is everything. Which sentence from the excerpt best supports the idea that the high-ranking sumo wrestlers enjoy many luxuries? The incentive scheme that rules sumo is intricate and extraordinarily powerful. The sixty-six highest-ranked wrestlers in Japan, comprising the makuuchi and juryo divisions, make up the sumo elite. A wrestler near the top of this elite pyramid may earn millions and is treated like royalty. The seventieth-ranked wrestler in Japan, meanwhile, earns only $15,000 a year.
A wrestler near the top of this elite pyramid may earn millions and is treated like royalty.
Read this excerpt from Infinite Jest. I cannot make myself understood. 'I am not just a jock,' I say slowly. Distinctly. 'My transcript for the last year might have been dickied a bit, maybe, but that was to get me over a rough spot. The grades prior to that are de moi.' My eyes are closed; the room is silent. How does the narration affect the narrator's credibility in this excerpt? His honesty renders him earnest and genuine. His slang makes him seem youthful and intriguing. His French jargon makes him seem international. His explanations depict him as a bit defensive.
His explanations depict him as a bit defensive.
Read this excerpt from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I started inventing things, and then I couldn't stop, like beavers, which I know about. People think they cut down trees so they can build dams, but in reality it's because their teeth never stop growing, and if they didn't constantly file them down by cutting through all of those trees, their teeth would start to grow into their own faces, which would kill them. That's how my brain was. Which line best reflects the ambiguity of this excerpt? I started inventing things, and then I couldn't stop, like beavers People think they cut down trees so they can build dams in reality it's because their teeth never stop growing their teeth would start to grow into their own faces
I started inventing things, and then I couldn't stop, like beavers
Read the excerpt from Infinite Jest. [Orin] stood there, he says, hefting a cold clod, playing with the Velcro on his puffy coat, watching as the Moms, bent way down to me, hand reaching, her lowering face with its presbyopic squint, suddenly stopped, froze, beginning to I.D. what it was I held out, countenancing evidence of oral contact with same. He remembers her face as past describing. What is the meaning of the excerpt? The narrator's brother is ignoring his mother's behavior. The narrator's brother is playing a trick on his mother. The narrator's mother is attempting to identify what her son ate. The narrator's mother is addressing her sons for their misbehavior.
The narrator's mother is attempting to identify what her son ate.
Read the following excerpt from Levitt and Dubner's Freakonomics. There is a tale, "The Ring of Gyges," that Feldman sometimes tells his economist friends. It comes from Plato's Republic. A student named Glaucon offered the story in response to a lesson by Socrates—who, like Adam Smith, argued that people are generally good even without enforcement. Glaucon, like Feldman's economist friends, disagreed. He told of a shepherd named Gyges who stumbled upon a secret cavern with a corpse inside that wore a ring. When Gyges put on the ring, he found that it made him invisible. With no one able to monitor his behavior, Gyges proceeded to do woeful things—seduce the queen, murder the king, and so on. Glaucon's story posed a moral question: could any man resist the temptation of evil if he knew his acts could not be witnessed? Glaucon seemed to think the answer was no. The excerpt serves as which of the following in relation to the authors' argument? a claim that most people are moral an example of morality in the workplace a conclusion about morality in the workplace a counterclaim to the idea that most people are moral
a counterclaim to the idea that most people are moral
Read this excerpt from Infinite Jest. 'I could, if you'd let me, talk and talk. Let's talk about anything. I believe the influence of Kierkegaard on Camus is underestimated. I believe Dennis Gabor may very well have been the Antichrist. I believe Hobbes is just Rousseau in a dark mirror. I believe, with Hegel, that transcendence is absorption. I could interface you guys right under the table,' I say. 'I'm not just a creâtus, manufactured, conditioned, bred for a function.' What assumption does the narrator make in this excerpt? that the people he is addressing enjoy long conversations that the people he is addressing appreciate intellectualism that the people he is addressing have researched philosophy that the people he is addressing expect a confrontation
that the people he is addressing appreciate intellectualism
Read the paragraph. Tortillas are delicious round flatbreads made with cornmeal or wheat flour. Although they are most often used in tacos, enchiladas, and tostadas, tortillas can __________ any dish. If the purpose of this paragraph is to persuade readers to eat tortillas, which word or phrase best fits in the blank? enhance accompany be served with be combined with
enhance
An effective thesis in an argumentative essay must present both sides of the issue. contain a quote from a source. state a position on the topic. include accurate statistics.
state a position on the topic.
Read the excerpt from "The Environmental Ethic." It is fashionable in some quarters to wave aside the small and obscure, the bugs and weeds, forgetting that an obscure moth from Latin America saved Australia's pastureland from overgrowth by cactus, that the rosy periwinkle provided the cure for Hodgkin's disease and childhood lymphocytic leukemia, that the bark of the Pacific yew offers hope for victims of ovarian and breast cancer, that a chemical from the saliva of leeches dissolves blood clots during surgery, and so on down a roster already grown long and illustrious despite the limited research addressed to it. Which of the following claims is best supported by the evidence in this excerpt? All species are worth protecting because even the small organisms contribute important functions in the environment. Every effort should be made to protect each bug and weed species regardless of its potential to cause destruction. All of the species that are now extinct or are becoming extinct could have cured a disease. Only the species that can be used for medical purposes are worth protecting from extinction.
All species are worth protecting because even the small organisms contribute important functions in the environment.
Read the excerpt from E.O. Wilson's "The Environmental Ethic." Species are disappearing at an accelerating rate through human action, primarily habitat destruction but also pollution and the introduction of exotic species into residual natural environments. I have said that a fifth or more of the species of plants and animals could vanish or be doomed to early extinction by the year 2020 unless better efforts are made to save them. . . . As the last forests are felled in forest strongholds like the Philippines and Ecuador, the decline of species will accelerate even more. In the world as a whole, extinction rates are already hundreds or thousands of times higher than before the coming of man. They cannot be balanced by new evolution in any period of time that has meaning for the human race. What message does the author convey in this excerpt? Humans need to take action to end further destruction of the natural environment. In the coming years, humans will put forth stronger efforts to save plants and animals. The extinction of plant and animal species is problematic in the Philippines and Ecuador. In recent years, the extinction rate for many animal species has significantly increased.
Humans need to take action to end further destruction of the natural environment.
Read this excerpt from Levitt and Dubner's Freakonomics. The incentive scheme that rules sumo is intricate and extraordinarily powerful. Each wrestler maintains a ranking that affects every slice of life; how much money he makes, how large an entourage he carries, how much he gets to eat, sleep, and otherwise take advantage of his success. The sixty-six highest-ranked wrestlers in Japan, comprising the makuuchi and juryo divisions, make up the sumo elite. A wrestler near the top of this elite pyramid may earn millions and is treated like royalty. Any wrestler in the top forty earns at least $170,000 a year. The seventieth-ranked wrestler in Japan, meanwhile, earns only $15,000 a year. Life isn't very sweet outside the elite. Low-ranked wrestlers must tend to their superiors, preparing their meals and cleaning their quarters and even soaping up their hardest-to-reach body parts. So ranking is everything. A wrestler's ranking is based on his performance in the elite tournaments that are held six times a year. Each wrestler has fifteen bouts per tournament, one per day over fifteen consecutive days. If he finishes the tournament with a winning record (eight victories or better), his ranking will rise. If he has a losing record, his ranking falls. If it falls far enough, he is booted from the elite rank entirely. The eighth victory in any tournament is therefore critical, the difference between promotion and demotion; it is roughly four times as valuable in the rankings as the typical victory. Based on the excerpt, which statement provides the best example of incentive for a sumo wrestler to cheat? Sumo wrestling is revered in a way that American sports can never be. A sumo wrestler near the top of the elite pyramid may earn millions of dollars. Sumo wrestling has fifteen bouts in each elite tournament. A sumo wrestler must participate in elite tournaments six times a year.
Sumo wrestling is revered in a way that American sports can never be.
Read the excerpt from "The Environmental Ethic." Mother Earth . . . is no more than the commonality of organisms and the physical environment they maintain with each passing moment, an environment that will destabilize and turn lethal if the organisms are disturbed too much. . . . To disregard the diversity of life is to risk catapulting ourselves into an alien environment. We will have become like the pilot whales that inexplicably beach themselves on New England shores. Which of the following choices best expresses the type of appeal Wilson uses in this passage? The author uses logos to develop his argument by providing factual information about pilot whales in New England. The author uses logos to develop his argument by gaining sympathy for the pilot whales in New England. The author uses pathos to develop his argument by including emotionally charged language to evoke a response. The author uses pathos to develop his argument by chastising the reader for the destruction of the environment.
The author uses pathos to develop his argument by including emotionally charged language to evoke a response.
Read the excerpt from Freakonomics. It's worth thinking about the incentive a wrestler might have to throw a match. Maybe he accepts a bribe (which would obviously not be recorded in the data). Or perhaps some other arrangement is made between the two wrestlers. Keep in mind that the pool of elite sumo wrestlers is extraordinarily tight-knit. Each of the sixty-six elite wrestlers fights fifteen of the others in a tournament every two months. Furthermore, each wrestler belongs to a stable that is typically managed by a former sumo champion, so even the rival stables have close ties. Which of the following claims is best supported by the evidence in this excerpt? The offering of a bribe is a guaranteed enticement for a champion sumo wrestler to purposely lose a match in a tournament. The close relationship between sumo wrestlers could be an incentive for an elite wrestler to throw a match he doesn't need to win. Because sumo wrestlers have strong social ties, it is a dishonor to throw a match in a tournament. There is great pressure for sumo wrestlers to cheat in order to beat wrestlers from rival stables.
The close relationship between sumo wrestlers could be an incentive for an elite wrestler to throw a match he doesn't need to win.
Read this excerpt from Levitt and Dubner's Freakonomics. The incentive scheme that rules sumo is intricate and extraordinarily powerful. Each wrestler maintains a ranking that affects every slice of life; how much money he makes, how large an entourage he carries, how much he gets to eat, sleep, and otherwise take advantage of his success. The sixty-six highest-ranked wrestlers in Japan, comprising the makuuchi and juryo divisions, make up the sumo elite. A wrestler near the top of this elite pyramid may earn millions and is treated like royalty. Any wrestler in the top forty earns at least $170,000 a year. The seventieth-ranked wrestler in Japan, meanwhile, earns only $15,000 a year. Life isn't very sweet outside the elite. Low-ranked wrestlers must tend to their superiors, preparing their meals and cleaning their quarters and even soaping up their hardest-to-reach body parts. So ranking is everything. A wrestler's ranking is based on his performance in the elite tournaments that are held six times a year. Each wrestler has fifteen bouts per tournament, one per day over fifteen consecutive days. If he finishes the tournament with a winning record (eight victories or better), his ranking will rise. If he has a losing record, his ranking falls. If it falls far enough, he is booted from the elite rank entirely. The eighth victory in any tournament is therefore critical, the difference between promotion and demotion; it is roughly four times as valuable in the rankings as the typical victory. Based on the excerpt, which of the following statements best summarizes the incentive system that ranks sumo wrestlers? The incentive system penalizes elite sumo wrestlers. The incentive system rewards elite sumo wrestlers. The incentive system treats all sumo wrestlers equally. The incentive system treats all sumo wrestlers like royalty.
The incentive system treats all sumo wrestlers like royalty.
Read the following excerpt from E. O. Wilson's "The Environmental Ethic." Species are disappearing at an accelerating rate through human action, primarily habitat destruction but also pollution and the introduction of exotic species into residual natural environments. I have said that a fifth or more of the species of plants and animals could vanish or be doomed to early extinction by the year 2020 unless better efforts are made to save them. . . . As the last forests are felled [destroyed] in forest strongholds like the Philippines and Ecuador, the decline of species will accelerate even more. In the world as a whole, extinction rates are already hundreds or thousands of times higher than before the coming of man. They cannot be balanced by new evolution in any period of time that has meaning for the human race. Why should we care? What difference does it make if some species are extinguished, if even half of all the species on earth disappear? Let me count the ways. New sources of scientific information will be lost. Vast potential biological wealth will be destroyed. Still undeveloped medicines, crops, pharmaceuticals, timber, fibers, pulp, soil-restoring vegetation, petroleum substitutes, and other products and amenities will never come to light. Based on the excerpt, which statement best summarizes the author's beliefs about the disappearing species? The loss of plant species and habitats will lead to widespread animal extinction. The loss of plant species and habitats will lead to environmental problems in remote regions. The loss of plant species and habitats will displace animals and decrease human wealth. The loss of plant species and habitats will devastate animals and hinder human progress.
The loss of plant species and habitats will lead to widespread animal extinction.
Read the excerpt from Infinite Jest. 'My application's not bought,' I am telling them, calling into the darkness of the red cave that opens out before closed eyes. 'I am not just a boy who plays tennis. I have an intricate history. Experiences and feelings. I'm complex. 'I read,' I say. 'I study and read. I bet I've read everything you've read. Don't think I haven't. I consume libraries. I wear out spines and ROM-drives. I do things like get in a taxi and say, "The library, and step on it." My instincts concerning syntax and mechanics are better than your own, I can tell, with due respect. What conclusion can readers draw about this character vs. society conflict? The narrator is uncomfortable and defensive. The narrator has destroyed school property. The narrator earns good grades in school. The narrator is being punished for his behavior.
The narrator has destroyed school property.
Read the excerpt from E.O. Wilson's "The Environmental Ethic." Why should we care? What difference does it make if some species are extinguished, if even half of all the species on earth disappear? Let me count the ways. New sources of scientific information will be lost. Vast potential biological wealth will be destroyed. Still undeveloped medicines, crops, pharmaceuticals, timber, fibers, pulp, soil-restoring vegetation, petroleum substitutes, and other products and amenities will never come to light. It is fashionable in some quarters to wave aside the small and obscure, the bugs and weeds, forgetting that an obscure moth from Latin America saved Australia's pastureland from overgrowth by cactus, that the rosy periwinkle provided the cure for Hodgkin's disease and childhood lymphocytic leukemia, that the bark of the Pacific yew offers hope for victims of ovarian and breast cancer, that a chemical from the saliva of leeches dissolves blood clots during surgery, and so on down a roster already grown long and illustrious despite the limited research addressed to it. Which techniques does Wilson use in this excerpt to convey important information to his readers? Wilson uses humorous anecdotes that make the information more interesting. Wilson uses metaphors that appeal to a wide range of the reader's senses. Wilson relates the significance of the information directly to the reader's life. Wilson refers to empirical statistics to relate the importance of his message.
Wilson uses metaphors that appeal to a wide range of the reader's senses.
Read the excerpt from the Declaration of Independence. Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. In this excerpt, certain words are capitalized to emphasize the uniqueness of specific ideas. highlight the supremacy of certain concepts. illustrate the author's writing style. relate personally to the readers.
emphasize the uniqueness of specific ideas.
Read the excerpt from Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner's Freakonomics. Let's now consider the following statistic, which represents the hundreds of matches in which a 7-7 wrestler faced an 8-6 wrestler on a tournament's final day: 7-7 WRESTLER'S PREDICTED WIN PERCENTAGE AGAINST 8-6 OPPONENT: 48.7 7-7 WRESTLER'S ACTUAL WIN PERCENTAGE AGAINST 8-6 OPPONENT: 79.6 So the 7-7 wrestler, based on past outcomes, was expected to win just less than half the time. This makes sense; their records in this tournament indicate that the 8-6 wrestler is slightly better. But in actuality, the wrestler on the bubble won almost eight out of ten matches against his 8-6 opponent. Wrestlers on the bubble also do astonishingly well against 9-5 opponents: 7-7 WRESTLER'S PREDICTED WIN PERCENTAGE AGAINST 9-5 OPPONENT: 47.2 7-7 WRESTLER'S ACTUAL WIN PERCENTAGE AGAINST 9-5 OPPONENT: 73.4 The authors use the statistics in this excerpt to describe the complexity of sumo scorekeeping. explain in detail the intricacies of sumo wrestling. make a case for the idea that sumo wrestling is rigged. show the similarities in Japanese sumo and American wrestling.
make a case for the idea that sumo wrestling is rigged.
Read the excerpt from Freakonomics. Now let's look at the win-loss percentage between the 7-7 wrestlers and the 8-6 wrestlers the next time they meet, when neither one is on the bubble. In this case, there is no great pressure on the individual match. So you might expect the wrestlers who won their 7-7 matches in the previous tournament to do about as well as they had in earlier matches against these same opponents—that is, winning roughly 50 percent of the time. You certainly wouldn't expect them to uphold their 80 percent clip. As it turns out, the data show that the 7-7 wrestlers win only 40 percent of the rematches. Eighty percent in one match and 40 percent in the next? How do you make sense of that? Which type of evidence does the authors use in this excerpt to support the claim that some sumo wrestlers will intentionally lose a match? anecdotal testimonial statistical analogical
statistical
Read this excerpt from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. In bed that night I invented a special drain that would be underneath every pillow in New York, and would connect to the reservoir. Whenever people cried themselves to sleep, the tears would all go to the same place.... And when something really terrible happened—like a nuclear bomb, or at least a biological weapons attack—an extremely loud siren would go off, telling everyone to get to Central Park to put sandbags around the reservoir. What assumption does the narrator make in this excerpt? that his creativity will be eagerly embraced that a biological weapons attack is imminent that many people express their grief through tears that volunteers are always willing to help in a crisis
that many people express their grief through tears
Read the excerpt from Neil deGrasse Tyson's "Death by Black Hole." All parts of your body are moving toward the same spot—the black hole's center. So while you're getting ripped apart head to toe, you will also extrude through the fabric of space and time, like toothpaste squeezed through a tube. Read the excerpt from Billy Collins's "Man Listening to Disc." This is not bad— ambling along 44th Street with Sonny Rollins for company, his music flowing through the soft calipers of these earphones, Which of the following ideas is presented in both excerpts? humanity as a small piece in a very large universe the human body is being moved along by an outside force individuals finding and accepting their place in the world one individual becoming the center of a vast universe
the human body is being moved along by an outside force
Read the following excerpt from E. O. Wilson's "The Environmental Ethic." It is also easy to overlook the services that ecosystems provide humanity. They enrich the soil and create the very air we breathe. Without these amenities, the remaining tenure of the human race would be nasty and brief. The life-sustaining matrix is built of green plants with legions of microorganisms and mostly small, obscure animals—in other words, weeds and bugs. Such organisms support the world with efficiency because they are so diverse, allowing them to divide labor and swarm over every square meter of the earth's surface. They run the world precisely as we would wish it to be run, because humanity evolved within living communities and our bodily functions are finely adjusted to the idiosyncratic environment already created. The author tries to persuade the reader to agree with his claim about the importance of ecosystems by providing facts. presenting statistics. restating his claim. using deductive reasoning.
using deductive reasoning.
