ELA 9 Unit Test (88%)

When the subject of a sentence performs the action in the sentence, the verb in the sentence is in the

A. active voice

How does the author use logos to support the argument made in "Save the Coral Reefs"?

D. by providing scientific evidence that humans are destroying coral reefs

Read the poem. Throat is dry; weather's hot. I buy a can and pop the top. I lift the can to trembling lips, And find relief With one cool sip. How many stanzas does the poem contain?

B. 2

Read the sentence. At the end of the day, the dusk was filled by the coyote's haunting call. Which revision puts the sentence in the active voice while maintaining the meaning?

A. At the end of the day, the coyote's haunting call filled the dusk.

Which statement best summarizes "Save the Coral Reefs"?

A. Coral reefs are a very important component of the ocean's ecosystem because they support sea life, such as crabs and sea turtles. In fact, over four thousand species depend on the survival of the reefs, which are being destroyed by bleaching. More must be done immediately to save the reefs.

Which verbs would be appropriate to use in an essay that is written in the past tense? Check all that apply.

A. arose B. beheld C. dealt E. misled F. misunderstood

A ____________ is a stated idea or opinion that not everyone believes is true.

A. claim

What kind of evidence should a writer use to support a claim or counterclaim? Check all that apply.

A. examples B. facts E. quotations F. statistics

Read the excerpt from "GM Food: Fuel for Our Future." Also, crops can be genetically engineered to be more nutritious. Golden rice, for example, has been altered to have more vitamin A than spinach. This is important because according to Scientific American, "Vitamin A deficiency causes more than one million deaths annually and half a million cases of irreversible blindness in the developing world." Golden rice alone could help save millions of lives and prevent blindness. Overall, our growing world desperately needs GM food to survive. The food these crops produce costs less and is safer and more nutritious than anything you could get from a traditional crop. As you can see, the benefits of GM food outweigh the far-fetched, unsubstantiated risks that critics have put forth. Which phrases from the excerpt support the author's argument that genetically modified food is safe? Check all that apply.

A. more vitamin A B. you can see C. could help save E. unsubstantiated risks F. more nutritious

In Silent Spring Rachel Carson makes up a fictional story about what life in the United States will be like if we don't save the environment, whereas in "Save the Redwoods" John Muir

A. presents facts and evidence to convince readers to rescue the Sequoia

What is the author's purpose in "Save the Coral Reefs"? Check all that apply.

A. to convince readers that practices that destroy coral reefs must be stopped C. to inform readers about how the coral reefs are being destroyed

Read the excerpt from "Safari Day in Kenya." Kimani stops at a watering hole, where hippos grunt in mud-baths, Baboons play in a nearby tree, like children out at camp. The underlined portion of the stanza is an example of which sound device?

B. assonance

Read the poem. School looms large, and I feel small I pause until the door swings wide I hoist my pack, step inside Adjust my cuffs, smooth my hair And wonder what I'm doing here. Which lines rhyme?

B. lines 2 and 3

Which phrase from the "The Bells" best conveys the mood of lines 70-94?

B. melancholy menace

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. In this sentence, Carson mostly uses a __________ tone.

B. peaceful

Read Deepak's rebuttal to the counterclaim in his essay. Critics are correct in saying that the weather moves in cycles. However, that doesn't mean that the current drought isn't real. By the end of October 2012, sixty percent of the US was experiencing a drought. Granted, that was a four percent decrease from the drought totals in September. Which sentence in the rebuttal provides evidence that defends against the counterclaim?

C. By the end of October 2012, sixty percent of the US was experiencing a drought.

Read the paragraph. Volunteering is a good way to gain skills and work experience. In a recent study, seventy-three percent of employers said they'd hire someone who'd volunteered. Among employees who had volunteered, ninety-four percent said that it had benefited at work. Students looking to improve their resumes should consider volunteering. What is the best transition to add at the beginning of the third sentence?

C. In addition,

Read the excerpt from "Safari Day in Kenya." Hyenas slink before us, mottled bodies, eyes black ice Zebras bright as painted ponies, the babes brown-striped, not black! Which statement best describes how the author uses sound devices to create mood?

C. The author uses alliteration to create a playful mood.

Which is the best comparison of the authors' purpose in these two essays about genetically modified food?

C. The purpose of both essays is to persuade the reader of a specific point of view.

Nico is revising the final sentence of a body paragraph of an argumentative essay. He should be sure that the sentence

C. connects the evidence and the topic sentence.

Read the excerpt from "Save the Coral Reefs." A study completed in 2004 found that seventy percent of our coral reefs are already destroyed or currently under threat of destruction. It also concluded that much of the wreckage to reefs has been caused by humans. The resiliency of the reefs is on our side, though. More can be done now to help the coral reefs bounce back—even flourish. What is meaning of the word "resiliency" in this context?

C. the ability of an ecosystem to recover from damage

Read the sentence. The forgery ________ so exquisite that it hung in the museum for the past two decades without discovery. Which verb or verb phrase is in the correct tense to complete the sentence?

C. was

Which line from "Safari Day in Kenya" contains an example of assonance?

D. Not a word speak the tourists, as we fill the teeming jeep

Read the sentence. Unfazed by the morning frenzy before school, dad gave us our lunches before we left. Which best describes the sentence?

D. The sentence is built around the simple subject "dad" and simple predicate "gave." It also contains both a direct object "lunches" and indirect object "us."

Which best describes the structure of the poem "Safari Day in Kenya"?

D. free verse with varied line lengths