English 11a - Unit Two: She Blinded Me with Science Lesson 6-9

What evidence from "'Rewilding' Draws on the Past to Modify Plants" best supports the idea that the term "genetically modified organism (G.M.O.)" has more than one meaning?

"In Europe, the rules are different, they report. There, G.M.O. is defined by the process, not the product."

Which passage from "Calculating the Value of Human Tissue Donation" best explains the key problem Chris Truitt has with the tissue-donation industry?

"Instead of being stewards of the gift, instead of recovering what the family wanted and treating each donor with the ultimate in respect, the company was actually looking at each donor as a profit machine, as nothing more than raw resources, and it was our job to take as much of those resources as we possibly could," he says.

Which two passages from "'Rewilding' Draws on the Past to Modify Plants" help to develop the idea that there are disadvantages to crossbreeding? Select all that apply.

"This method works but it has drawbacks. You prefer to move only the genes you want." But because wheat has three genomes, it is impossible to use crossbreeding to knock out that gene in all three at once.

Lesson Eight

Checkpoint Eight

Lesson Nine

Checkpoint Nine

Lesson Seven

Checkpoint Seven

Lesson Six

Checkpoint Six

In "Calculating the Value of Human Tissue Donation," what was revealed by the study of calls made by representatives from tissue banks? Select all that apply.

Donor families, in most cases, are not made aware that their loved ones' tissues may be sold for profit or used for cosmetic surgery. Families are more likely to agree to donate tissue and organs if they are well-educated about the process.

In "Paying Patients for Their Tissue: The Legacy of Henrietta Lacks," which passage best helps to develop the argument that patients' tissue, until it is used for research, offers no financial benefit to the patients?

First, although it is true that the patients have contributed "raw materials" necessary for development of the cell line, it is the investigators, not the patients, whose intellectual contributions lead to the creation of value.

In "'Rewilding' Draws on the Past to Modify Plants," readers learn that people may consider rewilding to be the same as genetic modification. Which passage from the text best supports this idea?

For rewilding with precision breeding, the question of whether the food was organic would hinge on whether the gene that was introduced was considered "foreign."

In "Calculating the Value of Human Tissue Donation," when Chris Truitt's employer began competitions and contests to increase profits, what did he do? Select all that apply.

He realized that the tissue-donation industry is flawed and in need of serious change. He began to worry that the tissue-donation industry is more about making profits than helping people.

According to "Calculating the Value of Human Tissue Donation," why did Chris Truitt become an advocate for the tissue-donation business?

He was moved to action when his daughter was a donor and he saw firsthand how tissue and organ donations transform lives.

In "Leather and Meat without Killing Animals," the author develops the idea that the leather and meat industries are harmful and reckless with resources. In which passage does the author best refine this idea by suggesting that these industries are also intentionally misleading the public?

Imagine touring this facility, learning about how the leather or meat is cultured, seeing the process from beginning to end, and even trying some. It's clean, open and educational, and this is in contrast to the hidden, guarded and remote factories where leather and meat is produced today.

Which answer best states a key idea in "Paying Patients for Their Tissue: The Legacy of Henrietta Lacks"?

In the majority of cases, tissue that is removed in the treatment of a disease or illness is not the legal property of the patient.

Read this sentence. The pickup truck was indispensable to the landscaping effort because we had to haul dirt, move plants, and transport gravel to complete the project. How does the word indispensable function in the sentence and what does it mean?

Indispensable functions as an adjective and means "completely necessary."

Based on "Mindsuckers: Meet Nature's Nightmare," what happens when a wasp inserts its stinger into a ladybug or glues its eggs on a spider?

It begins a parasitic relationship.

Read this passage from "Your Average, Everyday Zombie." They will perform their acts as needed by their parasitic puppet master, and only once their bodies have served their function will the zombie be released into the sweet arms of eternity. How does the author's use of the words "released into the sweet arms of eternity" affect the meaning of the text?

It emphasizes how much the animal host has suffered by describing death as a release and a place of comfort.

How does the table in Paragraph 9 of "Paying Patients for Their Tissue: The Legacy of Henrietta Lacks" help to clarify the purpose of the information in the article?

It explains investigators' responsibilities to patients when they wish to use tissue for research.

Lesson Eight

Key Ideas, Events, and Individuals

Read this paragraph from "Mindsuckers: Meet Nature's Nightmare." Ladybugs are also well protected against most of their enemies. Their red-and-black dome, so adorable to the human eye, is actually a warning to would-be predators: You will regret this. When a bird or some other animal tries to attack, the ladybug bleeds poison from its leg joints. The attacker tastes the bitter blood and spits the ladybug out. Predators learn to read the red-and-black wing covers as a message to stay away. What is the key idea of the paragraph?

Ladybugs' coloring protects them from predators.

Lesson Six

Language and Word Choice

Which sentence best states a key idea in "Leather and Meat without Killing Animals"?

Maintaining the livestock herds necessary to meet human demand creates a serious threat to the environment.

What is a central idea of "Why People Oppose GMOs Even Though Science Says They Are Safe"?

Popular opinion about GMOs is negatively influenced by intuition and feelings.

What is a central idea in "'Rewilding' Draws on the Past to Modify Plants"?

Rewilding is the process of introducing the genes of ancient plants into modern species with the intent to make today's plants more productive.

Lesson Nine

Structure and Meaning

Lesson Seven

Supporting Evidence

Which sentences use the word entail correctly? Select all that apply.

The city's financial proposals entail considerable risk because they are based on guesswork. Recovery from knee surgery necessarily entails a combination of rest and physical therapy.

In which sentence is the word benefactor used correctly?

The flood victims were eternally grateful to their benefactors, who provided them with food, shelter, and clothing.

In "Your Average, Everyday Zombie," why does the author refer to the host animals described in the article as the walking dead?

The host animals can physically function, but they have lost control of their minds and bodies.

Read this passage from "Calculating the Value of Human Tissue Donation." The human tissue industry is full of contradictions like that. Tissue can save or better someone's life, but sometimes it will go to plump up lips and smooth wrinkles. What inference can be made from this passage?

The practice of using donated tissue for cosmetic purposes is controversial.

In which sentence is resonate used correctly?

The speaker's message about climate change failed to resonate with his inattentive audience.

What is a key idea in "Calculating the Value of Human Tissue Donation"?

There are positive and negative aspects to the practices of the tissue-donation industry.

Which passage from "Mindsuckers: Meet Nature's Nightmare" uses figurative language?

Thirty-two years later, scientists are finally opening the black box of parasite mind control.

Which two passages from "Calculating the Value of Human Tissue Donation" best develop the idea that tissue donations provide more benefits than organ donations? Select all that apply.

Tissue grafts help 50 times more people than the number who receive organ donations ... Tissue is anything that's not a live organ and can be recovered from a dead body. It can then be turned into scores of medical products.

Read this paragraph. Humans have been modifying crops for thousands of years through selective breeding. Early farmers developed cross breeding methods to grow numerous corn varieties with a range of colors, sizes, and uses. For example, the garden strawberries that consumers buy today resulted from a cross between a strawberry species native to North America and a strawberry species native to South America. Which answer best states a key idea of the paragraph?

Today's crops are a product of selective breeding over many years.

Which phrase is an example of an oxymoron?

beautiful disaster

Read this paragraph. Although gorillas are the largest of the great apes, chimpanzees have bigger brains. Gorillas feed primarily on plants, but chimpanzees eat fruits, vegetables, insects, and even small mammals. What is the organizational structure of the paragraph?

compare and contrast

Read this passage. People of the town were saddened by the lamentable destruction of their beloved museum, which was caused by a violent tornado. Happily, the unfortunate incident helped the community grow stronger as people worked together to restore the building. The word unfortunate is a context clue that develops the meaning of lamentable. What type of context clue is unfortunate?

definition

What is irrelevant evidence?

details that are unrelated to main ideas

Read this passage. The wealthy owner of a local business recently passed away. He donated generously to local children's charities, and he will be remembered for his altruism and public spirit. What does altruism mean in this passage?

devotion to the welfare of others

Read this passage from "Your Average, Everyday Zombie." All of a sudden, you are set upon by a flying nightmare whose body shines iridescent green. Limbs intertwine as she fights to subdue you. You struggle; every muscle in your body tenses and flexes as you try to fling the emerald harpy off your back, but you feel her jaws clamp down, and she remains attached. What figures of speech are used in the passage? Select all that apply.

emerald harpy flying nightmare

Read this sentence. Damage from the storm was devastating; hundreds of homes were completely destroyed, and sections of the main highway were washed away. What kind of context clue is indicated by the words hundreds of homes were completely destroyed, and sections of the main highway were washed away?

example

Which word is an antonym for erroneously?

factually

Read the passage from "Mindsuckers: Meet Nature's Nightmare." The wasp's venom is a veritable punch bowl of different chemicals, and Libersat and his colleagues have yet to determine which ones affect the behavior of the cockroach and how they do. The words veritable punch bowl help readers understand that the wasp's venom _[blank]_. Which option best completes the sentence?

is a potent mixture of many elements whose exact purposes and effects are unknown

Valid evidence is evidence that is _[blank]_. Which option best completes the sentence?

logically correct

Read the passage from "Paying Patients for Their Tissue: The Legacy of Henrietta Lacks." Although Skloot's book is moving and compelling, we use caution in using the Lacks example as a model for thinking about compensating patients who provide tissue for research. Although one can point to the many injustices Lacks endured as a poor woman without access to needed medical care, the use of her residual clinical tissue, involving no additional risk or burden to her, does not demand any form of compensation. Furthermore, compensating such patients may have unintended consequences that could work to decrease the availability of tissue for research, and may paradoxically become a source of injustice. What is the organizational structure of the passage?

proposition and support

If a website's creators debunk a news report, what are they doing?

showing the report is false

Read the sentences. As Hannah stood at the podium, waiting to address the roomful of engineers and physicists, she felt like a fish out of water. What could a recent graduate say that could inspire such an illustrious audience? Why does the author use the idiom "a fish out of water"?

to convey the idea that Hannah believes she is in an awkward situation since she does not feel qualified to present to this audience

In "Leather and Meat without Killing Animals," why does the author provide statistics about the world's current and projected human and animal herd populations? Select all that apply.

to explain that an increase in livestock will have a serious impact on the planet, so there is a tremendous need for his business, which grows biological products to connect to the idea that today, maintaining animal herds takes a major toll on our planet, so increasing animal production to meet increasing human needs will make the problem worse

Read this passage. The sculptor laboriously carved out the features of the statue of the war hero to make it as lifelike as possible. It took more than a month for him just to complete the soldier's profile. Based on the function of the word laboriously in the passage, what is the most accurate definition of laboriously?

with great effort