Lesson 21 English 12A
How would the meaning of the word allocate change if you dropped the -e and added the suffix -ion?
It would change from a noun meaning "a distributed portion" to a verb meaning "to distribute." wrong It would change from a noun meaning "a distributed portion" to an adverb meaning "in a way that distributes in parts." wrong
Read the excerpt from "The Damned Human Race" by Mark Twain. I find this Defect to be the Moral Sense. He is the only animal that has it. It is the secret of his degradation. It is the quality which enables him to do wrong. It has no other office. It is incapable of performing any other function. It could never have been intended to perform any other. Without it, man could do no wrong. He would rise at once to the level of the Higher Animals. Causal reasoning in the excerpt allows Twain to _[blank]_. Which option best completes the statement?
imply that the presence of moral sense in man is responsible for his ruin and makes him a lesser being
If someone is avaricious, what is that person most likely interested in seeking?
material gain
If you look in a thesaurus to find a synonym for the word rife, which words are you most likely to find? (Select all that apply.)
replete abundant
Read the excerpt from "The Damned Human Race" by Mark Twain. The higher animals engage in individual fights, but never in organized masses. Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and with calm pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out, as the Hessians did in our Revolution, and as the boyish Prince Napoleon did in the Zulu war, and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel. Man is the only animal that robs his helpless fellow of his country, takes possession of it and drives him out of it or destroys him. Man has done this in all the ages. There is not an acre of ground on the globe that is in possession of its rightful owner, or that has not been taken away from owner after owner, cycle after cycle, by force and bloodshed. In the excerpt, Twain provides reasons that only mankind organizes armies and wages wars to highlight his main claim that _[blank]_. Which option best completes the statement?
human intelligence and morality do not make mankind better than other animals
Read the sentence. Removing the prefix mis- from the word misconception changes the meaning to _[blank]_. Which option correctly completes the sentence?
"a general idea or notion"
Read the excerpt from "The Damned Human Race" by Mark Twain. Some of my experiments were quite curious. In the course of my reading I had come across a case where, many years ago, some hunters on our Great Plains organized a buffalo hunt for the entertainment of an English earl. They had charming sport. They killed seventy-two of those great animals; and ate part of one of them and left the seventy-one to rot. In order to determine the difference between an anaconda and an earl (if any) I caused seven young calves to be turned into the anaconda's cage. The grateful reptile immediately crushed one of them and swallowed it, then lay back satisfied. It showed no further interest in the calves, and no disposition to harm them. I tried this experiment with other anacondas; always with the same result. The fact stood proven that the difference between an earl and an anaconda is that the earl is cruel and the anaconda isn't; and that the earl wantonly destroys what he has no use for, but the anaconda doesn't. Which option best illustrates how Twain's use of analogical reasoning strengthens his argument?
By comparing humans and animals, Twain highlights the glaring differences in the human and animal motives for killing. His highly effective use of analogical reasoning delineates the fact that brutality is a human trait, not an animal trait.
Read the excerpt from "The Damned Human Race" by Mark Twain. Man is the Reasoning Animal. Such is the claim. I think it is open to dispute. Indeed, my experiments have proven to me that he is the Unreasoning Animal. Note his history, as sketched above. It seems plain to me that whatever he is, he is not a reasoning animal. His record is the fantastic record of a maniac. I consider that the strongest count against his intelligence is the fact that with that record back of him he blandly sets himself up as the head animal of the lot: whereas by his own standards he is the bottom one. In truth, man is incurably foolish. Simple things which the other animals easily learn, he is incapable of learning. Which option best explains why Twain uses an anticipated counterclaim to strengthen his argument? The Damned Human Race
Rebutting the idea that man is the only rational animal helps Twain preemptively defend against those who argue man is superior.
Read the excerpt from the article "Participatory Journalism in the 21st Century." Today, print newspapers and television news are just one static part of the information puzzle. Online news, whether it is from a newspaper, a tweet, or a blog, provides instant updates and adjustments as events unfold. No longer are individuals passive consumers of news. People can now offer opinions on issues, contribute to specific news stories, and choose which news sites they frequent and how often they consume the news. People have more power than ever to control the type of information they receive in order to make sense of a complex and ever-changing world. Which response best explains how the author uses deductive reasoning to strengthen the argument that in the information age, both the press and their audience create journalism?
The author infers a pattern of a more active society based on the observation that "individuals are no longer passive consumers of news." wrong The author analyzes the causes of the modern phenomenon in which "individuals are no longer passive consumers of news." wrong
Read the excerpt from "Bias in the Media." It is impossible to consider today's press as truly objective in the face of so much evidence to the contrary, despite the profession's claims that objectivity is its highest goal. It is the failure to own up to this inherent bias that is most concerning. As always, most news sources subtly, or not so subtly, influence the news that the public is given. The question is, do people realize it? Lippman believed that the role of journalists was to interpret the news for the public so that individuals could make real choices and judgments based on the information that they were given. The public, consumed by daily life, might simply assume that information is neutral and unbiased. However, American journalism remains plagued by the same array of hidden and not so hidden agendas evident since revolutionary times. The fact that ordinary people may not notice—or, more specifically, care—is the truer threat to democracy. How effective is the author's support of the claim that the press is not always objective?
The support is not effective, because the author relies on only Lippmann as a source of information to support the claim, without considering any facts or examples from other reliable sources.
asmine is writing a letter to the editor in support of her town's plans to build a new public theater in the park. Which statement would make the most effective call to action in Jasmine's letter?
Theatergoers from all over the state will attend the new facility, benefiting the tourism trade. wrong Jasmine is writing a letter to the editor in support of her town's plans to build a new public theater in the park. Which statement would make the most effective call to action in Jasmine's letter? wrong
Read the excerpt from "The Damned Human Race" by Mark Twain. Man (when he is a North American Indian) gouges out his prisoners' eyes; when he is King John, with a nephew to render untroublesome, he uses a red-hot iron; when he is a religious zealot dealing with heretics in the Middle Ages, he skins his captive alive and scatters salt on his back; in the first Richard's time he shuts up a multitude of Jew families in a tower and sets fire to it; in Columbus's time he captures a family of Spanish Jews and (but that is not printable; in our day in England a man is fined ten shillings for beating his mother nearly to death with a chair, and another man is fined forty shillings for having four pheasant eggs in his possession without being able to satisfactorily explain how he got them). Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel. He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it. It is a trait that is not known to the higher animals. The cat plays with the frightened mouse; but she has this excuse, that she does not know that the mouse is suffering. The cat is moderate (unhumanly moderate: she only scares the mouse, she does not hurt it; she doesn't dig out its eyes, or tear off its skin, or drive splinters under its nails) man-fashion; when she is done playing with it she makes a sudden meal of it and puts it out of its trouble. Man is the Cruel Animal. He is alone in that distinction. In the excerpt, Twain states the claim that "Of all the animals, man is the only one that is cruel." How effectively does Twain use evidence to support his argument?
Twain effectively uses evidence to support his claim, because he lists many examples of man's unnecessary cruelty so that Twain can build a more persuasive case that humans have the capacity to enjoy hurting others.
Read the excerpt from "The Damned Human Race" by Mark Twain. In order to bolster up a tottering reputation the ant pretended to store up supplies, but I was not deceived. I know the ant. These experiments convinced me that there is this difference between man and the higher animals: he is avaricious and miserly; they are not. In the course of my experiments I convinced myself that among the animals man is the only one that harbors insults and injuries, broods over them, waits till a chance offers, then takes revenge. The passion of revenge is unknown to the higher animals. Roosters keep harems, but it is by consent of their concubines; therefore no wrong is done. Men keep harems but it is by brute force, privileged by atrocious laws which the other sex were allowed no hand in making. In this matter man occupies a far lower place than the rooster. Cats are loose in their morals, but not consciously so. Man, in his descent from the cat, has brought the cat's looseness with him but has left the unconsciousness behind (the saving grace which excuses the cat). The cat is innocent, man is not. The main argument that Twain establishes in "The Damned Human Race" is that humankind is descended from species higher than its own. How effectively does Twain use the information in the excerpt to strengthen his argument?
Twain uses the information effectively, because he makes viable comparisons between man and animals to demonstrate how man is a lower species than many animals.
Read the excerpt from a letter to the editor. The issue of the water quality in Echo Lake is of grave concern to our community. Test results show dangerous levels of algae, which is caused by pollution from common household chemicals. However, the families living on Echo Lake's shoreline are not the ones to blame. Which sentence could be added to the end of this letter to maintain a consistent tone?
We must all assume responsibility for returning Echo Lake to its former pristine state.
Read the excerpt from the article "Bias in the Media." Lippman's fears are as valid today as they were in the early 20th century. However, the greatest danger media presents today is not the absence of objectivity. What should be more feared than bias and competition is the appearance of objectivity—faux fairness—that conceals the real motivations for reporting the news a particular way. Today the press claims neutrality, despite significant evidence to the contrary. In the excerpt, the author uses analogical reasoning to compare the early 20th century concern of biased reporting to the modern concern of "faux fairness" to highlight the main claim that _[blank]_. Which option best completes the statement?
the priorities of journalists in reporting have changed from presenting pure facts to presenting information that supports their opinions wrong the decline of journalism from reporting thoughtful analysis to reporting purely factual information mirrors the decline in American society wrong
