Progress Learning English 2 SLO pretest

Ancient Evidence Clark Benson1 Through the efforts of paleontologists, or researchers who look for evidence of ancient plants and animals, millions of fossils have been discovered across the globe. Simply defined, fossils are the remains of a living thing and are usually encased in stone. They include the remains from prehistoric living things, ranging from woolly mammoths, to prehistoric fish, to dinosaurs. It can take thousands, if not millions of years for a fossil to form. This is why, even today, so many fossils remain and allow us to find evidence of animals that roamed the earth even before humans came into the picture.2Paleontologists have classified fossils into two major types. Type I fossils, which are also called body fossils, can be the complete impression of the actual living thing outlined in stone. Body fossils also include bones and teeth, since these are made of hard substances that can endure the ravages of time. Type II fossils are something that were made by the animal while it was living that has hardened into stone; a physical impression the animal has left behind. The second type is also called a trace fossil. Examples of a trace fossil include animal footprints and burrows, or the animal's home or place of dwelling.3Paleontologists can spend their whole career looking for that one unique fossil. One of the more recent interesting fossil discoveries occurred in Madagascar, an island off the southern coast of Africa. There, a team of researchers found the fossil of what may be the largest frog to have ever lived. This giant frog, termed "the Beelzebufo," grew to be about 16 inches long while it lived, and it weighed approximately 10 pounds. To get a clearer picture, imagine that this amphibian grew to about the size of a beach ball by the time it reached adulthood!4On the opposite end of amazing finds in the fossil world is the Europasaurus. This interesting little dinosaur also impressed scientists with its size. However, the Europasaurus was not colossal, but rather so small that it was compared to its cousin the brachiosaur. When paleontologists found some very small dinosaur bones in the mountains of Germany, they first thought they had found the fossils of baby dinosaurs. However, by using growth marks (similar to the inside of a tree trunk) found on the bones, they were able to determine that these "baby" dinosaurs were in fact full grown adults, even though they were six to seven times smaller than the brachiosaur!5Considering all of the millions of fossils that can be found in museums, universities, and in the homes of private collectors, we have managed to unearth quite a lot of fossils! However, when you further consider how many billions and billions of living things have inhabited the earth over the last couple hundred million years, only a very small percentage of them have been immortalized in stone for us to discover! What is the MAIN point of this passage?

Fossils can teach us about life in the past.

You have been assigned to compose an essay about the life of poet T.S. Eliot. Given that your tone is to be objective, not subjective, which of these sentences would be appropriate to use?

T.S. Eliot published "The Wasteland" in 1922.

What evidence do the authors provide to support the theory of how California was named?

They say that the name appeared on a map in 1542.

A Baker's Dozen David Matherne1 I ain't no valedictorian. I'll give you that. But I'm certainly not the loser my step-father Johnnie likes to think I am, either. Mr. oh-so-famous local Johnnie Pipehead of "Johnnie on the Spot Plumbing." (Real clever name, huh?) Just because he only took the requisite twelve years to make it through school and graduate from his alma mater, and I took slightly longer, that doesn't make me a loser. So what if I took "the road less traveled by" and added a one-year, scenic detour to my journey--thanks to Algebra, Physical Science, and well...Latin. Did I mention Chemistry? Let's just say I liked Latin but Latin didn't much care for me. Just because I took thirteen years in all to get out of Melancholy High with a diploma doesn't make me some loser. Being nothing at all, now THAT would make me a loser.2 I am something. But what I am, and what I'll be, are two countries at war at present. Battles, I've had them. Many battles. Literal ones...figurative ones...too many. Figurative language...see there? At least I did learn a few somethings in Mr. J's English class.3 I could've been the valedictorian. Of somewhere. Of some school that had a bunch of unmotivated kids like me. Then, maybe I would have gone to those Physical Science study halls. Maybe I would have actually done my homework in Mr. Pugnacious' class. Real name, Pugliese. Wrestling coach. Don't you just love that moniker? For a wrestling coach...Pugnacious. Funny stuff, huh? Made that up. It stuck. Guy's got a bulldog face but a little tail-wagging personality. Had everything but the panting. And the drool. Too much caffeine I suppose. Too happy. Loved his math, that Pugnacious.4 Yeah, I could've been the valedictorian somewhere. I would've shown everyone how determined I can truly be. As it turned out, I showed 'em anyway. Counselors were shown that I didn't have to graduate with my class, like they so earnestly wished for me to. I showed the teachers who said, "Conrad, your sophomore year will be two of the best years of your life, son." My retorts were always something cleverly snide as well, like: "Yeah, but half the sophomores around here don't even know how to spell s-o-p-h-o-m-o-r-e...they leave out the 'o' on all their cheesy, self-absorbed class election posters, and they certainly don't have a clue that it's a combination of two latinaic roots, 'sopho' and 'more,' meaning 'wise fool.' At least I'm a fool with a bit of wisdom."5 I could've impressed Mr. Johhnie come-lately, my Mom's most recent convenience among a revolving door of Pops rejects. Yeah, Mr. Johnnie would've loved me being the valedictorian, giving that big speech, the one Angel Ramirez so properly gave tonight...'Members of the School Board, Mr. Wilson, Parents, Faculty and Students, blah, blah, yuck, blah, blah, blah.' I could've given my version instead, only to have Mr. Johnnie Joint-Compound listen, then sending me off to some trade school on a full ride to cut pipe and be his apprentice who wipes his nose and kisses his bu-- and goes on cigarette or burger runs or grabs some rusty tool from the truck. Not gonna fight that part of the war.6 I was the valedictorian tonight. I do know what I'm going to be. I have graduated from Meloncamp High School about 115th out of class of 126. Thing is, I've seen the fear in the eyes of four score and seven more of those classmates of mine that don't have a rat's chance of knowing what they are going to be. I do. I'm going to be a writer. Mr. J taught me more than English. He taught me what Pops taught me before his passing...love.7 So here's my Valedictory: "Good evening, everyone. Thanks for coming out to sit on hard, uncomfortable stadium concrete on an unseasonably warm evening and wearing clothes and shoes you can't wait to get home to get out of. Here's what I have. Time is NOT money. Time is convenience. And when one gives up Time, he does pay for it. Yes. But if he trades Time for Opportunity, then he gets credit. So, in conclusion, Time is NOT money, but it CAN be spent. How will you spend yours?! Thank you, good night." Which words/phrases show the kind of carefully-chosen language that indicates Conrad is both sharp and witty?

alma mater; latinaic roots, 'sopho' and 'more'

Going Green Rob Baur1 "I can't believe I neglected to go to the grocery store while I was running errands," Kristen's mother said in an exasperated tone. "Would you and Mallory mind going for me?" Having just received her driver's license, Kristen was perpetually eager to go anywhere, and loved having an excuse to drive. "Come on, Mallory," said Kristen to her best friend. "We'll go to the store right down the street."2During the drive, Mallory observed that they could have just walked to the store, since it is only a few blocks away. Kristen, agitated and annoyed by her friend's lack of enthusiasm about driving, tried to formulate a good argument for taking the car.3"We could have walked, but then we would have to walk back with the grocery bags. I've seen those unreliable plastic bags break and people's groceries spill all over the sidewalk," said Kristen, confident in her reasoning.4Mallory replied, "If we had reusable cloth grocery bags, we wouldn't have to worry about them breaking, and we'd be helping the environment."5Kristen, who never parted with her hard-earned money easily, said, "Those bags are just a scam that some executive developed to increase company profits, and I won't be conned into buying those."6To that comment Mallory asked, "You wouldn't spend an extra couple of dollars once to have sturdy bags you could reuse? You would be able to walk to the store then, saving gas and money—you'd also reduce the pollutants and waste products that factories create by manufacturing plastic bags."7Mallory, who had been studying ways to reduce waste and help the environment in her science class, informed Kristen that the United States uses around 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. Most people either throw them away as common trash or toss them to the side of the road as litter, instead of taking the time to recycle them.8Kristen, still skeptical about how using cloth grocery bags would make a substantial difference to the environment, listened to Mallory as she explained that the typical family amasses more than fifty plastic bags in just four trips to the store.9"If you're the one going to the store for your family, like you are today, you would be saving hundreds of plastic bags a year just by bringing along a few reusable cloth bags," said Mallory. "Not only that, but if people see you using cloth bags, they may even adopt the habit themselves, either out of a mutual concern for the planet or out of the fear of not being seen as socially aware."10Kristen had to admit that Mallory was right and conceded, "That all makes sense; I guess I didn't realize that I could make such a big difference to the environment just by doing something as simple as using cloth grocery bags."11"Well, you can," said Mallory. "There is a worldwide initiative to save our planet, and we can do our part every time we go shopping." "I can't believe I neglected to go to the grocery store while I was running errands," Kristen's mother said in an exasperated tone. What does the word "exasperated" mean in the context of this passage?

annoyed and frustrated

Which participial phrase would add a sense of desperation to the sentence The student quickly jotted down his thoughts.?

Grasping at the end of the test,

from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad "And this also," said Marlow suddenly, "has been one of the dark places of the earth."He was the only man of us who still "followed the sea." The worst that could be said of him was that he did not represent his class. He was a seaman, but he was a wanderer, too, while most seamen lead, if one may so express it, a sedentary life. Their minds are of the stay-at-home order, and their home is always with them -- the ship; and so is their country -- the sea. One ship is very much like another, and the sea is always the same. In the immutability of their surroundings the foreign shores, the foreign faces, the changing immensity of life, glide past, veiled not by a sense of mystery but by a slightly disdainful ignorance; for there is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless it be the sea itself, which is the mistress of his existence and as inscrutable as Destiny. For the rest, after his hours of work, a casual stroll or a casual spree on shore suffices to unfold for him the secret of a whole continent, and generally he finds the secret not worth knowing. The yarns of seamen have a direct simplicity, the whole meaning of which lies within the shell of a cracked nut. But Marlow was not typical (if his propensity to spin yarns be excepted), and to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze, in the likeness of one of these misty halos that sometimes are made visible by the spectral illumination of moonshine.His remark did not seem at all surprising. It was just like Marlow. It was accepted in silence. What is the central claim made by the narrator in this passage?

Seamen are mostly uninterested in land-related matters, but Marlow has a wider range of interests.

The Thoughts of an Ornithologist William Princeton (1) I've spotted a young female Peregrine Falcon, but cannot read the two-digit code on her vid band. Because the Peregrine travel up to 15,000 miles each year, these colored leg bands are essential to identifying and tracking the birds. This bird has fantastic markings—through my binoculars, I can clearly make out the black mustache mark common to this species. I calculate the bird's speed to be twenty-five miles per hour—she merely coasts while monitoring the mountainside for a tasty meal. Once the predator has focused in on her prey, she dramatically descends into that spectacular hunting stoop. At this moment, she's the fastest animal on the planet—scientists have clocked Peregrines at speeds of 200 miles per hour during this hunting dive. I'm on cloud nine as I silently observe the bird's victory.(2) As a child, I was obsessed with the study of birds, known as ornithology. I spent every opportunity observing the birds that lived around my family's home. Ornithology drew me in like a moth to a flame. After completing high school, I was accepted at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology where I became involved in species conservation. I spent several years color banding a wide variety of birds in California with the Fish and Wildlife Service. The banding systems allowed us to study the birds' annual survivorship, fidelity to territory and mate, and migratory status. Years later, an acquaintance of mine from Cornell offered me a position on a team that works for the conservation of Peregrine Falcons. I've been fascinated by these birds ever since.(3) The Peregrine population crashed between 1950 and 1970 due to pesticides like DDT. The future of these magnificent birds remained uncertain for nearly two decades. Thanks to the diligent work of conservationists like Tom Cade, officials removed the Peregrine from the endangered species list in 1999.(4) Of course, these birds still aren't entirely self-sufficient. The major concern is that the falcons tend to nest in urban areas because of a phenomenon called "imprinting." Falcons often reside in habitats similar to their natal nests, or the nests where they were born. For birds bred in captivity, the site of their release is often imprinted in their brains. Early recovery efforts used skyscrapers in urban areas as release sites for the Peregrine, causing the birds to return to large cities later in life.(5) Our program has chosen to get back to nature by releasing the birds along the rock faces of the Mississippi River Valley. We are optimistic that the difference in the imprinting will encourage more falcons to nest in the wilderness. Fledgling falcons are raised in cliff-like nests constructed of real and fabricated rock, with no man-made structures in sight. When we release the birds from the bluffs of Effigy Mounds National Park, they recognize the craggy cliffs as their home.(6) Back along the cliff side, after some careful scrutiny, I've identified the female falcon as B/6. She has returned to her cliff nest with her prey held tightly in her talons. There appear to be young in the nest—a successful natural mating here on the rock face! This is what makes all our hard work worthwhile. The Peregrine Falcons are staging a real comeback! What inference can BEST be made from section (6)?

The narrator is optimistic that the Peregrine falcon will remain off the endangered species list.

Hiring A Babysitter Tracy Wilson "Good help is hard to find." While it may sound cliché, it can certainly be true, as one father recently discovered. After running an ad in a local newspaper, the father of twin toddlers interviewed several potential candidates and narrowed it down to two he thought to be the most qualified. Both women were in their forties and very pleasant, and he thought that either of them would do an excellent job. Undecided, he ran a background check on each of the women and was shocked to find that one of the women had an extensive criminal history and was recently treated in a mental health facility. Obviously, he hired the other woman. A week later, the father was shocked when he picked up a newspaper and read that the woman he did not hire had severely injured a little girl who was under her care. Which sentence from the passage suggests that the father was struggling to make a decision concerning which babysitter he should hire?

both women were in their forties and very pleasant, and he thought that either of them would do an excellent job.

_____ we took the test; ____, we checked our answers. ____, we graded one another's work. Which transition word or phrase would most appropriately be used to fill in the blanks?

first; then:; finally

Categorize each sentence as formal or informal language.

formal language- 1) I believe the driver of that BMW may have been exceeding the speed limit. 2) Excessive consumption of confections may result in dental deterioration. 3) If you grow impatient with me, I may feel obligated to resort to violent measures. informal language- 1) Dog, that beemer was flyin'! 2) Don't blow your coool with me, or I'll pop you in the snout! 3) Too much candy rots your choppers!

Seaplanes roberto Barerra Have you ever wondered how people travel to islands without any airports? Perhaps you have pondered how the coast guard rescues people from a sinking ship. Seaplanes are often the best solution to these challenges. Seaplanes are airplanes designed to take off from and land on top of a body of water. The three different types of seaplanes are flying boats, floatplanes, and amphibians. According to the passage, the word officials means...

leaders

100% - The Story of a Patriot Upton Sinclair10 So Peter walked along, with his belt drawn tight, and his restless blue eyes wandering here and there, looking for a place to get a meal. There were jobs to be had, but they were hard jobs, and Peter wanted an easy one. There are people in this world who live by their muscles, and others who live by their wits; Peter belonged to the latter class; and had missed many a meal rather than descend in the social scale.11 Peter looked into the faces of everyone he passed, searching for a possible opening. Some returned his glance, but never for more than a second, for they saw an insignificant looking man, undersized, undernourished, and with one shoulder higher than the other, a weak chin and mouth, crooked teeth, and a brown moustache too feeble to hold itself up at the corners. Peters' straw hat had many straws missing, his second-hand brown suit was become third-hand, and his shoes were turning over at the sides. In a city where everybody was "hustling," everybody, as they phrased it, "on the make," why should anyone take a second glance at Peter Gudge? Why should anyone care about the restless soul hidden inside him, or dream that Peter was, in his own obscure way, a sort of genius? No one did care; no one did dream.12 It was about two o'clock of an afternoon in July, and the sun beat down upon the streets of American City. There were crowds upon the streets, and Peter noticed that everywhere were flags and bunting. Once or twice he heard the strains of distant music, and wondered what was "up." Peter had not been reading the newspapers; all his attention bad been taken up by the quarrels of the Smithers faction and the Lunk faction in the First Apostolic Church, otherwise known as the Holy Rollers, and great events that had been happening in the world outside were of no concern to him. Peter knew vaguely that on the other side of the world half a dozen mighty nations were locked together in a grip of death; the whole earth was shaken with their struggles, and Peter had felt a bit of the trembling now and then. But Peter did not know that his own country had anything to do with this European quarrel, and did not know that certain great interests throughout the country had set themselves to rouse the public to action.13 This movement had reached American City, and the streets had broken out in a blaze of patriotic display. In all the windows of the stores there were signs: "Wake up, America!" Across the broad Main Street there were banners: "America Prepare!" Down in the square at one end of the street a small army was gathering--old veterans of the Civil War, and middle-aged veterans of the Spanish War, and regiments of the state militia, and brigades of marines and sailors from the ships in the harbor, and members of fraternal lodges with their Lord High Chief Grand Marshals on horseback with gold sashes and waving white plumes, and all the notables of the city in carriages, and a score of bands to stir their feet and ten thousand flags waving above their heads. "Wake up America!" And here was Peter Gudge, with an empty stomach, coming suddenly upon the swarming crowds in Main Street, and having no remotest idea what it was all about.14 A crowd suggested one thing to Peter. For seven years of his young life he had been assistant to Pericles Priam, and had traveled over America selling Priam's Peerless Pain Paralyzer; they had ridden in an automobile, and wherever there was a fair or a convention or an excursion or a picnic, they were on hand, and Pericles Priam would stop at a place where the crowds were thickest, and ring a dinner bell, and deliver his super-eloquent message to humanity--the elixir of life revealed, suffering banished from the earth, and all inconveniences of this mortal state brought to an end for one dollar per bottle of fifteen per cent opium. It had been Peter's job to handle the bottles and take in the coin; and so now, when he saw the crowd, he looked about him eagerly. Perhaps there might be here some vender of corn-plasters or ink-stain removers, or some three card monte man to whom Peter could attach himself for the price of a sandwich.15 Peter wormed his way thru the crowd for two or three blocks, but saw nothing more promising than venders of American flags on little sticks, and of patriotic buttons with "Wake up America!" But then, on the other side of the street at one of the crossings Peter saw a man standing on a truck making a speech, and he dug his way thru the crowd, elbowing, sliding this way and that, begging everybody's pardon--until at last he was out of the crowd, and standing in the open way which had been cleared for the procession, a seemingly endless road lined with solid walls of human beings, with blue-uniformed policemen holding them back. Peter started to run across--and at that same instant came the end of the world. Based on the author's characterization of Peter in paragraphs 10, 11, and 12, which word best describes him?

poor

Ethan Frome Edith Wharton1I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story.2If you know Starkfield, Massachusetts, you know the post-office. If you know the post-office you must've seen Ethan Frome drive up to it, drop the reins of his hollow-backed bay and drag himself across the brick pavement to the white colonnade: and you must have asked who he was.3It was there that, several years ago, I saw him for the first time; and the sight pulled me up sharp. Even then he was the most striking figure in Starkfield, though he was but the ruin of a man. It was not so much his great height that marked him, for the 'natives' were easily singled out by their lank longitude from the stockier foreign breed: it was the careless powerful look he had, in spite of a lameness checking each step like the jerk of a chain. There was something bleak and unapproachable in his face, and he was so stiffened and grizzled that I took him for an old man and was surprised to hear that he was not more than fifty-two. I had this from Harmon Gow, who had driven the stage from Bettsbridge to Starkfield in pre-trolley days and knew the chronicle of all the families on his line.4'He's looked that way ever since he had his smash-up; and that's twenty-four years ago come next February.' Harmon threw out between reminiscent pauses.5The 'smash-up' it was—I gathered from the same informant—which, besides drawing the red gash across Ethan Frome's forehead, had so shortened and warped his right side that it cost him a visible effort to take the few steps from his buggy to the post-office window. He used to drive in from his farm every day at about noon, and as that was my own hour for fetching my mail I often passed him in the porch or stood beside him while we waited on the motions of the distributing hand behind the grating. I noticed that, though he came so punctually, he seldom received anything but a copy of the Bettsbridge Eagle, which he put without a glance into his sagging pocket. At intervals, however, the post-master would hand him an envelope addressed to Mrs. Zenobia—or Mrs. Zeena—Frome, and usually bearing conspicuously in the upper left-hand corner the address of some manufacturer of patent medicine and the name of his specific. These documents my neighbour would also pocket without a glance, as if too much used to them to wonder at their number and variety, and would then turn away with a silent nod to the post-master.6Everyone in Starkfield knew him and gave him a greeting tempered to his own grave mien; but his taciturnity was respected and it was only on rare occasions that one of the older men of the place detained him for a word. When this happened he would listen quietly, his blue eyes on the speaker's face, and answer in so low a tone that his words never reached me; then he would climb stiffly into his buggy, gather up the reins in his left hand and drive slowly away in the direction of his farm.7'It was a pretty bad smash-up?' I questioned Harmon, looking after Frome's retreating figure, and thinking how gallantly his lean brown head, with its shock of light hair, must have sat on his strong shoulders before they were bent out of shape.8'Wust kind,' my informant assented. 'More'n enough to kill most men. But the Fromes are tough. Ethan'll likely touch a hundred.'9'Good God!' I exclaimed. At the moment Ethan Frome, after climbing to his seat, had leaned over to assure himself of the security of a wooden box—also with a druggist's label on it—which he had placed in the back of the buggy, and I saw his face as it probably looked when he thought himself alone. 'That man touch a hundred? He looks as if he was dead and in hell now!' What does punctually mean, as used in the third sentence of section 5?

promptly

Babbitt (2) Sinclair Lewis The bath-mat was wrinkled and the floor was wet. (His daughter Verona eccentrically took baths in the morning, now and then.) He slipped on the mat, and slid against the tub. He said "Damn!" Furiously he snatched up his tube of shaving-cream, furiously he lathered, with a belligerent slapping of the unctuous brush, furiously he raked his plump cheeks with a safety-razor. It pulled. The blade was dull. He said, "Damn—oh—oh—damn it!"He hunted through the medicine-cabinet for a packet of new razor-blades (reflecting, as invariably, "Be cheaper to buy one of these dinguses and strop your own blades,") and when he discovered the packet, behind the round box of bicarbonate of soda, he thought ill of his wife for putting it there and very well of himself for not saying "Damn." But he did say it, immediately afterward, when with wet and soap-slippery fingers he tried to remove the horrible little envelope and crisp clinging oiled paper from the new blade. Then there was the problem, oft-pondered, never solved, of what to do with the old blade, which might imperil the fingers of his young. As usual, he tossed it on top of the medicine-cabinet, with a mental note that some day he must remove the fifty or sixty other blades that were also temporarily, piled up there. He finished his shaving in a growing testiness increased by his spinning headache and by the emptiness in his stomach. When he was done, his round face smooth and streamy and his eyes stinging from soapy water, he reached for a towel. The family towels were wet, wet and clammy and vile, all of them wet, he found, as he blindly snatched them—his own face-towel, his wife's, Verona's, Ted's, Tinka's, and the lone bath-towel with the huge welt of initial. Then George F. Babbitt did a dismaying thing. He wiped his face on the guest-towel! It was a pansy-embroidered trifle which always hung there to indicate that the Babbitts were in the best Floral Heights society. No one had ever used it. No guest had ever dared to. Guests secretively took a corner of the nearest regular towel.He was raging, "By golly, here they go and use up all the towels, every doggone one of 'em, and they use 'em and get 'em all wet and sopping, and never put out a dry one for me—of course, I'm the goat!—and then I want one and—I'm the only person in the doggone house that's got the slightest doggone bit of consideration for other people and thoughtfulness and consider there may be others that may want to use the doggone bathroom after me and consider—"He was pitching the chill abominations into the bath-tub, pleased by the vindictiveness of that desolate flapping sound; and in the midst his wife serenely trotted in, observed serenely, "Why Georgie dear, what are you doing? Are you going to wash out the towels? Why, you needn't wash out the towels. Oh, Georgie, you didn't go and use the guest-towel, did you?"It is not recorded that he was able to answer.For the first time in weeks he was sufficiently roused by his wife to look at her. As it is used in section 2, what does vile mean?

unpleasant

That Old Straw Sojourner David Matherne An old patched hat, which was almond with trim-red,Watched as it sat on an old, thin head.And what it saw, and what it knew,Was more than more of youMight even ever construe 5From just a patched, old hat.It'd seen a child die—Depression--a war,Bowed at the bedside of the lady once adored,Watched while its owner did weep when his storeBurned down to the ground, nothing left but the floor10And that brand-new hat on his head.It saw with lucid eyes inhuman, divineThe tired man grew older, while his boy grew wise.Some said, 'So tragic,' the son said, 'Fate'When the lightning left a char on the elder's pate 15And they both did loving before too late.That hat...his special bequest.So he wore his farming father's dingy hat every day,Hoping it would make him like his only hero in that way.So the hat went to school, 20Then it kept him somewhat coolAs he worked the plow and muleLike his fallen father had.It had been there when the midwife had announced, 'You've a boy.'The hat was there when his wife had their second little joy.25So the family worked the farmUntil the boy took arm-in-armA girl from town with mighty charmWho had a fancy for shoes and hats.The married lad watched his dad lose his crops, then his wealth,30While the hat witnessed worse, constant fleeting of his health.On the porch until the end, father son simply sat.Being heir, he got the farm, and the house, and the cat.But what he really wanted most was that one thing thatWas truly him...his old hat. 35He got it and he wore it and he tore it and he patched it,But the hat didn't mind since the man truly matched it.He grew thin and he grew old,Of all the things he'd ever sold,No value like what he'd unfold 40To his own son one day...his patched old hat. So the hat went to school,Then it kept him somewhat cool 21As he worked the plow and mule. Which dictionary definition of cool BEST applies to its use in line 21?

not so hot

Crisis No. 1 Thomas Paine These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it NOW, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: 'Tis dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods, and it should be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but 'to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER,' and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious, for so unlimited a power can belong only to GOD. What is the main idea of this passage?

now its time to rise up against britain

Establishing a Narrator You have been assigned to compose a narrative essay in which you discuss a frightening experience you had. question 1: Which statement would best work as an opening sentence to this narrative essay? question 2: Which TWO statements would best be used in this assigned narrative essay?

question 1 answer: I'll never forget the time I found a snake in my bed. question 2 answer(s): - When I first saw the snake, I thought I was dreaming. -I leaped out of bed in an instant, and the snake tumbled to the floor, with nary a hiss.

Best Friends Elizabeth Kibler1Sighing, Lauren stared down at the photograph in her lap. The portrait was encased in a glistening, pink frame with the words Best Friends scrawled in cursive script at the bottom. The past few weeks of Lauren's life had been a whirlwind of activity. It seemed like a hundred years since she had had a moment to sit and think.2Lauren thought about the evening, four weeks ago, when her mother came home from work with news. Lauren's mom divulged that her business had launched a new branch in a different city, and they wanted her to head the new office—Lauren had to move. After her mother broke the news, Lauren could think of only one thing—her best friend Claudia. Claudia and Lauren had been best friends since they were in preschool. Lauren could barely comprehend living far away from her constant companion.3The day after her mother's proclamation, Lauren had to get to work. The family had two weeks to pack their things, say their goodbyes, and move miles away. That morning, Lauren had called Claudia and asked her to come over. Claudia sensed something was wrong, so she hurried over to her friend's house as quickly as possible. When Lauren told her friend the news, they both started weeping. They never thought they would be in different schools, let alone different cities. Claudia helped Lauren cram boxes full of her clothes, trinkets, and shoes. As the shelves and dressers in the room grew barer, Lauren grew more dejected.4In their final two weeks as neighbors, Claudia and Lauren were joined at the hip. They went to the mall and bought matching outfits. At the amusement park, they rode their favorite ride, the Ring of Fire, together. At Carter's Lake, the friends hiked the trails, munched on fruit, and snapped photographs. For the most part, the girls avoided talking about the upcoming events; however, the day before Lauren's move, Claudia came over to Lauren's house early in the morning. Looking around at the almost-empty house, she sat down on a cardboard box and held her hand out to Lauren. It contained a small box with a bow, which Lauren took and carefully unwrapped. Inside Lauren found a photograph from their excursion to the lake with a frame that said Best Friends. Lauren and Claudia embraced each other and said goodbye.5That was the last time Lauren had seen Claudia since her move, and much had happened since then. Lauren's two weeks at her new home had stirred up a jumble of emotions. Lauren liked her new school and she had already made some phenomenal friends; however, she still missed Claudia and had trouble navigating the city. Lauren did feel fortunate, though. Even though she and Claudia were miles apart, they chatted on the phone every night and remained best friends. Suddenly, the telephone rang and Lauren jumped up to answer—she knew it was an important call. In paragraph 2, the word divulged means

revealed