Unit 1
arduous
(adjective)extremely difficult to achieve
synonyms:
hard, difficult, rigorous
related words:
arduously (adverb)
In which sentence is the word inherently used correctly?
An inherently kind person, Monica has always taken in stray animals.
What is a synonym of the word infrastructure?
framework
If Barbara fervently disagrees with Dan, how does she disagree with him?
in an intense manner
Which sentence uses the word indemnity correctly?
Patrícia read through the construction contract to check that it provided adequate indemnity in case any structures were damaged.
Read the sentence.
Mr. Sharma was determined to nurture a sense of responsibility and compassion in his students.
Which definition is correct for the word nurture as it is used in the sentence?
encourage
Read the excerpt from “The Key to Stop Bullying: Popular Kids.”
For all of the efforts schools put into reducing bullying, there’s actually a dearth of rigorous evidence about what makes for effective anti-bullying intervention. The classic approach—pile kids into an auditorium and lecture them on the dangers of bullying, perhaps including a sad story about its effects along the way—doesn’t appear to really work.
Which option best analyzes the rhetorical effect of the author’s style in the excerpt?
The statement “perhaps including a sad story about its effects along the way” creates a mocking tone that ridicules previous anti-bullying efforts, thus supporting the author’s claim that new efforts are needed.
Read the excerpt from “The History of the Electric Car.”
In the early part of the century, innovators in Hungary, the Netherlands and the United States—including a blacksmith from Vermont—began toying with the concept of a battery-powered vehicle and created some of the first small-scale electric cars. And while Robert Anderson, a British inventor, developed the first crude electric carriage around this same time, it wasn’t until the second half of the 19th century that French and English inventors built some of the first practical electric cars.
Which answer most effectively states the author’s main point in the excerpt?
Inventors from many countries had a hand in the development of the electric vehicle that we know today.
You are writing an essay about a novel and want to express that one of the major themes is unrequited love. The paragraph’s first sentence is:
The novel’s theme concerns unrequited love.
Which sentence could you add next to provide a context clue to the meaning of unrequited?
Despite his feelings for Laila, Noah knows he needs to respect her dreams of studying abroad in Taiwan.
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 most effectively explains why Twain uses an anticipated counterclaim to strengthen his argument?
Rebutting the idea that man is the only rational animal helps Twain preemptively defend against those who argue man is superior.
Read the paragraph.
1) At first, Stirling thought it might be an altar. 2) In 1938, archaeologist Matthew Stirling and his team found a stone buried under the forest floor. 3) The stone carving was a magnificent head almost nine feet tall. 4) But as his workers cleared away soil, they discovered it was a sculpture.
What is the best order for the sentences in this paragraph?
2, 1, 4, 3
Imagine that you are a writer whose task is to write an article for an audience of amateur chefs about how to make quick snacks for a party.
Which information would be most important to include in the text?
simple, easy-to-follow directions
Reread “The History of the Electric Car.”
How does the overall structure of the article support the author’s main point?
The article’s chronological structure supports the author’s main point that the electric car has undergone many changes over the years, and therefore can be expected to continue evolving in the future.
Which response most accurately states a theme of the article “What Does the ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ Mean in the Declaration of Independence?”
An American ideal of freedom to live as one prefers is central to our system of government.
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.
A central idea in the “Learning Not to Drive” section of “I Rode 500 Miles in a Self-Driving Car” is “although the interior appears to be completely standard, some aspects of the interior make it special.”
Which sentence best states how this central idea is developed in the article?
This idea is developed by a description of features that are found on the dashboard of the autonomous A7.
If you use a thesaurus to look up a synonym of the word resilient, what word are you most likely to find?
adaptable
Read the excerpt from “How Much Can Electric Cars Impact Climate Change?,” which discusses Southern California Edison’s role in making charging stations available.
Edison has asked the California Public Utilities Commission to authorize the utility to partner with private companies to build 30,000 electric-vehicle public charging stations in Southern California. The application may be approved this year, he said.
What option best describes the text structure implied in the excerpt?
problem-and-solution
Which option most accurately states a purpose of the article “What Does the ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ Mean in the Declaration of Independence?”
to trace the origins of Jefferson’s phrase “pursuit of happiness” by examining how it was used in other texts at the time
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.
Which answer most accurately describes what Twain’s causal reasoning achieves in the excerpt?
Twain implies that the presence of moral sense in man is responsible for his ruin and makes him a lesser being.
Read the sentence from “I Rode 500 Miles in a Self-Driving Car.”
The, er, driving was not nearly so difficult as the preparation—an arduous task that required a day of training in Arizona, a ream of paperwork and a little bureaucratic wrangling that resulted in the great state of California issuing me a license to operate an autonomous vehicle.
Which is the most accurate synonym of the word arduous as used in the sentence?
difficult
In which excerpt from “How Not to Raise a Bully: The Early Roots of Empathy” does the author use an appeal to emotion to persuade her audience that empathy training should start in early childhood?
Institutionalized infants do not experience being the center of a loving family’s attention; instead, they are cared for by a rotating staff of workers, which is inherently neglectful.
Read the excerpt from “How Much Can Electric Cars Impact Climate Change?,” which discusses Southern California Edison’s role in making charging stations available.
Edison has asked the California Public Utilities Commission to authorize the utility to partner with private companies to build 30,000 electric-vehicle public charging stations in Southern California. The application may be approved this year, he said.
What option best describes the text structure implied in the excerpt?
problem-and-solution
Read the passage from “What Does the ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ Mean in the Declaration of Independence?”
Because happiness was widely considered a natural state for humans in the Jeffersonian era, it was believed to be what God intended and therefore deserved protection. The word’s proximity to two other natural rights—liberty and life—demonstrates that Jefferson found happiness just as important. The legal and social frameworks provided by the Declaration and the Constitution are meant to create that protection. If a large house makes you happy, for example, then another person shouldn’t be able to set it on fire; there are laws against that. What’s more, an individual shouldn’t legally be kept from pursuing that large house.
Which response most accurately explains how the author helps the reader understand the full meaning of the phrase “pursuit of happiness” in the passage?
What Does the ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ Mean?
He provides historical context by explaining that happiness was regarded as one’s birthright and should be protected from others who may impinge upon it.
Which word shares a root with the word veracity?
very