Main Idea and Topic
Inference
Tone & Figurative Lang.
Paraphasing
Miscellaneous
100
Today's postal service is more efficient and reliable than ever before. Mail that used to take months to move by horse and foot now moves around the country in days or hours by truck, train, and plane. First-class mail usually moves from New York City to Los Angeles in three days or less. If your letter or package is urgent, the U.S. Postal Service offers Priority Mail and Express Mail services. Priority Mail is guaranteed to go anywhere in the United States in two to three days or less. Express Mail will get your package there overnight. What is the main idea of the passage?
Mail service today is more effective and dependable than it was in the past.
100
Experienced truck drivers often travel in a convoy - a group of trucks that are traveling to the same part of the country. Convoys can help truckers to stay alert. The author implies that professional long-distance truck drivers may avoid traveling alone because
long-distance travel can cause drowsiness.
100
Dear Client: Thank you for your letter. We will take your suggestion into consideration. We appreciate your concern. The tone of the letter is best classified as a. sincere. b. complimentary. c. indifferent.
Indifferent
100
Paraphrase: Mary lived through an era of liberating reform for women.
Mary’s life spanned years of incredible change for women.
100
The curtain was waving to everyone every time the wind blew through the open window. What type of figurative language is used in this sentence?
personification
200
Which of the following is a topic sentence? 1. Some duties, like writing reports, have no risk at all. 2. Not all police duties are dangerous. 3. Others, like traffic duty, put police officers at very little risk. 4. Still other duties, like investigating accidents, leave officers free of danger.
Not all police duties are dangerous.
200
French physicist Charles Fabry found ozone gas in the atmosphere in 1913. Ozone is all around us. After a thunderstorm, or around electrical equipment, ozone is often detected as a sharp odor. This passages implies that
Ozone is a natural part of the Earth's atmosphere.
200
Dear Valued Customer: Thank you for your recent letter regarding our refund policy and procedure. We are taking your suggestion quite seriously and truly appreciate your concern. The tone of letter B is best classified as a. cheerful. b. sincere. c. apologetic.
Sincere
200
Paraphrase: Until recently, criminologists could not afford to analyze DNA evidence for all homicide cases.
Crime labs now can use DNA for all murder cases.
200
The new Just Dance 2 video has proved to be very popular. It has sold 580,000 copies over the last year. How are these two sentences related?
The second sentence provides evidence of the first.
300
Huge beasts such as the dinosaur have never really become extinct. Mothra, a giant caterpillar who later becomes a moth, destroys Tokyo, and stars in the 1962 Japanese film named for him. Mothra is born, dies, and reborn regularly on classic movie channels. In Japan Mothra is one of the most popular films ever made. Mothra has survived the creation of more current scary creatures such as giant apes, extraterrestrial beings and swamp creatures. More than 30 years after his creation, Mothra still lives. The main subject of the passage is:
the lasting appeal of Mothra.
300
Name at least 3 things we can infer from this passage: My wife and I tried to pack light but we made sure not to forget our bathing suits and sun block. I wasn't sure if I would get seasick again so I made sure to pack some medicine for upset stomachs.
• The author is married. • He and his wife are going on a trip. • They are going to be on a boat. • They will be around water. • They will be going swimming. • They have gone swimming before. • The author has gotten seasick on a boat in the past.
300
________ is the feeling or emotion associated with a passage or a part of a passage. An author creates _______ with the specific words he or she chooses to include. Which word best fits in both blanks
Tone
300
Paraphrase: Giraffes like Acacia leaves and hay. They can consume 75 pounds of food a day.
A giraffe can eat up to 75 pounds of Acacia leaves and hay every day.
300
Anxious to ensure that America would depart from European traditions regarding religion and royalty, the early U.S. could be described as a place that focused more on work than on the entertainment offered by spectacle and ceremony in the Old World. However, national celebrations such as the lighting of the White House Christmas Tree and the ceremonies used to swear in new federal officials give the American people some experiences that are based upon national tradition. What does the second sentence do?
It offers an exception to the information given in the first sentence.
400
The idea that women are not equal to men has been a prevailing, common theme in literature since the beginning of time. Like their predecessors, Renaissance writers staunchly laid down the tenet that women were less valuable throughout the pages of effusive literary writings, where women are alternately idolized as virtuous or shunned as harlots. One man proved to be a glaring contradiction to this falsity. That man was William Shakespeare and he had the courage in those turbulent days to recognize the value and equality of women. His portrayal of women differed than that of many of his contemporaries during the Renaissance era. What’s the main idea?
Although most Renaissance writers propagated the belief that women were not equal with men, Shakespeare's writings portrayed women as men's equals.
400
In the shallows, face downward, lay the oiler. His forehead touched sand that was periodically, between each wave, clear of the sea. —The Open Boat, by Stephen Crane What clues tell you that the oiler is dead?
The oiler’s head is face down in the shallow water. When the waves rush in to shore, his face is in the water, and when they wash out, his face or forehead touches the sand. He is bobbing at the water’s edge like a dead fish and cannot possibly be alive with his face constantly underwater or buried in the sand.
400
My father was the sun and the moon to me. What type of figurative language is used in this sentence? A) personification B) simile C) hyperbole D) metaphor
metaphor
400
Paraphrase: Any trip to Italy should include a visit to Tuscany to sample their exquisite wines.
Be sure to include a Tuscan wine-tasting experience when visiting Italy.
400
Some students are poorly prepared to take their AP exams. Many educators propose a more rigorous curriculum for prospective students. How are these two sentences related?
The second sentence proposes a solution.
500
The digital divide is an issue that sheds light on a pervasive social situation in the U.S.: some people in the U.S. have access to the Internet and its extensive array of information, but other people do not. The difference between the people who can sign on and those who can’t is a difference that has always divided the nation: race or ethnicity. In today’s society, the Internet is power because of the vast amount of information it provides, opportunities it creates, and its linkage to future societal norms. Therefore, the digital divide is not an easily solved economic issue as it may seem at first, but rather a social issue, and one that is merely a glimpse into the bigger picture of social inequality. What's the main idea?
The digital divide is not an easily solved economic issue as it may seem at first, but rather a social issue, and one that is merely a glimpse into the bigger picture of social inequality.
500
Use context to infer the meaning of the word gregarious in this sentence. Those who enjoy belonging to clubs, going to parties, and inviting friends often to their homes for dinner are gregarious.
social or people who enjoy the company of others
500
The rain seemed like an old friend who had finally found us. What type of figurative language is used in this sentence? A) onomatopoeia B) metaphor C) personification D) simile
simile
500
Paraphrase: In her famous 1969 book, On Death and Dying, author Elisabeth Kübler-Ross identified five stages of death (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance). Ever since the publication of that best seller, Kübler-Ross's five stages have generally been accepted as accurate, even scientific. Recently, however, Kübler-Ross's well-known sequence has come under fire, in part because more attention is being paid to the eccentric views on death she publicly expressed starting in the 1970s.
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's unusual personal beliefs have caused many people to dismiss her conclusions about the five stages of death.
500
When we write a check that we know is going to "bounce," we are in fact performing a criminal act. It is a crime to knowingly write a "hot" check, one we know we don't have sufficient funds to cover. What does the second statement do?
It restates the central idea of the first sentence.
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