Unit 1
What is the definition for arduous?
extremely difficult to achieve
What is the definition for exacerbate?
to make more severe; to intensify
What is the definition for succinct?
expressed without unnecessary words; brief and compact
What is the definition for candor?
frankness or honesty
What is the definition for indemnity?
protection against loss or damage
Which sentence best states a central idea in “Household Robots Are Here, but Where Are They Going?”
The most promising use for robots in the near future is as smart home hubs.
In “How Not to Raise a Bully: The Early Roots of Empathy,” how does author Maia Szalavitz use a rhetorical feature to appeal to her audience’s emotions?
She uses figurative language to vividly depict lives of poverty and loneliness, making her readers feel sympathetic.
Read the excerpt from “How Much Can Electric Cars Impact Climate Change?”
Just two months before international climate talks begin in Paris, a new report from energy and environmental groups predicts greenhouse gases can plunge 77 percent in 2050 by electrifying more than half the nation’s cars, trucks and forklifts.
What text structure is used in the excerpt?
cause-and-effect
Which option best states a theme of the Declaration of Independence?
The colonies’ claim for independence is legitimate.
what is the central idea of “The Damned Human Race” by Mark Twain.
The authors perception of mankind's impractical morality.
What is the author’s task?
It's the assignment or work that an author needs to do.
What is the purpose of a researched essay?
to synthesize, interpret, and present information from a variety of credible sources.
Where should your thesis statement be in a introductory paragraph?
The final sentence
What is an argument?
It's a type of writing that emphasizes logic, specifically claims, reasons, evidence and, counterclaims.
What guidelines for formatting should be used in a argument essay?
MLA
Which statement from “I Rode 500 Miles in a Self-Driving Car” best develops the central idea that making preparations to drive the autonomous A7 was much more difficult than actually driving the car?
VW’s instructors, who have forgotten more than you’ve ever known about driving, led me through a slew of exercises in a GTI that’s been driven hard. I had to drive a slalom, then drive it in reverse.
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.
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.
Read the excerpt from the Declaration of Independence.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.
Which response best explains how the excerpt expresses a theme of the document that declaring independence from Britain is morally right?
It asserts the colonists’ belief that a higher power approves of their claims to liberty and control of their lands and laws.
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
Which parts of the writing process are typically used to generate ideas at the beginning of a project?
mapping and brainstorming
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 sentence.
To say that self-esteem can be either high or low is not accurate, the more accurate way to look at self-esteem is to see it as healthy or unhealthy.
To say that self-esteem can be either high or low is not accurate; the more accurate way to look at self-esteem is to see it as healthy or unhealthy.
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.
What 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.