Answers 7th ELA 2nd 4.5 Study Guide

Question #1

Is the connotation in this sentence positive, negative, or neutral?

The QUAINT garden contained benches and waterfalls.

Question #2:

Choose the word with a negative connotation.

The ______of workers left in a hurry.

  1. mobB. group

Question #3:

Is the connotation in this sentence positive, negative, or neutral?

Would you care to DINE on exotic cuisine? ______

Question #4:

Is the connotation in this sentence positive, negative, or neutral?

Sally SMIRKED at Ethan. ______

Question #5:

Is the connotation in this sentence positive, negative, or neutral?

The children's NOISE gave mom a headache. ______

Question #6:

Is the connotation in this sentence positive, negative, or neutral?

My FIRM boss insists on quality work. ______

Question #7:

Choose the word with a negative connotation.

A flower's ______led me into the room.

  1. odor B. scent

Question #8:

Is the connotation in this sentence positive, negative, or neutral?

After the CURT nod, I was afraid to answer. ______

Question #9:

Choose the word with a positive connotation.

The ______women floated gracefully into the room.

  1. scrawny B. slender

Question #10:

Is the connotation in this sentence positive, negative, or neutral?

The student's CHATTER bothered the new teacher. ______

Question #11:

Is the connotation in this sentence positive, negative, or neutral?

The INQUISITIVE child was not afraid to ask questions. ______

Question #12:

Choose the word with the negative connotation.

That ______cologne filled the room.

  1. inexpensive B. cheap

Summary and Main Idea

Directions: Read each passage and…
  1. Create a title for the passage related to the main idea.
  2. Accurately summarize the text.
  3. Your summary must describe all key ideas from the text.
  4. DO NOTinclude opinions or personal info in your summary.
  5. Highlight or underline key ideas in each passage.

Picture this: a herd of elephants flies past you at sixty miles per hour, followed by a streak of tigers, a pride of lions, and a bunch of clowns. What do you see? It must be a circus train! One of the first uses of the circus train is credited to W.C. Coup. He partnered with P.T. Barnum in 1871 to expand the reach of their newly combined shows using locomotives. Before circus trains, these operators had to lug around all of their animals, performers, and equipment with a team of more than 600 horses. Since there were no highways, these voyages were rough and took a long time. Circuses would stop at many small towns between the large venues. Performing at many of these small towns was not very profitable. Because of these limitations, circuses could not grow as large as the imaginations of the operators. After they began using circus trains, Barnum and Coup only brought their show to large cities. These performances were much more profitable and the profits went toward creating an even bigger and better circus. Multiple rings were added and the show went on. Today, Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus still rely on the circus train to transport their astounding show, but now they use two.

13. Main idea related title for the passage:
Circus Trains: Changing the Way They Operated

14. Summarize the passage in your own words:

Circuses used to have a difficult time travelling and had to stop at many small towns along the way. Trains allowed circuses to travel easily from large city to large city.

How do you say “Holy cow” in French? The fastest thing in France may just be the fastest ground transportation in the world. The TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse: French for very high speed) is France’s national high speed rail service. On April 3rd, 2007, a TGV test train set a record for the fastest wheeled train, reaching 357.2 miles per hour. In mid 2011, TGV trains operated at the highest speed in passenger train service in the world, regularly reaching 200 miles per hour. But what you may find most shocking is that TGV trains run on electric power not petrol. Now if you’ll excuse me; I have a record to catch.

15. Main idea related title for the passage:
TGV: A Record Setting Train

16. Summarize the passage in your own words:

The TGV is a French train that set a record for the fastest wheeled train and the fastest passenger train service.

Giddy-up, cowboys and girls! In the Southwest during early half of the 1800s, cows were only worth 2 or 3 dollars a piece. They roamed wild, grazed off of the open range, and were abundant. Midway through the century though, railroads were built and the nation was connected. People could suddenly ship cows in freight trains to the Northeast, where the Yankees had a growing taste for beef. Out of the blue, the same cows that were once worth a couple of bucks were now worth between twenty and forty dollars each, if you could get them to the train station. It became pretty lucrative to wrangle up a drove of cattle and herd them to the nearest train town, but it was at least as dangerous as it was profitable. Cowboys were threatened at every turn. They faced cattle rustlers, stampedes and extreme weather, but kept pushing those steers to the train station. By the turn of the century, barbed wire killed the open range and some may say the cowboy too, but it was the train that birthed him.

17. Main idea related title for the passage:
The Train: Mother of the Cowboy

18. Summarize the passage in your own words:

Cows were not worth a lot of money until they could be easily transported to the East after the invention of the train. Many people then became cowboys despite the dangers they faced.

Electric trolley cars or trams were once the chief mode of public transportation in the United States. Though they required tracks and electric cables to run, these trolley cars were clean and comfortable. In 1922, auto manufacturer General Motors created a special unit to replace electric trolleys with cars, trucks, and buses. Over the next decade, this group successfully lobbied for laws and regulations that made operating trams more difficult and less profitable. In 1936 General Motors created several front companies for the purpose of purchasing and dismantling the trolley car system. They received substantial investments from Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California, Phillips Petroleum, and other parties invested in the automotive industry. Some people suspect that these parties wanted to replace trolley cars with buses to make public transportation less desirable, which would then increase automobile sales. The decline of the tram system in North America could be attributed to many things—labor strikes, the Great Depression, regulations that were unfavorable to operators—but perhaps the primary cause was having a group of powerful men from rival sectors of the auto industry working together to ensure its destruction. Fill it up, please.

19. Main idea related title for the passage:
Death of the Electric Tram

20. Summarize the passage in your own words:

This passage is about how many large companies that served the automotive market conspired to dismantle the electric trolley car system and replace them with less desirable buses.

Nonfiction Reading

“Garbage”

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. Refer to the text to check your answers when appropriate.

(1) Garbage cans are not magical portals. Trash does not disappear when you toss it in a can. Yet, the average American throws away an estimated 1,600 pounds of waste each year. If there are no magic garbage fairies, where does all that trash go? There are four methods to managing waste: recycling, landfilling, composting, and incinerating. Each method has its strengths and weaknesses. Let's take a quick look at each.
(2)Recycling is the process of turning waste into new materials. For example, used paper can be turned into paperboard, which can be used to make book covers. Recycling can reduce pollution, save materials, and lower energy use. Yet, some argue that recycling wastes energy. They believe that collecting, processing, and converting waste uses more energy than it saves. Still, most people agree that recycling is better for the planet than landfilling.
(3)Landfilling is the oldest method of managing waste. In its simplest form, landfilling is when people bury garbage in a hole. Over time the practice of landfilling has advanced. Garbage is compacted before it is thrown into the hole. In this way more garbage can fit in each landfill. Large liners are placed in the bottom of landfills so that toxic garbage juice doesn't get into the ground water. Sadly, these liners don't always work. Landfills may pollute the local water supply. Not to mention that all of that garbage stinks. Nobody wants to live next to a landfill. This makes it hard to find new locations for landfills. / (4)As landfill space increases, interest in composting grows. Compositing is when people pile up organic matter, such as food waste, and allow it to decompose. The product of this decomposition is compost. Compost can be added to the soil to make the soil richer and better for growing crops. While composting is easy to do onsite somewhere, like home or school, it's hard to do after the garbage gets all mixed up. This is because plastic and other inorganic materials must be removed from the compost pile or they will pollute the soil. There's a lot of plastic in garbage, which makes it hard to compost on a large scale.
(5)One thing that is easier to do is burning garbage. There are two main ways to incinerate waste. The first is to create or harvest a fuel from the waste, such as methane gas, and burn the fuel. The second is to burn the waste directly. The heat from the incineration process can boil water, which can power steam generators. Unfortunately, burning garbage pollutes the air. Also, some critics worry that incinerators destroy valuable resources that could be recycled.
(6)Usually, the community in which you live manages waste. Once you put your garbage in that can, what happens to it is beyond your control. But you can make choices while it is still in your possession. You can choose to recycle, you can choose to compost, or you can choose to let someone else deal with it. The choice is yours.

21. Which best explains why the author begins the text by talking about magical garbage fairies?

a. He is putting a common misconception to rest.

b. He is trying to get the reader's attention.

c. He is addressing his concern in a serious way.

d. He is supporting his argument with evidence.

22. Which best defines the meaning of incineration as it is used in the text?

a. To bury waste materials in a large hole

b. To allow waste products to decompose and become fertilizer

c. To burn waste materials and harvest the energy

d. To turn waste materials into products like book covers

23. Which was not cited in the third paragraph as an issue with landfilling?

a. Landfills are smelly. b. Usable materials are wasted in landfills.

c. Landfills may pollute the water supply.d. It is difficult to find locations for

landfills.

24. Which conclusion could best be supported with text from the passage?

a. Each method of waste management has its drawbacks.

b. Recycling is without a doubt the best way to handle waste.

c. Incineration is the best way to process waste.

d. All large cities should create massive compost piles.

25. Which best expresses the main idea of the fourth paragraph?

a. Landfills take up a lot of space.

b. Composting is good for the soil but it can be hard to do.

c. The process of composting is very complicated and scientific.

d. There is a lot of plastic garbage in landfills.

26. Which best expresses the meaning of the word compacted as it is used in the third paragraph?

a. Garbage is burned before it is thrown in a hole.

b. Garbage is put in trucks before it is thrown in a hole

c. Garbage is crushed smaller before it is thrown in a hole.

d. Garbage is put in a can before it is thrown in a hole.

27. Which best expresses the author's main purpose in writing this?

a. To convince readers to recycle and compost

b. To persuade readers that recycling is a waste of resources

c. To compare and contrast recycling and landfilling

d. To inform readers of methods of waste management

31. Which two methods of waste management do you believe are best for society? Support your argument with text.

Begin your answer with

According to the text…

In the passage…

In paragraph three of the text, ...

32. Which two methods of waste management do you believe are worst for society? Refer to the text in your argument. (i.e. Cite evidence).

Begin your answer with

According to the text…

In the passage…

In paragraph three of the text, .

33. Summarize the article.Be sure to cover the pros and cons of the four methods of waste management.

See directions for summary and main idea and the powerpoint on my webpage. Pros are the positives while cons are the negatives for the methods of waste management.

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