Part B Quality Core Fall Diagnostic Passages

Part B Quality Core Fall Diagnostic Passages

Dogs of Summer

1.  The hot dog has been around for so long that people now take its place in the American diet for granted. What is, for many people, a staple of summer ballpark and picnic eating is actually a four-hundred-year-old Western food item. The early forerunner of the hot dog is the frankfurter, a type of sausage that most likely originated in Germany. From there, it was brought to the United States by a nineteenth-century wave of immigrants.

2.  The first version of the hot dog has its own murky past. The sausage that became known as the frankfurter was created somewhere in Germany in either 1487 or the late 1600s, depending on whose story is correct. The exact location of its beginning is also disputed. The city of Frankfurt, which was first associated with the sausage, claims to be the place where it began in 1487. Here, the sausage was nicknamed dachshund, after the long-bodied German hunting dog. However, some food historians believe that a butcher from Coburg, Germany, invented the sausage two centuries later and took it to Frankfurt for promotion. Either way, the name association between the food item and the city of Frankfurt became a powerful image in germany.

3.  Once the frankfurter came to the United States, the story of how it morphed into the modern hot dog is likewise disputed. The most accepted story is that a German immigrant began to sell “dachshunds” with mild rolls and sauerkraut from a pushcart. This was done in the Bowery section of New York City in the 1860s. In 1871, a German butcher opened the first Coney Island dachshund sausage stand. The German food was embraced in Chicago in 1893 at the World’s Columbian Exposition. Here, many tourists found the concoction of meat and bread to be a quick, tasty way to have a warm meal while strolling through the exposition.

4.  But it was the connection with baseball that raised the American hot dog to new heights in tradition. During the same year as the exposition, German immigrant Chris Von der Ahe, owner of the St. Louis Browns, began serving sausages at ball games. Other ballparks took up this simple way to serve food in a convenient form.

5.  Some believe that not only the food item but the term hot dog itself is associated with baseball. In 1901, sausage vendors at New York’s Polo Grounds baseball stadium were serving food on a chilly April day. As they pulled heated sausages from hot water tanks, they were heard shouting, “They’re red hot!” While the product was still referred to as dachshunds, a local sports cartoonist allegedly decided to mark the occasion by drawing a cartoon showing barking dogs wrapped in buns, with heads, paws, and tails sticking out. His caption read “hot dog” because he did not know how to spell dachshund. The problem with this story, however, is that historians have not been able to locate any version of this cartoon, even though the artist worked for a major newspaper.

6.  The American version of the hot do bun was widely popularized in St. Louis in 1904, during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Expositions were considered national events and were well attended by people from across the country. It was in this setting that Bavarian concessionaire Anton Feuchtwanger first tried to find a way to mollify the effect of the heated sausages on bare hands. At first, he gave away white gloves with the promise of their return. But when he ran out of gloves, he sought another way to keep hands from being scalded. His brother-in-law, a baker, then came up with an improvised roll. This new roll was long, slender one that would fit the entire sausage, saving the hands of customers. People from around the country took this innovative idea home and so spread an enduring American tradition.

7.  For most Americans, what we call a hot dog today was called a frank (short for frankfurter) until World War I, when anti-German feelings supposedly led to the more modern, colloquial term. After the war, the original, Germanic name regained its common usage. Franks are sold in grocery stores today, but when sold in-bun, the term hot dog is the name of choice; ketchup, mustard, and relish are all optional.

Exerpt from The Fiddler’s House

by Padrai Colum

ANNE. And so you can’t stay any longer, James?

JAMES, with a certain solemnity. No, Anne. I told my father I’d be back while there was light, and I’m going back. He goes to the rack, takes his coat, and puts it on him. Come over to our house tonight, Anne. I’ll be watching the girls coming in, and thinking on yourself, there’s none of them your match for grace and favor. My father wanted me to see a girl in Arvach. She has three hundred pounds [a large amount of money], besides what the priest, her uncle, will leave her. “Father,” says I, “listen to me now. Haven’t I always worked for you like a steady, useful boy?” “You have,” says he. “Did I ever ask you for anything unreasonable?” says I. “No,” says he. “Well then,” says I, “don’t ask me to do unreasonable things. I’m fond of Anne Hourican, and not another girl will I marry. What’s money after all?” says I, “there’s gold on the whin-bushes if you only knew it.” And he had to leave it at that.

ANNE. You always bring people around.

JAMES. The quite, reasonable way is the way that people like.

ANNE. Still, with all, I’m shy of going into your house.

JAMES. Don’t doubt be there’ll be a welcome before your; come round with Maire.

Anne rises, and comes to him. She has graceful, bird-like movements.

ANNE, putting her hands on James’ shoulders. Maybe we won’t have a chance of seeing each other after all.

James Moynihan kisses her reverently.

JAMES. Sit down now, Anne, because there’s something I want ot show you. Do you ever see “The Shamrock”?

ANNE. Very seldom.

James and Anne go to the settle [a long seat or bench]; they sit down.

JAMES. There be good pieces in it sometimes. There’s a poem of mine in it this week.

ANNE. Of yours, James? Printed, do you mean?

JAMES. Ay, printed. He takes a paper out of his pocket, and opens it. It’s a poem to yourself, though your name doesn’t come into it.

Gives paper. Let no one see it, Anne, at least not for the present. And now, good-bye. Goes to the door. Anne continues reading the verse eagerly. At the door James turns and recites.

When lights are failing, and skies are paling,

And leaves are sailing a-down the air,

O, it’s then that love lifts my heart above

My roving thoughts and my petty care;

And though the glom be like the tomb,

Where there’s no room for my love and m,

O, still I’ll find you, and still I’ll bind you,

My wild sweet rose of Aughnalee!

That’s the first stanza. Good-bye.

James goes out. Anne continues reading, then she leaves the paper down with a sigh.

ANNE. O, it’s lovely! She takes the paper up again, rises and goes to the dor. She remains looking out. Someone speaks to her. No, Brian, Maire’s not back yet. Ay, I’ll engage she’ll give you a call when she does come back. Anne turns back. She opens drawer in the dresser and puts paper in. She begins to clear table, putting the delph [Dutch pottery] back on dresser. To herself, anxiously. I hope Maire won’t forget to call at the mill.

Room door right opens, and Conn Hourican comes down. Conn Hourican is a man of about fifty, with clear-cut powerful features, his face is clean-shaven, his expression vehement. His dress is old-fashioned. He wears knee-breeches, a frieze coat rather long, a linen shirt with a little linen collar and a black string for bow. He carries a slick and moves about restlessly.

ANNE. Had Maire any talk of going to the mill, father?

CONN. I heard nothing of it.

ANNE. I hope she’ll mind of it. We must get the meal there, and not be going to the shop so often.

CONN. I suppose we must.

He moves about restlessly.

ANNE. And I was just thinking that one of us ought to go to Arvach on Tuesday, and get the things there.

CONN. The mean, odious creatures!

Anne is startled. She turns from dresser.

ANNE. What are you thinking of, father?

CONNE. The mean, odious creatures!

Anne is startled. She turns from dresser.

ANNE. What are you thinking of, father?

CONN. That den of robbers. Well, well, I’m finished with them now; but I’m a proud man, and a passionate man, and I’ll be even with them yet.

ANNE. There’s no comfort in going into rough places.

CONN. You know nothing at all about it. Were the men in yet?

ANNE. James Moynihan was here, because he had to go away early’ but Brian MacConnell is outside still. Father, you were home late two nights this week.

CONN. And is a man to have no life to himself? But sure you know nothing at all about it. I’m going out now to give Brian MacConnell a hand.

ANNE. It’s hardly worthwhile going out now.

CONN. There’s still light enough to do a bit of mowing, and you ought to know that it isn’t right to neglect the boy that’s come to do a day’s work with you. (Going to the door.) Many’s the day I put in with the scythe in Ireland, and in England too; I did more than stroll with the fiddle, and I saw more places than where fiddling brought me. (Brian MacConnell comes to the door.) I was just going out to you, Brian. I was telling the girl here that it’s not right to neglect the boy that’s giving you a day’s work out of his own goodness.

BRIAN. I’m only coming in for a light.

CONN. As you’re here now, rest yourself.

Going Against the Flow

1 The story of the Pacific salmon’s migration home reads like an adventure story. The five species of this fish must race against time, struggle against nature, and survive attacks from bigger, more powerful opponents. Only the strongest among them to survive the brutal journey and reach their destination.

2 The Pacific salmon begins life as an egg deposited in the gravel bottom of a freshwater stream. After hatching, the Pacific salmon continues to eat and grow in the freshwater environment for months or even years. When it develops to the length of a human finger, it begins to migrate downstream. It settles in the estuary, the area where salt water and fresh water intermingle. Where it continues to grow. The salmon remains here until it has at least doubled in size, which usually takes only a few weeks’ time. Life in the estuary also gives the Pacific salmon time to adjust to life in salt water. When the salmon is ready, it swims out into the ocean, which holds an abundant banquet of food for the fish. It dines on shrimp and other crustaceans, which turns its flesh pink. It eats insects, plankton, and small fish as well. The Pacific salmon spends from six months to seven years in the open seas, depending on the species, before starting the treacherous trip home.

3 When the mature Pacific salmon is ready to spawn, it embarks on the grueling trip home. The fish must swim hundreds to thousands of miles back to its birthplace before the females can lay eggs. How the fish finds the river mouth remains a mystery. Some scientists speculate the Pacific salmon uses the currents, the stars, the water temperatures, and the earth’s magnetic field as its compass, but no one knows for certain.

4 Once the salmon reaches the fresh water, the tougher battle begins. Since the salmon ceases eating when it leaves the salt water and has little stored fat to make the trip, time is its enemy. The salmon must complete the journey before succumbing to starvation. If you’ve ever walked into a heavy wind, you can imagine the resistance the salmon faces swimming against the current. As it pushes upstream, the fish must avoid fishermen’s nets and survive waterfalls, rapids, and polluted waters. Man-made dams, built to aid in the production of electricity, are barriers on the salmon’s journey. The salmon, which is growing weaker, must leap out of the water and up over the dam to continue on its route. Some fish require several attempts to make it over the top, while some die from exhaustion, and still others die by being snatched mid-air in the paws of a hungry bear. In addition, the salmon faces other hazards such as fallen trees, diverted waters, and bank erosion.

5 The small percentage of salmon that actually reaches their destination arrive home gaunt, bruised, and battered. The fish prepare nests in the gravel, lay and fertilize the eggs, and then about one to two weeks after spawning, the salmon die. The bodies decompose and provide nutrients for the plants and insects in the water. Only about 20 percent of the eggs survive. When the eggs hatch, the young salmon are nourished by plants and insects, and the migration pattern begins again.

Dreams of Mother

1 As Misa paced through the graceful rooms of her father’s house, she sighed, thinking to herself, “I hate being alone. Father has me cooped up here in our home, and there are no friends or relatives here, unless you count the pictures of our ancestors.”

2 Misa left the house and went out to the dojo, the only one in the whole city of Eureka. The dojo was a bulding where her father, Yohiji, trained students in Shotokan, a Japanese-stle martial art. Her father had built it here behind the house soon after they had arrived from Tokyo. Remembering her days at the Catholic school in Fukuoka city, Japan made Misa feel even more alone. Her father had picked the school for her so she would be prepared to come to Georgia, prepared to speak English fluently, and prepared to fit in. The last thing, fitting in, had not happened, even though she had learned to speak English well.

3 Misa wrapped her arms around herself to keep out the chill of the dojo as she entered it. Pictures of many of Misa’s deceased relatives were hung proudly here, including a picture of her mother. In frustration, she stomped the race mat that covered the floor and looked outside the dojo at the sunken pond in the backyard garden. Feeling drawn to its shimmering depths, Misa left the building and approached the circular pond where beautiful gold fish swam in the clear, lapping water. She lay down on a lacquered sofa under the flowering cherry tree her father had planted nearby in memory of her mother. Night approached, and she stared at the pool, her eyes grew heavier and heavier…