Name ______Date ______
Competency in Reading Midterm Exam
Read the article “Kid Fights Cheater Meter and Wins!” Complete the chart below,
and then answer questions 1 through 3 in the boxes throughout the story.
Anticipatory Guide / Circle one for each statement belowParking meters give people a fair amount of time to get their business done. / Agree Disagree I’m not sure
All parking meters have timers that keep track of time accurately. / Agree Disagree I’m not sure
When people get a ticket for parking too long at a parking meter, it is usually their own fault. / Agree Disagree I’m not sure
Parking meters are a good way to make sure people don’t park too long in one parking spot. / Agree Disagree I’m not sure
Kid Fights Cheater Meter and Wins!
The true story of a girl with a stopwatch and a bag of nickels who uncovered a local parking scandal and helped change the laws of her state…
Ellie Lammer wasn’t trying to spark a revolt, she just wanted a haircut. That was the fall of 1997. Ellie was 11 years old at the time, and she was getting her tresses trimmed in her hometown of Berkley, California. When Ellie and her mom returned to her car, they found a parking ticket stuck to the windshield. It didn’t seem possible. Less than an hour earlier, Ellie had pumped an hour’s worth of coins into the meter. But now the needle was at zero, and Ellie’s mom owed $20.
Feeling cheated, Ellie dropped another nickel in the meter and twisted the knob. The needle clicked over to the four-minute-mark. Ellie stared at her watch while her mom watched the meter. Less than three-minutes later, all the time had expired. There it was: proof that they’d been cheated. The city tore up the ticket when Ellie’s mom complained about the meter.
But the experience left Ellie wondering how many other meters were inaccurate. Six months later, she decided to find out. She had been looking for a good science fair project- and that meter in Berkley still bothered her. So armed with a bag of nickels and a stopwatch, she hit the streets.
Ellie didn’t have the time or money to invest in every meter, so she focused on a sample of 50 meters located in different parts of the city. To avoid inconveniencing motorists, she did her research after 6 p.m. and on Sundays, when the meters were not in use. She put eight minutes’ worth of nickels in each meter, and then measured how much time it really gave.
The results were not pretty. Ellie’s findings suggested that more than nine out of every ten meters in the city were inaccurate- and that every fourth parking meter was running out of time too quickly. With 3,600 parking meters in the city, that meant a lot of undeserved tickets. As Ellie wrote in her science-project report, “I learned which meters cheat you and which meters cheat the city of Berkley. But I learned that almost all meters cheat someone, so beware.”
2. QUESTIONING / WRITE A QUESTION OR STATEMENT BASED ON WHAT YOU HAVE READ:Right there
The literal answer is somewhere in the reading. / “According to the passage…”
“How many…”
“Where is….”
“What is….”
“How does….”
Think and Search
Look back at the reading, find the information that it infers, think about how the information and question fit together. / “The main idea of the passage is…”
“What caused?….”
“Compare and contrast…”
“Why does……?”
“I’m thinking that………..must be true, because….”
Author and You
Think about what you’ve read and formulate your own thoughts and ideas. / “The author implies….”
“The passage suggest…”
“The speaker’s attitude…”
”How would I react if I were in this situation?”
“What experiences have I had that are similar to those in the text?”
On My Own
What’s Your Opinion? / “In my opinion…”
“In my experience….”
“I know of someone else who experienced something like that….”
“Thinking about someone/something I know….”
When the science fair rolled around, Ellie presented her findings with computer-generated charts and graphs. Her classmates weren’t very interested in her project. “It’s not like they have to drive a car or put money in a parking meter,” she explains. But her project was a huge hit with parents. More than 50 of them lined up that night to share their stories with Ellie.
But word spread fast about Ellie’s meter project. Ellie got a call from Diane Wooley, a local politician. Ellie presented her findings. Based on Ellie’s study, the city of Berkley decided to purchase 2,000 new meters. These new meters would be digital and would be more accurate than the old ones.
Read the following movie review, and answer questions 4 through 8.
The Proposal
Release Date: 2009 Ebert Rating: *** Jun 17, 2009 by Roger Ebert
"The Proposal" is a movie about a couple who starts out hating each other and end up liking each other. It's a funny thing about that. I started out hating the movie and ended up liking it.
It opens on a rather cheerless note, as the portrait of Margaret (Sandra Bullock), a tyrannical book editor, and Andrew (Ryan Reynolds), her long-suffering assistant. Known on office instant message as the Witch, she terrorizes underlings, fires the man who wants her job and orders Andrew to marry her.
How that happens is, she's a Canadian in danger of being deported -- she imperiously ignored the law -- and now she figures if she gets married, she'll get her green card. She and Andrew blackmail each other in their prenuptial hostage negotiations, and fly off to Sitka, Alaska, to meet his folks. Sitka turns out to be a charming waterfront town, filled with chic little shops like the Fudgery, no fast-food stores or franchise chains and a waterfront that looks less like a working fishing harbor than a tourist resort. Perhaps that's because the movie was filmed not in Alaska, but in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Alaska might have been too real for this fantasy.
So I was sitting there, cringing, knowing with uncanny certainty where the story was going. No movie begins with scenes of a man and a woman who are utterly incompatible unless it ends with them in love, unless perhaps it might be one about Hitler and Eleanor Roosevelt. They will fly to Alaska, she will be charmed by his family, she will be moved by the community spirit, she will love the landscape after the skyscraper towers of Manhattan, and they will have misadventures, probably involving unintended nudity and someone falling off a boat. So it is written.
But slowly, reluctantly, disbelievingly, they will start to warm up to each other. And it was about at that point when reluctantly, disbelievingly, I began to warm up to them. Bullock is a likable actress in the right roles, which she has been avoiding frequently since "Speed 2: Cruise Control" (1997), which I liked more than she did. She is likable here because she doesn't overdo it and is convincing when she confesses that she has warmed to his family's embrace -- and who would not, since Andrew's mother is the merry Mary Steenburgen and his grandmother is the unsinkable Betty White. His father, Craig T. Nelson, is not quite so embraceable, but only because he is protective.
The key scene involves Steenburgen and White fitting Granny Annie's wedding dress for Bullock, and the presentation of a family heirloom. I don't care how much of a witch a woman is, when she sees herself in the mirror wearing her grandmother-in-law's gown, she's going to cave in. For that matter, Bullock was never that convincing as the Office Witch; she could not have touched Meryl Streep's work in "The Devil Wears Prada."
"The Proposal" is much enhanced by all of the supporting performances. Betty White, at 87, makes her character 89 and performs a Native American sunrise ceremony beside a campfire in the forest, which is not easy, especially in the Alaskan summer when the sun hardly sets. And look for a character named Ramone (Oscar Nunez), who will remind you of an element in "Local Hero."
"The Proposal" recycles a plot that was already old when Tracy and Hepburn were trying it out. You see it coming from a great distance away. As it draws closer, you don't duck out of the way, because it is so cheerfully done, you don't mind being hit by it.
4. What is the main idea of this movie review?
a. “The Proposal” is a funny movie with lots of great actors.
b. "The Proposal" is a movie about a couple who start out hating each other and end up liking each other.
c. “The Proposal” is a traditional romantic story with great actors who make it cheerful and interesting.
d. “The Proposal” is a love story set in Alaska but filmed in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
5. The word “unsinkable” in paragraph 5 means which of the following?
a. can sink
b. can’t sink
c. before sinking
d. after sinking
6. What inference can you make about the actress Betty White as being described as “unsinkable”?
a. She loves to sail on boats.
b. She can swim very well.
c. She is a good actress and can’t be stopped from doing what she wants.
d. She does great things for other people like donating to charities.
7. An example of a “Right There” question for this movie review would be
a. Based on this review, would you like to see this movie?
b. What prior knowledge do you have about romantic movie plots?
c. Where was this movie filmed?
d. Give some examples of key scenes from the movie.
8. An example of a “Think and Search” question for this movie review would be
a. Based on this review, would you like to see this movie?
b. What prior knowledge do you have about romantic movie plots?
c. Where was this movie filmed?
d. Give some examples of key scenes from the movie.
Go on to page 6
Read the following article about a famous sports announcer and answer questions 9 through 13.
An NFL Legend Retires
By Eben Harrell
For the past 30 years, John Madden has given a voice to football's rough and tumble spirit. He also has given a face to one of the most successful video game franchises of all time. On April 16, Madden announced his retirement from broadcasting. Fans of the former Oakland Raiders football coach and colorful commentator will never forget his fun-loving manner and distinctive voice.
An Action-Packed Career
Madden was born in Minnesota and grew up in Northern California. As a young boy, he played several sports. Madden remembers taping together broken bats from a local semi-pro baseball team to use for batting practice. One of his first jobs was as a caddy. He was recruited to play football at the University of Oregon. Madden was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1958, but he suffered a career-ending knee injury during training camp.
Madden got his first coaching job in 1960. He served as head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969-1978. During that time, the Raiders never had a losing season, won their division seven times and the Super Bowl in 1977. Famous for his wild sideline gestures and unruly hair, Madden was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.
Madden retired from coaching after the 1978 season. He wrote a best-selling book in 1984, titled Hey, Wait a Minute (I wrote a book!). In 1979, Madden took a position as a commentator for CBS. He immediately found success. Over the course of his career, Madden covered football for CBS, Fox and ABC, winning 16 Emmy Awards. Due to a fear of flying he developed in middle age, Madden drove between games in a specially designed Greyhound bus, The Madden Cruiser.
In 1988, Madden lent his name to the Electronic Arts video game John Madden Football. The franchise was later renamed Madden NFL. It has sold over 70 million copies.
A New Chapter
The 2008 Super Bowl, a thrilling game that was decided in the final seconds, was Madden's last game as a football announcer. It was the perfect end to his exciting career. "The last game I did was the Super Bowl, which was pretty good," Madden said. "But that wasn't planned. I didn't say, 'I want to go out on a high note.'"
He says he is retiring because he wants to spend more time with his family, not because he stopped having fun. "I enjoyed the game and the players and the coaches and the film and the travel and everything," Madden says.
9. The main idea of the article is:
a. John Madden is the voice of a football video game
b. John Madden wanted to play football, but he was injured and couldn’t.
c. John Madden’s last football commentary was for the Super Bowl
d. John Madden is a famous football coach and commentator, and he is retiring.
10. List one detail from John Madden’s childhood that predicts his future career in sports.
11. Circle the word in the fifth line that contains a suffix. What part of speech is that word? How do you know?
12. Underline the sentence that explains why John Madden is retiring.
13. Which of the following best describes the author’s tone:
a. Happy
b. Praising
c. Angry
d. Bored
14. In your opinion, why is John Madden famous?
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