Grade Practice Test | Lumos Learning

Excerpt from the Foreward of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

My first recollection of Captain Carter is of the few months he spent at my father’s home in Virginia, just prior to the opening of the civil war. I was then a child of but five years, yet I well remember the tall, dark, smooth-faced, athletic man whom I called Uncle Jack.

He seemed always to be laughing; and he entered into the sports of the children with the same hearty good fellowship he displayed toward those pastimes in which the men and women of his own age indulged; or he would sit for an hour at a time entertaining my old grandmother with stories of his strange, wild life in all parts of the world. We all loved him, and our slaves fairly worshipped the ground he trod.

He was a splendid specimen of manhood, standing a good two inches over six feet, broad of shoulder and narrow of hip, with the carriage of the trained fighting man. His features were regular and clear cut, his hair black and closely cropped, while his eyes were of a steel gray, reflecting a strong and loyal character, filled with fire and initiative. His manners were perfect, and his courtliness was that of a typical southern gentleman of the highest type.

Based on the evidence in the text what historical event is about to happen?

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Read the selection and choose the best answer to each question.

Immortal Trees
by Jill Mountain


1 Some of the earth’s oldest living organisms are trees. For example, in California there is a bristlecone pine that is estimated to be over five thousand years old. An olive tree called “The Sisters” in Lebanon is estimated to be between six and seven thousand years old. What causes some individual trees in a species to live for so long? Scientists have studied some of these ancient trees, hoping to find a clue that might help extend human life.
 
2 Professor Howard Thomas of London’s Imperial College has determined that aging in plants is a response to environmental stress. In most cases, after a number of years, trees simply lose the battle with the elements, pests, and environmental pollutants, and simply die. Plants already have an advantage as their stem cells, or the cells that define every other cell in their structure, remain intact and accessible longer. In some plants, original and intact DNA remains within stem cells in the root system long into the organism’s life. The advantage of this is that as exposed parts of the plant are damaged or destroyed, the original DNA is available to create new cells and rejuvenate the plant quickly.
 
3 Another advantage that some plants have, which may explain why these ancient trees are still around is dormancy. Some living things are able to temporarily shut down their metabolic activity. For example, some animals hibernate in the winter. They don’t consume food, they don’t move, they simply rest in a sort of deep sleep for several months. Similarly some trees shed their leaves in the fall and go into a form of dormancy for the winter. These dormant phases slow down the biological clocks, and things do not age when they are dormant.
 
4 However, this theory of dormancy does not apply to all ancient trees. One of the world’s oldest trees, the Olive Tree of Vouves, is 2000 years old, and does not lose its leaves in the fall. It is an evergreen tree, which means it holds its leaves year round. Olive trees grow very slowly, which may explain the Olive Tree of Vouves’ longevity. Its natural biological clock is slow, and although it does not become dormant, the tree does not grow any more quickly than most deciduous trees.
 
5 Ultimately, Dr. Thomas has determined that the process of aging affects all living things in similar ways: cells are destroyed and the replacement of those cells eventually slows and stops. When dead or damaged cells are no longer replaced, the organism cannot survive. However, all organisms do not undergo the aging process at the same rate. The rate of growth of an organism seems to have a direct correlation to the lifespan. Compare, for example, a puppy that grows from birth to adulthood in just one or two years, to a human who may continue to grow for seventeen or eighteen years. The human takes a longer time to reach adulthood, but also has a much longer lifespan than the puppy. Similarly, a slow-growing tree, or a tree that becomes dormant for part of the year grows to maturity much more slowly than a human, and, thus, will have a much longer lifespan.

What is a reason some living organisms live longer than others?

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Read the selection and choose the best answer to each question.

More Books in the Home is the Object Aimed
At in Book Week for Children

From The New York Tribune
November 14, 1920
 
Santa Claus comes twice a year for children whose families are interested in Children’s Book Week. And tomorrow the big week begins.
 
1 If parents feel the urge to enter into the spirit of getting good books for their children, they certainly will have no complaint to make against the publishers this season. A few years ago the accusation might have been made that good reading for children was hard to get in the books being published, that the old stories were all that there was to turn to. Whether this was true or not, it cannot be said of this season. Both quality and quantity are great in the offerings this fall in children’s books. And just what is Children’s Book Week? “A joint annual effort to encourage the love of books among children and the discussion of children’s reading in communities.”
 
2 The attention which is being given to children these days, as to their education, their health and their recreation, is extended to their reading. Child welfare includes “more books in the home,” especially more books for children. To parents who throw up their hands over the proposition of finding out what their children want in reading matter, of selecting the right diet for them in books, The Publishers’ Weekly suggests that librarians, booksellers and teachers are near at hand for consultations.
 
3 New shops and departments, exclusively given over to the handling of children’s books have been springing up on every hand. These are especially attractive, and the goods they handle would be sufficient to make them so if no effort were made beyond stacking these out for buyers to see. Grown-ups will find new editions of the books they read when they were children, in more gorgeous bindings and with better illustrations. They will also find that there is a better variety in new books than there was when they were little.

For Very Little Folks
 
1 To begin with the books of the seasons which we have received, those for the very little people, are the first to consider. These are not so great in number, but there are other delightful material for reading aloud at bedtime and other times. A new fictional friend may be introduced to children in The Story of Doctor Doolittle, by Hugh Lofting, Frederick A. Stokes, publishers. The kind, inconsistent doctor is an acquaintance almost any child will appreciate. He may not reach the proportions of Alice, or of some of the fairy tale people, or even of Peter Rabbit, but he is an entertaining individual to know, and his adventures remind one of the yarns children sometimes make up themselves. He overcomes difficulties in much the same nonchalant way a child story-teller slides over discrepancies and surmounts impossible situations.
 
2 The animals which are his friends and pets play a large part in helping him out, and the doctor really doesn’t have to worry a great deal when he has his sagacious parrot, his sensible donkey and his clever monkey to depend on in emergencies. Mr. Lofting knows how to write for children. He sees his story through their eyes and just tells it to them in their own language, never in any way insulting them by talking down to them. If he has to use a word which may be new to some of his audiences, he explains it without spoiling the narrative and goes on.

What is the purpose of Book Week for Children?

Reading: Informational Text (RI.8.1)