Kingsbury High School



Kingsbury High School

English II Snow Days Homework

1. D85435 (Easy)

Choose the most effective thesis statement for a persuasive essay about the salaries of professional athletes.

1. Paying excessive salaries to professional athletes gives them a false sense of omnipotence, which can lead them to act erratically and ultimately cause them to lose favor with the public and the media.

2. In this essay I will prove that professional athletes are overpaid and often act erratically, which ultimately causes the public to view them unfavorably.

3. The excessive amount of money earned by professional athletes has a negative impact and they lose favor with the public.

4. This essay will determine that the excessive amount of money earned by professional athletes negatively impacts their lives because it can give them a false sense of omnipotence, which can lead them them to act erratically and often illegally, which can ultimately cause the public to view them unfavorably.

2. D70031 (Moderate)

The Hurricane

About two weeks ago, my family and I had to prepare for a major hurricane. I never thought it would happen in this area, but it did. Simple things like what to bring along as we fled became major life decisions. What could I replace? What could I live without – and what could not be left behind?

As we packed, talking to our friends and neighbors who were staying to “hunker down,� as they say, I began to question whether we should evacuate. The many people from our block who were staying told us they hoped we would have fun on our vacation. We could certainly save money, time, and sleep by waiting out the hurricane, and it was not possible to have fun when we were so worried about our house. However, our feelings totally changed after the storm.

As I helped my mom and dad prepare our windows and pack our bags, I pondered what we were leaving behind, and time ticked away. We needed to leave, and we needed to leave soon. Traffic would become a major problem the next day, and my parents decided it would be best to leave that night. The problem was that after all the preparations, we were just too tired and decided to leave the following morning at 2:00 a.m. We hardly slept a wink, tossing and turning. Finally, we packed and began our journey, traveling fourteen hours to the west of our town. Barely missing the huge traffic jams, we arrived in San Antonio, Texas after an exhausting drive.

The storm peaked at one o’clock in the morning on the day after we left, and our neighbors said it so loud they wished they had left when we did. Many trees were destroyed, the power was out, and the water supply became depleted. The telephones did not work. Everything seemed broken: fences, sheds, trees, houses, and hearts. Just simple things like water and food were hard to find. Stores were closed, and those that were open had long lines of crabby people who were staggered by the world being completely turned upside down.

The drive home was extraordinary, beginning just outside of Biloxi, Mississippi when we began to see some of the damage along the road. However, we were not prepared for what we saw when we finally arrived at our exit at Pensacola, Florida. It felt like we were driving through a cave of downed trees and power lines. At one point, I was not sure if our car was going to clear a low power line, and I was shocked and a little scared. Was the power line live?

Finally, we reached my neighborhood. Fallen trees, leaves, and limbs were ubiquitous, and the power lines were scattered all over the road. Signs were twisted and bent to the ground. Then I saw my house, and much to my relief, the only major damage was the fence, which was leaning and missing in some spots. What a mess! I could not believe my eyes. Plants had their leaves completely stripped off, and some trees were completely uprooted.

Many homes were annihilated by the storm, but my family was very lucky. We still had our home even though it was to difficult look about and see all the devastation. It would be months, maybe even years, before things would truly recover. By then it would be time for another hurricane. Such is life along the Gulf Coast.

The passage is written from what perspective?

1. first person

2. second person

3. third person

4. fourth person

3. D77602 (Hard)

If ever I see,

On bush or tree,

Young birds in their pretty nest,

I must not in play,

Steal the birds away,

To grieve their mother's breast.

My mother, I know,

Would sorrow so,

Should I be stolen away;

So I'll speak to the birds

In my softest words,

Nor hurt them in my play.

And when they can fly

In the bright blue sky,

They'll warble a song to me;

And then if I'm sad

It will make me glad

To think they are happy and free.

by Lydia Marie Child

The author had an audience in mind when she wrote this poem. Which of the following best describes the most likely intended audience and states what the author most likely views the needs of that audience to be?

1. [pic]The intended audience is made up of the mothers of young children. The author wants to educate the mothers about the joys of nature and to emphasize that nature itself is a wonderful classroom.

2. [pic]The intended audience is made up of avid bird-watchers. The author wishes to describe the hazards that children pose to young birds and to encourage vigilance from adults so that these creatures are kept from harm.

3. [pic]The intended audience is made up of young children. The author seeks to impart to these children that baby birds are best enjoyed from afar, so that they are not damaged and can grow into healthy adult birds.

4. [pic]The intended audience is the academic community. The author wants to demonstrate her great scientific knowledge of birds, as well as her poetic skills and extensive vocabulary.

4. D77885 (Easy)

from Madame Bovary

by Gustave Flaubert

His wife had adored him once on a time; she had bored him with a thousand servilities that had only estranged him the more. Lively once, expansive and affectionate, in growing older she had become (after the fashion of wine that, exposed to air, turns to vinegar) ill-tempered, grumbling, irritable. She had suffered so much without complaint at first, until she had seem him going after all the village drabs, and until a score of bad houses sent him back to her at night, weary, stinking drunk. Then her pride revolted. After that she was silent, burying her anger in a dumb stoicism that she maintained till her death. She was constantly going about looking after business matters. She called on the lawyers, the president, remembered when bills fell due, got them renewed, and at home ironed, sewed, washed, looked after the workmen, paid the accounts, while he, troubling himself about nothing, eternally besotted in sleepy sulkiness, whence he only roused himself to say disagreeable things to her, sat smoking by the fire and spitting into the cinders.

In the second sentence of the passage above, Flaubert uses a simile to show that the wife __________.

1. was more practical and businesslike than her husband

2. had become bitter and unpleasant over time

3. had a bad habit of drinking too much wine

4. loved her husband, who did not return her affection

5. D77882 (Hard)

“My November Guest�

by Robert Frost

My Sorrow, when she’s here with me,

Thinks these dark days of autumn rain

Are beautiful as days can be;

She loves the bare, the withered tree;

She walks the sodden pasture lane.

Her pleasure will not let me stay.

She talks and I am fain to list:

She’s glad the birds are gone away,

She’s glad her simple worsted gray

Is silver now with clinging mist.

The desolate, deserted trees,

The faded earth, the heavy sky,

The beauties she so truly sees,

She thinks I have no eye for these,

And vexes me for reason why.

Not yesterday I learned to know

The love of bare November days

Before the coming of the snow,

But it were vain to tell her so,

And they are better for her praise.

In the poem above, why does Frost personify "my Sorrow" as a guest who appears in early winter?

1. Early winter is the beginning of holiday season, and guests are usually more numerous during that time.

2. The dark, bare landscape of early winter makes him feel lonely and in need of company.

3. Early winter brings a gloomy feeling that he does not experience during the rest of the year.

4. The beginning of winter reminds him of a person he once knew who loved that time of year.

6. D69893 (Moderate)

A Christmas Carol

(excerpt) by Charles Dickens

The Phantom slowly, gravely, silently approached. When it came, Scrooge bent down upon his knee; for in the very air through which this Spirit moved it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery. It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand. But for this it would have been difficult to detach its figure from the night, and separate it from the darkness by which it was surrounded. He felt that it was tall and stately when it came beside him, and that its mysterious presence filled him with a solemn dread. He knew no more, for the Spirit neither spoke nor moved.

“I am in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come?� said Scrooge. The Spirit answered not, but pointed onward with its hand. “You are about to show me shadows of the things that have not happened, but will happen in the time before us,� Scrooge pursued. “Is that so, Spirit?� The upper portion of the garment was contracted for an instant in its folds, as if the Spirit had inclined its head. That was the only answer he received.

Although well used to ghostly company by this time, Scrooge feared the silent shape so much that his legs trembled beneath him, and he found that he could hardly stand when he prepared to follow it. The Spirit paused a moment, as observing his condition, and giving him time to recover. But Scrooge was all the worse for this. It thrilled him with a vague uncertain horror, to know that behind the dusky shroud, there were ghostly eyes intently fixed upon him, while he, though he stretched his own to the utmost, could see nothing but a spectral hand and one great heap of black.

“Ghost of the Future!'' he exclaimed, “I fear you more than any spectre I have seen. But as I know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to live to be another man from what I was, I am prepared to bear you company, and do it with a thankful heart. Will you not speak to me?� It gave him no reply. The hand was pointed straight before them. “Lead on!� said Scrooge. “Lead on! The night is waning fast, and it is precious time to me, I know. Lead on, Spirit!�

The passage is written using _____ point-of-view.

1. first person

2. fourth person

3. third person

4. second person

7. D74208 (Hard)

Read this excerpt from Mark Twain's Roughing It and answer the question that follows.

In a little while all interest was taken up in stretching our necks and watching for the "pony-rider"—the fleet messenger who sped across the continent from St. Joe to Sacramento, carrying letters nineteen hundred miles in eight days! Think of that for perishable horse and human flesh to do! The pony-rider was usually a little bit of a man, brimful of spirit and endurance. No matter what time of the day or night his watch came on, and no matter whether it was winter or summer, raining, snowing, hailing, or sleeting, or whether his "beat" was a level straight road or a crazy trail over mountain crags and precipices, or whether it led through peaceful regions or regions that swarmed with hostile people, he must be always ready to leap into the saddle and be off like the wind! There was no idling time for a pony-rider on duty. He rode fifty miles without stopping, by daylight, moonlight, starlight, or through the blackness of darkness—just as it happened. He rode a splendid horse that was born for a racer and fed and lodged like a gentleman; kept him at his utmost speed for ten miles, and then, as he came crashing up to the station where stood two men holding fast a fresh, impatient steed, the transfer of rider and mail-bag was made in the twinkling of an eye, and away flew the eager pair and were out of sight before the spectator could get hardly the ghost of a look. Both rider and horse went "flying light." The rider's dress was thin, and fitted close; he wore a "round-about," and a skull-cap, and tucked his pantaloons into his boot-tops like a race-rider. He carried no arms—he carried nothing that was not absolutely necessary, for even the postage on his literary freight was worth five dollars a letter. He got but little frivolous correspondence to carry—his bag had business letters in it, mostly. His horse was stripped of all unnecessary weight, too. He wore light shoes, or none at all. The little flat mail-pockets strapped under the rider's thighs would each hold about the bulk of a child's primer. They held many and many an important business chapter and newspaper letter, but these were written on paper as airy and thin as gold-leaf, nearly, and thus bulk and weight were economized. The stage-coach traveled about a hundred to a hundred and twenty-five miles a day (twenty-four hours), the pony-rider about two hundred and fifty. There were about eighty pony-riders in the saddle all the time, night and day, stretching in a long, scattering procession from Missouri to California, forty flying eastward, and forty toward the west, and among them making four hundred gallant horses earn a stirring livelihood and see a deal of scenery every single day in the year.

We had had a consuming desire, from the beginning, to see a pony-rider, but somehow or other all that passed us and all that met us managed to streak by in the night, and so we heard only a whiz and a hail, and the swift phantom of the desert was gone before we could get our heads out of the windows. But now we were expecting one along every moment, and would see him in broad daylight. Presently the driver exclaims:

"Here he comes!"

Every neck is stretched further, and every eye strained wider. Away across the endless dead level of the prairie a black speck appears against the sky, and it is plain that it moves. Well, I should think so! In a second or two it becomes a horse and rider, rising and falling, rising and falling—sweeping toward us nearer and nearer—growing more and more distinct, more and more sharply defined—nearer and still nearer, and the flutter of the hoofs comes faintly to the ear—another instant a whoop and a hurrah from our upper deck, a wave of the rider's hand, but no reply, and man and horse burst past our excited faces, and go swinging away like a belated fragment of a storm!

So sudden is it all, and so like a flash of unreal fancy, that but for the flake of white foam left quivering and perishing on a mail-sack after the vision had flashed by and disappeared, we might have doubted whether we had seen any actual horse and man at all, maybe.

This selection was written from a fixed point of view. Mark Twain is describing the scene from the point of view of the _______________________.

1. pony riders

2. passengers inside the stage coach

3. horses

4. station manager

8. D108415 (Easy)

William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments, love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove.

O no, it is an ever fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wand'ring bark,

Whose worth's unknown although his height be taken.

Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come,

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom:

If this be error and upon me proved,

I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

The poem by William Shakespeare above is an example of what type of poetry?

1. a lyric

2. an epic

3. a sonnet

4. a ballad

9. D108421 (Easy)

What type of poetry is 14 lines in length, has 10 syllables per line, and follows a strict rhyming pattern?

1. a lyric

2. an epic

3. a dramatic

4. a sonnet

10. D108411 (Moderate)

Battle Hymn of the Republic

By: Julia Ward Howe

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:

His truth is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

His truth is marching on.

The first verse of the above American abolitionist song written in 1861 is an example of what type of poetry?

1. a lyric

2. a sonnet

3. an epic

4. a ballad

11. D108413 (Moderate)

Excerpt from The Odyssey

By: Homer written in 800 B.C.

Tell me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, O daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them.

The excerpt above taken from book one of The Odyssey by Homer is an example of what type of poetry?

1. [pic]a lyric

2. [pic]an epic

3. [pic]a sonnet

4. [pic]a ballad

[pic]

12. D108422 (Hard)

What type of poetry is a form of verse set to music with a slow rhythm characterized by a repeated stanza that tells a story, usually of love or tragedy?

1. [pic]a lyric

2. [pic]an epic

3. [pic]a sonnet

4. [pic]a ballad

[pic]

13. D100117 (Moderate)

Jack's Hot Dogs

Stephanie Porter

Jack bumped the hot dog cart and nearly fell from the curb as he ran down the sidewalk toward the office building on 23rd Stadium Street. He ignored his growling stomach as he righted himself in the direction of Stadium Street and avoided the mud on the street below. He did all this in one motion so he didn't have to stop. The meeting had started an hour ago. But the hot dog smell followed him down the street reminding him of Yankees games he attended with him mom when he was a boy.

He'd put too much mustard on the hot dog his mother handed him at Yankee Stadium. With his first bite, mustard oozed out the end of the hot dog held by his tiny hand, then down his arm to his seersucker shorts and finally onto the upholstery of his stadium seat F23. As soon as his mother wiped the bright yellow blob from his blue seersucker shorts, sadness overwhelmed young Jack. He almost remembered making this same mistake in these same shorts in this same seat F23 at Yankee Stadium creating the same stain. Again, he'd failed to learn to use less mustard. Yet, he missed the sunny yellow blob. He looked at the brown stain that had taken its place.

The curb shadowed the mud. Jack didn't see the sludge until he stepped into the brown goo. This one step slowed Jack long enough to utter a four-syllable curse. But the meeting continued, without him, still two blocks away. He had to focus. Car's breaks screeched to stop as Jack sprinted through the cross walk, ignoring the red pedestrian light overhead.

As Jack finally entered the conference room, lunch was being served. Hot Dogs. In honor of The Yankee's opening day!

Which of the following emotive states most clearly introduces Jack's flasbacks?

1. melancholy

2. frustration

3. surprise

4. depression

14. D100114 (Hard)

Jack's Hot Dogs

Stephanie Porter

Jack bumped the hot dog cart and nearly fell from the curb as he ran down the sidewalk toward the office building on 23rd Stadium Street. He ignored his growling stomach as he righted himself in the direction of Stadium Street and avoided the mud on the street below. He did all this in one motion so he didn't have to stop. The meeting had started an hour ago. But the hot dog smell followed him down the street reminding him of Yankees games he attended with him mom when he was a boy.

He'd put too much mustard on the hot dog his mother handed him at Yankee Stadium. With his first bite, mustard oozed out the end of the hot dog held by his tiny hand, then down his arm to his seersucker shorts and finally onto the upholstery of his stadium seat F23. As soon as his mother wiped the bright yellow blob from his blue seersucker shorts, sadness overwhelmed young Jack. He almost remembered making this same mistake in these same shorts in this same seat F23 at Yankee Stadium creating the same stain. Again, he'd failed to learn to use less mustard. Yet, he missed the sunny yellow blob. He looked at the brown stain that had taken its place.

The curb shadowed the mud. Jack didn't see the sludge until he stepped into the brown goo. This one step slowed Jack long enough to utter a four-syllable curse. But the meeting continued, without him, still two blocks away. He had to focus. Car's breaks screeched to stop as Jack sprinted through the cross walk, ignoring the red pedestrian light overhead.

As Jack finally entered the conference room, lunch was being served. Hot Dogs. In honor of The Yankee's opening day!

The lunch served at Jack's meeting is most clearly foreshadowed by________.

1. The hot dog smell that followed Jack down the street

2. The mustard Jack put on his hot dog at Yankee Stadium

3. The hot dog cart Jack bumped on his way to the meeting

4. The brown stain on Jack's seersucker shorts

15. D2525 (Moderate)

Save the Universe

After skipping under the apparel changer, Jerry jumped into his airmobile. He had decided to travel to Mars rather than to beam his thoughts. He believed that the more personal approach would be more successful in acquiring funding for his mission. He was attending a meeting with the Conserve the Universe officials about the new discovery on Earth.

It all started one week ago while Jerry was touring the Earth. He noticed a strange green group of objects. These objects were larger at the top and were standing on large brownish stems. From the air, they looked like an enormous green river curving through the hills. It was a beautiful splash of color in an otherwise dull and uninteresting environment.

As he rushed to speak with his grandfather who knew about many unusual occurrences on Earth, he exclaimed, “That was a beautiful sight. It was like a breath of fresh air!�

Jerry’s grandfather patiently explained that these objects were trees. Earth used to have a plentiful supply of these beautiful plants. They were used for making paper and wood, and many of them produced delicious and nutritious food called fruit. Trees were also useful in keeping the soil from eroding. As the need for these products disappeared, the remaining trees were destroyed.

As Jerry solemnly proceeded on his mission, he decided to soar over the hidden forest again. The trees seemed to shout at him, “Save us!� It was at that moment that he became determined that he would indeed attempt to preserve them for the future.

Upon setting up his appointment with the Universe officials, Jerry had to explain why he wished to save the forest. He discovered that he was not the first person to discover the trees. Another group had asked for a permit to burn them in a large celebration of new inventions. This thought disturbed him tremendously because he knew that the trees would then not only be endangered but probably extinct. As a last resort, he quoted his grandfather saying, “Contrary to popular belief, many inventions were actually deleterious to our lifestyles. We can no longer enjoy the beautiful scenery and tasty foods, and our soil is constantly slipping away. Now is the time to take a stand if we want our descendants to understand anything about the past of this great universe."

Jerry returned triumphantly to Earth with the officials. Later that day the Conserve the Universe group announced that the newly discovered forest would become a sanctuary for people of all planets to visit. They ended the public announcement with the words, “What will happen to this universe if we do not attempt to save our environment?�

Which of the following sentences uses personification?

1. What will happen to this universe if we do not attempt to save our environment?

2. From the air, they looked like an enormous green river curving through the hills.

3. The trees seemed to shout at him, "Save us!"

4. That was a beautiful sight.

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