Session 1:
Directions: In this part of the test, you are going to read five selections: " Bearly Spring", "Raccoon Summer", "This Land Is Your Land", "The Souk", and "Better Basketball". After you read each selection, you will answer questions about what you have read. You may look back at the stories as often as you like.
"Bearly Spring" is a story form Jack and Jill magazine about bears during hibernation. Read the story. Then do Numbers 1 through 5.
Winter. Ick.
Your body slows down. Your muscles get weak.
You're out of shape. Right? Not if you're a bear!
Researchers are learning that hiber-
nating bears aren't necessarily caving in
to the winter do-nothings.
"When bears emerge from the den in
the spring, they're in good shape," says
Wayne Kasworm, a wildlife biologist
for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
It doesn't work that way for people.
"If you took a human and put them on
bed rest for as long as four or five
months," says Kasworm, "you would
start to see bone and muscle degenera-
tion (dee-gen-er-A-shun)." They would
get weaker and their bones would get
brittle.
But not bears, who exercise while they
hibernate. "What I've seen when I've
been in bear dens with hibernating
bears," says Kasworm," is that bears do a
fair amount of shivering and muscle con-
traction. ...That keeps that muscle tone."
Can you exercise in your sleep?
Probably not; to start with, it might
mean lowering your body temperature,
like the bears, from the normal 98
degrees or so to 92 or 94.
Jack and Jill March 2000 p21
1 What is the story mostly about?
A how bears keep fit while hibernating
B how to sleep like a bear
C exercising in your sleep
D how to lift weights
2 What do bears do to keep in shape during hibernation?
F flex their muscles
G move constantly
H shiver and have muscle contractions
J watch Richard Simmons' "Moving to the Oldies"
3 Why can't we hibernate like bears?
A no fur on our bodies
B unable to lower our body temperature
C unable to sleep for months at a time
D weaker bones and muscles
4 The article says that Wayne Kasworm is a wildlife biologist. What does
biologist mean?
F a scientist who studies bears
G a scientist who studies animals
H a teacher
J a fish and wildlife expert
5 The article says that if humans would hibernate for four or five months, you would
start to see bone and muscle degeneration. What does degeneration mean?
A weakening
B improving
C breaking
D growing
Click here to return to the beginning of "Bearly Spring" if you wish to reread the story.
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"Raccoon Summer" is a story from Cricket magazine about raccoons who live near a family's home. Read the story. Then do Numbers 6 through 11.
Raccoon Summer
by Mary L. Johnson
PEOPLE AREN'T THE only ones who enjoy fast food
and takeout.
Our family has always liked birds, so we keep feeders,
houses, and birdbaths available all year. Birds can enjoy a fast-
food meal of sunflower seeds or mixed seeds whenever they
like. For the takeout crowd, unshelled peanuts make a great
grab-and-go treat.
One particularly dry summer, when wild grasses and berries
were scarce near our home in southern New Jersey, we notice
new visitors at our ground-level feeders. Groundhogs were
raiding the bowls of sunflower seeds during the day, and raccoon
and opossums were snacking on them at night.
As the drought worsened, we began to place stale and left-
over foods outside for these animals. While opossums enjoyed
dry cat food and raisins, raccoons seemed to have a sweet tooth.
When offered the choice of carrots, seeds, apples, or frosted,
fruit-flavored cereal rings, the raccoons chose the cereal rings
every time. They also enjoyed cookies, stale doughnuts, and
cupcakes, which they would hold comically in their front paws
while nibbling.
It didn't take the raccoons long to figure out that all their
favorite goodies were brought to them through a set of sliding
glass doors opening onto our back deck. Any night that goodies
failed to appear, these clever raccoons would scamper right up
to the doors and bang on the glass with their front paws until
someone appeared to wait on them. "Service, please!" they
seemed to say.
One evening we put out a large roasting pan with the scant
remains of a turkey inside. We watched as two raccoons worked
together to drag their takeout dinner through a break in the
backyard fence, pan and all. About a week later, the same raccoons
reappeared, dragging the now-empty pan back with them. They
left it upside down at the end of the backyard. Were they hoping
for a free refill, maybe?
These two raccoons took advantage of our personalized
service regularly throughout the summer, eventually bringing
three babies along with them. The male would always stand
guard while the rest of his family ate. He was stuck with left-
overs whenever they were finished.
On the night before garbage collection, when all the trashcans
in the neighborhood were waiting at the curb, the raccoons
would tear open garbage bags and have a smorgasbord. One
of the baby raccoons appeared on our back deck one evening
with the remains of a large glass jar around its neck. Apparently,
the raccoon had stuck its head inside the jar for a meal, then
became trapped. Somehow, it had managed to break most of
the jar away, but the rim and sharp splinters of glass remained
around the raccoon's neck like a deadly collar. The young raccoon
was growing quickly, and as the days passed, the jar rim became
tighter and tighter. If it were not removed, the poor raccoon
would be slowly strangled to death.
Could we use what we'd learned about raccoons that summer
to help save it? My sister and I concocted a plan. First, we would
lure the raccoon as close to the house as possible. Then, using
a straightened coat hanger, we would try to hook the glass rim
that was around the raccoon's neck and pull it off.
We waited. When we didn't see the baby raccoon for over a
week, we felt terrible. What if we were too late? But, finally, the
raccoon reappeared on the tenth day. My sister lured it right up
to the sliding glass doors with old favorites such as frosted-fruit
cereal and sugar cookies. The glass rim was visibly tighter now,
squeezing the raccoon's small neck like a noose. We would
have to work fast.
I eased the coat hanger through a crack in the sliding doors
and carefully hooked it around the rim as the raccoon feasted.
I leaned back and pulled, but nothing happened. The raccoon
was startled and tried to back away. A tug of war started, with
the raccoon pulling one way and me pulling the other.
The glass rim finally shattered from the pressure. I fell over
backward holding the coat hanger, and the poor raccoon rolled
right off the edge of the deck. It was so surprised, it ran up the
nearest tree and stayed there for hours. My sister and I gathered
up the glass shards and threw them away. The raccoon was
saved!
It was back again the following night, as if nothing had
happened. There was a bloody dent all around its neck, when
the rim had been. The wound healed over the course of the
summer, but a circular scar, like a necklace, always remained.
As the drought eased, the other raccoons returned to the wild
foods that they were used to. But the raccoon we had nick-
named "Necklace" came regularly to our back deck until well
into the winter, banging on the sliding glass doors for service.
The following summer, the same raccoon returned, still
noticeably scarred, bringing three babies of her own along with
her. Wild food was plentiful that year, so she didn't show up
every day. But once a week or so, she would bring the kids to our
back deck for the raccoon version of a fast-food treat. (c)2000 by Mary L. Johnson Illustrated by Alicia Czechowski
Cricket July 2000 p. 16-18.
6 What is the story mostly about?
F fast food and take out
G a family of raccoons
H one family's observations of the raccoons they fed
J saving a raccoon from a ring of glass
7 What happened to cause the raccoons to visit the family's ground level feeders.
A there was a drought
B they like the service
C they preferred the birds' food
D they are scavengers by nature
8 What did the two raccoons do to show they trusted that the family wouldn't hurt
them?
F kept coming back
G ate all the food the family put out
H wouldn't eat anywhere else
J brought their babies along with them
9 The story says that the raccoons would tear open garbage bags and have a
smorgasbord.
What does smorgasbord mean?
A fast food
B leftovers
C food from jars
D a meal of lots of different kinds of food
10 The story says that the family lured the raccoon as close to the house as possible.
What does lured mean?
F baited
G trapped
H fed
J brought
11 Why did the family use a hook through a crack in the door to break the glass ring
that was around the raccoons neck?
A raccoons are too fast to catch
B the glass ring couldn't be broken by hand
C raccoons bite
D didn't want to bother the raccoon while it ate
Click here to return to the beginning of "Raccoon Summer" if you wish to reread the story.
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"An Acceptance Poem" is a poem by Sue Ludwig, A.A. Cole Psychologist, 2001. It is about the differences between people and the acceptance of them all. Read the poem. Then do Numbers 12 through 15.
Just think for one moment, if we were all the same. Same color, same shape, same name. How confusing and dull that would be, If everyone in the world looked just like me.
Light skin, white skin, brown eyes or blue. The world is a rainbow, this includes you. No matter the color. No matter the shade. We are all created equal, this is how we were made.
Tall or short, big or thin, What really matters is what lies within. Your strength is that, my strength is this, But when we work together, we can't miss.
So that is why we are so different. Each special in our own unique way. So value everyone for who they are, By the things you do and say.
Sue Ludwig, A.A. Cole Psychologist, 2001
12 What is the poem mostly about?
F We are all the same.
G What lies within.
H We are each special in our own way.
J The world is a rainbow.
13 Ms. Ludwig uses
the words "the world is a rainbow". She
meant:
A Rainbows happen all over the world.
B People of many races live in the world.
C People are all different sizes.
D People have many different shades.
14 What underlying message does Ms. Ludwig imply with her poem?
F To value our differences as people.
G To study rainbows, they are pretty.
H What matters is what lies within.
J How dull and confusing the world is.
15 What is meant by: "What really matters is what lies within"?
A It's what you've just eaten that matters.
B It's how fast your mind works that matters.
C It's how strong your muscles are that matters.
D It's kindness, goodness and acceptance that matters.
Click here to return to the beginning of "if you wish to reread the poem.
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"The Souk" is a non-fiction article from Cricket magazine about a mother and daughter's visit to an Arabian market.
Read the story. Then do numbers 16 through 21.
The Souk
THE ANCIENT STREETS of the city wind between the booths of merchants who call out to us, "Cucumbers! Eggplant! See these oranges? You won't find fresher!" My mother tugs at my arm as I stop by a vendor selling roast beans. "Please?" I ask her. Mother sighs, then with a quiet smile, she presses coins into my hand. The vendor pours the warm beans into a newspaper cone. They smell and taste like sweet nuts. Outside the market it is night, but it's the month of Ramadan. We have fasted during the day, and in the evening, after the fast is broken and evening prayers are done, the souk is full of light and people. My heart beats with the rhythm of the street. The market seems alive. Shoppers squabble with storekeepers over the prices of their goods. Women in their abyas and men in their Dishdashe fill the marketplace with a sea of black and white. I hold my mother's hand tightly so that I won't get swallowed up in the crowd. In the oldest part of the souk, Bedouin women sit in booths passed from mother to daughter, generation after generation. They sell trinkets and fabric, laid out neatly on wooden tables. An old woman hides her tattooed face from a tourist's camera. She is selling dresses, hand-beaded and embroidered with gold thread. Tiny silver bells tinkle as the woman holds a dress up for my mother to see. My mother shakes her head, and the old woman tries to catch the eye of another shopper. Our last stop is a little shop with mountains of spices in the window. Their savory aroma fills the air. My mother buys car- damom and turmeric. The storekeeper scoops the spices from huge bins and puts them into plastic bags. As we walk to our car, my mother pauses to buy warm falafel and mixed pickles to eat on the way home. I am tired, but I know tonight I will dream of the market place. I will hear the calls of merchants and smell the spice mountains. I will taste the roast beans and spicy falafel and see the bright lights and the gold embroidery and the black and-white crowd filling the souk during the happy nights of Ramadan. (C)2000 by Jane B. Al-Tamimi
Cricket March 2000 p52-53
16 The mother and the child were in the streets of the city
F sightseeing
G selling
H shopping
J visiting
17 Why did the child say "please"?
A she wanted a toy
B she wanted to go somewhere
C she wanted her mother's attention
D she wanted roast beans
18 Abyas and dishdashe are Arabic words for what marketplace sight?
F women's and men's clothing
G food
H women's and men's hats
J women's and men's veils
19 In the story the souk is full of light and people. What does souk mean?
A shops
B market
C ancient streets
D Ramadan
20 What do you think the little girls' mother might need the cardamom and tumeric for?
F dressing
G cleaning
H deodorizing
J cooking
21 Why do you think the old woman hides her face from a tourist's camera?
A she hates to have a picture taken
B she dislikes the lady with the camera
C women cover their faces in her country
D she's embarrassed about her tattoo
Click here to return to the beginning of "The Souk" if you wish to reread the story.
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"Better Basketball" by Marby Kaminsky from Highlights is about ?????. Read the story. Then do Numbers 22 through 28.
(Insert story)
22 Who is being interviewed in this article?
F 2 NFL all-stars
G 2 NBA all-stars
H 2 amateurs who played on the US Olympic team
J 2 basketball players on the US Olympic team
23 Why are Hill and Johnson being interviewed?
A to discover how to play better basketball
B to discover how to get in the NBA
C to discover how to score in basketball
D to discover how to dribble better?
24 Why do both Hill and Johnson believe practice is the key to success?
F their coaches told them so
G it's required to be an NBA star
H it attributed to their being all-stars
J it's the only way to become a better basketball player
25 The article says that both players offered some sure-fire tips to help you improve
your basketball game. What does sure-fire mean?
A shooting
B dependable
C helpful
D handling
26 The article says you have to shoot with good arc and rotation on the ball. What
does arc mean?
F height
G spin
H bounce
J curve
27 Why is being ambidextrous important to a star basketball player?
A to play better basketball
B to play better defense
C to be a better dribbler
D to get more lay-up shots
28 According to Hill, practice is the place where you develop:
F a good defense
G a proper attitude and the right work habits
H your foul shot
J good passes
Click here to return to the beginning of "Better Basketball" if you wish to reread the story.
When you have completed all of the questions, click here for the answers.
