English I - Semester 1 Exam Review 2014-2015
Climbing to the Top of the World
1) Every year since she was seven, Larissa Galloway had made the climb to the Top of
the World mountain near her home. By now, she knew all four trails to the summit ,
every bend and slope. And by now, the summer before her senior year of high school,
she knew they all covered three long, steep miles. There was no shortcut.
2) That’s what made the Galloways’ annual climbing contest so fun. Every pair of legs
had the same distance to travel. And no matter what anybody said, it was a contest.
Why else would the last group up have to buy the milkshakes when they got back to
town?
3) “Everybody just take it easy,” Uncle Victor said slyly as he tightened the laces on his
hiking boots. “Enjoy the scenery. No need to rush through Mother Nature.”
4) “Who’s rushing!” said Aunt Gail (Uncle Victor’s sister). She stuffed a second water
bottle in her backpack and pointed to the mountain. “I plan to crawl all the way up.”
5) “What’s a little milkshake?” asked Grandpa Galloway, limbering his calf muscles.
“But, just so you all know, I prefer chocolate.”
6) “I’m going to walk backwards,” said cousin Roland,“on my hands. And make mine
strawberry.”
7) Rubbing sunscreen on her nose and cheeks, Larissa smiled at the banter . It was as
predictable as sore legs and mosquitoes. The friendly joking at the trailhead was all part
of the climbing ritual. An even more important part of the ritual was the profile of the
groups themselves. Males and females?Aged and youth?Plodders and sprinters? The
combinations were always interesting.
8) On this day, just a month before starting her senior year at high school, Larissa
found herself grouped with cousin Burl and his girlfriend Tassie Rae, Aunt Charlotte, and
four nephews under the age of ten.
9) “Good luck to all!” yelled Uncle Victor as his group disappeared into the trees.
10) “You’re going to need it!” Aunt Gail responded as her group dropped from sight
behind a huge boulder in their trail.
11) “Remember—I like strawberry,” said cousin Roland, splashing across a small
stream at the head of his group.
12) And Larissa’s trail companions? Before they had hiked the first half mile up their
chosen trail, she was checking her pocket for milkshake money. The four nephews were
energetic hikers—when they hiked. Most of the time they were chasing squirrels off the
trail. Despite the tennis shoes in her backpack, Aunt Charlotte wore sandals and seemed
more interested in picking wildflowers than mountain climbing. And on a narrow trail with
so many rocks, it was hard for Burl and Tassie Rae to walk side by side, arm in arm. But
if they went slowly and picked their way carefully, they could manage.
13) At the one-mile marker, Larissa paused for a drink of water and looked back. After
chasing a rabbit, the nephews had fallen behind Aunt Charlotte, who was walking
barefoot, carrying her sandals. And all five of them were ahead of Burl and Tassie Rae.
14) “Come on, you guys!” Larissa yelled. “We don’t want to be last.”
15) And that’s when it hit her: always before, in her ten climbs to the Top of the World,
she had followed someone else. One year it was her mom; the next it was Grandpa
Galloway; the next, Uncle Roland. Group leaders were never nominated or elected, at
least not out loud. But tacit or not, their role was as much a part of the ritual as bug
repellent and blisters. Larissa realized that if she didn’t take the lead and set the pace,
nobody would. 16) So she got the nephews running back on the trail. She convinced Aunt Charlotte
that tennis shoes would get her to the wildflower meadows at the top much faster than
sandals. And somehow, miraculously, she talked Burl and Tassie Rae into walking single
file.
17) The second mile went much faster. Standing at the trail marker, they all drank
from their water bottles.
18) “I’ve got a blister,” said 16-year-old Burl. “If it gets too bad, Tassie and I are
heading back.”
19) “You can head back if you need to,” Tassie said. “I want to get to the top. Lead on,
Larissa.”
20) When a chipmunk scampered within five feet, the nephews didn’t seem to notice.
They all looked eagerly at Larissa and at the trail ahead.
21) “Okay, let’s go,” Larissa said, feeling a strange new responsibility.
22) The last mile presented plenty of challenges. One of the nephews ran out of water,
and Larissa shared her own. When a willow was about to lash Aunt Charlotte in the
face, Larissa yelled “Duck!” and spared her a stinging eye. A thorn in Tassie Rae’s foot
slowed them for just a moment before Larissa pulled it out with the tweezers in her
first-aid kit.
23) After another half hour they were climbing the last rise. Tired and sore, Larissa
expected to see the rest of the family on the summit. But no one was there yet.
24) “We’re first,” one of the nephews yelled.
25) “Hooray!” said Aunt Charlotte.
26 ) Ten minutes later, when the whole family had arrived at the top and was enjoying
the view, Larissa heard Grandpa Galloway say, “That Larissa—I remember when she
followed me all the way up, wouldn’t take a step by herself.”
27) “Not anymore,” said Aunt Gail.
28) Then Uncle Victor came up to Larissa. “Well,” he said, “it looks like my bunch is
buying. What kind of milkshake do you want?”
29) Before answering, Larissa gazed out at the vast panorama of hills, valleys, and
plains.
30) “Peppermint peach swirl,” she whispered, as if anything louder would fall instead of
float from the top of the world.
1. Based on the clues in the story, when did Larissa and her family MOST likely climb
to the Top of the World Mountain? 2. Paragraph 22 is mostly about Larissa doing what?
3. What is the overall theme expressed in this story? 4. The author creates tension in this story by…
5. The MOST likely reason the story begins by introducing the character’s experience with
climbing the mountain is to…
6. What does the mountain in this story symbolize? Support your answer with evidence
from the text. 7. Which sentence from the story BEST supports the idea that this year's climb to the
top of the mountain has been a more significant event in Larissa's life than any of the
climbs she had done previously? 8. When family members climb Top of the World Mountain after Larissa's senior year in
high school, who is MOST likely to lead one of the teams?
The Past
By Ella Wheeler Wilcox
1) Fling my past behind me, like a robe
2) Worn threadbare in the seams, and out of date.
30 I have outgrown it. Wherefore should I weep
4) And dwell up on its beauty, and its dyes
5) Of Oriental splendor, or complain
6) That I must needs discard it? I can weave
7) Upon the shuttles of the future years
8) A fabric far more durable. Subdued,
9) It may be, in the blending of its hues,
10) Where somber shades commingle, yet the gleam
11) Of golden warp shall shoot it through and through,
12) While over all a fadeless luster lies,
13) And starred with gems made out of crystalled tears,
14) My new robe shall be richer than the old.
1.Find an example of a simile in the poem.
2. What two things are being compared in this poem?
3. In Line 10, somber shades is an example of …
4. What is the theme of the poem?
Mineral Cutting
(1) When tapped with a hammer many materials split apart neatly and cleanly into two
or more pieces. (2) The sides of the split pieces form plane surfaces. (3) The seperated
surfaces are smooth and flat. (4) Some minerals will split apart neatly and cleanly along
two or more planes. (5) The planes form characteristic angles in relation to each other.
(6) The quality in a mineral that causes it to split apart neatly and cleanly into planes
that always have the same angles in relation to each other is called cleavage.
(7) It will split apart in a certain way. (8) Zones of weakness called cleavage zones exist
in the mineral. (9) The particles -atoms or molecules- making up the mineral are
responsible for its cleavage zones. (10) These particles form a regular pattern within the
mineral just as the bricks making up a brick wall form a regular pattern. (11) The
mineral will split easier along a joint where the particles meet [that is, along a cleavage
zone] than in other directions. (12) Because the particles within each particular mineral
form their own distinctive patterns. (13) Each mineral has its own distinctive cleavage
zones.
(14) Diamonds are beautiful and expensive. (15) It is important for a diamond cutter to
know the cleavage zones within a diamond. (16) A diamond cutter who wishes to split
a large diamond for example first cuts a shallow groove in the diamond. (17) The
groove is cut paralell to one of the zones of weakness in the diamond. (18) The
diamond cutter then places a steel wedge in the groove and taps the wedge sharply
with a hammer. (19) If the zone of weakness has been judged correctly the diamond
will cleave neatly and cleanly into two pieces. (20) If the direction zone of weakness has
been misjudged however, the diamond may shatter into many small pieces. (21) These pieces are much less valuable than the two larger pieces woulda been. (22) I’d like to be
able to purchase a diamond someday.
(23) Mica a mineral used in electrical insulation splits readily into thin sheets. (24) In
fact, mica can be split into extremely thin sheets because it cleaves in only one
direction. (25) Mica is said to have single cleavage. (26) The minerals graphite and talc
also have single cleavage. (27) With a knife thin flakes can be peeled off pieces of both
of these minerals.
1. What changes, if any, should be made to sentence 16?
2. What change, if any, should be made to sentence 20?
3. What editing needs to occur in the first paragraph of Tony's rough draft?
1. Be able to answer questions on an advertisement. For example, what is the purpose of the advertisement?
2. What can the reader gather from the information on the advertisement?
We will review and prepare a couple days before the exam. Please be prepared to discuss these questions in class. You may also take notes in class to help you prepare for the exam. Study hard!
Smile! Christmas is almost here! =)