Braille Challenge
2016 Preliminary
SophomoreUEB Practice Contest
Reading Comprehension: Passage 1
Helen Keller's First Experience of the Ocean
1Helen Keller was a famous writer and speaker who was born in Alabama in 1880. When she was 19 months old, she became sick and lost her vision and hearing. Helen was an angry, frustrated child, because she could not communicate with other people.
2When Helen was nearly seven years old, her parents hired Anne Sullivan as her teacher. Anne came to live with Helen’s family.She began spelling words into Helen's hand using sign language. At first sign language was just a finger game for Helen. Then one day Anne placed Helen's hands under the water gushing from an outdoor pump. She spelled the letters W-A-T-E-R over and over again into Helen's hand. Suddenly, Helen discovered words. The finger movements meant the word water. There was a different pattern for every object, person, and idea in the whole world.
3From then on, Helen Keller's life was filled with new experiences. She learned braille, went to college, and traveled around the world. Helen also wrote her autobiography, which was called The Story of My Life.
In the passage below, Helen Keller writes about her first trip to the ocean. It took her by surprise!
4My most vivid recollection of that summer is the ocean. I had always lived far inland and had never had so much as a whiff of salt air; but I had read in a big book called Our World a description of the ocean which filled me with wonder and an intense longing to touch the mighty sea and feel it roar. So my little heart leaped high with eager excitement when I knew that my wish ...was at last to be realized.
5No sooner had I been helped into my bathing-suit than I sprang out upon the warm sand and without thought of fear plunged into the cool water. I felt the great billows rock and sink. The buoyant motion of the water filled me with an exquisite, quivering joy. Suddenly my ecstasy gave place to terror; for my foot struck against a rock and the next instant there was a rush of water over my head. I thrust out my hands to grasp some support, I clutched at the water and at the seaweed which the waves tossed in my face. But all my frantic efforts were in vain. The waves seemed to be playing a game with me, and tossed me from one to another
in their wild frolic. It was fearful! The good, firm earth had slipped from my feet, and everything seemed shut out from this strange, all-enveloping element—life, air,
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warmth and love. At last, however, the sea, as if weary of its new toy, threw me back on the shore, and in another instant I was clasped in my teacher's arms. Oh, the comfort of the long, tender embrace!
6As soon as I had recovered from my panic sufficiently to say anything, I demanded: “Who put salt in the water?”
From The Story of My Lifeby Helen Keller, 1903
Courtesy of American Foundation for the Blind, Helen Keller Archives.
Questions for “Helen Keller”
1. Based on the information in the passage, which statement about Helen
Keller is true?
a. She grew up near the ocean.
b. She lost her vision and hearing at the age of 19.
c. She attended school with other children who were blind or deaf.
d. She visited many countries during her lifetime.
2. What is the most likely way that Helen expressed her feelings before
she met Anne Sullivan?
a. by writing braille
b. by using sign language
c. by crying quietly
d. by throwing temper tantrums
3. Before her experience at the pump, Helen ______
a. had never felt sign language before.
b. did not understand that everything has a name.
c. did not know where water came from.
d. was gradually learning to connect patterns of finger spelling to real
objects.
4. When she first learned she would travel to the ocean, Helen felt _____
a. dread.
b. gratitude.
c. anticipation.
d. uncertainty.
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5. What caused Helen's fright when she was in the ocean?
a. She was not expecting to taste salt in the water.
b. She lost her balance and went under the water.
c. She was no longer holding her teacher's hand.
d. Sheinjured her foot on a rock.
6. In Paragraph 4, we learn that Helen never had “so much as a whiff of
salt air.” To which sensedoes whiff refer?
a. hearing
b. touch
c. smell
d. taste
7. What aspect of the ocean did Helen enjoy when she first got into the
water?
a. the movement of the waves
b. the roar of the surf
c. the feel of seaweed against her face
d. the warmth of the water
8. Which figure of speech is used to describe the waves and the sea in
paragraph 5?
a. metaphor
b. personification
c. hyperbole
d. simile
9. Helen Keller's autobiography was published ____
a. almost a hundred years ago.
b. almost two hundred years ago.
c. over a hundred years ago.
d. exactlya hundred and fifty years ago.
10. Which question is NOT answered in the passage?
a. Why did Helen want to visit the ocean?
b. Who went with Helen to the ocean?
c. Did Helen swallow any ocean water?
d. How old was Helen when she first went to the ocean?
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Braille Challenge
2016 Preliminary
SophomoreUEB Practice Contest
Reading Comprehension: Passage 2
Trail Trees
1Over a decade ago, a group of retired men started hiking together each week in the mountains near their home. They explored old, scenic Indian trails that few people knew about. During one of their hikes, the men discovered some very unusual trees. These trees were bent so that they grew into odd shapes. The men thought that Indians had created these mysterious trees long ago.
2Why would Indians bend trees? The Indian people who lived in this area in the 1700s didn't have maps or GPS systems. They needed another way to mark important locations along their trails, such as crossing points on streams, cool springs for water, or places where medicinal plants grew. To create a marker, the Indians bent a sapling and tied it down to the earth. The tree continued to grow, but it could not grow straight or tall.
3The men realized they had discovered something important. These oddly shaped trees were actually Indian relics. They began to gather information about the special trees on their trails and other "trail trees" in neighboring states. It was not easy to find out about these trees because the Native Americans wanted to keep their locations secret. They were afraid that if people found the trees, they would destroy them.
4The men who discovered trail trees helped to start a cultural heritage program that collects information about these unusual natural treasures. The National Trail Trees Database lists more than 2,000 trail trees in 40 states and Canada. Their locations are highly confidential. So, while you can't visit a specific trail tree, you may find one on your next hike – and wonder why it was bent so long ago.
Questions for “Trail Trees”
1. Trail trees were rediscovered by _____
a. Native Americans.
b. white settlers.
c. a hiking group.
d. a cultural heritage society.
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2. Based on the passage, which statement is true about trail trees today?
a. Trail trees often grow along popular hiking paths.
b. Trail trees often curve towards the ground.
c. Trail trees often have missing branches.
d. Trail trees are usually less than 100 years old.
3. What type of tree did the Indians select to make into a trail tree?
a. a tree without leaves or branches
b. a tree that was old and strong
c. a tree that was young and pliant
d. a tree that was an unusual shape
4. The Indians originally used trail trees as _____
a. signals.
b. landmarks.
c. points of interest.
d. building materials.
5. The National Trail Trees Database _____
a. includes only trail trees found in the United States.
b. describes the original purpose of each trail tree.
c. estimates the age of each trail tree.
d. records the location of each trail tree.
6. The Indians might use a medicinal plant to _____
a. poison their enemies.
b. heal a poison ivy rash.
c. add protein to their diets.
d. help their crops grow better.
7. The information about the trail trees is kept confidential to _____
a. prevent people from enjoying the trees.
b. preserve the trees for the future.
c. allow only Native Americans to find the trees.
d. be sure the trees keep their unusual shapes.
8. Why are the trail trees considered Indian relics?
a. They were replicas of real trees.
b. They were a form of Native American artwork.
c. They are important remains of Indian history.
d. They represent the Indians' spiritual beliefs.
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9. The author of the passage implies that _____
a. any hiker has a chance of locating a trail tree.
b. special training is needed to identify a trail tree.
c. only those with access to the database can find a trail tree.
d. it is easier to spot a trail tree in the US than in Canada.
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