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

from Sports and Society

by Scott Witmer Rules

1 Modern sports started in Britain in the 1700s, when many of the first written rules were recorded. Sports played by the upper classes, such as golf and cricket, were among the first to become established. The upper classes had more free time than others, and therefore more time to develop their sports. Other sports would become better known as the middle classes gained more political and economic power in the 1800s.

2 Most sports sociologists¹ consider rules to be the first major characteristic of modern sports. Rules were officially agreed to and written down. This was done to avoid arguments over regional differences in how a game was played. A single set of rules allowed teams and players from different areas to compete in a common form of the game. Rules changed and improved over time, making games fairer and more challenging. The rules of many sports continue to develop even today.

3 As sports cultures grew and rules became established, this led to the creation of leagues and other organizations. A league is a group of sports teams organized to compete against one another. Rules and leagues are generally controlled by an organization that directs the development of a sport. These innovations in sports culture make up what we now know as modern sports.

Records

4 Modern sports are also defined by several other characteristics, such as achievement and record breaking. Records and statistics are a measure of value in sports. Today, scores are even awarded to sports that do not involve making goals, such as gymnastics. Individuals score points given out by a panel of judges who rate the quality of the performance.

5 Records serve as a scale to evaluate performance over time. Athletes not only compete with one another, but also with everyone who has ever competed in that sport. This aspect of sports culture is a reflection of modern culture, which favors measurable progress and winning. In this way, sports confirm the cultural values of modern society.

World sports cultures

6 Some of the earliest modern sports cultures developed as a result of industrialization. This was a change brought to different societies as new technologies were developed. The Industrial Revolution that began in the late 1700s greatly changed Britain and gradually spread to Europe and the United States. Their economies became based on manufacturing, or making things (especially in factories).

7 The kind of work available in industrialized societies, such as factory work or machine operation, was often boring and repetitive. Industrialized work created a sharper distinction between work time and “free time,” or leisure, for the middle classes. People turned to sports for a high-energy release from boredom.

8 Industrialized societies also had modern school systems, which provided sports training and playing fields for students. Modern sports culture directly resulted from the popularity of sports in British schools and universities at the end of the 1800s. As more young men began to seriously compete in sports, athletics became an important element of social status. Games also began to attract more spectators and to spread to other countries.

^{1 Sports sociologists study the relationship between human social behavior and sports.} From SPORTS AND SOCIETY by Scott Witmer, Heinemann Library. © 2012

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

The Age of Language

1 In a tiny Chinese restaurant, the menu on the wall includes some Chinese characters. At one table, a family speaks Spanish. At another table, the waiter taps his foot along to an internationally popular French song. This kind of scene is common in some parts of America. After all, the United States has been called “a nation of immigrants.” While English may be the language used most commonly in school, the truth is that many Americans are bilingual. This means they can communicate in two languages!

2 Even for those who did not grow up speaking multiple languages, learning a second language is powerful. It helps people communicate with others from different countries. It also helps people improve their memory and problem-solving skills, according to several research studies. Since scientists suggest that language learning is easiest for young children, learning a second language at a younger age seems like a great place to start.

Younger Is Better

3 The brain of a baby is built to learn languages. As toddlers, humans take in words and remember the way they are accented even before they speak. Accents are different pronunciations of the same word, such as saying “heah” instead of “here.” People who learn words in a second language often carry over accents from the original language they grew up hearing. This can dramatically change the sound of words, potentially creating challenges between speaker and listener.

4 The ability to form accents is easiest for young kids. In a 1975 study, children ages 6–15 learning English as a second language were given a speaking test. The younger children scored highest in the ability to correctly form a particular accent. Learning a new language at a young age may help adults avoid the confusion that can arise from different accents.

But Can Young Kids Understand?

5 There are some experts, however, that argue maturity is more important to the learning process than age. Professor Sorace of the Bilingualism Matters Centre claims young children are not as prepared as older learners for studying in a classroom. Still, a sense of teamwork and excitement can drive kids at any age to success.

Continuing to Learn

6 Children can use different methods to learn. Younger kids may not understand relationships between countries, but their desire to communicate can be increased by a single person instead. For example, they can build a friendship through exchanging letters with a real person from a different country in a pen pal project.

7 Another method is called “immersion.” Immersion imitates the experience of a person moving to a new country. Studies show that foreign students who were put in an all-English-speaking environment learned English as a second language quickly. Students in an immersion program find themselves surrounded by a different language, and they often are unable to fall back on the comfort of the language they normally use. They must use problem-solving skills to communicate even when they do not have the words. Once they have learned many new words, children in an immersion program can absorb grammar rules by hearing those words used a certain way over and over again.

8 In the classroom version of immersion learning, everything is spoken in the new language. This includes asking to use the bathroom or talking with friends during breaks. Immersion makes the new language useful. It also gives more opportunities for children to practice their skills.

A Future of Possibility

9 Strategies and abilities aside, learning a new language changes people. In today’s world, many Americans no longer have to travel internationally to be exposed to different cultures. By learning languages at a young age, kids can acquire a new way to communicate. They may also increase their interest in people from different countries and cultures around the world. Finally, language learners even develop their memory and thinking skills as they learn a new language.

Read the next two selections. Then choose the best answer to each question.

Passage 1:

Best friends Chip and Luther are exploring the Old Place, an abandoned farm in their town.

from The Last Wild Place

by Rosa Jordan

1 Beyond the bramble-filled pasture was ten acres of woods. Once Chip and Luther had tried to explore back there, but they hadn’t gone more than a dozen yards when they hit a swampy area and sank up to their knees in mud. Then, while trying to get their feet out of the mud without losing their sneakers, they’d seen a coral snake. Luther had wanted to look at it up close, but Chip knew it was poison by the order of the colored bands. He’d taught Luther this verse on the spot: “Red by black, don’t worry, Jack. Red by yellow, kill a fellow.”

2 After that Chip and Luther referred to the woods as “the Jungle” and never went back. Instead, they checked out other things on the Old Place, like rabbit burrows in the thorn patch, the orange tree where a mockingbird always built her nest, and the barn owls that nested in the barn loft.

3 There were two good ways to count rabbits. Either you could climb the rickety ladder up into the loft and spot them from above, or you could lie in the grass in what had been the old cow pen and wait for the rabbits to come out into the open. The original Miz Rabbit wasn’t afraid of the boys, and maybe she told her babies that these humans wouldn’t hurt them. The young ones were wilder than Miz Rabbit, but if Chip and Luther put out a few handfuls of grain and waited, they would come nibble at it.

4 The only trouble with trying to count rabbits, either from the ground or the loft, was that there were so many and they looked so much alike. All were either white like Miz Rabbit or brown like their swamp rabbit papa. Since they hopped all over the place, after a while you’d get mixed up, not sure which ones you had counted and which ones you hadn’t.

5 Chip and Luther first climbed up into the loft to check out the view. This part of South Florida was about as flat as land could get. Looking through holes where boards had fallen off the walls, they could see the fields all around, as far as the Wilson place in one direction and, in the other direction, as far as Chip’s house and the highway. What they didn’t see on this particular afternoon was a lot of rabbits. A few dozen at most. Normally they’d see way more than that on a nice day like this.

6 After about fifteen minutes in the loft, Luther started sneezing from all the dust. “Let’s get out of here,” he said. “If we put out grain, more will come.”

7 They climbed back down the ladder and went into the old cow pen. Luther dug into his pocket for the goat feed he’d brought along for just this purpose. After making a line of feed on the ground, the two boys sprawled on the grass and waited. Within a few minutes rabbits started hopping up. Soon there were about thirty-five, in all sizes, nibbling at the grain.

8 “Not as many as usual,” Luther commented.

9 “More will come,” Chip said. More always did if they waited long enough.

From THE LAST WILD PLACE by Rosa Jordan, Peachtree Publishing Company, Inc. © 2008.

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

Aidan read about a recent discovery involving an Australian animal and wrote this paper to share what he learned. Read Aidan’s paper and look for revisions he needs to make. Then answer the questions that follow.

The Yellow-Spotted Goanna

{(1)} Imagine a hole in the ground. {(2)} Scientists investigate and are hopeful that it’s what they’ve been looking for. {(3)} They pull out their tools, begin gently scooping soil away, and follow a passageway into the earth. {(4)} Soon the scientists notice that the hole is turning on itself, spiraling down deeper into the ground. {(5)} Around every curve, they are hoping to find a clutch of eggs. {(6)} Finally, after digging five feet, they come across one. {(7)} What kind of nest have these scientists discovered? {(8)} They all looked around as they tried to guess what it could be.

{(9)} Native to Australia, the yellow-spotted goanna is a type of monitor lizard. {(10)} This apex predator, which can grow to be about five feet long, will feast on almost anything it can catch. {(11)} However, in spite of its massive size, the animal is somewhat mysterious and not often seen. {(12)} Scientists had spent years trying to find where the goannas were laying their eggs.

{(13)} After the initial discovery, the scientists located more goanna burrows, some reaching 12 feet deep. {(14)} The scientists learned that this animal faces a unique challenge in incubating its eggs. {(15)} The weather in Australia goes through a super dry, hot season every year. {(16)} In order for goanna eggs to stay at the right temperature, they must be in the cooler, wetter soil that is found deep in the earth. {(17)} The eggs stay safe in the nest for eight long months, and then the baby lizards hatch and burrow their way straight up through the soil to the surface.

{(18)} The burrows are more than just pathways that the goannas for laying eggs dig to safe nests. {(19)} The burrows provide for other animals too. {(20)} In fact, goannas have become known as “ecosystem engineers.” {(21)} When scientists began excavating some goanna burrows, they discovered a whole collection of wild creatures living in them.

{(22)} Other lizards and also insects and snakes and scorpions were found in goanna burrows. {(23)} In a particular colony of burrows, 28 different species were found. {(24)} And one group of researchers found more than 400 frogs in a burrow they were studying.

{(25)} The yellow-spotted goanna holds a unique position in the circle of life in Australia. {(26)} It is a predator that feasts on frogs, birds, eggs, and small reptiles. {(27)} But its nesting practices also provide essential shelter and opportunities for some of the very animals it eats. {(28)} Changes to the goanna population would have a significant impact on many other species. {(29)} The goanna nest is a perfect example of how species that may seem very different from one another can actually be intricately connected.

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

Judson wrote this paper about a special collection he has. Read Judson’s paper and look for revisions he needs to make. Then answer the questions that follow.

My Treasures

{(1)} To most people my treasure chest wouldn’t seem to contain much actual treasure. {(2)} It is brown and made of a sturdy wood. {(3)} In fact, it might appear to be just a box full of rocks. {(4)} Few people would see anything special about them. {(5)} But to me those rocks are of incomparable value. {(6)} The real riches are in the stories that each rock has to tell.

{(7)} Even as a young child, I loved searching for rocks on the playground. ({8)} When other kids were swinging from the monkey bars, I was sifting through the sandbox. {(9)} My mom used to roll her eyes when she washed my clothes. {(10)} They would always clunk around in the dryer because my pockets were full of rocks. {(11)} As I got older, I started keeping track of the rocks I found, and my rock collecting became a passionate hobby.

{(12)} Whenever we go to a new place, I always choose a special rock to remember the experience. {(13)} I catalog the rocks based on where they are from, and I’m starting to get quite a geographical assortment. {(14)} In the meantime, I’ve personally collected rocks from 10 different states. {(15)} Other people have collected rocks for me too. {(16)} My friend Javier brought a rock back for me from his grandmother’s house in Mexico. {(17)} My cousin sent me a Petoskey stone from Lake Michigan. {(18)} He is from Chicago. {(19)} And my uncle sent me a whole pouch of polished stones from the Texas Memorial Museum gift shop.

{(20)} My mom says I have a knack for noticing the small details that make a stone special. {(21)} I’m also learning how and where to look for truly unique geological treasures. {(22)} One time I discovered a piece of fulgurite. {(23)} This rare stone is created when lightning strikes the sand and causes the granules to melt into a tube shape.

{(24)} Some of my favorite treasures are the ones that remind me of special people in my life. {(25)} There’s a smooth river rock that I saved from my grandma’s garden before she moved. {(26)} And there’s the geode that my best friend Brayden and I split in half. {(27)} He kept one half, and I kept the other. {(28)} There’s also the sparkly white quartz that my dad and I found on a rock-hunting trip to Arkansas.

{(29)} Some of my rocks are special to me because of where they came from. {(30)} Others are meaningful because of what they look like or the connections that they represent. {(31)} My treasures might not be worth a lot of money, but each stone is like a little piece of my history. {(32)} And my history is important to me even if it’s not so important to others.