CHAPTER EXERCISES
Selection 2
A.
Vocabulary
1.
leaking or flowing slowly
2.
affectedly sweet, good, or virtuous
3.
pretending to be self-righteous and pious
B.
Structure and Meaning
1.
The sister cities of Midland and Odessa are very different, and the rivalry between their football teams is fierce.
2.
contrast
3.
It is empty of human life.
“it felt as though . . any sign of human life”
4.
the cities of Odessa and Midland
5.
Odessa’s oil has perhaps been pumped out, since the writer uses the word “oozing,” not “gushing.” Also the oil drilling
equipment is rusting away.
6.
Paragraph 1: Both towns were dependent on oil for their livelihood and their survival.
Paragraph 4: the town that liked not only to defeat its chief rival in football but also to humiliate it
C.
Language Analysis
1.
personification; the rival sister cities are compared to two sisters—one messy, disorderly, and badly behaved (Odessa),
and the other neat, prim, and sure of its superiority (Midland).
2.
(a)
“they suddenly rose out of the emptiness like territorial forts” [paragraph 1); the towns are described as if they are at
war
(b)
“glassy and shimmering in the sun like misplaced tanning reflectors” (paragraph 2); the buildings were incongruous
in the bleak landscape
(c)
“row after row of oil field equipment that looked like rusting military weapons from a once-great war” (paragraph 2);
the drilling equipment was rusting away, but it also suggests a war zone
They are all similes; all are introduced with “like.”
3.
a; the details in the rest of the paragraph suggest the first meanings.
Selection 3
A.
Content and Structure
1.
Canadians and Americans distrust each other, but for different reasons.
2.
c
3.
Americans t ink that Canadians envy them and that Canadians pay too much attention to environmental issues.
4.
They are afraid that the Americans will overrun them economically.
5.
Relations between the two countries are cordial but strained.
B.
Language Analysis
1.
They spend so much time watching the activities on the other side of the border by “pressing [their noses] against the . . .
one-way mirror” that their noses are flattened, like a pig’s.
2.
The Canadians watch the Americans and wonder what they’re up to. Because the mirror is one-way, Americans don’t pay
much attention to Canada.
3.
c
4.
America bosses other countries around, and we meddle in their affairs.
5.
Canadians are neat and orderly. Americans are loud and brash. They pollute.
6.
When Canadians visit the U.S., they are enthralled by all t hat they see, but they are also skeptical, worrying that the
attractions here might find their way across the border. When Americans visit Canada, they are charmed by its beauty.
Practice Essay:
Brian Doyle, “Joyas Voladoras”
A.
Comprehension
1.
d
B.
2.
a
3.
c
4.
b
5.
b
5.
PA 6. PA
Vocabulary
1.
infinitesimal
2. torpor
3. sludging
4.
ken
5. harrowed
6. impregnable
C.
Inferences
1.
PA
D.
Structure and Meaning
1.
Hummingbirds, blue whales, humans, worms, fish—every creature on earth has at its center a heart that is the essence of
life.
2.
its small size relative to its body.
3.
nectar
4.
Its heart is as large as a room, the valves are as big as the swinging doors on a saloon, and a baby blue whale is larger
than a car.
5.
the structure of the heart in various organisms
6.
the circulation of blood
7.
The heart is not just the organ that circulates life-giving blood, but also the seat of our emotions, the center that allows us to
feel and respond to experience.
8.
Answers will vary, but this example seems emotionally very affecting, nostalgic, endearing, and poignant.
2.
NP
3.
PA
4.
PI