Saving the Manatee

The Florida manatee, a subspecies of the West Indian manatee, is a large ocean mammal
found in Florida's rivers and coastal areas. Unfortunately, the state's population of manatees
has dwindled significantly over the years. Although the manatee has no natural predators,
humans have contributed to many manatee deaths, mainly through boat collisions. The loss of
warm-water habitats has also hastened the manatee's decline. Aerial surveys performed in the
early 1990s found an estimated 1,267 manatees in Florida. Because of conservation efforts by
several organizations, however, the number of manatees has rebounded recently. The creation
of manatee protection zones—areas that boaters must avoid or drive through more slowly—
has been particularly effective. As a result of these efforts, more than 6,000 manatees are
found in Florida today.

1. What is the main, or central, idea of the passage?

If boats are allowed at all in manatee protection zones, they are required to go at slower
speeds.

Thanks to conservation efforts, Florida manatee populations have increased.

2. Which online professional profile is more formal?

I've got a degree and certification and want to get a job teaching.

I am a certified college graduate seeking a teaching position.

3. Which set of instructions is more formal?

If you're going to be touching raw meat or poultry, you'd better wash your hands, forks,
knives, and cutting boards afterward.
Wash hands, utensils, and work surfaces after touching raw meat or poultry.

4. Which expression of condolence is more formal?

I am sorry to hear that your pet fish died.
I'm sorry your pet fish kicked the bucket.

1. Select the simile in the passage.

As I was waiting, a man came out of a side room, and at a glance I was sure he must be Long
John. He was very tall and strong, with a face as big as a ham—plain and pale, but intelligent
and smiling. Indeed, he seemed in the most cheerful spirits, whistling as he moved about
among the tables, with a merry word or a slap on the shoulder for the more favored of his
guests.
 5. Select the passage that has a more enthusiastic tone.
Tom and Bud were bursting with curiosity. Althoughthe Swifts had been in
radio contact with creaturesfrom outer space for many months, this was t
hemost exciting news yet!

It was quite by accident that I discovered aninvasion of Earth by life-forms

from another planet.As yet, I haven't done anything about it; I can'tthink o
f anything to do. I wrote to theGovernment, and they sent back a pamphle
t onthe repair and maintenance of frame houses.

6. Select the passage that has a more thrilled tone.

It was now quite dark, and as we droned ourisolated way eastward and up
ward, nothing could beseen outside the cockpit except the inner struts, th
eengines, and the red-glowing vapor ejected throughthe exhaust pipes.

The elliptical golden object darted into swift andeccentric motion. Its man
euvers suggested theheedless tumblings and scurrying of falling foliage. It
fluttered in swift turns and somersaults andspinnings, with indescribably g
raceful swoops andloops like some preposterous dance.

7. Select the passage that has a more humorous tone.

Suddenly, he heard a sharp report and somethingstruck the water within a
few inches of his head,spattering his face with spray. He heard a secondre
port and saw one of the sentinels with his rifle athis shoulder, a light cloud
of smoke rising from themuzzle.

The sixth bullet mortally wounded the Colonel, whoremarked, with fine hu
mor, that he would have tosay goodbye now, as he had business uptown.
Hethen inquired the way to the undertaker's and left.

8. Select the passage that has a more lighthearted tone.

The sun had disappeared and a lead-colored twilightsettled down. A few d
rops of rain, drivinghorizontally, struck him. The impact was like that oflea
den pellets.

Over in the West, jolly, round, red Mr. Sun started togo to bed behind the
purple hills, and the shadowscame creeping out.
 9. Which narrative point of view is shown in the passage?
My Aunt Helen was my favorite person in the whole world. She was my
mom's sister. She got straight A's when she was a teenager, and she used
to give me books to read. My father said that the books were a little too
old for me, but I liked them, so he just shrugged and let me read.

10. Which narrative point of view is shown in the passage?

Robert talked a good deal about himself. He was very young, and did not
know any better. Mrs. Pontellier talked a little about herself for the same
reason. Each was interested in what the other said.

11. Which figure of speech is used in this text?

Common sense is not so common.
—attributed to Voltaire
paradox
oxymoron

12. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary. . .
—Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven"
idiom
alliteration

2. Which figure of speech is used in this text?

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life.
—William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
onomatopoeia
alliteration

3. What does the personification in this text suggest?

Zachary tried to ignore his unfinished essay, but it glared at him from across the room.
The essay was printed in large type.
It bothered Zachary that the essay wasn't finished.

Read the story.

Luisa's Letter
1
Luisa unlocked the gate, hurried into her building, and checked the mailbox. The mail was still there, thank goo
dness. An eggshell-white envelope lay atop the pile. She seized it and slipped it into her bag.
2
Upstairs, she handed the remaining mail to her mother. "How was school, Maria Luisa?" Mamá asked. "Somethi
ng to eat?" Luisa's mother had prepared her a board of cheeses, meats, and bread.
3
"It was fine," said Luisa, giving her mother a quick hug. "I'll just take an apple and do some homework."
In her room, Luisa changed out of her school uniform. She tried to focus on her English homework, but the lette
r called to her. She pulled out the shiny envelope. It had traveled more places than she had. All her life, Luisa ha
d lived in Seville. She'd hardly gone anywhere else, even within Spain. Luisa loved her home, loved being a Sev
illana, but she wanted to see the world. But her parents just wanted her to stay in Seville, get married, give them
grandchildren.
She recalled the day she first saw Elise Littleton. There was something so exotic about her. Elise carried herself
differently. And the way she spoke Spanish, with that elegant English accent! Luisa was drawn to the stranger i
mmediately. She showed Elise around school, helped her with her Spanish, introduced her to friends. Elise told
Luisa all about England, her family there, the food they ate, the weather. Whenever Elise shared something abou
t Seville that struck her as funny or unusual, it surprised Luisa and made her see her home from a new perspecti
ve. Elise was also the one who told Luisa about the foreign exchange program that had sponsored her.
A year abroad! What an enticing possibility. But Luisa couldn't bring herself to raise the subject with her parents
. So, last spring, on her own, she applied for a year of high school in England. The form required parental permi
ssion, but she'd just checked the boxes and signed their names. Why tell them about it if the program might rejec
t her anyway?
And now, this envelope held her answer. Luisa cradled it in her hands like an unhatched egg. She put it in her de
sk drawer, tried to start her homework, pulled out the envelope again, put it back, and finally opened her English
book.
She returned to the kitchen to help her mother with dinner. As they worked side by side, Mamá chatted merrily a
bout the wedding plans and babies of her assorted cousins. Luisa listened and wished she weren't an only child.
"Mamá, do you ever think about traveling? I mean, I want to. And maybe someday . . . live somewhere else."
Luisa's heart beat harder as she anticipated her mother's reaction. But Mamá nodded. "Luisa, of course you'd lik
e to travel. And I want that for you. I didn't have so many opportunities when I was your age. But things have ch
anged, and—"
Just then Papá arrived, and after a flurry of activity—place setting, bottle opening, joke telling—they sat down a
t the table to eat. "Seville is the best, yes, my Maria Luisa?" Luisa's heart sank. Papá shook his head, lost in thou
ght. "Why would Álvaro want to leave Seville? There are as many opportunities here as in the whole of France!
" He raised his fork toward Mamá, as if he were toasting her. "And no croissant could top your food, mi amor."
Mamá smiled. "Now, now, mi vida," she said, patting Papá's hand. "When Luisa is old enough, we can discuss
with her what's best for her future." Papá raised an eyebrow but didn't argue.
Luisa couldn't wait any longer. She had to open the letter. But then the conversation moved on to the day's news
and weekend plans. Her parents' easy chatter and joking was the sound of her childhood, her home. She sank de
eper into her chair and listened. Home would always be here. But when the time was right, she'd leave. Maybe n
ot forever, but she'd go. And when she did, she wanted it to be with her parents' support.
"Something came in the mail," she said at last. "I want you to see." She retrieved the letter and laid it softly on th
e table. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she said, her voice wobbling. "I wanted this more than anything." Luisa wav
ed at the unopened envelope. "But only if you say it's okay."

4. Based on the first and second paragraphs, why is Luisa relieved when she sees the
mail is in the box?
She is worried that someone might steal her family's mail.
She has been waiting for some mail that she doesn't want her parents to see.
She likes getting the mail so her mother doesn't have to walk downstairs.

Read the story.

 Mission: Maravilha
1
Alberto Zingg displayed his 2025-era "smartphone" and old-style driver's license for inspection. The historian a
pproved them, along with Alberto's vintage T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. "Cleared for travel," she pronounced.
2
Alberto grinned. "2025, here I come!" Soon he'd land three years before his own birth. His mission: retrieve see
ds from the now-extinct Amazonian Maravilha. Those seeds were the key to ending the epidemic of the F-13 vir
us now spreading across Earth.
3
As the time displacement module fired up, Alberto closed his eyes and recalled the facts of his mission: A fire at
Global Med back in 2037 had destroyed the entire supply of the serum used to treat F-13. Then, in the last decad
e, deforestation had obliterated Maravilha, the source of the life-saving medicine. Scientists were confident they
could start manufacturing the serum again, if only they had Maravilha seeds.
The module spun faster, its quantum dilator engine reverberating through Alberto like nonstop thunder.
When the roar receded and finally ceased, Alberto opened his eyes. As planned, he'd landed in the laboratory of
Dr. Willa Quavious—his mother. But the woman in the lab coat, absorbed in her work, was a much younger ver
sion. In 2025, she was studying medicinal plants in the Amazon. Alberto's orders were to shadow her to find the
Maravilha.
He had just two hours. The tight time-window meant he needed to get moving. He crept toward the door. His ru
bber-soled sneakers squeaked, and Dr. Quavious looked up. Alberto's heart stopped.
"Dr. Zingg? I recognized you from your profile," she said. "Welcome to Brazil. Let's meet in the briefing room i
n an hour."
She'd mistaken Alberto for his father, Dr. Amos Zingg. "Ah . . . thank you. I'll see you then," Alberto sputtered,
then fled. He had already violated Rule One: Don't Be Seen.
Outside, Alberto collected himself. Time for Plan B: Utilize his field training to find Maravilha plants on his ow
n. But his search of the tangled jungle surrounding the station revealed no Maravilha, only three soon-to-be-
extinct species of tree frog. He'd wasted half an hour.
Alberto walked back toward the lab, pondering his plight. He'd apparently arrived here shortly before his parents
first met. According to family lore, Amos Zingg had visited Willa Quavious's Amazon lab on her birthday, April
18. Alberto's presence now, on April 18, raised two problems: First, disrupting his parents' first meeting could b
e disastrous; worst case, he'd cease to exist.
Second, he was months too early. He had aimed for November 13, 2025, the date Dr. Quavious announced her d
iscovery of Maravilha and its curative properties. But now, seven months earlier, she might not even have found
the seeds.
Rapid footsteps approached. Alberto scrambled for cover as Dr. Zingg hurried past on his way to the briefing, ru
shing as usual. Funny how people don't change, Alberto mused.
That thought pestered him. People don't change. His mission had targeted November, when Dr. Quavious anno
unced her findings. The mission planners assumed that's when she'd found the Maravilha, because standard prac
tice was to announce discoveries immediately. But people don't change. Alberto knew that his mother never an
nounced anything until she had tested, retested, and triple-tested her findings. She would have studied Maravilh
a in her laboratory for months before her announcement. That meant—
Alberto raced back to his mom's lab. His father didn't look up as Alberto dashed past the briefing room toward t
he door labeled Dr. Quavious: Private. He knocked, entering before she answered. "Excuse me," she snapped.
"Sorry, Mom!" Alberto blurted. "Ma'am," he corrected. Heart pounding, he focused on the magenta blossom on
her desk. "Maravilha?"
His mother tilted her head. "The flowers exhibit certain medicinal properties."
"I'm interested in the seeds," he answered.
"Really, Dr. Zingg?"
"Well," Alberto said, sucking in his breath, "you're aware of disease-fighting compounds in certain related seedp
ods?"
"Indeed," she responded, "but I haven't completed my analysis." She pulled out two vials of round, purple seeds.
"Ah," Alberto said, light-headed at the sight of them. How could he take them without her noticing? He'd get her
to leave the lab. Alberto cleared his throat. "The, uh, security manager was looking for you. He needs to reset th
e access code on your key card. For, uh, security." Without looking up, his mother replied that if the security ma
nager needed her, he knew where to find her.
That's my mom, Alberto thought. He coughed. From years of arguing with his mother, he'd learned that the dire
ct approach worked best. He asked politely, "May I borrow this vial? You'll collect more seeds, yes?"
Alberto's mother stared. Then, generous as always, she nodded. "Fine. I'll collect more," she said, glancing at the
door. "Meanwhile, if you don't mind? I've got work to do."
Pocketing the precious vial, Alberto bowed, the way his father would. "I thank you," he said. His subdermal chi
p vibrated, signaling five minutes to mission completion. And the future thanks you, he added silently.

5. Based on the first and second paragraphs, why does Alberto require approval of his
phone, ID, and clothes?
He needs to fit in when he reaches the past.
He needs to be prepared for the Amazon jungle.
He needs to avoid F-13 virus contamination.
He needs to look exactly like his own father.