- Sign In
- Tutor Bios
-
Test Prep
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Search 50+ Tests
Loading Page
-
Academic Tutoring
elementary tutoring
Search 350+ Subjects
Loading Page
- About
Create an account to track your scores
and create your own practice tests:
All Common Core: 7th Grade English Language Arts Resources
Adapted from White Fang by Jack London (1906)
Dark spruce forest frowned on either side the frozen waterway. The trees had been stripped by a recent wind of their white covering of frost, and they seemed to lean toward each other, black and ominous, in the fading light. A vast silence reigned over the land. The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a laughter more terrible than any sadness -- a laughter that was mirthless as the smile of the Sphinx, a laughter cold as the frost and partaking of the grimness of infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild.
But there was life, abroad in the land and defiant. Down the frozen waterway toiled a string of wolfish dogs. Their bristly fur was rimed with frost. Their breath froze in the air as it left their mouths, spouting forth in spumes of vapor that settled upon the hair of their bodies and formed into crystals of frost. Leather harness was on the dogs, and leather traces attached them to a sled which dragged along behind. On the sled, securely lashed, was a long and narrow oblong box. There were other things on the sled -- blankets, an axe, and a coffee-pot and frying-pan; but prominent, occupying most of the space, was the long and narrow oblong box.
In advance of the dogs, on wide snowshoes, toiled a man. At the rear of the sled toiled a second man. On the sled, in the box, lay a third man whose toil was over, -- a man whom the Wild had conquered and beaten down until he would never move nor struggle again.
But at front and rear, unawed and indomitable, toiled the two men who were not yet dead. Their bodies were covered with fur and soft-tanned leather. Eyelashes and cheeks and lips were so coated with the crystals from their frozen breath that their faces were not discernible. This gave them the seeming of ghostly masques, undertakers in a spectral world at the funeral of some ghost. But under it all they were men, penetrating the land of desolation and mockery and silence, puny adventurers bent on colossal adventure, pitting themselves against the might of a world as remote and alien and pulseless as the abysses of space.
They travelled on without speech, saving their breath for the work of their bodies. On every side was the silence, pressing upon them with a tangible presence.
The pale light of the short sunless day was beginning to fade, when a faint far cry arose on the still air. It soared upward with a swift rush, till it reached its topmost note, where it persisted, palpitant and tense, and then slowly died away. It might have been a lost soul wailing, had it not been invested with a certain sad fierceness and hungry eagerness.
A second cry arose, piercing the silence with needlelike shrillness. Both men located the sound. It was to the rear, somewhere in the snow expanse they had just traversed. A third and answering cry arose, also to the rear and to the left of the second cry.
"They're after us, Bill," said the man at the front.
"Meat is scarce," answered his comrade. "I ain't seen a rabbit sign for days.”
At the fall of darkness they swung the dogs into a cluster of spruce trees on the edge of the waterway and made a camp. The coffin, at the side of the fire, served for seat and table. The wolf-dogs, clustered on the far side of the fire, snarled and bickered among themselves, but evinced no inclination to stray off into the darkness.
- - -
"Henry," said Bill, munching with deliberation the beans he was eating, "How many dogs 've we got, Henry?"
"Six."
"Well, Henry . . ." Bill stopped for a moment, in order that his words might gain greater significance. "As I was sayin', Henry, we've got six dogs. I took six fish out of the bag. I gave one fish to each dog, an', Henry, I was one fish short."
"You counted wrong."
"We've got six dogs," the other reiterated dispassionately. "took out six fish. One Ear didn't get no fish. I come back to the bag afterward an' got 'm his fish."
"We've only got six dogs," Henry said.
"Henry," Bill went on, "I won't say they was all dogs, but there was seven of 'm that got fish."
Henry stopped eating to glance across the fire and count the dogs.
"There's only six now," he said.
"I saw the other one run off across the snow," Bill announced with cool positiveness. "I saw seven.”
Bill opened his mouth to speak, but changed his mind. Instead, he pointed toward the wall of darkness that pressed about them from every side. There was no suggestion of form in the utter blackness; only could be seen a pair of eyes gleaming like live coals. Henry indicated with his head a second pair, and a third. A circle of the gleaming eyes had drawn about their camp.
Which of the following is NOT true?
Because of the story’s setting, the men are in danger of being eaten by wild animals.
Because of the story’s setting, the men are lost.
Because of the story’s setting, the men are in danger of freezing to death if they are not careful.
Because of the story’s setting, one man has already died.
Because of the story’s setting, the men don’t often speak while traveling.
Which of the following is NOT true?
Because of the story’s setting, the men are in danger of being eaten by wild animals.
Because of the story’s setting, the men are in danger of freezing to death if they are not careful.
Because of the story’s setting, one man has already died.
Because of the story’s setting, the men don’t often speak while traveling.
Because of the story’s setting, the men are lost.
The setting plays a major role in this passage. The author begins the passage with a long, formal description of the environment before introducing the two main characters, whom you initially can't tell apart. Which of the listed effects does the setting directly have on the plot of the story, though? To find the answer choice that is not true, you may want to consider each of them. If you can identify four of them that are certainly true based on textual evidence, you'll have indirectly located the one that is not.
"Because of the story’s setting, the men don’t often speak while traveling." - This is true, and we have direct evidence for this cause-effect relationship because the passage states, "They travelled on without speech, saving their breath for the work of their bodies."
"Because of the story’s setting, the men are in danger of being eaten by wild animals." - This is also true; the brief conversation that Bill and Henry have while they travel tells us that they are being followed by hungry wild animals.
"Because of the story’s setting, the men are in danger of freezing to death if they are not careful." - This is also true; the descriptions of the frigidity of the environment plus lines like "Eyelashes and cheeks and lips were so coated with the crystals from their frozen breath that their faces were not discernible" tell us that the men could easily freeze to death if they are not careful.
"Because of the story’s setting, one man has already died." - This is also correct, based on what the narrator tells us. He most directly discusses the third man who has died in the third paragraph when the narrator states, "On the sled, in the box, lay a third man whose toil was over, -- a man whom the Wild had conquered and beaten down until he would never move nor struggle again." The narrator describes the environment as "the Wild" at the end of the first paragraph, so here, he is attributing the third man's death to the environment directly.
The correct answer, then, must be "Because of the story’s setting, the men are lost." This is not a true statement, so it is the correct answer. We are never given any indication that the men are lost, just that traveling is difficult.
“Stone Trees”
Have you ever seen a stone tree? While the idea of a stone tree may sound fantastic, fallen trees can turn to stone in very specific circumstances, producing what scientists call “petrified wood.” “Petra” means stone in ancient Greek, so something “petrified” has been turned to stone. You may have heard the word “petrified” used to describe someone so scared that they have frozen as if turned to stone, but scientists use the word literally to refer to actual stone. Petrified trees are stone trees, not scared trees!
A Type of Fossil
Like ancient skeletons of dinosaurs and other organisms preserved in the earth, petrified wood is a type of fossil; however, there is a big difference between petrified wood and most fossils. Most fossils are imprints of creatures or partial remains of them, such as their skeletons. In contrast, the process of petrification recreates an entire preserved tree in stone. It’s very cool to see a petrified tree close-up, because it is still precisely life-size; you can get an idea of how big the tree was when it was alive, and even see individual tree cells that have been preserved. You can even count the tree rings in some petrified trees and estimate how old the tree grew to be before it was petrified.
From Tree to Stone
In order for a tree to become petrified wood, it must have died and been buried a very long time ago. This has to have happened in a specific environment, though, or petrified wood would not be so rare. The tree has to be buried in such a way that oxygen cannot get to its bark and wood. If oxygen can get to the tree, it will rot instead of turn to stone.
The environment has to have two more specific characteristics to produce petrified wood: there has to be water in the ground around the tree, and that water has to contain minerals. If mineral-containing water is present, water will go into and out of the tree’s cells and, over time, the minerals in the water will accumulate in the tree’s cells. When the tree’s cells eventually decay, the minerals are left. Petrified wood can be a rainbow of different colors, with each color corresponding to different elements in the tree’s preserving environment that affect the color of the minerals that form its stone.
Petrified wood is found all over the world, and there are even entire forests of petrified trees that you can travel to go see today. One national park in the United States, Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, is famous for its many petrified trees. The next time you see a tree, remember, after a few million years in the right environment, it could turn to stone!
In what way does petrified wood differ from dinosaur fossils?
Dinosaur fossils are much more valuable than petrified wood is.
Dinosaur fossils can only form when oxygen does not get to the organism being fossilized, but petrification requires that a tree be exposed to oxygen.
Dinosaur fossils are parts of ancient creatures, but petrification preserves the likeness of an entire tree.
Dinosaur fossils are two-dimensional imprints, but petrification creates a three-dimensional stone tree.
Dinosaur fossils are always bigger than petrified trees.
In what way does petrified wood differ from dinosaur fossils?
Dinosaur fossils are much more valuable than petrified wood is.
Dinosaur fossils can only form when oxygen does not get to the organism being fossilized, but petrification requires that a tree be exposed to oxygen.
Dinosaur fossils are two-dimensional imprints, but petrification creates a three-dimensional stone tree.
Dinosaur fossils are always bigger than petrified trees.
Dinosaur fossils are parts of ancient creatures, but petrification preserves the likeness of an entire tree.
In the section "A Type of Fossil," the passage compares petrified wood to other fossils like dinosaur bones and imprints. The section begins by setting up for discussion of "a big difference" between petrified wood and most other fossils:
Like ancient skeletons of dinosaurs and other organisms preserved in the earth, petrified wood is a type of fossil; however, there is a big difference between petrified wood and most fossils. Most fossils are imprints of creatures or partial remains of them, such as their skeletons. In contrast, the process of petrification recreates an entire preserved tree in stone.
This answers the question at hand: dinosaur fossils are parts of ancient creatures, but petrification preserves the likeness of an entire tree. This is the correct answer. The passage doesn't say anything about dinosaur fossils always being bigger than petrified trees, nor does it say anything about the relative value of dinosaur fossils and petrified wood. The answer choice "Dinosaur fossils can only form when oxygen does not get to the organism being fossilized, but petrification requires that a tree be exposed to oxygen" may seem correct, but read it carefully, and you'll find that its last part, "petrification requires that a tree be exposed to oxygen," is incorrect based on what we learn in the rest of the passage. Petrified trees only form when fallen trees are prevented from rotting by being buried so oxygen can't get to them and make them rot. "Dinosaur fossils are two-dimensional imprints, but petrification creates a three-dimensional stone tree" may also look like a great answer choice; however, the passage states, "Most fossils are imprints of creatures or partial remains of them, such as their skeletons." Skeletons aren't two-dimensional imprints, so we can't claim that "Dinosaur fossils are two-dimensional imprints."
Report an issue with this question
If you've found an issue with this question, please let us know. With the help of the community we can continue to improve our educational resources.
DMCA Complaint
If you believe that content available by means of the Website (as defined in our Terms of Service) infringes one or more of your copyrights, please notify us by providing a written notice (“Infringement Notice”) containing the information described below to the designated agent listed below. If Varsity Tutors takes action in response to an Infringement Notice, it will make a good faith attempt to contact the party that made such content available by means of the most recent email address, if any, provided by such party to Varsity Tutors.
Your Infringement Notice may be forwarded to the party that made the content available or to third parties such as ChillingEffects.org.
Please be advised that you will be liable for damages (including costs and attorneys’ fees) if you materially misrepresent that a product or activity is infringing your copyrights. Thus, if you are not sure content located on or linked-to by the Website infringes your copyright, you should consider first contacting an attorney.
Please follow these steps to file a notice:
You must include the following:
A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf; An identification of the copyright claimed to have been infringed; A description of the nature and exact location of the content that you claim to infringe your copyright, in \ sufficient detail to permit Varsity Tutors to find and positively identify that content; for example we require a link to the specific question (not just the name of the question) that contains the content and a description of which specific portion of the question – an image, a link, the text, etc – your complaint refers to; Your name, address, telephone number and email address; and A statement by you: (a) that you believe in good faith that the use of the content that you claim to infringe your copyright is not authorized by law, or by the copyright owner or such owner’s agent; (b) that all of the information contained in your Infringement Notice is accurate, and (c) under penalty of perjury, that you are either the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on their behalf.
Send your complaint to our designated agent at:
Charles Cohn
Varsity Tutors LLC
101 S. Hanley Rd, Suite 300
St. Louis, MO 63105
Or fill out the form below:
