Read the passage below. you will respond by writing an informational response paragraph. you will find specific writing directions below the passage. gold in the sky by alan e. nourse chapter 1. trouble times two the sun was glowing dull red as it slipped down behind the curving horizon of mars, but gregory hunter was not able to see it. there was no viewscreen in the ship's cabin; it was too tiny for that. greg twisted around in the cockpit that had been built just big enough to hold him, and shifted his long legs against the brace-webbing, trying to get them comfortable. he knew he was afraid but nobody else knew that, not even the captain waiting at the control board on the satellite, and in spite of the fear greg hunter would not have traded places at this moment with anyone else in the universe. he had worked too hard and waited too long for this moment. he heard the count-down monitor clicking in his ears, and his hands clenched into fists. how far from mars would he be 10 minutes from now? he didn't know. farther than any man had ever traveled before in the space of 10 minutes, he knew, and faster. how far and how fast would depend on him alone. "all set, greg? " it was the captain's voice in the earphones. "all set, captain." "you understand the program? " greg nodded. "24 hours out, 24 hours back, 90 degrees to the ecliptic1, and all the acceleration2 i can stand both ways." greg grinned to himself. he thought of the months of conditioning he had gone through to prepare for this run the hours in the centrifuge to build up his tolerance to acceleration, the careful diet, the rigorous hours of physical conditioning. it was only one experiment, one tiny step in the work that could someday give men the stars, but to gregory hunter at this moment it was everything. "good luck, then." the captain cut off, and the blastoff buzzer sounded. he was off. his heart hammered in his throat, and his eyes ached fiercely, but he paid no attention. his finger crept to the air-speed indicator, then to the cut-off switch. when the pressure became too great, when he began to black out, he would press it. but not yet. it was speed they wanted; they had to know how much acceleration a man could take for how long and still survive, and now it was up to him to show them. fleetingly, he thought of tom poor old stick-in-the-mud tom, working away in his grubby little mars-bound laboratory, watching bacteria grow. tom could never have qualified for a job like this. tom couldn't even go into free-fall for 10 minutes without getting sick all over the place. greg felt a surge of pity for his brother, and then a twinge of malicious anticipation. wait until tom heard the reports on this run! it was all right to spend your time poking around with bottles and test tubes if you couldn't do anything else, but it took something special to pilot an xp ship for project star-jump. and after this run was over, even tom would have to admit there was a lurch, and quite suddenly the enormous pressure was gone. something was wrong. he hadn't pushed the cut-off button, yet the ship's engines were suddenly silent. he jabbed at the power switch. nothing happened. then the side-jets sputted, and he was slammed sideways into the cot. he snapped on the radio speaker. "control can you hear me? something's gone wrong out " 1the great circle that is the apparent path of the sun. 2the process of moving faster or happening more quickly. now that you have read the passage, you will write an informational paragraph to answer the following question: how does this story create a feeling of tension or conflict? read the directions carefully so you know what to include in your essay. begin your paragraph by rephrasing the question into a topic sentence. be sure to include the title and the author. include 3 or more specific examples, details, or quotes from the passage to support your answers to the prompt. end with a conclusion sentence to wrap up your ideas.

When reading a poem closely to interpret its meaning and nuances, what can give you clues about the theme of the poem? a the rhyme scheme b. the stanza structure c. the title of the poem d. the name of the poet

Acommunity park it was friday, and as she walked home from school, samara thought about what she would do that weekend. everyone would be at the fund-raiser for new sports equipment at the high school on saturday. as she was trying to remember if any good movies were coming out this weekend, she noticed a group of kids playing tag. samara thought they looked comical running around in circles on a small plot of land between two houses. “well, they certainly seem happy,” thought samara as the light turned and she crossed the street. on the opposite side of cherry street, samara saw mr. peters sitting on a bench. he was reading his newspaper as the heavy traffic of the town’s main thoroughfare whizzed by him. she wondered how he could concentrate. later, as she took the last turn onto her street, samara saw her neighbor planting her annual vegetable garden. every year, mrs. yang grew eggplant, cucumbers, and bok choy, because that’s all she had room for. “the garden looks good so far, mrs. yang,” samara called. “ you, dear,” mrs. yang said. “you know, if i had room, i would plant enough vegetables to feed the entire neighborhood! my mother had a garden that was one square acre when i was a little girl in korea.” as samara nodded and waved goodbye, she started thinking about what she had seen on her walk home that day. she realized that pine grove did not have any open public spaces where everyone could go to relax and enjoy nature. the only unused space was a vacated plot on cedar avenue that was completely overgrown. suddenly, samara had a great idea. she decided to spend her summer campaigning for a new community park. the only problem was that she had no idea where to start. that evening, she went to the library and learned about what she would need to do in order to get the idea in front of the town zoning board. it was all a little intimidating, but wanda, the reference librarian, samara break it down into manageable steps. when samara mentioned the cedar avenue plot, wanda’s eyes lit up. “that is a perfect spot,” wanda said. “it’s right in the middle of town, and better yet, the town owns it.” samara spent many afternoons over the next few weeks at the library with wanda and a few other librarians drawing up a detailed plan to present to town officials. samara and the librarians even planned and priced out irrigation necessary for the area that was designated as a garden. when the day of the zoning board meeting arrived, samara felt nervous, but wanda and the other librarians were there for moral support. samara thought she at least sounded confident as she presented her idea to the board. when she finished her presentation, she was ready to wait patiently for an answer; wanda told her that this kind of decision might take weeks, so samara was surprised when the board members asked her to stay while they deliberated. the president of the board explained that samara’s presentation had been the last order of business for the day, and he wanted his board to be able to agree on one thing before they left. after about 15 minutes, samara was informed that the community park had been approved. samara had been telling her neighbors and friends about the park from the moment she thought of it, and it seemed as though everyone wanted to be a part of making her vision a reality. as soon as her idea was approved, samara called a meeting for anyone interested in collaborating. at the meeting, residents voted on what would be included on the land: a playset for young children and one for older children, a swing set, several park benches, and a dog run. it was also decided that there would be a cooperative organic vegetable garden and an herb garden at the north end of the park. residents agreed that mrs. yang would manage the gardens. at wanda’s suggestion, samara asked a representative from a nearby horticultural society to come and advise the group on the design of the park, the best native shrubs to plant, and where to put them. samara also asked local businesses to sponsor the park by the square foot so that the community would be able to afford equipment and plants. surprised by the response, samara went to the bank to open an account where the surplus would be saved for next spring. in a few weeks’ time, the space had been cleared and residents were beginning to roll out sod and plant small vegetable plants and summer flowers. by midsummer, the community was able to enjoy the new, peaceful space. samara was happy to have been part of creating not only a beautiful space, but a common area where residents could come together. which conclusions can be drawn from the last paragraph of this story? select each correct answer. a.wanda is eager to begin gardening with samara and mrs.yang. b.samara's family proudly joins the park staff. c.samara feels a sense of accomplishment. d.samara will run a workshop for less-experienced gardeners. e.business owners in pine grove support its beautification.

Freedoms" speech. i have called for personal sacrifice. i am assured of the willingness of almost all americans to respond to that call. a part of the sacrifice means the payment of more money in taxes. in my budget message i shall recommend that a greater portion of this great defense program be paid for from taxation than we are paying today. no person should try, or be allowed, to get rich out of this program; and the principle of tax payments in accordance with ability to pay should be constantly before our eyes to guide our legislation. what argument is roosevelt supporting with his appeal to logic in the underlined section of the excerpt? if americans are willing to trust roosevelt, it only makes sense that he will ensure that the tax money is well managed. if americans are willing to make a personal sacrifice, it only makes sense that they will be seen as both noble and patriotic. if americans feel it is right to enter the war, it only makes sense that they will have to pay more in taxes to cover the costs. if americans feel it is right to pay more taxes, it only makes sense that they should also agree it is right to enter the war.