"Unusual Normality"

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"It was a chance at living again, because all I had come to know, since I was eleven, was how to survive. I didn’t know how to live." (paragraph 9) The irony of the sentences emphasize that the author

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had been forced to grow up quickly in Sierra Leone

Front

What is the best inference that can be made about the author’s message or central idea in paragraph 17? " ...What do these school principals think?... and you're running for your life ..."You know I must take my report card and put it in the back of pocket."

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Americans can scarcely comprehend the horrors endured in war-torn places like Sierra Leone.

Front

Which of the following quotes best establishes Beah’s voice? “But I needed to be silent about my background, because I also felt like I was being watched.”, “It was a chance at living again, because all I had come to know, since I was eleven, was how to survive.”, “Thus began my two years of high school and making other teenagers confused about who I was.”, “... and you’re running for your life, you’re thinking to yourself, ‘You know, I must take my report card and put it in the back of my pocket.’”

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“... and you’re running for your life, you’re thinking to yourself, ‘You know, I must take my report card and put it in the back of my pocket.’”

Front

Read the following quote from Ishmael to his classmates in paragraph 26. “I’m not weird. Weird has a negative connotation. I prefer the word unusual. It has a certain sophistication and gravitas to it that suits my character.” What tone is best represented in the quote above? 

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Self-assured

Front

Which quote supports Beah’s belief that his classmates are naive? Options: “These kids had a sort of idea of violence that they’d never really live.” (Paragraph 40), “They were like, ‘no worries, our African brother. Anytime, anytime.’” (Paragraph 38), “They had been to the Bronx. They had been to Bed-Stuy.” (Paragraph 34), “I would come up with a watered-down version of another guerrilla tactic just to play with them.” (Paragraph 80)

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“These kids had a sort of idea of violence that they’d never really live.” (Paragraph 40)

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Which quotation best reveals the author’s reason for staying silent about his life in Africa?

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“I wanted to explain certain things, but I felt that if they knew about my background, they would no longer allow me to be a child.”

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Which of Beah’s experiences in New York show that he still occasionally carried himself like a soldier? Options: 1. When strangers walked by 2. When the boys went rollerblading 3. On a paintballing trip upstate 4. In his meetings with school principals

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1 and 3 only

Front

Which of these best describes the purpose of the selection? Options: To show the importance of being accepting towards new students, To show how people who think they are tough are actually weak, To explain how the past made the author appreciate his new life, To describe how it was impossible for the author to escape his past

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To describe how it was impossible for the author to escape his past