1ST_READING COMMON ASSESSMENT

(QUESTION #1 ON PAPER)

What is the central idea of the passage?

• Many people participated in the gold rush.

• Methods of communication improved after 1850.

• It took a long time for people to travel around in 1850.

• The telegraph replaced other means of communication.

(QUESTION #2 ON PAPER)

Which sentence from the passage supports the answer in Question 1?

• “This caused many Americans to head to the West Coast in search of fortunes.” (paragraph 2)

• “The trip from New York City to San Francisco was more than 16,000 miles.” (paragraph 3)

• “Finally, in 1861, wires from the East joined wires from the West, and the transcontinental telegraph was complete!” (paragraph 11)

• “Still, the telegraph paved the way for today’s high-speed world of telephones, cell phones, text messages, television, radio, and the Internet.” (paragraph 12)

(QUESTION #3 ON PAPER)

What two statements explain the author’s perspective about Samuel Morse?

• Morse was a creative problem solver.

• Morse was easily discouraged by failure.

• Morse was energized by a good challenge.

• Morse was more of a follower than a leader.

• Morse was determined to do things on his own.

(QUESTION #4 ON PAPER)

Read this sentence from the passage.

“His inventive mind got right to work.” (paragraph 8)

The suffix -ive means “having the quality of.”

What does inventive mean as it is used in this sentence?

• imaginative

• positive

• responsible

• valuable

(QUESTION #5 ON PAPER)

Read this sentence from the passage.

“This caused many Americans to head to the West Coast in search of fortunes.” (paragraph 2)

What does head mean as it is used in the sentence?

• to go toward

• the top of an object

• a person in charge of something

• a body part attached to the neck

(QUESTION #6 ON PAPER)

Which sentence from the passage supports the answer in Question 5?

• “Gold was discovered in California in 1848.” (paragraph 2)

• “It was known as the 'gold rush,' but no one got there quickly.” (paragraph 2)

• “It was also the slowest.” (paragraph 2)

• “More important, they wanted faster ways to send information.” (paragraph 4)

(QUESTION #7 ON PAPER)

Explain the author’s perspective about the impact Morse code had on communication.

Support your answer with evidence from the passage.

(QUESTION #8 ON PAPER)

Choose two sentences that explain why the author believes the events are important.

• The inventor created history yesterday as he sent the first telegraph message from Washington,D.C. to Baltimore, Maryland.

• This electric machine promises to change the way people communicate forever.

• Without Morse’s new machine, people have been using a mix of flags or lights to sendmessages over long distances.

• But Morse’s new machine can send messages over the same distance in a fraction of the time.

(QUESTION #9 ON PAPER)

“Have you heard of Samuel Morse? He will soon be a household name.” (paragraph 2)

What does the idiom “a household name” mean?

• elected

• famous

• helped

• private

Fill in the bubbles to show the sequence of events that occurred before Morse sent the first telegraph message in 1844.

• Morse strings new wire overhead on poles and trees instead of burying it.

• Morse has an idea about ways to use electricity when sailing back from Europe.

• Vail helps Morse create a code using dots and dashes.

• Morse invents the telephone.

• Gale shows Morse how to boost the electronic signal.