Is Survival Selfish

Which is the best summary of the selection?

• In moments of mortal danger, more people freeze than run, a response that goes against our survival instincts.

• In extreme crises, people either hold it together or fall apart, and there is no telling who the heroes will be until danger strikes.

• Heroes are admired when they risk or sacrifice their own lives to save others, but their actions go against accepted survival protocols, which prioritize personal safety.

• People who demonstrate the virtue of selfishness by putting their own lives before the lives of others in an emergency are often criticized publicly and in the press.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

Read this sentence from paragraph 2 of the selection. "The 'women and children first' protocol of the Titanic may not be as strong a social stricture as it was a century ago." Which word is a synonym for protocol as the author uses it in this sentence?

• Structure

• Convention

• Law

• Falsehood

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

In paragraph 3, the author states that every survival situation is different. If this is true, it follows that —

• each survivor is heroic in their own way

• it is impossible to generalize about survivors

• only a few survivors are selfish and uncivilized

• it is impossible to be smart and unselfish

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

Why does the author include her personal experience about the Grand Central Station incident in paragraphs 4–5?

• To prove she’s an expert during survival situations

• To explain why she become interested in the topic of survival

• To highlight the difference between those who survive and those who don’t

• To introduce the idea that sometimes people’s instincts are not about survival

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.6

CCSS.RI.8.6

CCSS.RI.8.9

CCSS.RL.8.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.6

According to the author, why do survivors often experience feelings of guilt?

• They believe they should have done more to help others during the event.

• They are reminded of when they didn’t help others at other times of their lives.

• They are disturbed by the harsh criticisms from others who survived.

• They feel that the techniques others used to survive were unethical.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.6

CCSS.RI.8.6

CCSS.RI.8.9

CCSS.RL.8.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.6

Which two phrases best explain the author's reasons for including the rhetorical questions in paragraph 11?

• To make the point that some people act selflessly in emergencies

• To engage readers by asking them to imagine specific survival situations

• To pass judgment on people who are driven by their survival instincts

• To propose that it is possible to predict how people will respond in emergencies

• To suggest that people should attempt to rescue others when emergencies arise

This question has two parts. First, answer Part A. Then, answer Part B. Part A: How does the author support the claim that the “fight or flight” instinct kicks in during survival situations?

• By analyzing the brain’s response during dangerous situations

• By showing how humans flee when their survival is in jeopardy

• By describing how humans and animals respond when they are in peril

• By presenting examples of animals fighting back when they are attacked

Part B: Which two sentences best support the answer to Part A?

• Perhaps it comes down to the ancient “fight or flight” impulse. (paragraph 13)

• Animals confronted with danger will choose to attack it, or run from it, and it’s hard to say which one they’ll choose, or when. (paragraph 13)

• Some people might run away from danger one day, and toward it the next. (paragraph 14)

• But while we laud those who sacrifice themselves in an attempt to save another, there is a fine line between brave and foolish. (paragraph 15)

• There can also be a fine line between smart and selfish. (paragraph 15)

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

In paragraph 14, the phrase a thousand cues is —

• a hasty generalization, intended to convey that people do not know what they will do in a crisis

• an overstatement, intended to convey that how people react depends on which signals, out of the many they receive, they respond to

• an overstatement, intended to convey that survivors are able to respond to many signals at once

• a hasty generalization, intended to convey that survivors are rarely aware of the choices they make in the moment of crisis

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

Which quotation from the selection is a statement of fact, and not an expression of opinion?

• She got out of the plane and survived. Very few others in the plane, which was soon consumed by fire, did. (paragraph 7)

• If she’d tried, she probably would have perished with them. (paragraph 8)

• But Yates was criticized by some for his survival decision, even though the alternative would have almost certainly led to both of their deaths. (paragraph 10)

• If survival is an instinct, it seems to me that there must be something equally instinctive that drives us, sometimes, to run into danger instead of away from it.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.6