Feathered Friends

Which of the following statements best expresses one of the themes of “Feathered Friend”?

• Humans are meant to explore and discover new worlds.

• Sometimes the oldest, simplest solution is the most valuable.

• One should always choose teamwork over personal ambition.

• A bird does not change its feathers because the weather is bad.

In the opinion of the narrator in “Feathered Friend,” why is Claribel a “sensible” choice as a pet for Sven? Choose two options.

• She weighs very little.

• She sings quite beautifully.

• She is good company for Sven.

• She gets a bit noisy when she is upset.

• Lack of gravity does not affect her.

In “Feathered Friend,” when does the narrator first realize that Claribel is aboard the space station?

• when Sven runs in with a tiny bundle of feathers

• when Sven informs the whole crew

• when a flash of yellow flies past

• when he hears the bird singing

In “Feathered Friend,” why do crew members pass around an oxygen bottle?

• to celebrate Claribel’s recovery

• to keep themselves from losing consciousness

• to determine how much oxygen each person needs

• to remind each other of their loyalty and friendship

As the narrator awakens on the morning described in “Feathered Friend,” he has a headache. What is the most likely reason for that headache?

• a night of bad dreams

• confusion between day and night

• lack of oxygen in the space station

• illness spread by close contact with birds

How does this excerpt from “Feathered Friend” connect most clearly to one of the themes of the story?

"It was one of those accidents that couldn’t possibly happen; we’d had one of our rare eclipses by Earth’s shadow that night: Part of the air purifier had frozen up, and the single alarm in the circuit had failed to go off."  

• It refers to an unexpected natural event.

• It shows the excitement of manned space travel.

• It explores the narrator’s concerns about bad air.

• It reveals that technology is not always dependable.

When the narrator of “Feathered Friend” says, “Half a million dollars’ worth of chemical and electronic engineering had let us down completely,” what does he most likely mean?

• Engineering is never an exact science.

• No one should trust his or her life to scientists.

• Despite costly technology, systems still do fail.

• The entire space program is expensive but flawed.

In the opinion of the narrator in "Feathered Friends," why is Claribel a "sensible" choice as a pet for Sven? (Choose two)

• She weighs very little

• She sings quite beautifully

• She is good company for Sven

• Lack of gravity does no affect her

• She gets a bit noisy when she is upset

In "Feathered Friends," when does the narrator first realize Claribel is aboard the space station?

• when Sven runs in with a tiny bundle of feathers

• when Sven informs the whole crew

• when a flash of yellow flies past

• when he hears the bird singing

When the narrator of "Feathered Friends" says, "Half a million dollars' worth of chemical and electronic engineering had let us down completely," what does he most likely mean?

• Engineering is never an exact science

• No one should trust his or her life to scientists

• Despite costly technology, systems still do fail

• The entire space program is expensive but flawed