QUIZ: from Last Child in the Woods and from Walden

Which statement summarizes a central idea that is found in both selections?

• Having friends is important for a fulfilling life.

• Time spent in nature makes life meaningful.

• Working honestly is more important than working quickly.

• The news is a distraction from what is truly meaningful.

In the sentence, the word 'quaint' means —

• abstract

• inferior

• noteworthy

• whimsical

The author of Last Child in the Woods most likely includes a reference to college students in paragraph 11 to —

• provide evidence for the idea that people are disconnected from nature

• change the tone of the passage from one of despair to one of hope

• explain why people have become so isolated in the present era

• make a comparison between the frontiers of different times

The author of Last Child in the Woods uses the metaphor of the second frontier to highlight —

• the ways that people have lost natural world skills that used to be common

• the effect of the improved comfort and convenience of spending time at home

• the psychological distance that keeps people from truly feeling at home in nature

• the divisions between humans and nature after the conquering of the wilderness

According to the author of Last Child in the Woods, how did his childhood differ from the childhood of children in his son’s generation? Cite evidence from the selection to support your answer.

• More time spent outdoors

• Less interaction with technology

• Greater connection to nature

• More structured activities

Which statement best summarizes the central idea of the excerpt from Walden?

• Responsibility for the environment is a moral value.

• People live more fulfilling lives when they live close to nature.

• Filling days with many complex tasks makes life worth living.

• Information about the world is more important than knowing oneself.

Fill in the circle before the highlighted phrase from paragraph 2 of the excerpt from Walden that uses personification to describe the setting of the woods.

• as the sun arose

• its nightly clothing of mist

• its smooth reflecting surface was revealed

• seemed to hang upon the trees

Thoreau repeats his call to simplify twice in paragraph 4 of the excerpt from Walden to —

• express anger due to his inability to follow his own advice

• acknowledge how surprising this concept is for readers

• use irony by failing to pare down his own writing

• emphasize that this is a realistic goal

The authors of both selections vary their sentences to create distinct styles. For each sentence from the selections, mark two boxes to indicate whether it is concise or wordy and whether its structure is simple or complex. Sentence 1: 'How the young respond to nature, and how they raise their own children, will shape the configurations and conditions of our cities, homes — our daily lives.' Sentence 2: 'In the midst of this chopping sea of civilized life, such are the clouds and storms and quicksands and thousand-and-one items to be allowed for, that a man has to live, if he would not founder and go to the bottom and not make his port at all, by dead reckoning, and he must be a great calculator.'

• Sentence 1: Wordy, Complex

• Sentence 2: Wordy, Complex

• Sentence 1: Concise, Simple

• Sentence 1: Concise, Complex

• Sentence 1: Wordy, Simple

What is the main theme discussed in paragraph 4 of 'Walden'?

• Nature

• Success

• Friendship

• Adventure