180 Daily Warmups - PC\|MAC

! 180 Daily Warmups!

1 In your own words, write definitions for the following: wisdom, knowledge, & information.
2
3 Writing Prompt: Write about your most embarrassing moment.

4 Sentence Corrections:!
5 1. If the books have been cataloged last week, why haven't they been placed on the shelf?!
6
7 2. 2. Jessica Mitford wrote The American Way of Death, a best-selling book that led
eventually to an official investigation of the funeral industry.
8
Writing Prompt: Write a story about a woman running late for work.
9
10 Sentence Revision:!
1. The accident was caused by the captain’s insistence upon his ship’s right-of-way.!
2. The body was discovered by the night custodian.!
3. Inexperienced workers are not hired by the company.

Vocabulary building:!
The Latin roots capit & capt mean “head.” Think of at least five words containing these roots.

Sentence Corrections:!
1. When studying an assignment, it is wise to read it over quickly at first, than see the major
points, and finally outline the material.!

2. To judge the Tidy City contest, we picked an uninterested party.

Close Reading:!
These are tough times for the U.S. Postal Service. It’s being pummeled by high fuel costs.
The soft economy is crimping the overall volume of mail, which fell 5.5 percent in the past
year. Its business is also falling as Americans opt for e-mail over birthday cards and thank-
you notes. Now comes another threat: consumers like Colleen Plimpton of Bethel, Conn.
Earlier this year Plimpton became tired of the credit-card offers, catalogs and advertising
fliers that clogged her mailbox. So in February she paid $20 to GreenDimes, a firm that
helps consumers reduce their inflow of “junk mail” by contacting businesses on their behalf.
“[Junk mailers] are cutting down trees willy-nilly, and that has got to stop,” says Plimpton.!
To the post office, consumers like her are a serious threat. “Efforts to convince people not to
receive mail are really going to hurt,” says Steve Kearney, a Postal Service senior vice

!president. (from Newsweek. Author: Caitlin McDevitt)!

1. What is the main idea of this paragraph.!
2. What effect does the author intend to make by using words like “pummeled” and

“crimping” in the first few sentences?!
3. How does the author use the example of Colleen Plimpton to make her point?

Sentence Revision:!
Revise these sentences to eliminate distracting wordiness:!
1. As we turn to the next topic, we realize that we must stop inflation now.!
2. My mother was annoyed because of the fact that I arrived late.!
3. I have found Mark to be the most vicious gossip I know.

Writing Prompt:!
Recall an uplifting or inspiring experience and write about it.

11 Vocabulary Building:!
Clemency (n.) - mercy!
Write two different sentences using the word “clemency.”!
Ex: The judge offered clemency to the prisoner.

12 Sentence Corrections:!
1. If I would have known about the team tryouts, I would have signed up for them.!
2. If he would have revised his first draft, he would have received a better grade.

13 Brain Teaser:!
If you have it, you want to share it. If you share it, you don’t have it. What is it?

14 Writing Prompt:!
The best thing in life is…

15 Sentence Revision:!
1. The author presents three reasons why students prefer writing their papers on the
computer. Ease of revision is the first reason.!
2. The ozone layer prevents dangerous ultraviolet rays from reaching the earth’s surface.
Serious problems such as skin cancer and cataracts are caused by these rays.

16 Vocabulary Building:!
The latin root -fer- means to carry or bear. Think of at least five words with this root.

17 Close Reading:!
Up on the corner lived a drunk of legend, a true phenomenon, who could surely have
qualified as the king of all the world’s winos. He was neither poetic like the others nor
ambitious like the singer (to whom we’ll presently come) but his drinking bouts were truly
awe-inspiring and he was not without his sensitivity. In the throes of his passion he would
shout to the whole wide world one concise command, “Shut up!’’ Which was disconcerting
enough to all who heard (except, perhaps, the singer), but such were the labyrinthine

!acoustics of courtyards and areaways that he seemed to direct his command at me. !

1. What is the author’s primary purpose in writing this paragraph?!
2. What effect do the two references to “the singer” have on the reader?!
3. What type of diction does the author use predominantly in this paragraph?

18 Sentence Corrections:!
1. The test was on Monday, she spent her whole weekend studying for it.!
2. Cindy wants to be a teacher, she does not want to spend four years in college.!
3. Mark was angry that his little brother spilled the drink, he helped him clean it up.

19 Brain Teaser:!
Which word in the dictionary is spelled incorrectly?

20 Vocabulary Building:!
Merge (v.) to come together!
Write two sentences using the word “merge.”

21 Writing Prompt:!
Write about a memory related to a holiday.

22 Sentence Revision:!
1. College students face many challenges. Adjusting to increased freedom and
independence is the most crucial challenge.!
2. Carolyn has decorated her apartment with many lovely plants. The dracaena is the plant
that requires the most care.

23 Sentence Corrections:!
1. When she took the mechanic’s class, she learned how to change a flat tire, however,
when she actually had a flat tire, she was unable to change it.!
2. Raphael heard no animal sounds, when he listened in the woods.

24 Close Reading:!
Throughout her history China had believed herself the center of civilization, surrounded by
barbarians. She was the Middle Kingdom, the center of the universe, whose Emperor was
the Son of Heaven, ruling by the Mandate of Heaven. Convinced of their superior values, the
Chinese considered that China’s greatness was owed to principles of social order over a
harmonious whole. All outsiders whose misfortune was to live beyond her borders were
“barbarians’’ and necessarily inferiors who were expected, and indeed required, to make
their approach, if they insisted on coming, bearing tribute and performing the kowtow in

!token of humble submission.!

1. What is the main idea of this paragraph?!
2. What is the predominant literary technique the author uses in describing China?!
3. Why does the author choose to place quotation marks around the word “barbarians”?

25 Writing Prompt:!
Write about a guy who go stood up on a date.

26 Vocabulary Building:!
The Greek root -sol- means alone. List at least five words with this root.

27 Sentence Corrections:!
1. When a student is learning how to write a paper; the textbook can be a valuable resource.!
2. Although, the maiden waited patiently the hansome prince galloped away on his horse.

28 Writing Prompt:!
Describe what happiness is to you.

29 Sentence Revision:!
1. To my way of thinking, the legislature must strengthen the current laws on speeding.!
2. I admire his writing for the fact that its ideas are expressed in a clear manner.!
3. During the time in which Maria wrote the conclusion, the secretary finished typing.

30 Brain Teaser:!
What gets broken without being held?

31 Close Reading:!
The town sits in a vale between two rounded-off, thickly wooded mountains. Hot mineral
waters pour out of the mountainsides, and the hills for miles around erupt with springs, some
of them famous and commercial, with bottled water for sale, others trickling under rotten
leaves in deep woods and known only to the natives. From one spring the water gushes
milky and sulfurous. From another it comes forth laced with arsenic. Here it will be heavy
with the taste of rocky earth, there, as sweet as rainwater. Each spring possesses its
magical healing properties and its devoted, believing imbibers. In 1541, on the journey that
proved to be his last, Hernando de Soto encountered friendly tribes at these springs. For a
thousand years before him the mound-building Indians who lived in the Mississippi Valley

!had come here to cure their rheumatism and activate their sluggish bowels.!

1. What is the main idea of this paragraph?!
2. What purpose does the author’s historical reference to de Soto serve for the paragraph

as a whole?!
3. How do the springs differ from one another?

32 Vocabulary Building:!
Provincial (adj.) unsophisticated; narrow-minded!
Write two sentences using the word “provincial.”

33 Writing Prompt:!
Write about a good thing gone bad.

34 Sentence Corrections:!
1. Students must be able to write effective papers so many students must take a
developmental english class.!
2. Reviewing for a test is not always easy or is it easy to repeat a class.

35 Vocabulary Building:!
-tox- poison

36 Sentence Revision:!
1. There are several opportunities for advancement in our company. Taking part in our staff
development program is one way to advance.!
2. Regular exercise is an effective way to keep healthy. Losing weight through regular
exercise is often effective.

37 Writing Prompt:!
Write about a keepsake.

38 Brain Teaser:!
Feed me and I live, yet give me a drink and I die.

39 Close Reading:!
When the pink flamingo splashed into the fifties market, it staked two major claims to
boldness. First, it was a flamingo. Since the 1930s, vacationing Americans had been flocking
to Florida and returning home with flamingo souvenirs. In the 1910s and 1920s, Miami
Beach’s first grand hotel, the Flamingo, had made the bird synonymous with wealth and
pizzazz.... [Later], developers built hundreds of more modest hotels to cater to an eager
middle class served by new train lines—and in South Beach, especially, architects employed

!the playful Art Deco style, replete with bright pinks and flamingo motifs.!

1. What is the main idea of this paragraph?!
2. What effect does the author’s use of the word “splashed” have in the first sentence?!
3. Why does the author use the word “modest” to describe later hotels?

40 Sentence Corrections:!
1. The temperature in the desert was soaring in the hot afternoon heat; but the lizards seem
to enjoy the sun.!
2. We had to change our plans we could not take our cruise until the end of the month.

41 Vocabulary Building:!
Mettle (n.) courage; bravery; valor

42 Writing Prompt:!
Write about a weird day at work or school.

43 Sentence Revision:!
1. The police conducted an investigation into the matter.!
2. She made a translation of the message.!
3. The candidate’s appearance before the board was on October 15.

44 Vocabulary Building:!
-vid-/-vis- see

45 Sentence Corrections:!
1. George felt that his hypnotic sessions should have a strong receptive audience, and,
because of that, he invited only people with a true interests in hypnosis.!
2. Michael was devoted and loving husband who wanted to keep his marriage together but
he had a mistress and decided to end the affair so that he could keep his marriage together.

46 Writing Prompt:!
Describe your ideal place.

47 Sentence Revision:!
1. There were three children present. All of them were coughing.!
2. They named the baby Christopher. It was the name they liked best.!
3. The family went to Disneyland. They knew the children were too young.

48 Brain Teaser: !
A man is pushing his car along the road when he comes to a hotel. He shouts, "I'm
bankrupt!" Why?

49 Close Reading:!
We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn’t, thoughtful
Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of liberal democracy had held.
Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian
nightmares.!
But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell’s dark vision, there was another—slightly older,
slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Contrary to
common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same
thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in
Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and
history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies

!that undo their capacities to think.!

1. What is the main idea of this passage?!
2. What does the first paragraph imply about the author’s nationality?!
3. Paraphrase the difference the author describes between the Orwell’s and Huxley’s

visions.

50 Vocabulary Building:!
Cogitate (v.) to think over something; ponder

51 Writing Prompt:!
Write a story about an uninvited guest.

52 Sentence Corrections:!
1. The theory of plate tectonics have explained causes of earthquake activity throughout the
world.

2. Enormous plates of rock are shifting constanly far beneath the earth’s surface.

53 Vocabulary Building:!
-tele- far

54 Sentence Revision:!
1. Mary could feel a cavity developing in one of her teeth. She refused to go to a dentist.!
2. The Japanese tried to move civilians off the island. More than 300 women and children
were lost when their ship was sunk by a U.S. submarine.!
3. She hadn’t much money to spend on clothes. It was amazing that she always managed to
appear well-dressed.

55 Writing Prompt:!
Write a letter to the 8-year-old child you used to be.

56 Brain Teaser:!
How many of each species did Moses take on the ark with him?

57 Close Reading:!
The advent of television in the late 1940’s gave rise to the belief that a new era was opening
in public communication As Frank Stanton, president of the Columbia Broadcasting System,
put it: “Not even the sky is the limit.” One of the great contributions expected of television lay
in its presumed capacity to inform and stimulate the political interests of the American
electorate.!
“Television, with its penetration, its wide geographic distribution and impact, provides a new,
direct, and sensitive link between Washington and the people,” said Dr. Stanton. “The people
have once more become the nation, as they have not been since the days when we were
small enough each to know his elected representative. As we grew, we lost this feeling of

!direct contact—television has now restored it.”!

1. What is the main idea of this passage?!
2. What synonym could replace the word “advent” in the first sentence?!
3. How does the historical allusion in the second paragraph affect the passage as a whole?

58 Sentence Corrections:!

!1. These movements, in addition to the pressure of molten rock causes the plates to collide.!

2. The pressure of colliding plates force the rock to bend until it breaks.

59 Vocabulary Building:!
Insipid (adj.) dull; bland; boring

60 Writing Prompt:!
Write about your first toy.

61 Sentence Revision:!
1. The bait was taken by the trout.!
2. The organization of the quality control department was immediately changed by the new
manager.!
3. The ball of yarn was unraveled by the kitten.

62 Vocabulary Building:!
-proto- first

63 Sentence Corrections:!
1. A ridge of these breaks are called a fault.!
2. The cause of most earthquakes are the suden release of stress along a fault.

64 Writing Prompt:!
Write about one of the easiest decisions you’ve made in your life.

65 Sentence Revision:!
1. We are of the opinion that a salary cut would destroy morale.!
2. In the event that the law does not change, I think that we should start a petition drive.!
3. With regard to the memo you sent me, I am of the opinion that we should inform our
employees of the new policy quickly.!
4. Due to the fact that Phil was late, our trip was delayed by two hours.

66 Brain Teaser:!
Forward I am heavy, but backward I am not. What am I?

67 Close Reading:!
The National Museum of the American Indian is the sixteenth museum of the Smithsonian
Institution. It is the first national museum dedicated to the preservation, study, and exhibition
of the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of Native Americans. Established by an act
of Congress in 1989, the museum works in collaboration with the Native peoples of the
Western Hemisphere to protect and foster their cultures by reaffirming traditions and beliefs,

!encouraging contemporary artistic expression, and empowering the Indian voice.!

1. What is the main idea of this paragraph?!
2. Paraphrase the purpose of the National Museum of the American Indian.!
3. In what type of publication might you find this paragraph?

68 Vocabulary Building:!
Instigate (v.) to start; provoke

69 Writing Prompt:!
Write about the hardest decision you’ve ever made in your life.

70 Sentence Corrections:!
1. California, with two major fault lines have about ten times the world average of earthquake
activity.!
2. A map of the earth’s plates such as the one shown here give you a pretty good idea of
why California has so many quakes.

71 Vocabulary Building:!
-prim- first

72 Sentence Revision:!
1. It was amazing that she always managed to appear well-dressed. She hadn’t much
money to spend on clothes.!
2. He had the strength. He lacked the will.!
3. The anti-government forces had to keep their identities secret. The death squads would
eliminate them.

73 Writing Prompt:!
Write about a red-colored object.

74 Brain Teaser:!
He has married many women, but has never been married. Who is he?

75 Close Reading:!
In the same month that Better Homes celebrated “a Williamsburg Christmas season” that “is
one of the most beguiling holidays your family is likely to experience,” an organ of America’s
highbrow press, the New York Review of Books, published an article denigrating Colonial
Williamsburg. The essay, an attack on contemporary architecture by critic Ada Louise
Huxtable, opened with a tirade against Colonial Williamsburg, which Huxtable saw as
“predating and preparing the way for the new world order of Disney Enterprises,” an order
that systematically fosters “the replacement of reality with selective fantasy.” According to
Huxtable, Colonial Williamsburg “has perverted the way we think,” for it has “taught”
Americans “to prefer—and believe in—a sanitized and selective version of the past, to deny
the diversity and eloquence of change and continuity, to ignore the actual deposits of history
and humanity that make our cities vehicles of a special kind of art and experience, the gritty
accumulations of the best and worst we have produced. This record has the wonder and

!distinction of being the real thing.”!

1. What is the main idea of this paragraph?!
2. The use of words like "attack" and "tirade" reveal what about the author's attitude?!
3. What is Huxtable's primary argument against Colonial Williamsburg?

76 Sentence Corrections:!
1. Maria was to have sang in the west side glee club this year.

2. Valerie will it be possible for you to be here by 730 AM.

77 Vocabulary Building:!
Dolt (n.) stupid person

78 Writing Prompt:!
What is your idea of a perfect vacation?

79 Sentence Revision:!
1. During the school year, I made the decision to earn top grades.!
2. The performance of the drill by the troops was perfect.!
3. The general carried out the coordination of the surprise attack.

80 Vocabulary Building:!
-poly- many

81 Sentence Corrections:!
1. My dad had bought another car on wednesday.

2. Calvin and her walks down hill street every day.

82 Writing Prompt:!
Write about an encounter in an elevator between Wonder Woman and Shaggy (from Scooby
Doo).

83 Sentence Revision:!
1. The soccer game was interesting. We didn’t understand the scoring.!
2. The horses were tired and sweaty. We fed them and rubbed them down.!
3. We will have to go to Arizona in July. The trip will be long and hot.

84 Brain Teaser:!
Take off my skin - I won't cry, but you will! What am I?

85 Close Reading:!
What had been wanted was this always, this always to last, the talking softly on this porch,
with the snake plant in the jardiniere in the southwest corner, and the obstinate slip from
Aunt Eppie’s magnificent Michigan fern at the left side of the friendly door. Mama, Maud
Martha, and Helen rocked slowly in their rocking chairs, and looked at the late afternoon light
on the lawn, and at the emphatic iron of the fence and at the poplar tree. These things might
soon be theirs no longer. Those shafts and pools of light, the tree, the graceful iron, might

!soon be viewed possessively by different eyes.!

1. What is the main idea of this paragraph?!
2. What tone does the author use in this paragraph?!
3. What does the use of the word “might” in the last two sentences imply?

86 Vocabulary Building:!
Frugal (adj.) economical; not wasting anything

87 Writing Prompt:!
Write about a time when you did something to get noticed.

88 Sentence Corrections:!
1. I and my Brother worked carefully and our model turned out good.

2. Lena and me will be attending valley view school next year.

89 Vocabulary Building:!
-photo- light

90 Sentence Revision:!
1. Her heart was broken by him.!
2. The entire wedding procession was wiped out by a stick of misdirected bombs from a
B-52.!
3. The music was provided by a gospel group.

91 Writing Prompt:!
Write about a chore or task you dislike.

92 Brain Teaser:!
Imagine you are in a dark room. How do you get out?

93 Close Reading:!
We are leaving the B.C. coast—rain, cloud, mist—an air overladen with weeping. Behind us
lies a salty sea, within which swim our drowning specks of memory—our small waterlogged
eulogies. We are going down to the middle of the Earth with pick-axe eyes, tunneling by train

!to the interior, carried along by the momentum of the expulsion into the waiting wilderness.!

1. What is the narrator describing in this paragraph?!
2. How does the reference to the “salty sea” in the second sentence influence the rest of

that same sentence?!
3. What is the tone of this paragraph?

94 Sentence Corrections:!
1. The oven didnt work good but i still baked a delicious cake.

2. Have you ever grew tomatoes from seed as i and my sister are doing.

95 Vocabulary Building:!
Staid (adj.) dull; serious

96 Writing Prompt:!
The best thing in life is…

97 Sentence Revision:!
1. Visitors are asked not to feed the animals. Someone always ignores this rule.!
2. Our guests had always wanted to see the ocean. We went to the beach on the first sunny
day.!
3. Travel is usually exciting. Staying home has its own pleasures.

98 Vocabulary Building:!
-phil- love

99 Sentence Corrections:!
1. He was chose leader of the group.!
2. I have did my work.

100 Writing Prompt:!
Write about a time when you discovered you had been lied to.

101 Sentence Revision:!
1. Edward R. Murrow was a vice-president of CBS. He criticized television executives for
being more concerned with profit than with the public good.!
2. We could buy a new computer. We could simply add a memory board to the one we
already own.!
3. A theory to explain the immune response was proposed in 1900. It was many years before
it could be verified.

102 Brain Teaser:!
What invention lets you look right through a wall?

103 Close Reading:!
The Metropolitan Museum has undertaken to re-examine its collections in order to ascertain
whether any of its works were unlawfully confiscated by the Nazis and never restituted. To
give a sense of the magnitude of the effort, I hope you will remember that the Metropolitan’s
collections number more than two million works, works of art held in trust for the benefit and

!education of a broad public, which now numbers some 5.5 million visitors a year.!

1. What is the main idea of this paragraph?!
2. What is the intended effect of the author’s use of the phrase “I hope you will remember”?!
3. The word “restituted” most likely means what?

104 Vocabulary Building:!
Astute (adj.) perceptive; sharp-witted

105 Writing Prompt:!
Today, I will…

106 Sentence Corrections:!
1. The letter was wrote by the clerk.!
2. You have broke the window payne.

107 Vocabulary Building:!
-ped-/-pod- foot

108 Sentence Revision:!
1. The chairperson was supportive of the committee’s attempt to come to an agreement.!
2. The organization has the requirement that all members wear uniforms.!
3. The news has made the captain very angry.!
4. There were expectations by the governing committee that their report would meet the
deadline.

109 Writing Prompt:!
Write a story that begins with “The hallway was silent.”

110 Brain Teaser:!
What can you catch but not throw?

111 Close Reading:!
In early 1968 [when President Lyndon Johnson was running for reelection], after five years of
steadily increasing American commitment of troops and arms to the war in Vietnam,
President Johnson was still holding fast to the policy that the war could and must be won.
However, his favorite television newsman, CBS’s Walter Cronkite, became increasingly
skeptical about the stream of official statements from Washington and Saigon that claimed
we were winning the war. So Cronkite decided to go to Vietnam and see for himself. When
he returned, he broadcast a special report to the nation, which Lyndon Johnson watched.
Cronkite reported that the war had become a bloody stalemate and that military victory was
not in the cards. He concluded: “It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational
way out...will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their

!pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.”!

1. What is the main idea of this passage?!
2. What tone might you say Cronkite’s quote at the end of the paragraph uses?!
3. Why does the author point out that Cronkite was Johnson’s favorite newsman?

112 Sentence Corrections:!
1. By profession an author writes a book whereas an artist is creating a picture.!
4. The projects that the government takes up these days were all dominated by modern
technologies.

113 Vocabulary Building:!
Docile (adj.) gentle; easy-going

114 Writing Prompt:!
Come up with your own get-rich-quick scheme and write about it.

115 Sentence Revision:!
1. The Prince, a forerunner of modern political theory, was written by Machiavelli.!
2. My mom had hurt her back. I was doing most of the housework.!
3. An American sociolinguist once remarked that he disliked the term “sociolinguistics.” It
seemed to imply that language could be used in a way that was not social.

116 Vocabulary Building:!
Stagnant (adj.) still; not moving

117 Sentence Corrections:!
1. If you woke me up earlier, we would have gone there together.!
2. Since I changed job I found no time to relax and enjoy my hobby.

118 Writing Prompt:!
Write from the point of view of the last tree standing in the forest.

119 Sentence Revision:!
1. The baseball trophy was presented by the coach.!
2. The birthday card was signed by all his coworkers.!
3. The sprinklers were turned on when the gardener started his yard work.

120 Brain Teaser:!
What is at the end of a rainbow?

121 Close Reading:!
Holding a presidential election today without a television debate would seem almost
undemocratic, as though voters were being cheated by the omission of some relevant test,

!some necessary submission to mass scrutiny.!

That’s not what many people thought at the time of the first debates. Theodore H. White,
who subscribed fully to [John F.] Kennedy’s view that the debates had made the difference in
the election, complained, in The Making of the President 1960, that television had dumbed
down the issues by forcing the candidates to respond to questions instantaneously.... He
also believed that Kennedy’s “victory” in the debates was largely a triumph of image over
content. People who listened to the debates on the radio, White pointed out, scored it a
draw; people who watched it thought that, except in the third debate, Kennedy had crushed

!Nixon.!

1. What is the main idea of this passage?!
2. What purpose does the first paragraph serve?!
3. What does the use of the word “complained” imply about the author’s attitude toward

Theodore H. White?

122 Vocabulary Building:!
-omni- all; every

123 Writing Prompt:!
Begin with “Behind her, the noise grew louder.”

124 Sentence Corrections:!
1. Being a great king, people respected Akbar.!
2. Making some beautiful movies, the Filmfare awarded him with the most prestigious honor.

125 Vocabulary Building:!
Assuage (v.) to calm

126 Sentence Revision:!
1. The children screamed and shouted. This bothered the neighbors.!
2. The climate is changing because of air pollution. This is recognized by scientists.!
3. They replaced the Carib Indians with indentured servants. This was the work of settlers.

127 Writing Prompt:!
Use the following words in a story: photographer, needle, dormitory, bicycle

128 Brain Teaser:!
What is as light as a feather, but even the world's strongest man couldn't hold it for more
than a minute?

129 Close Reading:!
A major attraction at the Paris Exposition of 1867 was the locomotive America. Its cab was
crafted of ash, maple, black walnut, mahogany, and cherry. Its boiler, smokestack, valve
boxes, and cylinders were covered with a glistening silvery material. The tender was
decorated with the arms of the Republic, a portrait of Ulysses S. Grant, and a number of
elaborate scrolls. Other machinery of the day exhibited similar characteristics. Steam
engines were built in “Greek revival” style, featuring fluted columns and decorated pedestals.
On a printing press called The Columbian each pillar was a caduceus— the serpent-
entwined staff of the universal messenger, Hermes—and atop the machine perched an
eagle with extended wings, grasping in its talons Jove’s thunderbolts, an olive branch of

!peace, and a cornucopia of plenty, all bronzed and gilt.!

It is little remembered today that well into the late nineteenth century most American
machine manufacturers embellished their creations. While this practice pleased the public,

!some observers considered it anomalous.!

1. What is the main idea of this passage?!
2. What is the author’s reason behind the specific description of the locomotive America?!
3. What effect does the second paragraph have on the passage?

130 Sentence Corrections:!
1. Is there the post office near here?!
2. An stitch on time saves nine.

131 Vocabulary Building:!
-nov- new

132 Writing Prompt:!
Write about a rule you’ve broken.

133 Sentence Revision:!
1. Jane treats me like family when I visit her. She always makes you feel at home.!
2. A student has to show their identification card in order to borrow books from the library.!
3. The first person at the counter gets their order filled quickly.

134 Vocabulary Building:!
Coercion (n.) force; Coerce (v.) to force

135 Sentence Corrections:!
1. It requires an energy.!
2. She has got a cold and cough.

136 Writing Prompt:!
Use the following words in a story: doctor, film, telephone, pinstripe

137 Sentence Revision:!
1. Income taxes were increased too much.!
2. The tests were distributed before the students began their discussion.!
3. A black hole is created by the collapse of a dead star.

138 Brain Teaser:!
What has one eye but cannot see?

139 Close Reading:!
ROSEMEAD—Grandma Mary Pallett must be turning in her grave. The bones of Pallet
(1796-1889) and thousands of other San Gabriel Valley pioneers buried at Savannah

!Memorial Park could be moved to make way for a future development.!

“Unless something happens and we get the money from somewhere, I don’t know how we’re
going to make it,” said Rosie Gutierrez, treasurer for the El Monte Cemetery Association,

!which owns the 4-acre graveyard at 9263 Valley Blvd.!

The association has enough money to keep the place open at least two years, said Bob

!Bruesch, vice president of the association and a Garvey School District board member.!

Developers have an eye for the cemetery site and the community of Asian businesses and
residents nearby would like to see it gone because they think it brings bad luck, Bruesch

!added.!

1. What is the main idea of this passage?!
2. What is motivating the potential move of this cemetery? !
3. In what sort of publication might you find this passage?

140 Vocabulary Building:!
-leg- law

141 Writing Prompt:!
Describe the first moments of an awkward date.

142 Sentence Corrections:!
1. You need very good knowledge of the subject and deep understanding of the problem to
get through this examination.!
2. He helped a honest one eyed man.

143 Vocabulary Building:!
Coddle (v.) pamper, fuss over. indulge

144 Sentence Revision:!
1. She examines laboratory specimens. This will be part of Melissa’s major.!
2. People should keep a computer free of dust. This will help prevent crashes.!
3. They fixed the generator of the Honda. This enabled the car to start.

145 Writing Prompt:!
What would you do with your last $20?

146 Brain Teaser:!
What is always coming but never arrives?

147 Close Reading:!
The use of names was a way to bring back everything someone could remember about a
person. The strength in a name is something that has always made me wonder at the
“abstraction” of the design; the ability of a name to bring back every single memory you have
of that person is far more realistic and specific and much more comprehensive than a still
photograph, which captures a specific moment in time or a single event or a generalized

!image that may or may not be moving for all who have connections to that time.!

Then someone in the class [an architectural seminar Lin took during her senior year at Yale
University] received the design program, which stated the basic philosophy of the memorial’s
design and also its requirements: all the names of those missing and killed (57,000) must be
a part of the memorial; the design must be apolitical, harmonious with the site, and

!conciliatory.!

1. What is the main idea of this passage?!
2. Why do you think the author chose to put the word “abstraction” in quotation marks?!
3. What is the author describing in this passage?

148 Sentence Corrections:!
1. He is a doctor but his wife is a MBA.!
2. There is a time to work and the time to play.

149 Vocabulary Building:!
-flex-; -flect- bend

150 Writing Prompt:!
Write about a woman who turns down a marriage proposal.

151 Sentence Revision:!
1. I love to go dancing. You can exercise, work off tensions, and have fun all at the same
time.!
2. If a person has lived in a city, you may find the country too quiet.!
3. The cast members have discovered that you have to work together to prepare for the
performance.

152 Vocabulary Building:!
Innocuous (adj.) harmless

153 Sentence Corrections:!
1. Where there is the will, there is the way.!
2. A umbrella is useless in a stormy weather.

154 Writing Prompt:!
Write about a man telling a little white lie.

155 Sentence Revision:!
1. Your figures have been reanalyzed by the accountant to determine where the errors
occurred.!
2. The plight of the homeless can be demonstrated by a clear description of their daily
activities.!
3. The carrots were eaten by the hungry rabbit.

156 Brain Teaser:!
Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks?

157 Close Reading:!
Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo are experimenting with a genetic
technology through which they can choose the colors that appear on butterfly wings. The
announcement of this in 2002 led writer Matt Richtel to conjure a brave new advertising
medium: “There are countless possibilities for moving ads out of the virtual world and into
the real one. Sponsorship-wise, it’s time for nature to carry its weight.” Advertisers already
stamp their messages into the wet sands of public beaches. Cash- strapped municipalities
hope corporations agree to affix their company logo on parks in exchange for dollars to keep
the public spaces maintained. “The sheer popularity” of simulating nature or using nature as
ad space “demands that we acknowledge, even respect, their cultural importance,” suggests
Richtel. Culturally important, yes. But the logical extension of synthetic nature is the

!irrelevance of “true” nature— the certainty that it’s not even worth looking at.!

1. What is the main idea of this paragraph?!
2. Why does the author choose to begin this paragraph with the example of the butterflies?!
3. What tone does the author use in this paragraph?

158 Vocabulary Building:!
-endo- within

159 Writing Prompt:!
Use the following words in a story: detective, backseat, hammer, toy, liquid

160 Sentence Corrections:!
1. After killing Caesar, the conspirators farther wanted to kill Antony.!
2. Although he is in my class he is three years elder than me.

161 Vocabulary Building:!
Prudent (adj.) cautious; wise

162 Sentence Revision:!
1. You plan a good time for New Year’s Eve. This is natural for young singles.!
2. Julia watches soap operas. This is very entertaining to her.!
3. Rufino studies music. This is his ambition.

163 Writing Prompt:!
Write about an argument that causes a couple to break up.

164 Brain Teaser:!
A girl who was just learning to drive went down a one-way street in the wrong direction, but
didn't break the law. How so?

165 Close Reading:!
It had to be done, but is The Mall* in Washington, D.C. the proper place for a museum that is
dedicated to victims and survivors of the Holocaust? It is not surprising that immediate and
intense controversy erupted when plans were publicized to build a Holocaust museum on
The Mall in Washington, D.C. The controversy grew from Jewish and non-Jewish
communities, primarily due to the fact that a museum dedicated to the memory of the
Holocaust would be built in the United States, who did little to stop the Holocaust from
occurring, or as one protester said, “Imagine a Holocaust museum in the town whose
political sages refused to lift a finger to halt the Holocaust or open our shores to the few

!survivors! How offensive to any informed individual!”!

1. What is the main idea of this paragraph?!
2. What tone does the author use in this paragraph?!
3. What does the quote at the end of the paragraph reveal about the author’s attitude?

166 Sentence Corrections:!
1. Please hurry its getting late.!
2. It is I who is knocking at the door.

167 Vocabulary Building:!
-dict- say; speak

168 Writing Prompt:!
Write about a person who is easily annoyed by his/her best friend.

169 Sentence Revision:!
1. A person with high blood pressure should watch their diet.!
2. When Lee and I ride our bikes to work at 6 A.M., you can see the city waking up.!
Long Beach City College WRSC Page 3 of 3!
3. Every mechanic should make sure they have a good set of tools.!
4. I gave birth to my daughter when I was only seventeen. At that age, yiou are still a child
yourself.

170 Vocabulary Building:!
Innate (adj.) inborn; inherited

171 Sentence Corrections:!
1. The culture of our country is richer than any other country in the world.!
2. The animals in this sanctuary are better off than that sanctuary.

172 Writing Prompt:!
Begin with “Her laughter broke the silence.”

173 Sentence Revision:!
1. Asteroids may collide with the Earth. This interests scientists.!
2. Students responded positively to the charity drive. This pleased everyone.!
3. Comets fly by the Earth at 100,000 mph. This impressed the students.!
4. Rents are getting more expensive. This is hard to accept.

174 Brain Teaser:!
What occurs once in every minute, twice in every moment, yet never in a thousand years?

175 Brain Teaser:!
Why do Chinese men eat more rice than Japanese men?

176 Brain Teaser:!
One big hockey fan claimed to be able to tell the score before any game. How did he do it?

177 Brain Teaser:!
Why can't a man living in the USA be buried in Canada?

178 Brain Teaser:!
If there are 3 apples and you take away 2, how many do you have?

179 Brain Teaser:!
What word describes a woman who does not have all her fingers on one hand?

180 Brain Teaser:!
Is it legal for a man in California to marry his widow's sister? Why?