Reading Standards for Informational Text: Stories Across Artistic Mediums (CCSS.RI.7.4) Practice Test

Paragraph 1: When you open a video app or news feed, you see a stream of items chosen just for you. Behind the scenes, an algorithm—a step-by-step procedure a computer follows—scores your clicks and watch time. The system looks for patterns, then predicts what you will likely enjoy next. It is sleek and fast, but it is not magic; it learns from data, which can be incomplete or skewed.

Paragraph 2: Companies say these systems curate content for convenience. Here, curate does not mean a person wearing a museum badge. It means selecting and arranging materials with a specific audience in mind. In practice, the software may boost certain topics and downplay others, aiming to keep you engaged. Over time, you might slip into a filter bubble, a personalized zone that can feel comfortable yet narrow. The tone of this process is careful and persuasive—it nudges rather than shouts.

Paragraph 3: You can push back. Try following a wider range of sources, or use settings that reset recommendations. Some platforms let you mark items as "not interested." These actions send a modest but real signal. While such steps may not erase all bias, they may open small windows in the bubble.

Figure 1: A simple flow: "Your click" → "Model updates" → "New recommendations." A side label reads "preferences inferred." A dotted line leads to a box labeled "settings and feedback."

Glossary: algorithm — a set of rules a computer follows to solve a problem; curate — to select and arrange with care; filter bubble — a limited information environment shaped by personalization.

1 Meteorologists do not guess; they measure and compare. Every few hours, weather balloons rise, satellites scan cloud tops, and ocean buoys ping back data. These tools capture pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind—signals that describe the air right now. Yet tomorrow remains a moving target because the atmosphere is a restless system.

2 To peek ahead, scientists run a model. In this context, a model is not a tiny plastic globe or a person on a runway. It is a set of mathematical rules coded into a computer that imitates how air and water behave across space and time. The program takes today's observations, then steps forward minute by minute, letting storms grow or fade on-screen. Because the real world wriggles, forecasters often use an ensemble—several slightly different model runs—to see a spread of possible futures and reduce overconfidence.

3 Words used on TV make weather feel alive. A "stubborn" low-pressure system can "park" over a city. A jet stream may "dip" like a lazy ribbon, then snap back. Such phrasing does not mean the atmosphere chooses; it is a shortcut that helps audiences feel the push and pull. Even so, scientists hedge. They say a storm will likely arrive by morning, not that it will certainly slam every street. Confidence can grow as fresh data arrive, but uncertainty never vanishes.

4 Diagram (described): A simple map shows a cold front as a line of triangles, arrows for wind, and curved lines for isobars. Labels point to a low (L) and the advancing front. Caption: Figure 1. A schematic of a cold front moving east.

Glossary isobar: a line on a map that connects places with the same air pressure; ensemble: several model runs used together to compare outcomes; cold front: the leading edge of a colder air mass.

Footnote 1: Computers adjust for missing data by blending information from nearby stations.