MAP 7th Grade Reading › Common Core: 7th Grade English Language Arts
Select the sentence the correctly uses a modifier
Molly created an all natural laundry detergent that could be used for washing clothes at the age of thirteen.
At the age of thirteen, Molly created an all natural laundry detergent that could be used for washing clothes.
A modifier is a word or phrase that modifies, or describes, another word or phrase.
A misplaced modifier is a modifier that appears to modify the wrong word or phrase because it is too far from the word or phrase that it should modify.
"Molly created an all natural laundry detergent that could be used for washing clothes at the age of thirteen." has a misplaced modifier. Because the modifier at the age of thirteen is adjacent to washing clothes, this sentence wrongly suggests that the washing clothes should only be done at the age of thriteen.
You likely hear the name “Napoleon Bonaparte” and immediately think of the short in stature and short in temper French emperor. But have you heard about his most embarrassing surrender? No, not Waterloo! Not Laon or the battle of La Rothiere either! Napoleon's most laughable defeat came well before his loss at Waterloo, in the summer of 1807.
Despite Napoleon's great renown as a brilliant military leader, he once retreated frantically from an army of ….bunnies! You heard that right! Shortly after Napoleon’s Treaties of Tilsit was penned, the emperor planned to celebrate with his fellow military men the best way he knew how - a hunt! Napoleon ordered the chief of staff, Alexandre Berthier, to organize an extravagant rabbit hunt for Napoleon and his men.
Not to be outdone, Berthier collected what was estimated to be between hundreds and thousands of rabbits for the hunt. However, while Berthier assumed that, like wild rabbits, these village-raised rabbits would scurry at the sight of Napoleon and his men, exactly the opposite was true. When the day came and the hunting party was ready for the chase, the bunnies were released. But instead of running for the woods, the swarm of rabbits came straight for Napoleon and his men. Though the men initially attempted to fight back, they were overwhelmed by the hoard and fled to their coaches on a panicked retreat. It was not until the coaches sped away, rabbits still hopping aboard even as they attempted to retreat, that Napoleon was able to escape the furry army.
Embarrassed in front of the military peers and subordinates who once respected him, Napoleon fled home from a battle he never anticipated, and one he would never fully recover from the battle of the bunnies.
What is the main idea of this passage?
The story of the time a great military leader had to run away from bunnies
A historical account of military victory in 1807
A brief biography of Alexandre Berthier
The time Napoleon lost at Waterloo
The author of the passage tells the story of Napoleon Bonaparte, the great military leader who once had to flee from the presumed attack of hundreds--maybe thousands--of bunnies. The wrong answers do appear in the passage to some degree, but they are clearly not the main idea.
“Stone Trees”
Have you ever seen a stone tree? While the idea of a stone tree may sound fantastic, fallen trees can turn to stone in very specific circumstances, producing what scientists call “petrified wood.” “Petra” means stone in ancient Greek, so something “petrified” has been turned to stone. You may have heard the word “petrified” used to describe someone so scared that they have frozen as if turned to stone, but scientists use the word literally to refer to actual stone. Petrified trees are stone trees, not scared trees!
A Type of Fossil
Like ancient skeletons of dinosaurs and other organisms preserved in the earth, petrified wood is a type of fossil; however, there is a big difference between petrified wood and most fossils. Most fossils are imprints of creatures or partial remains of them, such as their skeletons. In contrast, the process of petrification recreates an entire preserved tree in stone. It’s very cool to see a petrified tree close-up, because it is still precisely life-size; you can get an idea of how big the tree was when it was alive, and even see individual tree cells that have been preserved. You can even count the tree rings in some petrified trees and estimate how old the tree grew to be before it was petrified.
From Tree to Stone
In order for a tree to become petrified wood, it must have died and been buried a very long time ago. This has to have happened in a specific environment, though, or petrified wood would not be so rare. The tree has to be buried in such a way that oxygen cannot get to its bark and wood. If oxygen can get to the tree, it will rot instead of turn to stone.
The environment has to have two more specific characteristics to produce petrified wood: there has to be water in the ground around the tree, and that water has to contain minerals. If mineral-containing water is present, water will go into and out of the tree’s cells and, over time, the minerals in the water will accumulate in the tree’s cells. When the tree’s cells eventually decay, the minerals are left. Petrified wood can be a rainbow of different colors, with each color corresponding to different elements in the tree’s preserving environment that affect the color of the minerals that form its stone.
Petrified wood is found all over the world, and there are even entire forests of petrified trees that you can travel to go see today. One national park in the United States, Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, is famous for its many petrified trees. The next time you see a tree, remember, after a few million years in the right environment, it could turn to stone!
In what way does petrified wood differ from dinosaur fossils?
Dinosaur fossils are parts of ancient creatures, but petrification preserves the likeness of an entire tree.
Dinosaur fossils are two-dimensional imprints, but petrification creates a three-dimensional stone tree.
Dinosaur fossils are much more valuable than petrified wood is.
Dinosaur fossils can only form when oxygen does not get to the organism being fossilized, but petrification requires that a tree be exposed to oxygen.
Dinosaur fossils are always bigger than petrified trees.
In the section "A Type of Fossil," the passage compares petrified wood to other fossils like dinosaur bones and imprints. The section begins by setting up for discussion of "a big difference" between petrified wood and most other fossils:
Like ancient skeletons of dinosaurs and other organisms preserved in the earth, petrified wood is a type of fossil; however, there is a big difference between petrified wood and most fossils. Most fossils are imprints of creatures or partial remains of them, such as their skeletons. In contrast, the process of petrification recreates an entire preserved tree in stone.
This answers the question at hand: dinosaur fossils are parts of ancient creatures, but petrification preserves the likeness of an entire tree. This is the correct answer. The passage doesn't say anything about dinosaur fossils always being bigger than petrified trees, nor does it say anything about the relative value of dinosaur fossils and petrified wood. The answer choice "Dinosaur fossils can only form when oxygen does not get to the organism being fossilized, but petrification requires that a tree be exposed to oxygen" may seem correct, but read it carefully, and you'll find that its last part, "petrification requires that a tree be exposed to oxygen," is incorrect based on what we learn in the rest of the passage. Petrified trees only form when fallen trees are prevented from rotting by being buried so oxygen can't get to them and make them rot. "Dinosaur fossils are two-dimensional imprints, but petrification creates a three-dimensional stone tree" may also look like a great answer choice; however, the passage states, "Most fossils are imprints of creatures or partial remains of them, such as their skeletons." Skeletons aren't two-dimensional imprints, so we can't claim that "Dinosaur fossils are two-dimensional imprints."
You likely hear the name “Napoleon Bonaparte” and immediately think of the short in stature and short in temper French emperor. But have you heard about his most embarrassing surrender? No, not Waterloo! Not Laon or the battle of La Rothiere either! Napoleon's most laughable defeat came well before his loss at Waterloo, in the summer of 1807.
Despite Napoleon's great renown as a brilliant military leader, he once retreated frantically from an army of ….bunnies! You heard that right! Shortly after Napoleon’s Treaties of Tilsit was penned, the emperor planned to celebrate with his fellow military men the best way he knew how - a hunt! Napoleon ordered the chief of staff, Alexandre Berthier, to organize an extravagant rabbit hunt for Napoleon and his men.
Not to be outdone, Berthier collected what was estimated to be between hundreds and thousands of rabbits for the hunt. However, while Berthier assumed that, like wild rabbits, these village-raised rabbits would scurry at the sight of Napoleon and his men, exactly the opposite was true. When the day came and the hunting party was ready for the chase, the bunnies were released. But instead of running for the woods, the swarm of rabbits came straight for Napoleon and his men. Though the men initially attempted to fight back, they were overwhelmed by the hoard and fled to their coaches on a panicked retreat. It was not until the coaches sped away, rabbits still hopping aboard even as they attempted to retreat, that Napoleon was able to escape the furry army.
Embarrassed in front of the military peers and subordinates who once respected him, Napoleon fled home from a battle he never anticipated, and one he would never fully recover from the battle of the bunnies.
What is the main idea of this passage?
The story of the time a great military leader had to run away from bunnies
A historical account of military victory in 1807
A brief biography of Alexandre Berthier
The time Napoleon lost at Waterloo
The author of the passage tells the story of Napoleon Bonaparte, the great military leader who once had to flee from the presumed attack of hundreds--maybe thousands--of bunnies. The wrong answers do appear in the passage to some degree, but they are clearly not the main idea.
Select the answer choice that classifies the underlined portion of the sentence below:
We did the laundry at the laundry mat after practice.
A clause
A phrase
A simple sentence
A compound sentence
A clause is a group of words that contains both a subject and predicate. A clause can function as a complete sentence or combine with other clauses to form compound or complex sentences.
A phrase is any group of words that function together in a sentence but lack a subject, a predicate, or both.
A simple sentence is made up of a single independent clause.
A compound sentence is made up of two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction such as and, but, or, or so.
Select the answer choice that correctly classifies the sentence below:
Brian and I spent all day studying for finals.
A simple sentence
A compound sentence
A complex sentence
A clause
A simple sentence is made up of a single independent clause.
A compound sentence is made up of two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction such as and, but, or, or so.
A complex sentence is made up of an independent clause and a dependent clause. The dependent clause in a complex sentence usually begins with a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun. Subordinating conjunctions include after, although, as, because, before, if, since, unless, until, when, and while. Relative pronouns include that, which, who, whom, or whose.
Select the sentence the correctly uses a modifier
Molly created an all natural laundry detergent that could be used for washing clothes at the age of thirteen.
At the age of thirteen, Molly created an all natural laundry detergent that could be used for washing clothes.
A modifier is a word or phrase that modifies, or describes, another word or phrase.
A misplaced modifier is a modifier that appears to modify the wrong word or phrase because it is too far from the word or phrase that it should modify.
"Molly created an all natural laundry detergent that could be used for washing clothes at the age of thirteen." has a misplaced modifier. Because the modifier at the age of thirteen is adjacent to washing clothes, this sentence wrongly suggests that the washing clothes should only be done at the age of thriteen.
Select the sentence that correctly uses a modifier:
He bought a kitten for his sister called Whiskers.
He bought a kitten called Whiskers for his sister.
A modifier is a word or phrase that modifies or describes, another word or phrase. A misplaced modifier is a modifier that appears to modify the wrong word or phrase because it is too far from the word or phrase that it should modify. “He bought a kitten for his sister called Whiskers.” has a misplaced modifier. Because the modifier “called Whiskers” is adjacent to “his sister”, the sentence wrongly suggests the sister is called Whiskers, not the kitten.
Choose which answer choice best expresses the underlined portion of the following sentence. If the original sentence is the best choice, select “NO CHANGE.”
A talented musician, John’s family proudly attended all of his concerts and performances.
NO CHANGE
Talented musicians, John was proud to have his family attend
A talented musician, John was proud to have his family attend
They were talented musicians, John’s family proudly attended
When a sentence begins with a noun phrase + comma + another noun, there’s a good chance that it’s beginning with an appositive (noun used as a description) modifier. That is the case here: “a talented musician” is a description of the noun that comes after the comma, and the noun after the comma is the noun that performs the action in the verb (“John’s family proudly attended…”).
Whenever you’re using a modifier, it must logically describe the noun that comes next to it. Here “a talented musician” is singular, describing one musician. But John’s family is more than one person, so the modifier doesn’t work. But “a talented musician, John” does work since John could logically be one talented musician. That answer corrects the singular-vs-plural logical errors in two answer choices and is therefore correct.
Note that “they were talented musicians, John’s family…” is not a modifier, since “they were talented musicians” has both a noun (they) and a verb (were). That answer choice has its own grammatical error, then, in that, you cannot simply split two clauses with only a comma.
If someone did not do something that they should have done, you could say that that person has been ________.
derogatory
negligent
exonerated
deceitful
tentative
Answer: Negligent.