IIStrand: Reading Comprehension (Focus on Informational Materials ...

<strong>Reading</strong> <strong>Comprehension</strong>
(<strong>Focus</strong> on Informational Materials)
<strong>IIStrand</strong>:
IILESSON 11 Comparison and Contrast
STANDARDS:
8.2.1, 10.2.1,
10.2.4
with Informational Texts
One of the most common ways of analyzing things is to compare and contrast them. When
you compare, you find similarities between two or more people, places, or things. When
you contrast, you find differences between them.
RULE
When you
compare, you find
ways that two or
more things are
alike. When you
contrast, you find
ways in which they
are different.
EXAMPLE
As you read, compare and contrast the two letters to the editor below.
Dear Editor:
I am writing to commend your newspaper
on your excellent media coverage. You
did an outstanding job of covering the
local mayoral elections. I thought that
your coverage was fair and unbiased.
Furthermore, since I am housebound and
couldnʼt attend the debates, I found it
very helpful that you gave important facts
about the positions of both candidates.
You truly helped me understand the
issues in a timely fashion—well in time
for me to submit my absentee ballot.
Jill Rhodes, Santa Rosa
Dear Editor:
I have never written a letter to a
newspaper editor before, but then again,
I have never been so outraged before. I
worked on Sarah Fordʼs mayoral campaign,
and I never once saw a reporter from your
newspaper at any of her speeches. Your
slanted coverage seemed to take its “facts”
from the attack ads aired by her opponent.
Your reporters simply parroted what was
said about Ms. Ford instead of taking the
time to talk to her or her staff.
Your shallow coverage was a disservice
to the electorate. I hope that by the
next election you will have learned the
importance of talking to both candidates
rather than relying on your ridiculous
excuse for journalism.
Tanisha Rogers, Sonoma
A Venn diagram is a good way to compare and contrast ideas. In the diagram below,
similarities between the two letters are listed in the intersection of the two ovals.
Differences between the letters are in each oval outside the intersection.
CAHSEE TIP
Use the reading
strategy of making a
Venn diagram to keep
track of similarities
and differences
between two things.
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44 UNIT II: <strong>Reading</strong> <strong>Comprehension</strong> (<strong>Focus</strong> on Informational Materials)

Guided Practice
ACTIVE
READING
As you read
the selection,
underline details
about womenʼs
basketball, and
circle details about
menʼs basketball.
Read the following essay.
If there is one sport that I love, it is basketball. I can watch a professional game,
a college game, or a pick-up game. Just recently, I’ve become a fan of women’s
basketball. I first started watching it when the Olympics were on TV. I enjoyed the
women’s games as much as the men’s.
Unfortunately, I find it hard to enjoy women’s basketball when I watch it on TV.
That’s because my brother continually harasses me. He yells, “They couldn’t even
beat the high-school boys’ team down the street!” When I get over being angry, I
try to talk rationally with him. I agree that the men are larger and stronger than the
women and that the men’s sheer athleticism far outdistances the women’s. And I
can’t disagree that the men’s teams have more fans and therefore bring in more
revenue than the women’s teams do.
However, I disagree with my brother on a couple of other issues. For example,
both men and women can handle the ball well and make the right decisions, and
both men and women are fiercely competitive. Maybe if I give it some time, even
my hardheaded brother will come around to the fact that women’s basketball is
worth watching. Who knows He may even become a fan, like me.
On a separate piece of paper, compare and contrast men’s and women’s basketball by
drawing a Venn diagram like the one on page 44. Then, answer questions 1 and 2.
1. According to the selection, what is ONE
similarity between menʼs and womenʼs
basketball
THINK: How are the two the same
2. According to the selection, what is
ONE dissimilarity between menʼs
and womenʼs basketball
THINK: How are the two different
A
types of fans
A
number of fans
B
advertising dollars generated
B
ages of the players
C
competitiveness of the players
C
know-how of the players
D
size and strength of the players
D
coverage in the Olympics
3. Women professional athletes are paid far less than men. Is this fair
Use the chart below to organize your ideas. Then, write a 1- to 2-paragraph response
on another piece of paper.
© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
Step 1 Take a position.
Step 2 Give a reason. You can use
information from the selection.
Step 3 Write TWO facts from the
selection to support your
opinion.
I think that it (is/is not) fair that women
professional athletes make less money than
men who play the same sport.
UNIT II: <strong>Reading</strong> <strong>Comprehension</strong> (<strong>Focus</strong> on Informational Materials)
45

II
II
PRE-READING:
Strand: <strong>Reading</strong> <strong>Comprehension</strong>
(<strong>Focus</strong> on Informational Materials)
CAHSEE Practice
Read the following selection and answer questions 1 through 4.
This selection is about two important leaders in the struggle against
slavery in the United States—Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Before you read,
write down one fact that you know about slavery.
CAHSEE TIP
As you read a
comparison and
contrast piece, think
about what you read.
In this case, think
about how these
two very different
men were similar in
important ways.
Lincoln and Douglass:
Two Men for Their Times
When we think of the struggle to end slavery in
the United States, we often think of two men
who were key figures in that struggle—
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of
the United States, serving in office from 1861 to
1865. Frederick Douglass was a major
spokesperson for the abolitionists, activists who
worked to end slavery in the United States
during the decades prior to the Civil War.
Most people are unaware that there are some
interesting similarities between these two men.
Both were born into very poor families:
Lincoln, to poor farmers; Douglass, to enslaved
people. Both men were also self-educated.
Lincolnʼs family could not afford to allow him
to spend much time in school; Douglass, as the
son of enslaved people, did not receive a formal
education. Both men lost their mothers when
they were young, and both men spent their early
adulthoods on farms. Both men then moved
from border slave states to free states. (Lincoln,
from Kentucky to Indiana; Douglass, from
Maryland to Massachusetts and New York.)
At an early age, Douglass was taught to read by
his ownerʼs wife, Mrs. Auld. As a Northerner
who had moved to the South, she did not know
about the restrictions against teaching enslaved
people to read and write. Once Douglass
became literate, he devoted himself to
developing the reading and writing skills that
would serve him for the rest of his life. Lincoln
attended school, in his words, “by littles”—here
and there, for only a few weeks at a time. All
told, he did not have more than a year of formal
education. However, he had a voracious thirst
for knowledge, and he helped quench that thirst
by reading the Bible and such books as Aesopʼs
Fables and the Life of Washington, which he
walked long distances to borrow.
Both men used their considerable natural
abilities with language to work against slavery.
Lincolnʼs most famous speech, the Gettysburg
Address, stands as one of the most memorable
oratories in American history. Douglassʼs
speeches against slavery; his autobiography The
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an
American Slave; and the work he did as editor
© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
46 UNIT II: <strong>Reading</strong> <strong>Comprehension</strong> (<strong>Focus</strong> on Informational Materials)

of the North Star, a leading abolitionist
newspaper, were major weapons in the
movement to educate Americans about the evils
of slavery.
Of course, there were also profound differences
between the two men. Lincoln was born a free
man; Douglass was not. After years of
unsuccessfully trying to buy his freedom,
Douglass finally gained it by borrowing the
papers of a freed black sailor and
impersonating him.
people in Confederate states. Douglass, as a
newspaper publisher, did not have the same
direct power to end slavery that Lincoln had,
but his speeches, his autobiography, and the
anti-slavery articles he published had a
powerful impact on public opinion.
One of the most profound differences between
the two men was their position on slavery.
Douglass was an abolitionist; Lincoln was not.
Lincoln opposed the expansion of slavery, not
its existence.
Lincoln, as president of the United States, used
the war powers of his office to free enslaved
Lincoln died from an assassinʼs bullet at age 56.
Douglass died of natural causes at age 77.
Multiple-Choice
1. According to paragraph 3 of the
selection, Lincoln had a “voracious
thirst for knowledge.” In this context,
voracious means the same as—
A
B
C
D
eager.
ordinary.
idealistic.
apathetic.
3. According to the selection, in which of
the following ways were Lincoln and
Douglass SIMILAR
A
B
C
D
Both were politicians.
Both were abolitionists.
Both were self-educated.
Both died of natural causes.
© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
2. Based on details in the selection, with
which of the following statements would
Frederick Douglass MOST likely agree
A
B
C
D
Work for gradual change.
Success comes to the lucky.
There is no freedom without struggle.
Take care of your own problems, and
donʼt worry about other peopleʼs.
4. According to the selection, which of the
following was a major DIFFERENCE
between Lincoln and Douglass
A
B
C
D
Douglass was an orator; Lincoln
was not.
Douglass was an abolitionist; Lincoln
was not.
Douglass was born poor; Lincolnʼs
family was wealthy.
Douglass was born in a border slave
state; Lincoln was born in a free state.
UNIT II: <strong>Reading</strong> <strong>Comprehension</strong> (<strong>Focus</strong> on Informational Materials)
47

1CAHSEE
1
Practice Test
51. By saying “You may think family farms are
rapidly going the way of the woolly mammoth
and the dodo,” the author means that such
farms are—
A
B
C
D
difficult to maintain and keep healthy.
unsuccessful because they raise only unusual
animals.
unable to survive because of changes in
climate.
almost gone.
A B C D
54. Which quotation from the selection shows that
the author sees farming as a business
A
B
C
D
“ Iʼm the one who has really gotten excited
about farming.”
“ Instead of using commercial fertilizers
and pesticides, she manages the soil so
the plants are strong enough to fight off
disease.”
“The luck came in when they got their land.”
“ I hope to gain skills and knowledge that
will add value to their enterprise.”
A B C D
52. Which statement from the essay supports the
authorʼs claim that intelligence is needed to
make a small farm successful
A
B
C
D
“Rick and Emma work hard.”
“ Uncle Rick can fix just about any
machine.”
“I also like selling what I produce.”
“Iʼve worked the fields in the cold rain.”
A B C D
55. Which statement would the author MOST
likely agree with
A
B
C
D
Organic farms are the only kind that make
money.
Farming is best done on a big scale.
A small farm is a great place to work.
Anyone can do farm work.
A B C D
53. Read this sentence from the passage.
Her vegetables are always considered way
cool at farmers’ markets and restaurants.
Which revision would improve the underlined
part of the sentence
A
B
C
D
have always got the goods
are always in demand
have always been sold
are always kept refrigerated
A B C D
56. Which revision would improve the underlined
part of the sentence in the last paragraph of
the essay
A
B
C
D
they are smart enough to raise crops
theyʼve got the smarts to grow stuff
they know they cannot grow crops
theyʼve used their minds to grow food
A B C D
© New Readers Press. All rights reserved.
192 CAHSEE English–Language Arts Practice Test 1