WHAT IS THE PurposeSometimes factors that are outside of our control can shape our experiences for better or for worse. Think about your favorite and least favorite subjects in school this year. Then consider your personal opinion of everything about each of those two classes except the material you're learning: the teacher, the textbooks, the classroom, the time of day, the person you sit next to, etc. Write an essay that weighs these factors against one another and that comes to a conclusion about how much these factors influence your strong positive and negative feelings about these two school subjects.

The “big dig” the “big dig” (the central artery/tunnel project) has been complex and challenging. located in boston, massachusetts, this tunnel is eight lanes wide and three-and-a-half miles long. what is most amazing about this tunnel is that it is constructed under a major highway and skyscrapers located in boston’s financial district. construction crews used “clamshell excavators” during this dig. these machines carved narrow trenches, and then a special substance was pumped into the trench to keep the dirt from caving in. finally, steel beams were lowered into the trench and concrete was pumped in. one problem that engineers faced while constructing the tunnel is the fact that the soil beneath boston is extremely loose and soggy. engineers solved this dilemma by freezing the soil and pumping very cold water into pipes beneath the city. to strengthen the soil even further, a special type of glue was injected into the ground to with the consolidation of the soil. 23 which phrase best defines the word excavator as used in the passage? a. a device used to measure underground temperatures b. a device used to level uneven surfaces c. a device used to move heavy objects d. a device used to dig holes

Read the excerpt from "mother tongue." lately, i’ve been giving more thought to the kind of english my mother speaks. like others, i have described it to people as “broken” or “fractured” english. but i wince when i say that. it has always bothered me that i can think of no other way to describe it other than “broken,” as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness. what best supports the inference that tan believes nonstandard english is no less valid than standard english? tan spends a lot of time thinking about her mother’s “fractured” english. tan has trouble thinking of descriptive words when she is writing. tan’s american education makes it difficult for her to understand her mother. tan winces when she describes her mother’s english as “broken.”

Kwan gazed out at her brother and heard his shrieks of delight as he tried to direct their marvelous flying creation. she watched it wheel, spin, and dive—a wild, colorful bird putting on an aerial display. its gold and red crepe-paper wings fluttered in the air, mimicking the flight of a predatory bird surveying the landscape for prey. it swooped and dived, perhaps discovering a possible meal, and then went airborne again to avoid the rocky terrain below. min was the falconer, guiding his bird on its path through the sky, not yet ready to call it back to the ground. but kwan grew concerned when she looked out at the dark, threatening clouds beginning to roll in off the water. when she saw the streaks of lightning within the cloud formation, she pointed to the distant storm and called out to her little brother to bring in the kite. min nodded and rolled in the kite string, bringing his bird home. “let’s go,” kwan told her brother and put her arm around him to fold him safely under her wing as they both held onto the kite. “it’s time to go home.” how does the extended metaphor in paragraph 3 affect the mood of this passage? a-it creates a feeling of silliness that captures the absurd humor of the situation. b- it creates a sense of tranquility to match the feelings of min at this point. c-it creates a feeling of fear over what may happen if the kite crashes. d-it creates a sense of awe and wonder at min's mastery of the kite.