Part one: read this passage and answer the related

question

Mount Everest
At an elevation of 29,028 feet (8848 meters) above sea level, Mount
Everest is the world’s tallest mountain. Mount Everest is relatively
young, having been formed only 60 million years ago, and it is still
growing a few millimeters every year!

Mount Everest is in the mountain range called the Himalayas. The

summit ridge of Mount Everest separates Nepal and Tibet. Each
place has a special name for this giant mountain.
In English, Mount Everest is named after Sir George
Everest, the first person to record the height and location of the
mountain.

A climb to the summit was attempted by George Mallory in 1922,

who famously gave his reason for wanting to climb Everest as
“because it’s there.” He attempted to reach the summit again in the
company of Andrew Irvine in 1924, but on this trip both climbers
disappeared.

The first successful ascent (and descent) of Mount Everest was

accomplished by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on May
29th, 1953.

The first ascent by a woman was on May 16th, 1975, by Junko

Tabei from Japan.
Between 1921 and 2007, over two thousand people have climbed
Mount Everest, some more than once. Since the first ascent in
1953, more than 600 climbers from 20 different countries have
reached the summit. However, over two hundred climbers have
died attempting to climb Mount Everest, most commonly from
avalanches, but also from falls in crevasses, cold, or high-altitude
sicknesses.
Choose the correct answer

1. How high is Mount Everest?

a) 8848 feet
b) 29,028 meters
c) 29,028 feet
d) 8848 meters

2. In what way does Mount Everest change annually?

a) It is shrinking a very small amount.
b) It is getting a little wider.
c) It is shifting slightly to the north.
d) It is growing a very small amount taller.

3. Mount Everest is in the mountain range called the ________.

a) Rocky Mountains
b) Andes
c) Himalayas
d) Alps

4. Who wanted to climb Mount Everest “because it’s there”?

a) George Mallory
b) Edmund Hillary
c) Tenzing Norgay
d) Junko Tabei

5. The first team to successfully reach the summit was _________.

a) George Mallory and Andrew Irvine
b) Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay
c) George Mallory and Edmund Hillary
d) Tenzing Norgay and Andrew Irvine

6. Since 1953, how many people have reached the summit?

a) about 20
b) fewer than 600
c) exactly 600
d) more than 600

7. The first ascent of woman was on

a) May 15 t h 1935
b) May 16 t h 1975
c) July 5 t h 1985
u s tin was alway s prepare d. His m otto was "Nev er throw any thing
ou t, y ou nev er k now when it m ight com e in handy ." His bedroom
wa s s o full of flat bicy cle tires , bent tennis rack ets , deflated
ba s k etballs , and gam es with m iss ing pieces that y ou could barely
get in the door. His paren ts pleaded with him to clean out his
room .

"Wh a t us e is a fis h tank with a hole in the bottom ? " his father
a s k ed. B ut Jus tin s im ply sm iled and repeate d his m otto, "Nev er
th row any thing out, y ou nev er k now when it m ight com e in
h a n dy ."

Wh en Jus tin was away from hom e, he alway s carried his blue
ba ck pack . He lik ed to think of it as a s m aller v ers ion of his
bedroom —a place to store the m any obj ects that he collecte d. I t
wa s s o worn and s tretched that it hardly res em bled a back pack
a n y m ore. I t was full of the k ind of things that s eem ed
u n im portant, but when us ed with a little im agination, m ight com e
in h a ndy .

J u s tin had earned a reputation for figurin g things out and getting
people out of otherwis e hopeles s s ituations . Many of his
cla s s m ates and neighbors sought him out when they needed help
with a problem . On the firs t day of s chool, his friend K enny , cam e
look in g for Jus tin.

"Do you think you hav e s om ething in y our bag that could help m e
rem em ber my lock er com bination? " he as k ed. "I los t the scrap of
pa per it was written on. I hav e s cience clas s in two m inutes and if
I ’m la te on the firs t day it’ll m ak e m e look bad for the res t of the
y ea r." K enny look ed genuinely worried .

"Rela x ," Jus tin s aid, tak ing his back pack off and unzippin g the
top. "Rem em ber how y ou borrowed my notebook in hom eroom to
write the com bination down? Well, I k now how we can recov er
wh a t y ou wrote."

He took the notebook and a s oft lead pencil out of his bag. The
pa ge that K enny had written on had left faint indentations on
a n oth er page in the notebook . Jus tin held the pencil on its s ide
a n d rubbed it lightly ov er the indentati ons . Slowly but surely the
n u m bers of the lock er com bination appeared in white, s et off by
th e gray pencil rubbings .

"Th a t’s am azing!" K enny s aid. "I owe y ou one." And he das hed off
to open his lock er.

Du rin g s cience clas s , Mr. Tran was lecturing on the s tructure of

th e s olar sy s tem us ing a m odel. He m ade a s udden ges ture and
th e m odel fell apart. Planets and rings and connector rods went
ev ery where, rolling and clatterin g and dis appear ing under des ks .
Th e s tudents s cram bled around on the floor for ten m inutes and
were finally able to recov er ev ery piece except one—a connector
rod that was lodge d in a crack between two lab s tations .

"I f we had a m agnet," s aid Mr. Tran, "we could eas ily coax it out
th a t way . But I loaned all of the magnet k its to the elem entary
s ch ool y es terday ."

J u s tin was already s earching through his back pack . "I hav e s om e
m a terials that will work j us t as well, I think ," he told Mr. Tran. He
pu lled out a battery , an iron nail, and s om e electr ica l wire and
ta pe, while Mr. Tran and the other s tudents look ed on in
a m a zem ent.

"Wh y do y ou hav e all of that s tuff? " L ouis e B axter as k ed. Jus tin
j u s t s m iled and repeated his m otto. "Nev er throw any thing out,
y ou n ev er k now when it m ight com e in handy ."

B y wrapping the wire around the nail and taping each end to a
ba ttery term inal, he was able to mak e a m agnet s trong enough to
lift th e rod out of the crack .

"B ra v o!" said Mr. Tran.

"No problem , " said Jus tin.

A fter s chool, Jus tin rode the bus to the m all where he work ed at a
m u s ic s tore. His bos s , Gail, was tak ing inv entory of all of the CDs
a n d tapes in the clas s ical m us ic s ection. As he helped a cus tom er
a t th e regis ter, Jus tin heard her excla im , "Oh, no! I forgot my
gla s s es ! There’s no way I can read this lis t without them ." Jus tin
s igh ed, pick ed up his back pack , and walk ed ov er to Gail.
"I th ink I can help y ou ou t," he said, unzipping the bag. While
Ga il watched in s urpris e, he pulled out a j ar of petroleum j elly , a
wa s h er, a glas s s lide, and a s mall bottle of water. He put the j elly
on th e bottom of the was her, placed it s ecurely , j elly - s ide down,
on th e glas s s lide, and then put a drop of water in the center of
th e was her.

He pu t the contraption on top of the inv entory lis t and s aid to his
bos s , "See what happens when y ou look through the water
drople t." Gail look ed and her ey es widened with delight.

"Wow!" s he cried. "I t enlarges the print that I ’m look ing at, j us t
lik e a m agnify ing glass !" She patted Jus tin on the back . "I ’m all
s et n ow," she s aid. "Thank s ."

J u s tin sm iled. "No problem , " he s aid, returning to the regis ter.

I t was j us t another day in the life of the boy whos e motto was
"Nev er throw any thing out, y ou nev er know when it m ight com e in
h a n dy ."

Why is Justin’s room

such a mess?

He always forgets to clean.

He never throws anything away.

He has no time to clean.

 
He shares a room with his brother.
 
Read this sentence from the story.
 
Justin had earned a reputation for figuring things out
and getting people out of otherwise hopeless situations.
 
 
What does reputation mean?
 
one’s personality

an award

how one is thought of by others

 the support of others
 

What kind of a person is Justin? How do you know this?

Use details from the story to support your answer.

 

In what way is Justin’s backpack a smaller version of his

bedroom?

He uses it as a place to store objects.

He uses it to carry his books and sports

equipment.
His parents tell him to clean it all the
time.
 
He’s had for as long as he can
remember.
 

Read this sentence from the story.

 
His parents pleaded with him to clean out his room.
 
Which word is a synonym for pleaded?
 
 
ignored

asked

pushed

begged
  

How does Justin help his friends?

He offers them advice.

He loans them his backpack

He listens to their problems.

 
He uses the objects in his backpack.
 

Is the author’s purpose in writing this story to inform, to

entertain, or both? How does the author achieve this
purpose?

Use details and examples from the story to support your

answer.
 

How do most of the characters in the story feel toward

Justin?

annoyed

grateful
 disinterested

angry.