Kayla had grown tired of online games. The trash talk, the irritating memes, the constant taunts to "git, gud, noob." It grated on a person. The time for team games was over.

Question

"Mom?" she said. "Did they have computer games before the internet?"

Her mother rolled her eyes. "Of course," she said. "Let me show you!"

She directed Kayla to an online collection of old games from the 90s, remastered so they'd work on her phone. "I was playing these games when I was your age," she said.

Kayla looked at the titles skeptically. "When? In the age of the dinosaurs?"

"Yes, honey. When the Earth was young."

Kayla booted up one of the games—a point-and-click, single-player adventure game. It wasn't terribly immersive: by today's standards, the graphics were awful. But the writing was funny and, after an hour or so, even the pixel art started to look cool.

She made it through the first five puzzles and then called her mother into the room. "I'm stuck. How do I figure out the password to get into the secret pirate club?"

"You have to trick the doorman," her mom said. "Run through that dialogue again. Let's see if he drops any clues."

In her next conversation with the doorman, his tendency to rhyme made the answer obvious: the password was door-hinge, the only conceivable rhyme for orange. Kayla was in!

Maybe when dinosaurs roamed the earth, the games actually weren’t that bad.

A student identified this theme of the story: There is value in exploring the past.

Which evidence from the passage best supports this theme?

(2 points)
Responses

A. "It wasn't terribly immersive: by today's standards, the graphics were awful"
A. "It wasn't terribly immersive: by today's standards, the graphics were awful"

B. "The trash talk, the irritating memes, the constant taunts to "git, gud, noob."
B. "The trash talk, the irritating memes, the constant taunts to "git, gud, noob."

C. "Maybe when dinosaurs roamed the earth, the games actually weren’t that bad."
C. "Maybe when dinosaurs roamed the earth, the games actually weren’t that bad."

D. "Mom?" she said. "Did they have computer games before the internet?"

Answer 1

The evidence that best supports the theme "There is value in exploring the past" is:

C. "Maybe when dinosaurs roamed the earth, the games actually weren’t that bad."

This statement reflects Kayla's realization that the older games, despite their outdated graphics and immersive qualities, offered enjoyable experiences and clever writing, highlighting the value she found in exploring games from the past.