Question
The wildest country in the Great Lakes region lies around its most northern lake—Superior. The area has been home to Chippewa Indians, French explorers, copper miners, foresters, and many other people who have drawn their physical and emotional sustenance from this rugged terrain.,end italics,
paragraph 2,Listen. Let me tell you what my life is made of. Snow and ice. Cedar and hemlock. Fire and smoke.
paragraph 3,The quiet of the day is deep.
paragraph 4,I live on a lake called Muskallonge, far north in Michigan.
paragraph 5,I live in a one-room cabin, cedar-shaked and tin-roofed, small beneath tall white pines.
paragraph 6,I live at the end of the road five months a year. The sign two miles west says, "Seasonal Road, Not Snowplowed by the Luce County Road Commission."
paragraph 7,I live near the big lake, Superior. I hear it roaring in the distance with a sound like giants crashing into each other. It is as if the icebergs along the shore are the lake's broad shoulders jostling against the frozen sand.
paragraph 8,The Chippewa call Superior ,begin italics,Kitchi gami,end italics,, the big water. I have seen the Atlantic and the Pacific and neither is larger or better than this. Every time I come over a hill or around a bend and see it—rolling or calm, gray or blue, in any mood—I am home.
paragraph 9,In our cabin we have electricity, but no running water. Instead we have cases of spring water imported from Canada, and a hole in the ice. We have a telephone but no television. We have a radio and it gets reception sometimes. We have two cats, two dogs, hundreds of books, and a Scrabble board. The closest grocery store is thirty miles away.
paragraph 10,I am in no hurry to go to town; it has been nearly a month since I went. I don't want to disturb the chain of days I am threading together like pearls on a satin string. We need milk, stamps, dog food. Clean laundry. I know this, but it seems unimportant. It would be easy to earn the title of ,begin italics,hermit,end italics,.
paragraph 11,These are our chores: light the fire, carry wood, spud,superscript,1,baseline, the hole open in the ice, haul water up in buckets. Shovel now, wait for the mail. I wash my hair in a big white basin of lake water heated on top of the woodstove and do the dishes the same way. We play Scrabble or cribbage in the evening. We read. I write.
paragraph 12,Sometimes my husband cooks dinner outside over a fire. One day he roasted pork, slowly, over cherry wood. The smell made me feel delirious and preoccupied and I couldn't think about anything else until it was done. That smell was the liveliest, most arresting thing about the day.
paragraph 13,Sometimes I build a campfire on the beach and then scoop coffee grounds into cold water in a blue speckled pot and set the pot on a grate above the flames. It is the best coffee in the world, and makes me happier and more awake than any other.
paragraph 14,It is quiet here. The lake is bigger than the town, and gets named on maps more often. Muskallonge means ugly fish in Chippewa. I like the practicality of that, and also the humor. The town is called Deer Park. There are many summer cabins, but only twenty-five permanent residents. There is one store open year-round, a quarter mile away. I buy candy bars there. Also canned vegetables, soup, potato chips, matches, and ice cream.
paragraph 15,Mushers train their sled dogs here. We are north of the main snowmobile trails, so it is a good place to run dogs, quiet and empty. I have not seen this yet, but imagine it and wait: the dogs harnessed in a long string, running, the sled flying behind with the musher clinging to it, calling to the dogs. We pass a mushers' camp on our way to town when we go, a half circle of trailers and trucks. The mushers live in the trailers, the dogs in boxes in the backs of the trucks. There were men and women gathered around a fire in lawn chairs the last time we drove past, a little before noon on a Tuesday in January. Their lives looked even more rustic than mine. Their lives looked interesting.
paragraph 16,Sometimes at night, after the shoveling is done, we light the kerosene lantern and walk slowly down the road in the dark. There is only the sound of our boots shuffling on the snow and the hishing noise the lantern makes. Sometimes a tree branch creaks loud in the woods on still, windless nights, and we stop and listen, and wonder. What makes it creak? There is the smell of coldness and snow and burning kerosene. Our shadows are huge, our arms far above us, up over the treetops, brushing against the sky.
paragraph 17,I always think about the people who were here before me, who might have loved it here as I do, and I am curious about them. I wish that I could meet them. Perhaps we would have a great deal in common. Life has always been harsh here, I think—harsh and beautiful and compelling. It is a place that inspires deep loyalty. More than once it has made me try to be more determined and more courageous than I really thought I could be.
paragraph 18,We live poor here. We stay against great odds, our life in many ways like a white-knuckled, stubborn grasp. No one has yet been able to knock our fingers off the rock ledge of our life. I'd yearn to come back, if I had to leave. I'd dream of returning. I think my heart would break if I could not.
paragraph 19,When you are old, perhaps you remember most clearly the best pieces, the magic pieces, of your life. I have a whole album of those, gathered here.
(from "At Uglyfish Lake" by Ellen Airgood. Copyright © 2003 by Ellen Airgood. Used by permission of the author.)
,begin bold,,superscript,1,baseline,spud ,end bold,to chisel using a four- to five-foot (one-and-a-half-meter) piece of steel with a sharp end
Question 1
This question has two parts. Answer Part A, and then answer Part B.
,begin emphasis,Part A,end emphasis,
This sentence is from the passage.
"I don't want to disturb the chain of days I am threading together ,begin emphasis,like pearls on a satin string,end emphasis,." (Paragraph 10)
How does the phrase ,begin emphasis,like pearls on a satin string,end emphasis, contribute to the meaning of the passage?
Question 1 Answer options with 4 options
1.
The phrase reveals how long the author has lived in the area.
2.
The phrase emphasizes the value the author assigns to the experience of living in the area.
3.
The phrase suggests that the author misses some elements of living in a more populated area.
4.
The phrase explains how the author approaches surviving the difficult living conditions of the area.
Question 2
,begin emphasis,Part B,end emphasis,
Which sentence from the passage contributes to the passage in a similar way?
Question 2 Answer options with 4 options
1.
"There is one store open year-round, a quarter mile away." (Paragraph 14)
2.
"Their lives looked even more rustic than mine." (Paragraph 15)
3.
"There is the smell of coldness and snow and burning kerosene." (Paragraph 16)
4.
"I have a whole album of those, gathered here." (Paragraph 19)
paragraph 2,Listen. Let me tell you what my life is made of. Snow and ice. Cedar and hemlock. Fire and smoke.
paragraph 3,The quiet of the day is deep.
paragraph 4,I live on a lake called Muskallonge, far north in Michigan.
paragraph 5,I live in a one-room cabin, cedar-shaked and tin-roofed, small beneath tall white pines.
paragraph 6,I live at the end of the road five months a year. The sign two miles west says, "Seasonal Road, Not Snowplowed by the Luce County Road Commission."
paragraph 7,I live near the big lake, Superior. I hear it roaring in the distance with a sound like giants crashing into each other. It is as if the icebergs along the shore are the lake's broad shoulders jostling against the frozen sand.
paragraph 8,The Chippewa call Superior ,begin italics,Kitchi gami,end italics,, the big water. I have seen the Atlantic and the Pacific and neither is larger or better than this. Every time I come over a hill or around a bend and see it—rolling or calm, gray or blue, in any mood—I am home.
paragraph 9,In our cabin we have electricity, but no running water. Instead we have cases of spring water imported from Canada, and a hole in the ice. We have a telephone but no television. We have a radio and it gets reception sometimes. We have two cats, two dogs, hundreds of books, and a Scrabble board. The closest grocery store is thirty miles away.
paragraph 10,I am in no hurry to go to town; it has been nearly a month since I went. I don't want to disturb the chain of days I am threading together like pearls on a satin string. We need milk, stamps, dog food. Clean laundry. I know this, but it seems unimportant. It would be easy to earn the title of ,begin italics,hermit,end italics,.
paragraph 11,These are our chores: light the fire, carry wood, spud,superscript,1,baseline, the hole open in the ice, haul water up in buckets. Shovel now, wait for the mail. I wash my hair in a big white basin of lake water heated on top of the woodstove and do the dishes the same way. We play Scrabble or cribbage in the evening. We read. I write.
paragraph 12,Sometimes my husband cooks dinner outside over a fire. One day he roasted pork, slowly, over cherry wood. The smell made me feel delirious and preoccupied and I couldn't think about anything else until it was done. That smell was the liveliest, most arresting thing about the day.
paragraph 13,Sometimes I build a campfire on the beach and then scoop coffee grounds into cold water in a blue speckled pot and set the pot on a grate above the flames. It is the best coffee in the world, and makes me happier and more awake than any other.
paragraph 14,It is quiet here. The lake is bigger than the town, and gets named on maps more often. Muskallonge means ugly fish in Chippewa. I like the practicality of that, and also the humor. The town is called Deer Park. There are many summer cabins, but only twenty-five permanent residents. There is one store open year-round, a quarter mile away. I buy candy bars there. Also canned vegetables, soup, potato chips, matches, and ice cream.
paragraph 15,Mushers train their sled dogs here. We are north of the main snowmobile trails, so it is a good place to run dogs, quiet and empty. I have not seen this yet, but imagine it and wait: the dogs harnessed in a long string, running, the sled flying behind with the musher clinging to it, calling to the dogs. We pass a mushers' camp on our way to town when we go, a half circle of trailers and trucks. The mushers live in the trailers, the dogs in boxes in the backs of the trucks. There were men and women gathered around a fire in lawn chairs the last time we drove past, a little before noon on a Tuesday in January. Their lives looked even more rustic than mine. Their lives looked interesting.
paragraph 16,Sometimes at night, after the shoveling is done, we light the kerosene lantern and walk slowly down the road in the dark. There is only the sound of our boots shuffling on the snow and the hishing noise the lantern makes. Sometimes a tree branch creaks loud in the woods on still, windless nights, and we stop and listen, and wonder. What makes it creak? There is the smell of coldness and snow and burning kerosene. Our shadows are huge, our arms far above us, up over the treetops, brushing against the sky.
paragraph 17,I always think about the people who were here before me, who might have loved it here as I do, and I am curious about them. I wish that I could meet them. Perhaps we would have a great deal in common. Life has always been harsh here, I think—harsh and beautiful and compelling. It is a place that inspires deep loyalty. More than once it has made me try to be more determined and more courageous than I really thought I could be.
paragraph 18,We live poor here. We stay against great odds, our life in many ways like a white-knuckled, stubborn grasp. No one has yet been able to knock our fingers off the rock ledge of our life. I'd yearn to come back, if I had to leave. I'd dream of returning. I think my heart would break if I could not.
paragraph 19,When you are old, perhaps you remember most clearly the best pieces, the magic pieces, of your life. I have a whole album of those, gathered here.
(from "At Uglyfish Lake" by Ellen Airgood. Copyright © 2003 by Ellen Airgood. Used by permission of the author.)
,begin bold,,superscript,1,baseline,spud ,end bold,to chisel using a four- to five-foot (one-and-a-half-meter) piece of steel with a sharp end
Question 1
This question has two parts. Answer Part A, and then answer Part B.
,begin emphasis,Part A,end emphasis,
This sentence is from the passage.
"I don't want to disturb the chain of days I am threading together ,begin emphasis,like pearls on a satin string,end emphasis,." (Paragraph 10)
How does the phrase ,begin emphasis,like pearls on a satin string,end emphasis, contribute to the meaning of the passage?
Question 1 Answer options with 4 options
1.
The phrase reveals how long the author has lived in the area.
2.
The phrase emphasizes the value the author assigns to the experience of living in the area.
3.
The phrase suggests that the author misses some elements of living in a more populated area.
4.
The phrase explains how the author approaches surviving the difficult living conditions of the area.
Question 2
,begin emphasis,Part B,end emphasis,
Which sentence from the passage contributes to the passage in a similar way?
Question 2 Answer options with 4 options
1.
"There is one store open year-round, a quarter mile away." (Paragraph 14)
2.
"Their lives looked even more rustic than mine." (Paragraph 15)
3.
"There is the smell of coldness and snow and burning kerosene." (Paragraph 16)
4.
"I have a whole album of those, gathered here." (Paragraph 19)
Answers
GPT-4o mini
**Question 1: Part A**
The phrase *"like pearls on a satin string"* contributes to the meaning of the passage by emphasizing the value the author assigns to the experience of living in the area. The imagery of pearls suggests that the days are precious and meaningful, indicating that the author cherishes the simplicity and rhythm of her life in the cabin.
**Correct Answer: 2. The phrase emphasizes the value the author assigns to the experience of living in the area.**
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**Question 2: Part B**
The sentence that contributes to the passage in a similar way is *"I have a whole album of those, gathered here."* This sentence reflects the idea of collecting and cherishing meaningful experiences, similar to how the pearls represent valuable days in the author's life.
**Correct Answer: 4. "I have a whole album of those, gathered here." (Paragraph 19)**
The phrase *"like pearls on a satin string"* contributes to the meaning of the passage by emphasizing the value the author assigns to the experience of living in the area. The imagery of pearls suggests that the days are precious and meaningful, indicating that the author cherishes the simplicity and rhythm of her life in the cabin.
**Correct Answer: 2. The phrase emphasizes the value the author assigns to the experience of living in the area.**
---
**Question 2: Part B**
The sentence that contributes to the passage in a similar way is *"I have a whole album of those, gathered here."* This sentence reflects the idea of collecting and cherishing meaningful experiences, similar to how the pearls represent valuable days in the author's life.
**Correct Answer: 4. "I have a whole album of those, gathered here." (Paragraph 19)**