Closely read the following excerpt from Chapter 151 of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. You may take notes as you read. Then, select the best answer for each question. Lots of things are mysteries. But that doesn't mean there isn't an answer to them. It's just that scientists haven't found the answer yet. For example, some people believe in the ghosts of people who have come back from the dead. And Uncle Terry said that he saw a ghost in a shoe shop in a shopping center in Northampton because he was going down into the basement when he saw someone dressed in gray walk across the bottom of the stairs. But when he got to the bottom of the stairs the basement was empty and there were no doors. When he told the lady on the till upstairs, they said it was called Tuck and he was a ghost of a Franciscan friar who used to live in the monastery which was on the same site hundreds of years ago, which was why the shopping center was called Greyfriars Shopping Center, and they were used to him and not frightened at all. Eventually scientists will discover something that explains ghosts, just like they discovered electricity, which explained lightning, and it might be something about people's brains, or something about the earth's magnetic field, or it might be some new force altogether. And then ghosts won't be mysteries. They will be like electricity and rainbows and nonstick frying pans. But sometimes a mystery isn't a mystery. And this is an example of a mystery which isn't a mystery. We have a pond at the school, with frogs in it, which are there so we can learn how to treat animals with kindness and respect, because some of the children at school are horrible to animals and think it's funny to crush worms or throw stones at cats. And some years there are lots of frogs in the pond, and some years there are very few. And if you drew a graph of how many frogs there were in the pond, it would look like this (but this graph is what's called hypothetical, which means that the numbers aren't the real numbers, it is just an illustration)

Question

Closely read the following excerpt from Chapter 151 of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. You may take notes as you read. Then, select the best answer for each question. Lots of things are mysteries. But that doesn't mean there isn't an answer to them. It's just that scientists haven't found the answer yet. For example, some people believe in the ghosts of people who have come back from the dead. And Uncle Terry said that he saw a ghost in a shoe shop in a shopping center in Northampton because he was going down into the basement when he saw someone dressed in gray walk across the bottom of the stairs. But when he got to the bottom of the stairs the basement was empty and there were no doors. When he told the lady on the till upstairs, they said it was called Tuck and he was a ghost of a Franciscan friar who used to live in the monastery which was on the same site hundreds of years ago, which was why the shopping center was called Greyfriars Shopping Center, and they were used to him and not frightened at all. Eventually scientists will discover something that explains ghosts, just like they discovered electricity, which explained lightning, and it might be something about people's brains, or something about the earth's magnetic field, or it might be some new force altogether. And then ghosts won't be mysteries. They will be like electricity and rainbows and nonstick frying pans. But sometimes a mystery isn't a mystery. And this is an example of a mystery which isn't a mystery. We have a pond at the school, with frogs in it, which are there so we can learn how to treat animals with kindness and respect, because some of the children at school are horrible to animals and think it's funny to crush worms or throw stones at cats. And some years there are lots of frogs in the pond, and some years there are very few. And if you drew a graph of how many frogs there were in the pond, it would look like this (but this graph is what's called hypothetical, which means that the numbers aren't the real numbers, it is just an illustration)
Daniel Siameh

Mr.Peale

10/17/24

2033

And if you looked at the graph you might think that there was a really cold winter in 1987 and 1988 and 1989 and 1997, or that there was a heron which came and ate lots of the frogs (sometimes there is a heron who comes and tries to eat the frogs, but there is chicken wire over the pond to stop it). But sometimes it has nothing to do with cold winters or cats or herons. Sometimes it is just maths. Here is a formula for a population of animals NNew=λ(NOLD)(1 – NOLD) [W]hen λ is greater than 3.57 the population becomes chaotic like in the ... graph. This was discovered by Robert May and George Oster and Jim Yorke. And it means that sometimes things are so complicated that it is impossible to predict what they are going to do next, but they are only obeying really simple rules. And it means that sometimes a whole population of frogs, or worms, or people, can die for no reason whatsoever, just because that is the way the numbers work. 1. What does Christopher mean when he says that one day ghosts "will be like electricity and rainbows and nonstick frying pans"? A. In the future people will understand ghosts, just like they came to understand other new things in the past. B. In the future ghosts will not seem mysterious at all because they will be everywhere. C. Like electricity, rainbows, and frying pans, ghosts are a part of our reality. D. Like electricity, rainbows, and frying pans, ghosts do not exist. © Success Academy Charter Schools2
Christopher is curious about the ghost story of Franciscan friar, as he does not believes in ghost he compares them to an item that does not exist. Christopher also talks about how the frogs at his school are being harmed as  he cares for those animals and their population.

2. Christopher use the graph to illustrate ... A. the exact number of frogs in the pond over a number of different years. B. the seemingly random nature of the way the frog population changes. C. the effect of heron attacks on frog populations at different points in time. D. the way in which 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1989 are the same as the other years. 3. What is Christopher's main idea in this passage? A. Everything can be explained by science. B. When things appear to be mysterious, it is either because we do not yet understand them or because we misunderstand them. C. Mathematics show that anything can happen at any time, which means we need to cherish the time have. D. Frog populations are extremely unpredictable. 4. The phrase "sometimes a mystery isn't a mystery" supports the critical idea that ... A. not everything is meant to be understood. B. some things that seem strange can actually be easily explained. C. all mysteries can be solved through mathematics. D. death, like life, is unpredictable. 5. How does the final paragraph contribute to the development of a theme in the novel? A. It supports the idea that Christopher is a preternaturally intelligent young man. B. It explains one reason that math is challenging. C. It offers one reason that the world is a dark place. D. It suggests that we can still be affected by something, even if we logically understand it. 6. One way that the author develops Christopher's confident, knowledgeable voice is by ... A. showing that Christopher has memorized the exact frog population for every year since 1986. B. having Christopher refer to the scientists "Robert May and George Oster and Jim Yorke" by name. C. making it clear that Christopher is not really sure about this. D. including Christopher's explanation of why ghosts exist.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

Here are the best answers for each question based on the provided excerpt:

What does Christopher mean when he says that one day ghosts "will be like electricity and rainbows and nonstick frying pans"?
A. In the future people will understand ghosts, just like they came to understand other new things in the past.
Christopher suggests that just as people have come to understand phenomena like electricity and rainbows through scientific inquiry, they will eventually understand ghosts in the same way.
Christopher uses the graph to illustrate ...
B. the seemingly random nature of the way the frog population changes.
The purpose of the graph is to demonstrate how fluctuations in frog populations can appear random or chaotic, adhering to simple mathematical rules rather than being dictated by external factors.
What is Christopher's main idea in this passage?
B. When things appear to be mysterious, it is either because we do not yet understand them or because we misunderstand them.
Christopher discusses how mysteries can be resolved through scientific understanding or can be misinterpreted, supporting this as a central theme of the passage.
The phrase "sometimes a mystery isn't a mystery" supports the critical idea that ...
B. some things that seem strange can actually be easily explained.
This phrase implies that what initially appears mysterious can have reasonable explanations, aligning with Christopher's observations about the frog population.
How does the final paragraph contribute to the development of a theme in the novel?
D. It suggests that we can still be affected by something, even if we logically understand it.
The discussion of chaos in populations shows that even though mathematical principles can explain certain phenomena, the impact of those events remains unpredictable and can still affect living beings.
One way that the author develops Christopher's confident, knowledgeable voice is by ...
B. having Christopher refer to the scientists "Robert May and George Oster and Jim Yorke" by name.
By naming the scientists, Christopher demonstrates a familiarity with scientific concepts and lends credibility to his explanations, showcasing his confident, intelligent perspective.