EOC Practice--diary Of Alice Morgan

Passage: Diary of Alice Morgan [ID:10906] Directions: Read the following passage carefully. Then answer questions 1 through 6. April 21, 1904 (Thursday) 1 My name is Alice Morgan. I am fourteen years old, and I live in St. Louis, Missouri. Papa gave me this diary so I can write about my visits to the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition–the world’s fair being held this year in St. Louis to celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. He says the diary is for “posterity,” which means for my own children to read some day. The fair will open in ten days. My best friend, Mattie, and I have been waiting since they first began working on the fair three years ago. It was supposed to open last year, before construction got behind, and there were many other delays. April 24, 1904 (Sunday) 2 Today was miserable! Who would have believed a snowstorm would hit St. Louis this late in April? It may even keep the fair from opening on time. Flowers that have been blooming for a month are blanketed with snow–and the bad weather may prevent trains from arriving with supplies and fair workers. Mattie and I have moped all day. School is canceled tomorrow because of the snow, but even a holiday cannot cheer us up. May 1, 1904 (Sunday) 3 The snow melted just in time for yesterday’s huge grand opening of the world’s fair. Mama, Papa, little Jake, and I stayed all day until it closed at ten o'clock in the evening, and I am exhausted. The newspaper says there were 200,000 visitors for opening day. 4 We’ve been saving our money for a long time so that we can go to the fair once a month before it closes on December 1. The admission fee is fifty cents for three of us and a quarter for Jake. (I’m writing this in my diary because Papa says it is information for posterity.) Papa only makes about $2.50 a day at his job. 5 The Pike is my favorite part so far. It is a long, brick-paved avenue about ninety feet wide. This is where the entertainment takes place–animals doing tricks, singers performing, and some people juggling. Papa says there are over 6,000 performers here from countries all over the world. 6 I’m glad we have been saving to attend because it will take eight months of visits to see everything! May 14, 1904 (Saturday) 7 Papa took Jake, Mattie, and me to the fair today. It seems that every day the newspapers tell of the opening of a pavilion from another country or one of our forty-five states, each with displays showing its important place in the world. June 17, 1904 (Friday) 8 Mattie came over today with disturbing news: She wants to get a job at the fair and not return to school in September. Many students leave school after the eighth grade, but since her brother completed high school, I thought she would too. Papa said little, but I can tell he is disappointed in my friend. I am not certain what to think. Papa was going to take us to the fair tomorrow, but Mattie’s news has saddened us. June 25, 1904 (Saturday) 9 We postponed our fair visit until today, and what a treat it was! Papa’s boss, Mr. Truman, drove our family in his automobile. It travels at ten miles per hour, which is the speed limit. Mr. Truman said there are only 10,000 automobiles in the entire United States. 10 We arrived just after the gates opened at nine o'clock this morning and stayed for the opening of the New Jersey and New York exhibits. My favorite part, though (besides riding in Mr. Truman’s automobile), was a ride on the Observation Wheel, a giant wheel built by Mr. George Washington Ferris that carries people up in cars 250 feet above the ground! 11 Mattie does not have a job at the fair yet but still insists that she will. July 30, 1904 (Saturday) 12 Today was our July trip to the world’s fair. Papa took our whole family and invited Mattie to go along, too. By the way, she does not have a job there yet, but she is very determined. 13 The fair was crowded with what Papa said was probably 100,000 people. It was Railroad and Transportation Day, which featured a parade of all kinds of transportation– even camels! After the parade, we went to visit the display of Mr. Thomas Edison’s new inventions, the phonograph and the motion picture machine. August 15, 1904 (Monday) 14 Saturday’s newspaper included a story about a spectacular parade of 285 automobiles at the fair. It is the talk of all St. Louis. We will have our August fair visit next Saturday. August 21, 1904 (Sunday) 15 Yesterday was so hot that we almost decided not to go to the fair, but Papa insisted that attending the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition is the opportunity of a lifetime. We arrived early, while it was still cool, but even the animals along the Pike were moving slowly. The tea vendor could not sell any hot tea, so he put ice in it. Mama and Papa drank some of the cold tea and pronounced it delicious. Who has ever heard of iced tea? Maybe this fact will interest posterity. 16 We saw Mattie at her new job at the fair, which is to wrap a scoop of ice cream into a waffle for customers. These "ice cream cones" began one day at the fair when another ice cream vendor ran out of dishes for his ice cream and asked the man selling waffles if he could scoop the ice cream into a waffle. The idea has caught on and has become a big hit. November 26, 1904 (Saturday) 17 Today is our last visit to the fair, which closes next week. It was President’s Day, and President Theodore Roosevelt attended. I saw him from a distance. He appears to be a friendly man because he smiled and shook hands with people all along the Pike. 18 There is good news from Mattie. She has decided to return to school. She learned a lot about the world by visiting the fair’s exhibits, and now she wants to become a teacher and help children learn about other nations. She will have to study hard to catch up with our class, but I know she can do it. I am also thinking of becoming a teacher now.Question 1:  Which best lets the reader know that this passage is a diary?

Which of these sentences best summarizes the passage?

Read these sentences from the passage. "The Pike is my favorite part so far. . . . This is where the entertainment takes place–animals doing tricks, singers performing, and some people juggling." Which modified version of these sentences best reflects the use of personification?

Which best explains how the setting of the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition contributed to the invention of new items?

Which is the best reason for the narrator's dating what she is writing?

Which of these words best describes the overall tone of Alice Morgan's diary?