Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and

information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of
content.
In this section, you will write an informational essay in your own words explaining some ways
in which immigration can affect lives
Before you begin planning and writing, you will read two texts. These are the titles of the texts
you will read:
1. Syrian refugee family building new life in Fresno
2. Berlin: 12 dead after truck crashes into Christmas market
As you read the texts, think about what details from the texts you might use in your
informational essay
Now that you have read "Syrian refugee family building new life in Fresno and Berlin: 12 dead
after truck crashes into Christmas market create a plan for your informational essay. Think about ideas,
facts, definitions, details, and other information and examples you want to use. Think about how you
will introduce your topic and what the main topic will be for each paragraph. Develop your ideas
clearly and use your own words, except when quoting directly from the source texts. Be sure to
identify the sources by title or number when using details or facts directly from the sources. Write an
informational essay in your own words explaining some ways in which immigration can affect lives

Now write your informational essay. Be sure to:

Use information from the two texts so that your essay includes important details.
Introduce the topic clearly, provide a focus, and organize information in a way that makes
sense.
Develop the topic with facts, definitions, details, quotations, or other information and
examples related to the topic.
Use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion.
Clarify the relationship among ideas and concepts.
Use clear language and vocabulary to inform about the topic.
Provide a conclusion that follows the information presented.
Check your work for correct grammar, usage, capitalization, spelling, and punctuation.

Berlin: 12 dead after truck crashes into Christmas market By Kevin Rawlinson, Kate Connolly, Philip
Oltermann and Fran Lawther,
At least 12 people have been killed and many more injured, according to German police, after a truck
ploughed into a Christmas market in Berlin in what is believed to have been a deliberate attack.
A vehicle, a large black Scania articulated lorry, ran into the market outside the landmark Kaiser
Wilhelm memorial church on Monday evening.
German police said one person was found dead in the lorry, having died of injuries sustained in the
crash, while a suspect was arrested about 100 metres away in the Tiergarten. Police said on Monday night that
they could not confirm whether that person was the driver.
A witness told the Guardian that the truck ploughed into the market at speed. It was not an accident.
The truck was going 40mph. It was in the middle of a square, there are main roads either side, [where it could
have come from]. But it showed no sign of slowing down, said Emma Rushton, a British tourist.

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 She said it crashed into a stall only a few feet from where she and her friend were standing. We heard
a massive bang. About eight to 10 feet in front of us was where the lorry ploughed through. It ploughed through
the stall where we bought our mulled wine.
It ploughed through people and the wooden huts, it tore the lights down. Everything went dark, it was
black and there was screaming. It was awful, she said.
Rushton said they did not know if the incident was over once the truck stopped, so they stayed still.
The people in the huts were under it but they were pulled out and they were fine. We didnt know if something
else was coming.
We walked where the lorry had ploughed through and saw injured people and blood. We saw 10 to 12
people.
Another witness, Mike Fox, told the Associated Press that the truck missed him by about three metres
as it drove into the market, tearing through tables and market stalls.
It was definitely deliberate, said the tourist from Birmingham. He said he helped people who appeared
to have broken limbs, and that others were trapped under Christmas stands.
The incident was reminiscent of an attack in Nice in July, when a Tunisian-born French resident,
Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, drove a 19-tonne truck down the citys Promenade des Anglais into a crowd that
had gathered for a Bastille Day firework display, killing 86 and injuring hundreds.
French authorities said that Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had been inspired by Isis propaganda, but they say no
evidence has been found that Isis orchestrated the attack.
The incident in Berlin came less than a month after the US state department called for caution in
markets and other public places, saying extremist groups including Islamic State and al-Qaida were focusing
on the upcoming holiday season and associated events.
A German government spokesman said Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, was being briefed by
the interior minister, Thomas de Maizire, and Berlins mayor, Michael Mller.
De Maizire told reporters: My thoughts are with the relatives of the victims and those injured in this
terrible incident. I am in constant contact with the security forces in Berlin and have offered them every
possible assistance from the federal police.
Wolfgang Bosbach, an MP with the Christian Democratic Union, Merkels party, told media: Although
there is a host of unanswered questions, indications are it was a deliberate attack, carried out not just with the
greatest brutality and disastrous consequences but also with a deliberate symbolism. Just a few days before
Christmas, in the middle of the German capital and amidst happy, peaceful people. The message is clear: no
matter where, no matter how, we can pounce at any time.
Mller said: What were seeing here is dramatic and a shock to us all. We hope what our fears that this
is an attack wont prove true. Our thoughts are with the families of the injured and dead.
On Monday, police said they could not confirm whether it was a deliberate attack or an accident. They
said the truck had a runup of about 80 metres prior to the crash. On Tuesday morning, police confirmed the
crash was, in fact, intentional. They also said they suspected it was a terrorist attack.
They said the vehicle had a Polish registration and belonged to a Polish delivery company. According
to the firm, the truck left Poland on Monday afternoon, heading to Berlin. The company said it lost touch with
the driver at 4pm local time.
Police called the scene devastating and that they had considered that Christmas markets were at risk
of being targeted by terrorists for some time.
A spokesperson said: We are investigating whether it was a terror attack but do not yet know what was
behind it. Off-duty doctors across Berlin were being brought in to tend to the many injured.
Officers said the lorry came from the direction of Budapester Strasse, over the pavement, before
coming to a halt by a Christmas tree in front of the church. Known locally as the jagged tooth, the church was
bombed in the second world war, and left more or less in its ruined state as a memorial to the victims of the
war. It is one of the most popular tourist sites in Berlin, and very close to the Berlin zoo.
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 Police have cleared the area and volunteers have set up an information point for relatives looking for
news of missing loved ones. The Christmas market has been cleared, and a police spokesman said there are
concerns the crash may have also caused a gas leak.
A photograph posted by the Morgenpost newspaper showed damaged tables and stalls, while footage
posted online by the same outlet showed a truck on the scene and police officers investigating.
Breitscheidplatz, where the market was set up, is one of Berlins busiest shopping areas.
Sven Gerling, a spokesman for the Berlin fire service, said: At about 8pm, we saw a tragic accident
happen here on Breitscheidplatz. A lorry drove through the crowds of people. There are many people injured,
many seriously injured ... people have been killed.
We are at the scene with a large number of vehicles, the police are too. We are now going to ascertain
the deaths, and look after the many injured. There are several resuscitations still going on. We are trying to
save a number of lives.

Syrian refugee family building new life in Fresno By Carmen George

FRESNO, Calif. The Kashak family of Syria has been busy since arriving in the U.S. three months
ago.
For two of those months, Thafer Kashak has worked as a sous chef in a Middle Eastern restaurant in
Fresno. The rest of the time, he was preparing to work and getting his wife, Nour, and their three children
settled into a Fresno apartment an ocean away from home and a war that ripped the lives they knew apart.
On Saturday morning, the family also cooked a traditional Arabic breakfast for those participating in a
fundraising walk Saturday for Syrian refugees in need overseas. Theyre grateful for the hospitality shown to
them by new neighbors and wanted to give back. They say their Muslim faith stresses the importance of
manners, acceptance and tolerance, love for others and respect. Terrorists are not Muslims, the family says;
they are criminals.
Funds raised during the walk will benefit the Syrian American Medical Society, an organization that
brings medical care and humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees and other displaced people in Syria, the
surrounding countries of the Middle East and Europe. The Kashak family are among about 10,000 exiles in the
U.S. who fled the Syrian war just a sliver of the millions displaced, reports the Associated Press. Aimee
Abu-Shamsieh with Central Valley Physicians for Humanitarian Aid, helping organize Saturdays fundraiser,
says the pre-war population of Syria was estimated at about 23 million, and roughly half its inhabitants have
since fled their homes due to violence.
The Kashak family fled Syria in 2012. People were being shot in the streets outside their home and
cars set ablaze. They previously lived a quiet, peaceful life, sustained by income from a sweets shop and
factory that Thafer Kashak owned and operated.
They ended up in a refugee camp in subhuman conditions on the border between Jordan and Syria,
living in a tent in the desert without running water for a few days before a family living in a nearby city came to
claim them. But guards didnt let them leave, citing a lack of paperwork, so they had to escape. Now, their
eldest son says, to leave a refugee camp, people there must pay a sponsor.
In Jordan, Syrian refugees were not allowed to work at first, so Thafer Kashak had to bake sweets
illegally to provide for his family. He was later approached by United Nations officials, who asked if he wanted
to go to the U.S. He wanted his children to receive a good education and have more opportunities, so he
accepted. He says the interview and background check process took 20 months before they were allowed to
come to the country. They settled in Fresno because an extended family member is in the city.
The White House announced last week that it will accept more refugees from countries throughout the
world next year, increasing the number to 110,000 compared to the 85,000 allowed in 2016. Rev. Tim
Kutzmark of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno says the U.S. should accept many more.

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 Many members of our church are concerned that such a small amount of Syrian refugees are being
allowed to enter this country compared to, for instance, Germany, Kutzmark says. We are doing so little as a
nation at a time when the need is so great.
This march is allowing Fresno to do something. At a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric is spewing from
some politicians, the march becomes a shared statement declaring that all people have worth and deserve to
be treated with fairness, kindness and respect. My heart breaks each time I see a photo of a frightened Syrian
family fleeing for their lives. So many religions including Unitarian Universalism teach that welcoming the
stranger is an essential part of living a life of faith. We seem to have forgotten that.
Among those who were to be in attendance at Saturdays walk is Jim Grant, director of the Roman
Catholic Diocese of Fresnos social justice ministry, who says Pope Francis is urging people to help refugees.
He said welcoming refugees into our homes is the greatest security against terrorism, Grant says.
The pope sees that refugees are not a national threat. They are a benefit, and if we could please take care of
them, that could end terrorism.
Reza Nekumanesh, director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno, shared a similar plea.
It is terrible that it has become a political issue instead of the humanitarian issue that it truly is,
Nekumanesh says. Families are seeking safe haven from war and terror, and because of ignorance and a
supposed fear of importing terrorism, the families become targets of suspicion and hatred. They are seeking
safety and solace from the very terrorism that Americans fear.

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Read Americas been ready for self-driving cars since the horse-and-buggy days and Self-driving cars may
be more lethal than we think create a plan for your argumentative essay.

Weigh the claims on both sides. Think about ideas, facts, definitions, details, and other information
and examples you want to use. Think about how you will introduce your topic and what the main topic
will be for each paragraph. Develop your ideas clearly and use your own words, except when quoting
directly from the source texts. Be sure to identify the sources by title or number when using details or
facts directly from the sources.

Write your argumentative essay in your own words, supporting one side of the debate in which you
argue EITHER that America should be using self-driving cars OR that Americans should not be using
self driving cars. Be sure to use information from both texts in your argumentative essay.

Now write your argumentative essay. Be sure to:

Introduce your claim.
Support your claim with logical reasoning and relevant evidence from the texts.
Acknowledge and address alternate or opposing claims.
Organize the reasons and evidence logically.
Use words, phrases, and clauses to connect your ideas and to clarify the relationships among
claims, counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
Establish and maintain a formal style.
Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument
presented.
Check your work for correct grammar, usage, capitalization, spelling, and punctuation.

Americas been ready for self-driving cars since the horse-and-buggy days
Are Americans ready for autonomous cars? They have been ready for more than a century.
The horses that pulled buggies were autonomous, capable of finding their way home with little or no
help from their drivers. So, autonomous travel is nothing new. Its just better.
At the beginning of the 20th century, as the number of vehicles increased, the rate of deaths and
injuries caused by vehicular accidents likewise jumped. Although modern technology and safer construction
has helped decrease the number of fatal crashes in recent decades, the numbers remain staggering.
In the U.S. alone, vehicular accidents have killed more than 32,000 people annually for the past five
years for which data is available. Thats as if five 737 jets crashed every week. It is more than double the
number of people who have died worldwide in the recent Ebola epidemic.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that between 93 percent and 95 percent
of these accidents are caused by human error.
In addition to deaths, vehicle accidents send about 2.5 million people per year to emergency rooms.
The NHTSA estimates the U.S. economic and social costs of vehicle accidents, excluding the cost of car
ownership, at $871 billion a year.
Take a simple test. In your local newspaper, carefully read each account of a person killed or injured by
vehicles. Then ask, would this tragedy have been avoided, or the injury mitigated, if one or more of the
vehicles had been self-driving?
We tolerate this carnage because cars bring great utility and freedom. Self-driving vehicles deliver even
greater utility by freeing driving time for other things be it texting, working or just relaxing.
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 Self-driving cars also deliver huge benefits to the disabled and the elderly who would otherwise lose
their licenses. At the same time, self-driving cars remove much of the human error that contributes to the vast
majority of injuries and deaths.
Self-driving cars also deliver a number of broader social utilities. These range from far more efficient
use of our present land and infrastructure to more overall productive lives.
Americans have dreamed of driverless, horseless carriages since the 30s, but their advent had to await
the development of cheap and convenient computing power. Lets look at a few interesting facts.
Young people today seem far less enamored with driving than in the recent past. If they license at all,
many license much later and drive fewer miles. Rather than driving to see friends, they may opt to text or call.
Smartphones rather than cars may be todays status symbol.
In addition, car ownership is a major expense. Using fleets of on-call vehicles saves not only the cost of
a depreciating asset that spends 95 percent of its time idle, but also saves on the other major cost of a car:
insurance.
When polled about self-driving cars, potential customers cite higher safety and lower insurance costs
as the two most persuasive factors.
Indeed, in many respects, self-driving cars are already here. You may be followed by one. Some of the
most recent safety improvements will virtually drive the car. Adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, traffic jam
and parking assist are just the most recent developments in a clear trajectory toward self-driving cars.
Of course, self-driving cars will not create utopia. There will still be some accidents, although far fewer.
There will be some people who will never give up their cars. There will be some who live in areas difficult to
serve with self-driving cars.
Some regulators may stall because they fear criticism after the first unfortunate fatality. And there will
be some who will argue self-driving cars are unsafe because they see them as a threat to their business. One
can hardly expect emergency rooms and funeral parlors to argue they need more business.
Self-driving cars offer such a wealth of advantages that it makes little difference whether Americans are
ready. Americans need to get ready. Just look in the mirror.
ABOUT THE WRITER: Robert W. Peterson is a professor of insurance law at Santa Clara University
School of Law, where he also writes and teaches on issues involving autonomous cars. Readers may write him
at Santa Clara University of Law, Santa Clara, CA 95053.

Self-driving cars may be more lethal than we think

No one likes a backseat driver. Nagging, nannying. Questioning every decision, constantly attempting
to correct what he or she considers to be your errors of judgment.
How about an it doing the same thing? One you cant kick to the curb?
The it in question being the backseat computer. Under the dash somewhere, actually. The one that will
in the not-far future take over the driving and not just second-guess yours.
Its the self-driving or autonomous car. And its no longer science fiction. In fact, its already here. Bits
and pieces of it, anyhow. Many new cars can park themselves, for instance. Others have collision avoidance
systems that can completely stop the car without the driver even touching the brakes.
Next year, GMs Cadillac division will debut vehicle-to-vehicle, or V2V, communications in some
models.
The system makes it possible for cars so equipped to have electronic conversations among themselves
to be aware of one anothers relative position and velocity in order to anticipate and hopefully avoid
potential collisions such as might otherwise happen when, for instance, car A runs a red light because its driver
wasnt paying attention and strikes car B.
With V2V, the driver of car A would be safety-netted by his car. It would brake for the light and so avoid
striking car B.
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 These are some of the elements of the fully autonomous, self-driving car. And some of it sounds good
and may well be. But taking the driver out of the equation entirely or relying too much on technology
can have its downsides, too.
As anyone who owns a PC knows, computers develop glitches sometimes. Its annoying when it
happens at your desk. But it could be lethal when it happens at 75 mph on the freeway.
And its probably more likely to happen with an autonomous car, because the computer that controls it
unlike the computer on your desk will be subjected to extremes of heat and cold, vibration and moisture,
et cetera.
Over time, somethings likely to go on the fritz. If the human driver has become a mere passenger no
longer expected or perhaps even able to actually drive the car what will happen?
And who will be responsible? Legally speaking, the driver is currently responsible for the safe operation
of his vehicle.
But how can we hold him responsible when hes no longer the driver?
Will the manufacturer of the self-driving car be liable in that case?
How will car insurance requirements and costs change?
If the driver no longer is a driver, why should he be required to buy insurance at all? Or have a license,
for that matter? When you ride the bus you are not required to have a special permit or carry coverage. Why
wouldnt the same principle apply here?
An even bigger problem with autonomous cars is how to program them to disregard traffic laws when
its necessary to do so in order to avoid an accident.
For example, its illegal to cross the double yellow line but what if a child runs into the cars path and
the only way to avoid hitting her is to swerve out of the way?
Its illegal, technically, to cross the double yellow but its the right thing to do. And a human driver
would do it. An autonomous car wouldnt. Because it is programmed to obey the law. Unlike humans, it cannot
use judgment; does not do nuance.
Also, how will autonomous cars deal with cars not autonomous, and what about the reverse? Will
people who own human-controlled cars be required to turn their cars in or no longer be allowed to drive them?
Technology is usually a good thing, but problems arise when technology is no longer under human
control, as could happen here.
Technology that assists human drivers thats a great idea. But technology that pre-empts them and
dumbs them down that could be a very bad idea, indeed.
ABOUT THE WRITER: Eric Peters is a veteran automotive journalist and author of Road Hogs and
Automotive Atrocities. Readers may write him at 721 Hummingbird Lane SE, Copper Hill, VA 24079 and visit
his web site at www.EPautos.com.

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The following story is meant as a starting place for your narrative. Read the story carefully and then address
the appropriate writing prompt located at the end of the text.

From One of Ours By Willa Cather Short Story [Stats: 1051 Words, 7th grade reading level, 4 minutes 12 seconds]
1 THE CIRCUS was on Saturday. The next morning Claude was standing at his dresser, shaving. His
beard was already strong, a shade darker than his hair and not so red as his skin. His eyebrows and long
lashes were a pale corn-colourmade his blue eyes seem lighter than they were, and, he thought, gave a look
of shyness and weakness to the upper part of his face. He was exactly the sort of looking boy he didnt want to
be. He especially hated his head,so big that he had trouble in buying his hats, and uncompromisingly square
in shape; a perfect block-head. His name was another source of humiliation. Claude: it was a chump name,
like Elmer and Roy; a hayseed name trying to be fine. In country schools there was always a red-headed,
warty-handed, runny-nosed little boy who was called Claude. His good physique he took for granted; smooth,
muscular arms and legs, and strong shoulders, a farmer boy might be supposed to have. Unfortunately he had
none of his fathers physical repose, and his strength often asserted itself inharmoniously. The storms that
went on in his mind sometimes made him rise, or sit down, or lift something, more violently than there was any
apparent reason for his doing.
The household slept late on Sunday morning; even Mahailey did not get up until seven. The general
signal for breakfast was the smell of doughnuts frying. This morning Ralph rolled out of bed at the last minute
and callously put on his clean underwear without taking a bath. This cost him not one regret, though he took
time to polish his new oxblood shoes tenderly with a pocket handkerchief. He reached the table when all the
others were half through breakfast, and made his peace by genially asking his mother if she didnt want him to
drive her to church in the car.
Id like to go if I can get the work done in time, she said, doubtfully glancing at the clock.
Cant Mahailey tend to things for you this morning?
5 Mrs. Wheeler hesitated. Everything but the separator, she can. But she cant fit all the parts together.
Its a good deal of work, you know.
Now, Mother, said Ralph good-humouredly, as he emptied the syrup pitcher over his cakes, youre
prejudiced. Nobody ever thinks of skimming milk now-a-days. Every up-to-date farmer uses a separator.
Mrs. Wheelers pale eyes twinkled. Mahailey and I will never be quite up-to-date, Ralph. Were
old-fashioned, and I dont know but youd better let us be. I could see the advantage of a separator if we milked
half-a-dozen cows. Its a very ingenious machine. But its a great deal more work to scald it and fit it together
than it was to take care of the milk in the old way.
It wont be when you get used to it, Ralph assured her. He was the chief mechanic of the Wheeler
farm, and when the farm implements and the automobiles did not give him enough to do, he went to town and
bought machines for the house. As soon as Mahailey got used to a washing-machine or a churn, Ralph, to
keep up with the bristling march of invention, brought home a still newer one. The mechanical dish-washer she
had never been able to use, and patent flat-irons and oil-stoves drove her wild.
Claude told his mother to go upstairs and dress; he would scald the separator while Ralph got the car
ready. He was still working at it when his brother came in from the garage to wash his hands.
10 You really oughtnt to load mother up with things like this, Ralph, he exclaimed fretfully. Did you ever
try washing this . . . thing yourself?
Of course I have. If Mrs. Dawson can manage it, I should think mother could.
Mrs. Dawson is a younger woman. Anyhow, theres no point in trying to make machinists of Mahailey
and mother.
Ralph lifted his eyebrows to excuse Claudes bluntness. See here, he said persuasively, dont you go
encouraging her into thinking she cant change her ways. Mothers entitled to all the labour-saving devices we
can get her.

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 Claude rattled the thirty-odd graduated metal funnels which he was trying to fit together in their proper
sequence. Well, if this is labour-saving
15 The younger boy giggled and ran upstairs for his panama hat. He never quarrelled. Mrs. Wheeler
sometimes said it was wonderful, how much Ralph would take from Claude.
After Ralph and his mother had gone off in the car, Mr. Wheeler drove to see his German neighbour,
Gus Yoeder, who had just bought a blooded bull. Dan and Jerry were pitching horseshoes down behind the
barn. Claude told Mahailey he was going to the cellar to put up the swinging shelf she had been wanting, so
that the rats couldnt get at her vegetables.
Thank you, Mr. Claude. I dont know what does make the rats so bad. The cats catches one most
every day, too.
I guess they come up from the barn. Ive got a nice wide board down at the garage for your shelf.
19 The cellar was cemented, cool and dry, with deep closets for canned fruit and flour and groceries, bins
for coal and cobs, and a dark-room full of photographers apparatus. Claude took his place at the carpenters
bench under one of the square windows. Mysterious objects stood about him in the grey twilight; electric
batteries, old bicycles and typewriters, a machine for making cement fence-posts, a vulcanizer, a stereopticon
with a broken lens. The mechanical toys Ralph could not operate successfully, as well as those he had got
tired of, were stored away here. If they were left in the barn, Mr. Wheeler saw them too often, and sometimes,
when they happened to be in his way, he made sarcastic comments. Claude had begged his mother to let him
pile this lumber into a wagon and dump it into some washout hole along the creek; but Mrs. Wheeler said he
must not think of such a thing; it would hurt Ralphs feelings. Nearly every time Claude went into the cellar,
he made a desperate resolve to clear the place out someday, reflecting bitterly that the money this wreckage
cost would have put a boy through college decently.

Willa Cather wrote the story using third person point of view. How would the excerpt be different if Ralph were
narrating? Rewrite the beginning of the story from Ralphs perspective.

The narrative will have a single draft, and you may want to take some time to plan your writing before you begin
work. When you have finished, be sure to proofread.
Remember, a good narrative:
Establishes a clear point of view
Focuses closely on one character or characters
Uses strong sensory details to make the character(s) and event come alive
Uses precise language
May use dialogue and description to capture the character(s) and event
Concludes effectively