A Few Flowers and Some Paint

1) Somewhere between a dream and a worry, even before he opened his eyes, Temo heard it. Rain. The same sound he
had heard every morning for the last week: rain drumming down on the tin roof of the house, plunking against windows
when the wind caught it, dripping from the eaves.

2) If they were lucky, that's the only place it would be dripping. Like everything else about this house, the tin on the roof
was old. Temo imagined renegade raindrops searching, inch-by-inch, for the tiniest hole or crack or breach. And when
they found it, in they would come. Drip. Drip. Drip. Lucky.

3) Pulling on his clothes, Temo smelled toast and heard Mama humming. He thought of the words to an old song. If it
weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. He had to laugh to himself. Whoever wrote those words must have known an
old house like this onewith flaking stucco siding, sagging doors and a bare little basement about as inviting as a
concrete box.

4) "But it's ours," Mama always said with pride. "And we can make it better, little by little." Despite ten-hour shifts at the
furniture factory, the arthritis in her hands and the sore feet she soaked every night in a pan of warm salt water, she was
always hopeful. "A few flowers and some paint," she said. "That's all it takes."

5) She got her flowers. Last spring, a friend from work gave her some iris bulbs in a cardboard box. When Mama got
home that evening, carrying the box, she dragged Temo away from his homework to spade up a flowerbed in front of
the house, by the steps. "Where people can see," Mama had said, handing him a shovel with half a handle and a rake
with no handle at all.

6) "What about supper?"

7) "Supper can wait."

8) It waited a long time. While he spaded and smoothed, she planted. They worked until his thumb blistered and
Mama's fingers were rough with hangnails. They worked until after dark, by the light of the one good porch bulb. Yet,
kneeling next to the box of irises, pressing the bulbs into freshly spaded soil, Mama paid no attention to hangnails and
arthritis. And the songs she hummed were not songs about hard luck.

9) Now, all these months later, the rain was pounding Mama's irises into the mud. Walking into the kitchen, he almost
stepped in her foot pan. Half full, it sat in the middle of the floor, between a dishpan and an ice cream bucket. Drops
formed steadily on several stained spots on the ceiling and dripped as steadily as the rain outside.

10) Still in her nightgown, Mama stood behind the ironing board, pressing and steaming her work shirt and humming. "If
it keeps up like this," she said, "We're going to have to buy more ice cream just for the buckets."

11) Temo couldn't help smiling at her joke. She hadn't bought ice cream since his birthday, almost a year ago. And Mama
loved ice cream.

12) But she did buy a lot of eggs. They were cheaper than ice cream. And now, as on most mornings, four of them were
boiling in a pan on the stovetwo for breakfast and two for the egg salad sandwiches they took for their lunches. "Get
the toast out of the oven," Mama said. "The eggs will be ready in a minute."
13) Steam from the boiling eggs mingled with steam from the ironing board and curled toward the ceiling. Temo was
buttering the toast before he realized Mama's shirt was still wet from the washer.

14) "What's wrong with the dryer?" Temo asked, sounding more alarmed than he intended.

15) "Go back to your buttering," Mama said. "The dryer's fine." The butter knife didn't move.

16) Mama looked at him and finally said, "Well, if you must know." She took a deep breath. "It's this rain," she said, "I
can't use the clothesline."
17) Temo hesitated. He didn't want to sound like a smart aleck, but sometimes Mama's logic was silly. "So isn't that what
a dryer's for?" he asked.

18) Quietly Mama pressed the collar, and then hung the shirt on a chair in front of the still-warm oven. Turning to Temo,
she said, "Have you seen what an electric bill looks like when you have to run the dryer all the time?"

19) Suddenly it wasn't Mama's logic that seemed silly. So that was why her shirts, pants and socks were always hanging
on chairs and doorknobs, not because she particularly liked having them there. And that was how, rain or no rain, his
jeansa fresh pair every daywere always dry and waiting for him.

20) "There's another jar of strawberry jam in the basement," Mama said, looking at the motionless butter knife. "It
would taste good on your toast."

21) One by one, Temo's feet found the basement stairs and took him downward into the darkness. But for once, he
wasn't thinking about the burned-out bulb in the stairway or how much this basement reminded him of an empty gray
box. He was thinking about clotheslines.

22) When he got to the basement and found the light switch, he didn't go immediately to the set of shelves where
Mama stored her canned beans and jam. Instead, he walked over to a little half window built into the top of the
concrete wall, at ground level. There was another one just like it on the opposite wall. Both had wood frames. With a
screw hook in each frame, he could stretch a line across the basement floor. And there was nothing to buy. He had seen
hooks and line among the clutter of the little tool shed out back. He could do it today, right after school, so it would be
waiting for Mama when she came home. Then, rain or no rain, she would at least have a place to dry clothes. And
maybe, just maybe, he had enough in his moneybox for a quart of ice cream.

23) With the jar of strawberry jam in his hand, Temo flipped off the basement light and took the stairs two at a time,
humming. Yes, a few flowers, then some paint. And a basement clothesline.

1. The theme of this story is BEST expressed 4. What does the phrase spade up mean from
through which of the following? paragraph 5?
a. The actions of the characters a. Design
b. The characters thoughts b. Water
c. The dialog between the two characters c. dig up
d. The setting d. imagine

2. Mamas reluctance to tell Temo why she didnt 5. Based on the text, Mama's hope could best be
run the dryer for her clothes indicates characterized as-
a. Mama wanted to keep her financial a. Painful
worries to herself. b. Contagious
b. She thought Temo would complain c. Pointless
about their bad luck. d. Relatable
c. She did not want Temo to know that
they had financial problems. 6. Which of these is the main idea of the passage?
d. She wanted Temo to continue to use a. Temo and his mother have very little
the dryer for his jeans. money.
b. Temo thinks his mother is silly for
3. What does the word breach mean from planting flowers.
paragraph 2? c. Clotheslines are better than dryers.
d. Paint and flowers can transform any
a. a leap out of the water home.
b. a gap or opening
c. a hostile relationship
d. a violation of the law
 7. Which of these is the story's theme? 9. Which statement BEST describes the conflict at
a. Nothing can be accomplished without the beginning of the story?
money. a. Temo is ashamed of the old house he
b. Children rebel against their parents as lives in.
they grow older. b. Temo is resentful because his mother
c. Routines help people stay organized. makes him work all the time.
d. Growing up means learning to give c. Temo is unhappy because he does not
rather than take. have money to buy gifts for his mother.
d. Temo is concerned about some flowers
8. In the story, the week of rain makes it possible he planted.
for Temo to realize that
a. He and his mother are in terrible debt. 10. In this story, the flowers symbolize Mama's
b. Helping his mother is more important a. crushed dreams
than doing his homework. b. love for her son
c. Their house is truly beautiful after all. c. refusal to face facts
d. His mother has been putting his needs d. hope for a bright future
above her own.

Does Baby + Positive Experiences = Smarter Adults?

1) It is hard to say when it was first speculated that the brain of a baby was very unlike that of an adult. Since the
beginning of time, babies and very young children were mainly cared for in order to meet their basic needs of eating and
sleeping. Infants, babies ranging from newborn to less than a year old, were treated as if they were diamonds in the
rough, and no attempt was made to uncover the precious stone until the infant was well on its way to becoming a
school-aged child.

2) At the turn of the 19th century, some infants were observed developing some basic skills. They were demonstrating
that they could understand what was said to them. This delighted the parents, but no real interest was shown in the
possibility of developing cleverness until the mid-nineteenth century. Not until scientists began comparing infants and
children from different backgrounds did there seem to be a connection between those children with a higher IQ and
their upbringing.

3) What exactly do babies really know? This has been a puzzling question for many years, but now there are some
significant answers. The thought that babies start out with a blank slate has now been restated to indicate that an
infants brain is more like a supercomputer, with the ability to receive and process information. A babys capacity for
memory expands rapidly. That is why the first three years of life have proven to be instrumental in the life-long
developmental timeline.

4) One example of this ability of babies to remember at an early age was conducted at the Institute of Child
Development. Babies that were 1 to 1 years old were shown how to make a birthday hat. They were shown how to
place pom-poms, a headband, and a sticker on the hat and they were able to duplicate the activity. The amazing part,
however, comes from the demonstration made one year later, when they were able to duplicate the hat from memory.

5 ) No longer do scientists have to speculate about the capacity of babies brains. Through brain imaging, the infant
brain appears to be very receptive to new experiences. Dr. William Greenough, a professor of psychology and cell and
structural biology, conducted a similar study on rats. He found that the brains of rats that were placed
in stimulating environments versus rats living in isolation were wired differently. The stimulated rats showed that they
could find their way through a maze much more quickly.

6) After years of research, it was found that not only were the basic needs of these accelerated children being met, but
there was much more effort put forth in teaching them as well. The children were involved in games, in learning nursery
rhymes, in finding the penny hidden beneath the cup, and in other activities where they had to use reasoning skills to be
successful. After repeating the games, the children not only improved their skill at the games, but they also could use
this new knowledge to help with other everyday situations.

7) It was also observed that these children were better at communicating. By the time they entered school, between
five and seven years of age, they were leaps-and-bounds ahead of their classmates, who had not been introduced to
these activities. Their head start in a positive-learning environment gave them positive self-esteem in almost all areas of
their lives.

8) Currently, more information is being discovered every day about infant and early childhood development. A common
theory is that playing classical music, particularly Mozart, stimulates the brain to be more receptive to new information.
Another theory is that talking to an infant about everyday chores can improve its listening skills when the child is of
school age. Studies have been conducted on every aspect of how infants develop and their readiness to learn new
things, even when they are a few days old.

9) It is amazing to think that humans can start to develop a sense of reason when they are tiny babies. Society is still
learning how the brain develops; and even though applying this knowledge to infants may not show rewards for years to
come, those involved are very optimistic. Perhaps trying to increase ones brainpower simply by listening to Mozart
might be a first step for anyone past infancy.

11. Which of the following statements from the
passage would BEST indicate that scientists are
continuing their research about the
development of a baby's brain?
a. The amazing part . . . when they were
able to duplicate the hat from memory.
b. . . . babies and very young children were
cared for in order to meet their basic
needs...
c. Studies have been conducted on every
aspect of how infants develop and their
readiness to learn new things . . .
d. . . . even though applying this
knowledge to infants may not show
rewards for years to come, those
involved are very optimistic.
12. Which BEST represents the meaning of
stimulating as it is used in paragraph 5?
a. aggravated
b. motivated
c. initiated
d. trained
14. Which of the following BEST summarizes the
main point of the passage?
a. Infants are smart if their brains receive
information from a very early age.
b. Many people think that babies and
infants are not capable of learning until
they are in school.
c. Scientists believe children continue to
gain knowledge until adulthood.
d. An infant, given an opportunity to learn
in a positive environment, will retain
the capacity to learn for a lifetime.
15. After skimming through paragraph 7, the reader
can conclude that
a. Children are generally better
communicators than adults.
b. Children begin learning the most when
they begin attending school.
c. A positive head start in early learning
lasts a lifetime
d. Children are happier when they are
introduced to fun activities.

13. What is the author's purpose for writing this 16. After reading this passage, it is apparent that
selection? the author's purpose was to
a. To entertain the reader a. present new information
b. To inform the reader b. entertain the reader
c. To persuade the reader c. encourage the reader to study science
d. To entice the reader d. encourage the reader to read more
books