English I Midterm 1

Name: Date: Block:

English 1 Midterm Exam
Got Game?

“So, what do you do?”

“I play video games.”
1
“No, I mean, what is your job?”
“No, I mean, really … I play video games … for my job.”
The phrases “professional games” or “cyber­athlete” might once have seemed like oxymorons, but not anymore.
Playing video games, either via PC or a console, is considered a sport by more and more people. It requires the
2 dexterity of skeet shooting and the strategy skills of chess. The people who spend their time playing in
competitions viewed by tens of millions of people online are called cyber-athletes or professional gamers. They
earn money for their agility with a controller the same way a professional golfer earns money for his skill hitting
a tiny ball over a large stretch of grass into a tiny hole: by winning.
Playing video games professionally is not a goal that everyone will achieve, but there are certainly those who do.
Take Dave Walsh. He used to play sports in high school, and after practices and games he would play video
games to wind down. On a whim, he drove to a national tournament over spring break in 2003 and placed fifth
3 out of 300 people. When Walsh graduated high school, he began working full-time at the post office to pay for
college classes, but he continued to enter tournaments and win, soon earning as much as he did at the post office.
He eventually signed a contract offer for $250,000 with Major League Gaming (MLG), which is one of the
biggest professional leagues for video gamers. MLG’s total funding has reached into tens of millions of dollars
annually and includes large business investors.
Just like other athletes, cyber-athletes rely on sponsors, lucrative contracts and winning prize money for their
incomes—which can be quite high. Many gamers expand those sources of income to create their own brands.
Johnathan Wendel has been called the best gamer in the world and has his own line of gaming gear. Tom Taylor
offers gaming lessons for upwards of $115 an hour, has a thriving business with over 1,000 clients, and even had
4 his face on soft drink bottles in 2008. Dave Walsh co-founded a clothing company and is on the board of
directors for a nonprofit group called the Gamers Outreach Foundation. Women gamers exist, too. Pro Gamer
Katherine Gunn won Season 2 of the reality television show “WCG Ultimate Gamer” in 2010. Gaming is not
longer just for teenagers alone in their rooms—it is a social event connecting people from all over the world.
Living a life that involves eating, breathing, and sleeping video games sounds fun, but in reality it can be
exhausting. Many gamers practice at least 40 hours a week. They can put in 14 hours a day before competitions,
working with their team to build the best strategies with their coaches (yes, coaches). Traveling throughout the
world for competitions often prevents having a “regular life.” As players age, many realize they want to be more
5 involved with their families. Additionally, when a hobby becomes a business in which thousands of dollars are in
the balance, some find that they need other outlets for fun, such as physical sports.
Of course, not everyone can earn a livelihood playing video games, just like not everyone can play basketball
professionally; however, other avenues exist for people who still want to have a job in the world of gaming.
Game programming, game design, art design, and testing games are all fields a gamer might enjoy. Game design
and programming is a popular college major at many universities, such as the University of Texas at Dallas and
6
University of California Santa Cruz. Some gamers telecast games instead of competing in the game, just like in
“real sports.”
The world of video gaming is exploding like skateboarding did years ago. Specialists in the gaming industry can
make a successful living, which makes it a good time to be a gamer. Professional gaming may be relatively new,
but the pros, at least, think it is here to stay.
 English I Midterm 2

7
Read this sentence from the article.

The world of video gaming is exploding like skateboarding did years ago.

1. The author uses the word exploding to suggest the...

a. excitement of video gaming.
b. rapid growth of video gaming.
c. dangerous risks of video gaming.
d. unpredictable future of video gaming

2. In paragraph 2, the word dexterity most likely means…

a. agility
b. clumsy
c. agressive
d. quick

3. Which option best states the author’s purpose for writing this passage?
a. to argue to readers that gaming is a sport
b. to inform readers about competitive gaming
c. to describe for readers the demands of a gaming career
d. to entertain readers with details about professional gaming

4. In paragraph 4, which literary device is used to introduce the idea that video gaming is a sport?
a. simile
b. hyperbole
c. analogy
d. repetition

5. The author organizes information about professional video gaming by discussing a different aspect of video
gaming in each paragraph. Which aspect is discussed in paragraph 6?
a. the future of video gaming careers
b. the benefits of a video gaming career
c. the drawbacks of a video gaming career
d. the opportunities for video gaming careers
Read this excerpt from the article.
“So, what do you do?”
“I play video games”
“No, I mean, what is your job?”
“No, I mean, really … I play video games … for my job.
6. The author uses this dialogue to
a. highlight the popularity of video games.
b. emphasize the economic value of video games.
c. suggest how the workplace is affected by video games.
d. illustrate commonly held assumptions about video games

7. Which sentence states the central idea of Paragraph 6?

 English I Midterm 3

a. Many gaming-related careers are open to gamers who cannot play for a living.
b. Rather than compete, some gamers become television analysts for gaming tournaments.
c. Only a few video gamers win enough money to support themselves as professionals.
d. Even universities have started offering majors in technical subjects needed by the gaming industry.
Read this sentence from Paragraph 4 of the article.
8. Just like other athletes, cyber-athletes rely on sponsors, lucrative contracts, and winning prize money for their
incomes—which can be quite high.What is the meaning of lucrative in the sentence?
a. dynamic
b. profitable
c. noteworthy
d. reasonable
Excerpt from Three Men in a Boat: Chapter I
by Jerome K. Jerome

It is a most extraordinary thing, but I never read a patent medicine advertisement without being impelled to the
1 conclusion that I am suffering from the particular disease therein dealt with in its most virulent form. The diagnosis
seems in every case to correspond exactly with all the sensations that I have ever felt.
I remember going to the British Museum one day to read up the treatment for some slight ailment of which I had a
touch—hay fever, I fancy it was. I got down the book and read all I came to read; and then, in an unthinking
moment, I idly turned the leaves* and began to indolently study diseases, generally. I forget which was the first
2
distemper I plunged into—some fearful, devastating scourge, I know—and, before I had glanced half down the list
of “premonitory symptoms,” it was borne in upon me that I had fairly got it.
I sat for awhile, frozen with horror; and then, in the listlessness of despair, I again turned over the pages. I came to
typhoid fever—read the symptoms—discovered that I had typhoid fever, must have had it for months without
knowing it—wondered what else I had got; turned up St. Vitus’s Dance—found, as I expected, that I had that
3 too,—began to get interested in my case, and determined to sift it to the bottom, and so started alphabetically—read
up ague, and learnt that I was sickening for it, and that the acute stage would commence in about another fortnight.
Bright’s disease, I was relieved to find, I had only in a modified form, and, so far as that was concerned, I might
live for years. Cholera I had, with severe complications; and diphtheria I seemed to have been born with. I plodded
conscientiously through the twenty­six letters, and the only malady I could conclude I had not got was housemaid’s
knee.
I felt rather hurt about this at first; it seemed somehow to be a sort of slight. Why hadn’t I got housemaid’s knee?
Why this invidious reservation? After a while, however,less grasping feelings prevailed. I reflected that I had every
4 other known malady in the pharmacology, and I grew less selfish, and determined to do without housemaid’s knee.
Gout, in its most malignant stage, it would appear, had seized me without my being aware of it; and zymosis I had
evidently been suffering with from boyhood. There were no more diseases after zymosis, so I concluded there was
nothing else the matter with me.
I sat and pondered. I thought what an interesting case I must be from a medical point of view, what an acquisition I
5 should be to a class! Students would have no need to “walk the hospitals,” if they had me. I was a hospital in
myself. All they need do would be to walk round me, and, after that, take their diploma.
Then I wondered how long I had to live. I tried to examine myself. I felt my pulse. I could not at first feel any pulse
at all. Then, all of a sudden, it seemed to start off. I pulled out my watch and timed it. I made it a hundred and
forty-seven to the minute. I tried to feel my heart. I could not feel my heart. It had stopped beating. I have since
been induced to come to the opinion that it must have been there all the time, and must have been beating, but I
cannot account for it. I patted myself all over my front, from what I call my waist up to my head, and I went a bit
round each side, and a little way up the back. But I could not feel or hear anything. I tried to look at my tongue. I
6
 English I Midterm 4

stuck it out as far as ever it would go, and I shut one eye, and tried to examine it with the other. I could only see the
tip, and the only thing that I could gain from that was to feel more certain than before that I had scarlet fever.
I had walked into that reading room a happy, healthy man. I crawled out a decrepit wreck.
I went to my medical man. He is an old chum of mine, and feels my pulse, and looks at my tongue, and talks about
the weather, all for nothing, when I fancy I’m ill; so I thought I would do him a good turn by going to him now.
“What a doctor wants,” I said, “is practice. He shall have me. He will get more practice out of me than out of
seventeen hundred of your ordinary, commonplace patients, with only one or two diseases each.” So I went straight
up and saw him, and he said:
“Well, what’s the matter with you?”
I said:
“I will not take up your time, dear boy, with telling you what is the matter with me. Life is brief, and you might
pass away before I had finished. But I will tell you what is NOT the matter with me. I have not got housemaid’s
knee. Why I have not got housemaid’s knee, I cannot tell you; but the fact remains that I have not got it. Everything
else, however, I HAVE got.” And I told him how I came to discover it all.
Then he opened me and looked down me, and clutched hold of my wrist, and then he hitme over the chest when I
wasn’t expecting it—a cowardly thing to do, I call it—and immediately afterwards butted me with the side of his
head. After that, he sat down and wrote out a prescription and folded it up and gave it me and I put it in my pocket
and went out.
I did not open it. I took it to the nearest chemist’s and handed it in. The man read it and then handed it back.
He said he didn’t keep it.
I said:
“You are a chemist?”
He said:
“I am a chemist. If I was a cooperative store and family hotel combined, I might be able to oblige you. Being only a
chemist hampers me.”
I read the prescription. It ran:
“1 lb beefsteak, with
1 pt bitter beverage every 6 hours.
1 ten-mile walk every morning.
1 bed at 11 sharp every night.
And don’t stuff up your head with things you don’t understand.”
I followed the directions, with the happy result—speaking for myself—that my life was preserved and is still going
on.

9. Which quote represents the central idea of the selection?

 English I Midterm 5

a. “I remember going to the British Museum one day to read up the treatment for some slight ailment of
which I had a touch—hay fever, I fancy it was.”
b. “I sat for awhile, frozen with horror; and then, in the listlessness of despair, I again turned over the
pages.”
c. “I was a hospital in myself. All they need do would be to walk round me, and, after that, take their
diploma.”
d. “ ‘Why I have not got housemaid’s knee, I cannot tell you; but the fact remains that I have not got it.
Everything else, however, I HAVE got.’ ”

10. Which detail supports the development of the theme of the selection?
a. A “I forget which was the first distemper I plunged into—some fearful, devastating scourge, I know—
and, before I had glanced half down the list of ‘premonitory symptoms,’ it was borne in upon me that I
had fairly got it.”
b. “I felt rather hurt about this at first; it seemed somehow to be a sort of slight. Why hadn’t I got
housemaid’s knee? Why this invidious reservation?”
c. “I tried to look at my tongue. I stuck it out as far as ever it would go, and I shut one eye, and tried to
examine it with the other. I could only see the tip, and the only thing that I could gain from that was to
feel more certain than before that I had scarlet fever.”
d. “I followed the directions, with the happy result—speaking for myself—that my life was preserved and
is still going on.”

11. In the first sentence of the selection, what does the use of the word virulent imply about the narrator?
a. The narrator is brilliant.
b. The narrator is a physician.
c. The narrator expects the worst.
d. The narrator expects compensation.

12. Based on the first paragraph, what can the reader infer about the narrator?
a. The narrator has discovered his illness.
b. The narrator has overcome many diseases.
c. The narrator is sick and has not found a cure.
d. The narrator is obsessed with his health.

13. What is the meaning of the word indolently in paragraph 2?

a) Afraid or scared
b) Very quickly, in a hurry
c) Lazily or sluggishly
d) With great excitement or enthusiasm

14. How does paragraph 3 impact the selection?

a. It develops the plot with details.
b. It adds humor through exaggeration.
c. It foreshadows the doctor’s prescription.
d. It explains why the narrator needs medication.

15. According to the selection, what type of relationship does the narrator have with the doctor?
a. The men do not know each other at all.
b. The men are well acquainted with each other.
c. The doctor has diagnosed the narrator’s ailments.
d. The narrator is familiar with the doctor’s patients.
 English I Midterm 6

16. What does the prescription imply?

a. The narrator needs a good “last meal.”
b. The doctor does not understand the illness.
c. The narrator needs more medicine than usual.
d. The doctor does not believe the narrator is ill.

17. Why does the doctor include “And don’t stuff up your head with things you don’t understand” in the prescription
for the narrator?
a. The narrator lacks the intelligence necessary to become a physician.
b. The narrator should avoid reading medical journals about diseases.
c. The narrator may try to diagnose illnesses in others around him.
d. The narrator must stay away from things to which he is allergic.

A Day in Chicago
I always thought the city was a lot like a huge, carnivorous zoo animal, exotic and beautiful, but best observed from a safe
distance.

That was one of the profound thoughts I had while riding on the commuter train to Chicago one Sunday morning late last
spring. It’s a 90­minute ride from our house in Oakmont, so I had plenty of time to think. I had brought a book with me,
but I was too excited about the day ahead and too captivated by the scenery to concentrate on reading.

hadn’t seen my best and oldest friend, Sydney, in months. She and her family used to live down the street from us, but her
father got a new job last year and they moved to an apartment in Chicago. Today, Sydney and I were going to have a
whole day together. I’d been saving my babysitting money for a more than a few weeks. I planned to snag a few
souvenirs.

The magnificent skyline of Chicago came into view, but as we got closer to downtown, I remembered why I was not all
that crazy about going to the city. Oakmont may not be the most exciting place in the world, but at least the people are
friendly and you aren’t going to go deaf from the car horns and screeching brakes from the elevated trains.

“Melanie!” I heard someone call my name as I made my way into Union Station’s enormous waiting room. I saw Sydney
waving in the distance and running toward me. Behind her was her older brother, Edward. My parents wouldn’t hear of us
wandering the mean streets of Chicago on our own. Edward is nice enough, except he hasn’t figured out that Sydney and I
are not little kids anymore.

“You look so awesome!” I said to Sydney, as we gave each other a big hug. “It looks like the city is not treating you too
badly.”

“Oh, Chicago is great!” she said. “It’s totally different when you live here. You’ll love it. We’re going to have a fabulous
time today!”

We emerged into the daylight and suddenly Edward pointed at a bus up ahead and started yelling at us to run for it! One
minute we were happily strolling through the Great Hall in Union Station, with its soaring Corinthian columns, pink
marble floors, and stunning, five-story, barrel-vaulted ceiling. The next minute, we were sprinting frantically down Canal
Street, bobbing and weaving our way past pedestrians, trying desperately to catch the number 151 bus before it pulled
away.
 English I Midterm 7

We caught the bus, fed our dollar bills into the fare box, and then the three of us plopped down in seats in the back, trying
to catch our breath. “The buses don’t run very often on Sundays,” Edward said, gasping for air. “If we had missed this
one, we would have had a long wait for the next one.”

We got off the bus at the Drake Hotel, which is the most luxurious hotel I have ever seen in my life. We walked around
the lobby for a few minutes, just to check it out. Then we started down Michigan Avenue, which is also known as the
“Magnificent Mile.” It was not hard to figure out why it is called that. Between the Drake Hotel and the Chicago River,
Michigan Avenue is block upon block of fancy clothing and jewelry stores, hotels, spas, and upscale restaurants.

We must have spent two hours walking down Michigan Avenue, browsing in the stores and window shopping. Sydney
and I even tried on dresses at a trendy little boutique and nearly fainted when we saw the price tags.
“This is wonderful, but I’ve had enough of stores where I can’t afford to buy anything,” said Sydney. “Let’s take Melanie
down to Maxwell Street. It’s nothing like Michigan Avenue, though it’s magnificent in its own way.”
She and Edward laughed as we got on a 157 bus, which took us west, back toward the train station, and then south,
through marvelous old urban neighborhoods of little shops, turn-of-the-century row houses, and gothic-style churches and
synagogues.

We got off the bus at the Maxwell Street Market, which I can only describe as the world’s biggest flea market. There were
hundreds of outdoor stalls selling everything you can think of: tube socks, cheap jewelry, old comic books and magazines,
CDs and vinyl records, fruits and vegetables, nuts, brooms, pots and pans, leather goods, car tires, ceramic figurines, and
lots of just plain junk. The air was filled with music from street performers, and the aromas from dozens of different food
vendors permeated the whole market. It was incredible!
We must have pawed through every stall in the market. Then we got tacos at a food truck and sat down at a table outside,
in front of an open area where some dancers were performing. We took stock of our afternoon purchases. I had bought a
pair of earrings, a CD of a contemporary Chicago blues band I had never heard of, and a pair of plastic binoculars for my
little brother. Sydney bought a T-shirt with a retro, psychedelic design. Edward bought a Chicago Cubs baseball cap and a
set of socket wrenches.

By now we were hot and tired, and it was time for me to catch my train home to Oakmont. We left the Maxwell Street
Market just in time to see our bus pull away from the curb and start up the street. We all groaned at once, as if on cue. I
knew it was too far to walk to the train station, and I didn’t have time to wait for the next bus.
“No worries,” said Edward. “You never go to the city without some extra cab money.” He stepped off the curb into the
street, stuck his hand in the air like he had a question for the teacher and, just like that, a yellow taxi cab pulled up smartly
to the curb in front of us. We all got in and collapsed in the back seat, and five minutes later we were at the train station.
Edward paid the cab driver as Sydney and I said our goodbyes, promising not to let so much time go by before our next
visit.

I did not get much of my book read on the ride home. I was perfectly happy staring out the window of the train, watching
the scenery as if I were watching a movie, with the rhythm of the train providing the soundtrack. I had to admit, I really
enjoyed my day in Chicago. I decided that the city is not so much like a zoo animal after all. It’s more like a big, open air
market—lively, diverse, colorful, and wonderfully chaotic. And it is best viewed at street level, preferably with your best
friend.

"A Day in Chicago" property of Pearson.

 English I Midterm 8

18. How do events in "A Day in Chicago" develop the theme of the passage?
a. The adventurous day spent in the city showed the narrator the importance of careful planning before
traveling to unfamiliar places.
b. After attending an outdoor market, the narrator realized that large cities have different types of activities
than the suburbs.
c. By experiencing the secrets of the unfamiliar city, the narrator realized that perceptions can be very
misleading.
d. The necessity of riding in a taxicab showed the narrator the importance of being prepared for any
emergency.

19. In "A Day in Chicago," why was Melanie nervous about going to the city?
a. She had never been to Chicago before.
b. She had not seen her best friend, Sydney, in months.
c. She was nervous, having never been on a train before.
d. She feared the strange noises and unfriendly people.

Read the following sentence from "A Day in Chicago."

I always thought the city was a lot like a huge, carnivorous zoo animal, exotic and beautiful, but best observed from a safe
distance.
20. What does the simile in this sentence suggest about the city?
a. It is a strange and dangerous place.
b. It is isolated and unwelcoming to visitors
c. It encourages outsiders to visit its unusual sights.
d. It has barriers separating the wealthy from the poor.

Read the following excerpt from “A Day in Chicago.”

“No worries,” said Edward. “You never go to the city without some extra cab money.” He stepped off the curb, stuck his
hand in the air like he had a question for the teacher and, just like that, a yellow taxi cab pulled up smartly to the curb in
front of us.
21. How does this description of Edward's actions advance the plot of the story?
a. It reveals that Edward takes dangerous risks in order to impress other people.
b. It shows that Edward is self-assured in his ability to interact with others in the city.
c. It confirms that Edward is confused about what procedure to follow for getting a taxi.
d. It implies that Edward likes to brag about his knowledge of the city to his companions.
Read this sentence from "A Day in Chicago."
The air was filled with music from street performers, and the aromas from dozens of different food vendors permeated the
whole market.
22. What does permeated mean as it is used in the sentence?
a. clashed with
b. trailed behind
c. disappeared from
d. spread throughout
 English I Midterm 9

23. How is a familiar idiom about people’s perceptions developed as a theme in “A Day in Chicago?”
a. The narrator’s experiences in the city teach her not to “judge a book by its cover.”
b. The characters’ walk down Michigan Avenue shows that “all that glitters is not gold.”
c. The narrator’s first impression of the Maxwell Market is that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
d. The characters’ adventures on public transportation remind them that “hindsight is better than foresight.”
Read this excerpt from "A Day in Chicago."

I had bought a pair of earrings, a CD of a contemporary Chicago blues band I had never heard of, and a pair of plastic
binoculars for my little brother. Sydney bought a T-shirt with a retro, psychedelic design.
24. What do the words contemporary and retro suggest about the girls' purchases?
a. They chose both modern and old-fashioned items.
b. They bought items that were experimental but festive.
c. They preferred items that were glamorous and colorful.
d. They selected items that were unique but unfamiliar to them.

25. In "A Day in Chicago," the narrator changes her opinion of the big city after spending a day there with friends.
Explain the reasons the narrator changed her opinion of the city. Cite specific details from the passage to support
your answer.