Italian Cooking - PDF

							                           Ninth Grade Literature and Composition

                                             Italian Cooking
1   Where would Italian cooking be without pasta and tomato sauce? As hard as it is to believe,
    Italian cooking has not always included these two ingredients, which today are central to many
    favorite Italian dishes.

2   Pasta like spaghetti, macaroni, or any other noodles made from wheat flour, did not exist in Italy
    until the 1200s. That was when the Italian explorer Marco Polo brought the recipe for pasta to
    Italy from China. The Chinese made their noodles from rice flour. The Italians adapted the recipe
    to use with wheat flour. Once the Italians discovered the secret of making pasta, they made all
    kinds of noodles. Are you familiar with spiral noodles called rotini, circular cheese-filled noodles
    called tortellini, or long, wide lasagna noodles? These are some of the dozens of kinds of pasta
    used in Italian cooking.

3   How about some tomato sauce to top off that pasta? Italians had to wait several hundred years
    before they could put tomato sauce on their spaghetti. The tomato was not known in Europe until
    the exploration of the Americas began. Christopher Columbus found some tomatoes and took
    plants back to Italy.

4   Tomatoes were not immediately popular. Many people even thought they were poisonous. Not
    until the 1600s was the tomato widely used in Italian cooking. Today tomatoes and tomato sauce,
    like pasta, are mainstays of much Italian food.

5   Neither Marco Polo nor Christopher Columbus was a chef. Both men were explorers. Still, as
    they traveled to interesting lands, they discovered the ingredients for something many people
    enjoy today: Italian cooking.
1   The main idea of this passage is that two ingredients in Italian cooking

    A   came from secret family recipes
    B   came from other parts of the world
    C   can be used in many different ways
    D   have been popular for many years


2   In Paragraph 4, tomatoes and pasta are described as the mainstays of Italian
    food. This word means that these ingredients are among the

    A   oldest in Italian cooking
    B   most flavorful in Italian cooking
    C   most important in Italian cooking
    D   costliest in Italian cooking


3   Which conclusion can you draw based on the information in the passage?

    A   Some early tomatoes must have been poisonous.
    B   Some people do not enjoy eating tomatoes.
    C   Christopher Columbus must have disliked eating tomatoes.
    D   Tomatoes could be grown in Italy as well as in the Americas.
4   Which statement BEST supports the generalization “Books are good teachers”?

    A   Many famous books were written by educated individuals.
    B   Books have shown me how to knit, plan a party, and build a bookshelf.
    C   When you’re lonely or bored, a book can be a wonderful companion.
    D   You can find new books in public libraries as well as bookstores.


5   Which topic is the MOST appropriately narrow choice for a 3-page research paper
    related to Edgar Allan Poe?

    A   the use of figurative language in Poe’s “A Cask of Amontillado”
    B   a study of the life of Poe and other writers in the 1800s
    C   a review of the short stories written by Poe
    D   a comparative study of the poetry and short stories of Poe


6   Cathy is writing a research paper about editorial cartoons that comment on current
    events. Which source would probably provide Cathy with the MOST information on
    her topic?

    A   The History of the Sunday Funnies
    B   How to Write a Convincing Editorial
    C   Interviews With Seven Political Cartoonists
    D   Drawing Cartoons for Profit


    Use the paragraph below to answer questions 7 and 8.

    1) Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is my favorite novel. 2) I enjoy the ways different
    characters are developed and their interactions with each other are fascinating. 3) I love the
    sense of adventure on every page. 4) The lesson I learned from Animal Farm is very simple.
    5) Rules and regulations must be present and followed if we are to remain civilized.

7   Which of these transitions would BEST begin sentence 3?

    A   In spite of this,
    B   By contrast,
    C   Additionally,
    D   However,
8   Which of the following BEST combines sentences 4 and 5?

    A The lesson I learned from Animal Farm is very simple: if we are to remain civilized,
      rules and regulations must be present and followed.
    B The lesson I learned from Animal Farm is very simple, if we are to remain civilized, rules
      and regulations must be present and followed.
    C If we are to remain civilized, rules and regulations must be present and followed is the
      lesson I learned from Animal Farm and is very simple.
    D If we are to remain civilized, rules and regulations must be present and followed; the
      lesson that I learned from Animal Farm being very simple.


9   How should the sentence below be correctly punctuated?

    Soaring through the night sky the falcon seemed to be seeking the elusive moon.

    A   add a semicolon after Soaring
    B   add a comma after sky
    C   add a colon after seeking
    D   change the period to a question mark



10 How is the sentence below BEST written?

    We brainstormed the idea early last night and most cheerfully announce it at the reception
    afterward.

    A   change brainstormed to brainstorm
    B   change cheerfully to cheerful
    C   change announce to announced
    D   change it to them
Item   Key   Domain
  1     B      1
  2     C      1
  3     D      2
  4     B      2
  5     A      3
  6     C      3
  7     C      4
  8     A      4
  9     B      5
 10     C      5