The Beginning of Brown James and Noel sat on the steps of their new house. It was going to be a hot day, but the boys preferred sitting outside to unpacking more boxes inside. Their mom was unpacking kitchen stuff, and the boys had grown tired of hearing her exclaim every time she unwrapped another of the teapots she hadn't seen in months.
"You'd think she'd have enough teapots by now," said James.
"Yeah," said Noel, "I don't get that excited about my Godzilla collection and that is way more interesting than any teapot."
"And I’m sorry," said James, "but I know way too much about teapots for a boy my age."
James then started listing all the things he knew about teapots. "There's the spout and the pouring angle," he began. But Noel had already tuned James out. The heat was rising and as tired as he was of his mother's teapots, he was more tired of James' complaining.
Besides, there was a raggedy old dog down the street. Noel could tell, even from far away, this was a dog that belonged to no one. Its coat was matted. It had no collar. All he could see of the dog's face was its nose sticking out. Its coat was all brown, but a dirty, grayish brown, not the deep dark warm brown that made you feel safe.
"And there's that teapot with the flowers. The brown one with the little dots all in a row," James continued on his rant, now listing all the teapots he had unwrapped for Mom. Noel continued ignoring James and watched the dog.
It was moving slowly in their general direction. It stopped at various spots along the curb to smell things. Sometimes the smelling took a very long time. Every now and then it would sit down to scratch behind its ear. Noel wondered if it was looking for something to eat.
James jabbered on and Noel began to wonder how a dog came to be in such a sad condition as this one. Did no one ever want it? Even as a puppy, was this fellow not cute enough to find a good family? Had it always been this ugly? Hadn't anyone ever been kind to it? The dog was across the street now, one house over. It seemed to be particularly attracted to mailboxes and the plants around them. To Noel's mind, it appeared that the dog was greeting each family on the street.
Noel watched the dog cross the street heading in their direction. He hadn't noticed it before, but the dog's head seemed rather large. It swung back and forth in front of its body, much like the bears Noel had seen at the zoo and on television. Noel could not see any eyes through all the matted hair. He could see gnats and flies hovering over the poor thing, waiting for it to sit down again.
It lumbered toward them. Noel noticed that James had stopped talking. He looked over at his brother. Staring at the dog, James seemed to be a bit shocked or surprised, maybe even stunned.
"What is that?" James whispered.
Instead of sniffing their mailbox and moving on like before, the dog started up the sidewalk toward the steps where they were sitting. Noel could hear the flies buzzing and see not just a few gnats, but a whole swarm around the dog. Bits of leaves and twigs hung in its hair. The dog continued toward them. Was it going to stop, wondered Noel. Should I get up and get in the house? But then, just when Noel felt a twinge of panic, the dog sat down, wagged its tail, and smiled. Noel had never seen anything like it before. It was as if the dog, flies and all, were posing for a photographer. It is going to be an interesting summer, thought Noel.

Read this line from the text:

Staring at the dog, James seemed to be a bit shocked or surprised, maybe even stunned.
"What is that?" James whispered.

Based on the story, which best explains why James was surprised when he saw the dog?
He has been focused on complaining and has not seen the dog.
He is tired from unpacking so many boxes.
He has returned to the kitchen to help his mother unpack.
He did not think the dog would come that far.

Which three excerpts would best be characterized as expository texts? excerpt 1 may 17, 1980, was a quiet day in silver lake, washington. if you had been there, you probably would have seen mount st. helens, one of the state’s famous mountains. the mountain looked like a cone capped with snow. it rose from a valley of deep green trees and bright blue lakes. mount st. helens is volcanic. scientists were watching the mountain carefully that spring. for two months, they recorded small earthquakes near the mountain. steam spewed from its top. and yet, from a distance, the mountain looked picture-perfect. a volcano can erupt when pressure underground builds and forces its way to the surface. volcanos can be active, dormant, or extinct. an active volcano has erupted in the last 10,000 years and is thought to erupt in the near future. a dormant volcano has not erupted in the past 10,000 years, but is thought to erupt again. an extinct volcano is one scientists do not expect to erupt again. for example, in 1980, mt. st. helens was an active volcano. excerpt 2 anxiety sometimes manifests as an apprehensive feeling or worry that you are unable to explain fully. stress is often a trigger. symptoms can include tense muscles, churning stomach, nausea, diarrhea, headache, backache, heart palpitations, sweating, flushing, and numbness or “pins and needles” in arms, hands, or legs. with all these symptoms, it is easy to mistake anxiety for a physical illness. everyone becomes anxious from time to time, but when anxiety interferes with life when there’s no real threat, or is present long after a real threat has passed, it is a problem. one of the best ways to deal with anxiety is to learn how to manage stress in your life. relaxation techniques are also good. meditation, breathing techniques, and yoga are all possible ways to ease anxiety. being healthy also . follow a regular sleep pattern, get plenty of exercise, and maintain a healthy diet. all of these practices will reduce anxiety and stress. excerpt 3 visiting a different country can be a great way to spend a vacation. as a tourist, you are there to see new sights and have new experiences. but living in a different country is not the same as visiting one. when you move to a new country, you move away from people you are close to and many things that you know. a new place may have different customs, different food and often, a different language. the climate and land may be very different. buying food and getting to work may be a major challenge. you will have times of feeling afraid, angry and homesick. these feelings are examples of culture shock. excerpt 4 there never was such a country for wandering liars; and they were of both sexes. hardly a month went by without one of these tramps arriving; and generally loaded with a tale about some princess or other wanting to get her out of some faraway castle where she was held in captivity by a lawless scoundrel, usually a giant. now you would think that the first thing the king would do after listening to such a novelette from an entire stranger, would be to ask for credentials—yes, and a pointer or two as to locality of castle, best route to it, and so on. but nobody ever thought of so simple and commonsense a thing as that. no, everybody swallowed these people’s lies whole, and never asked a question of any sort or about anything. (from a connecticut yankee in king arthur's court by mark twain) excerpt 5 she was dressed in rich materials—satins, and lace, and silks—all of white. her shoes were white. and she had a long white veil dependent from her hair, and she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table. dresses, less splendid than the dress she wore, and half-packed trunks, were scattered about. she had not quite finished dressing, for she had but one shoe on—the other was on the table near her hand—her veil was but half arranged, her watch and chain were not put on, and some lace for her bosom lay with those trinkets, and with her handkerchief, and gloves, and some flowers, and a prayer-book, all confusedly heaped about the looking glass. (from great expectations by charles dickens)

John asks mond why they have to have whole groups of identical deltas. why not make everyone an alpha plus like bernard and helmholtz? are you satisfied with mond’s answer?

What is the best prediction of the meaning of thrilling based on the context clues?