Excerpt from Stuff Matters By Mark Miodownik

In the absence of copper, gold, and meteoric iron, our ancestors’ tools during the Stone Age were made of flint, wood, and bone. Anyone who has ever tried to make anything with these kinds of tools knows how limiting they are: if you hit a piece of wood it either splinters, cracks, or snaps. The same is true of rock or bone. Metals are fundamentally different from these other materials because they can be hammered into shape: they flow, they are malleable. Not only that, they get stronger when you hit them; you can harden a blade just by hammering it. And you can reverse the process simply by putting metal in a fire and heating it up, which will cause it to get softer. The first people to discover these properties ten thousand years ago had found a material that was almost as hard as a rock but behaved like a plastic and was almost infinitely reusable. In other words, they had discovered the perfect material for tools, and in particular cutting tools like axes, chisels, and razors. This ability of metals to transform from a soft to a hard material must have seemed like magic to our ancient ancestors.

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In 1961 Professor Richmond from Oxford University discovered a pit that had been dug by the Romans in AD 89. It contained 763,840 small two-inch nails, 85,128 medium nails, 25,088 large nails, and 1,344 extra-large sixteen-inch nails. The hoard was of iron and steel and not gold, which most people would have found bitterly disappointing. But not Professor Richmond. Why, he asked himself, would a Roman legion bury seven tons of iron and steel? The legion had been occupying the advance headquarters of Agricola in a place called Inchtuthil in Scotland. This was at the outer reaches of the Roman Empire, and their mission was to protect its border from what they saw as the savage tribes who threatened it: the Celts. The legion of five thousand men occupied the region for six years before retreating and, in the process, abandoning their fort. They made great efforts to leave behind nothing that could help their enemies. They smashed all food and drink containers and burned the fort to the ground. But they weren’t satisfied with this. In the ashes were the steel nails that had held the fort together, and they were far too valuable to be left to the tribes that had driven them out. Iron and steel were the materials that enabled the Romans to build aqueducts, ships, and swords; they allowed them to engineer an empire. Leaving the nails to their enemies would have been as useful as leaving a cache of weapons, so they buried them in a pit before marching south.
The author uses a simile to compare nails and weapons to –

A) reinforce the danger.

B) show how they took everything.

C) emphasize the value.

D) describe the importance.

Based on the author’s description of long island, the reader can infer that this novel willrelate events about unconventional individuals. relate events that occur directly within the city of new york. relate events that are supernatural and terrifying in nature. relate events having to do with highly privileged individuals.

Can i get it's due read the poem below, and then answer the questions that follow. the courage that my mother had by edna st. vincent millay the courage that my mother had went with her, and is with her still: rock from new england quarried; now granite in a granite hill. the golden brooch my mother wore she left behind for me to wear; i have no thing i treasure more: yet, it is something i could spare. oh, if instead she'd left to me the thing she took into the grave! - that courage like a rock, which she has no more need of, and i have. the metaphor in lines 3-4 suggest what about the mother? question 1 options: that the speaker's mother was a big, tough woman that the speaker's mother died before she should have that the speaker's mother did not leave anything to her child when she passed away that the speaker's mother was strong and brave < this is what i think the answer is. the courage that my mother had by edna st. vincent millay the courage that my mother had went with her, and is with her still: rock from new england quarried; now granite in a granite hill. the golden brooch my mother wore she left behind for me to wear; i have no thing i treasure more: yet, it is something i could spare. oh, if instead she'd left to me the thing she took into the grave! - that courage like a rock, which she has no more need of, and i have. based on the 2nd stanza, how does the speaker feel about the golden brooch that was passed down from the mother to child? question 2 options: the speaker thinks it was a waste of money the speaker places a high value on the item the speaker never wears the brooch the speaker feels it could be easily replaced the courage that my mother had by edna st. vincent millay the courage that my mother had went with her, and is with her still: rock from new england quarried; now granite in a granite hill. the golden brooch my mother wore she left behind for me to wear; i have no thing i treasure more: yet, it is something i could spare. oh, if instead she'd left to me the thing she took into the grave! - that courage like a rock, which she has no more need of, and i have. which line from stanza 2 supports the answer the the previous question? (how does the speaker feel about the brooch the mother passed down to child? ) question 3 options: the golden brooch my mother wore she left behind for me to wear; i have no thing i treasure more yet, it is something i could spare. the courage that my mother had by edna st. vincent millay the courage that my mother had went with her, and is with her still: rock from new england quarried; now granite in a granite hill. the golden brooch my mother wore she left behind for me to wear; i have no thing i treasure more: yet, it is something i could spare. oh, if instead she'd left to me the thing she took into the grave! - that courage like a rock, which she has no more need of, and i have. which item does the speaker admire and value the most that the mother possessed? question 4 options: courage a rock golden brooch granite the courage that my mother had by edna st. vincent millay the courage that my mother had went with her, and is with her still: rock from new england quarried; now granite in a granite hill. the golden brooch my mother wore she left behind for me to wear; i have no thing i treasure more: yet, it is something i could spare. oh, if instead she'd left to me the thing she took into the grave! - that courage like a rock, which she has no more need of, and i have. what is the theme of this poem? question 5 options: be careful what you wish for. some people do not get a good inheritance from their parents familial love is the most valuable thing honorable qualities can be more valuable than expensive items.

Which sentence has an incorrect shift in pronoun-antecedent agreement? a) each teacher needs to be paired up. b) each man needs to carry his own load. c) each of these women runs their own business. d) each child should bring his or her own lunch.