Anwar Al-Majd International School

Boys – Girls
Riyadh,

English and Social Studies Department

Name: ________________ Grade: Seven

Literature Revision Sheet

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
Refer to the text to check your answers when appropriate.

The Pony Express

In this age of texts and tweets, it is easy

to send messages. You just press a few
buttons, and boom! Your message is
sent. The person to whom you sent it The Pony Express had 184 stations
will get it in just a few seconds. along the trail. The stations were around
Distance is no longer an issue. But ten miles apart. This is about how far a
things weren't always so easy. horse could run at a gallop before tiring.
The rider would switch to a new horse
In 1848 gold was found in California. at each station. He would only take his
Thousands of people rushed there to get mail pouch with him. Every 75-100
some. Many people liked living there miles, the rider would get to a home
and decided to stay. But there wasn't a station. At each home station, riders
whole lot between California and would rest. Before resting, he would
Missouri, where the nearest trains ran. give his mail pouch to a new rider. The
The train line to California wasn't mail never stopped moving, even while
finished until 1869. It took a long time the horses and riders rested.
to ride a horse to Missouri.
It was tough to ride for the Pony
Imagine that it is the year 1860. You Express. Each rider had to weigh less

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have moved to California to open a than 125 pounds. Speed was the key.
shop. Most of your family stayed back Most of the riders were teenage boys.
East. Your shop is doing well and now They rode at a fast pace for up to 100
you want to your miles a day. If there were an emergency,
one might have to

family to join you. How do you get

news to them? There's no phone, no ride 200 miles in a day. The ride could
train, and you can't leave your shop for be rough and dangerous. Attacks by
too long. What do you do? Well, you Native Americans were common. But in
could use the Pony Express. its time running, the Pony Express only
lost one mail pouch.
In 1860 and 1861, the Pony Express was
the fastest way to get news to and from The Pony Express filled an important
the West. The trail that they rode was role for a time, but it did not last. The
around 2000 miles long. It took most Civil War started in April of 1861. This
people weeks or months to ride that far. was bad news for the owners. The worst
The Pony Express could make the trip for them was yet to come. On October
in just ten days. Those speeds were 24th, 1861, the first telegraph line to
unheard of at the time. So how did they California was finished. This linked
do it? Well, they had a good system. them to the rest of the country. People
could send messages in an instant. Two
days later the Pony Express closed. But
the lore of the brave riders lives on even
today.

1. Which happened first?

a. Settlers rushed to California to find gold.

b. The Pony Express was started.

c. The train line to California was finished.

d. The first telegraph line to California was finished.

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2. Which best explains why Pony Express riders had to weigh less than 125
pounds?

a. Heavier men were more expensive.

b. Horses were scared of heavier men.

c. Heavier men scared customers.

d. Horses could move quicker with lighter men.

3. How fast could the Pony Express take a letter from California to Missouri?

a. 24 hours b. ten days

c. twenty days d. one month

4. Why were the Pony Express stations about ten miles apart?

a. This was about as far as a man could walk in a single day.

b. This was as far as a man could ride on a horse in a day.

c. This was so the riders wouldn't get so lonely at night.

d. This was as far as a horse could run without getting tired.

5. Which was probably not a requirement to be a rider for the Pony Express?

a. You had to be light. b. You had to be an expert

horse rider.

c. You had to be able to read and write. d. You had to be brave in the
face of danger.

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 NO DREAM TOO HIGH: SIMONE BILE

p:129-138

1. Why does Simone Biles have a move named after her?

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2. How did Simone get her start in gymnastics?

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3. How does the difficulty score help Simone?

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4. How has Simone struggled in her career?

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5. How did Simone overcome the difficulties and challenges she faced?

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VOCABULARY WORDS

1. Elite: of a group or class that is considered the very best.

2. Execution: the act or result of performance.

3. Finesse: delicate skill; exquisite grace.

4. Fundamental: (usually plural) something that is a basic part or principle; an

essential

5. Invest: to give, usually of time, money, or attention

6. Resolute: having or characterized by a decided purpose

7. Rigor: a condition that makes something difficult or unpleasant

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 The Belles of the Ballgame

p: 144-150

Check for Comprehension

1. Why was the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League started in 1943?

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2. Who had the idea for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League?

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3. How old was Dorothy “Dottie” Kamenshek when she joined the Rockford
Peaches?

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4. When did the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League end?

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Think Question
1. When did the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League begin? What
was happening at the time?

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2. Write two or three sentences describing the rules the female players had to
follow.

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3. Why was Dorothy “Dottie” Kamenshek such a popular player?

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_________________________________________________________________

4. Use context to confirm the meaning of the word attendance as it is used in “The
Belles of the Ballgame.” Write your definition of attendance here.

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5. What is another way to say that a person’s conduct is important?

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VOCABULARY WORDS

1. Distract: to pull attention away from someone or something.

2. Pastime: an activity that people enjoy doing to pass the time.

3. Chaperone: an adult who monitors the behavior of younger people.

4. Conduct: the way in which a person behaves.

5. Attendance: the number of people who go to a place or event

Hitting a big league fastball “clearly impossible”

p:151-159

Check for Comprehension

1. What element makes hitting a fastball difficult?

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2. What sense do batters need the most to judge a pitch?

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3. What information does the batter need before starting a swing?

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4. What happens if the batter swings too early or too late?

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5. What makes a pitch in the 1880s different from a pitch today?

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Think Questions
1. According to the article, what makes hitting a major league baseball seemingly
impossible?

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________
2. According to the article, what happens if a right-handed batter swings just
milliseconds too early or too late?

_________________________________________________________________

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Vocabulary Words

1. Precisely: exactly

2. Process: a series of actions

3. Foul: out of the boundaries of play

4. Released: allowed to be free

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 Second Estragment

Poem: Aracelis Girmay 2016

p:169-174

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. WHAT DOES THE POET RECALL ABOUT CHILDHOOD?

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2. WHAT DOES THE SPEAKER REMEMBER ACCIDENTALLY DOING AS A CHILD?

_________________________________________________________________

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3. WHAT DOES THE SPEAKER SAY THE WORLD IS FILLED WITH?

_________________________________________________________________

4. WHAT IMAGERY DOES THE SPEAKER USE TO DESCRIBE HOW SHE REACTS TO THE
STRANGER?

_________________________________________________________________

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THINK QUESTIONS
1. What are the settings mentioned in the poem? Where else could such a situation
occur? Cite evidence from the text in support of your answer.
Possible settings for this poem could be anywhere crowded. so perhaps a bustling
city or even inside a busy mall. I think that because the speaker talks about being
lost in a crowded space and being stunned by the “glass partitions.”

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2. What does the writer mean when the speaker calls out the word she “said then
for ‘Father’”? Cite evidence from the text in support of your answer.
I think the writer means that the speaker made a big mistake. The child called
another man her word for “Father,” and the man reacted by looking “strangely
down.” In other words, the man did not recognize the child and was confused.

3. To what action does the speaker compare a bird “stunned by the glass
partitions”? Cite evidence from the text in support of your answer.
The speaker compares realization that she mistook a stranger for her father to “a
bird suddenly stunned by the glass partitions,” because she is so shocked when she
realizes the man she reached for is not her father.

4. What is the meaning of the word estrangement as it is used in the text? Write
your best definition here, along with a brief explanation of the context clues that
helped you arrive at the definition.
The word estrangement is in the title. I see the
word strange inside estrangement. The first lines of the poem are about being lost
and following a stranger. Those clues make me think estrangement means
“strange, out of place, or not connected.”

5. Based on context clues, what do you think the word utterly means? Write your
best definition of utterly here and explain how you figured it out.

The speaker describes the strange look on the face of a man she mistakes for her
father as “utterly foreign, utterly not the one who loves you.” The way she
uses utterly shows me it means something like “really” or “very.”

VOCABULARY WORDS

1. ACCIDENTALLY: HAPPENING IN A WAY THAT IS NOT INTENTIONAL.

2. ESTRANGEMENT : THE STATE OF BEING DISTANT FROM THE ENVIRONMENT OR

ASSOCIATIONS THAT ONE IS ACCUSTOMED TO.

3. PARTITION: A WALL OR BARRIER BETWEEN TWO AREAS .

4. STUN: TO ASTONISH, OR TO SURPRISE AND UPSET.

5. UTTERLY: COMPLETELY AND WHOLLY.

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