A Quick Note on Getting Better At Things
Use the text to help you answer the questions:
Passage Link
Question 1 (1 point)
PART A: Which of the following identifies the central idea of the text?
Question 1 options:
A. Learning a new skill is never easy, but it is worth all of the hard work.
B. Learning a new skill is easier for younger people than it is for older people.
C. People often fail at learning several new skills until they find the one they can master.
D. When choosing a new skill to learn, it is important to pick something that comes naturally to you.
Question 2 (1 point)
PART B: Which detail from the text best supports the answer to Part A?
Question 2 options:
A. "This field of study has been, all at once, the hardest and most rewarding of my life." (Paragraph 1)
B. "I started writing as a 6-year-old boy under my mother's tutelage. I always 'felt' I could write." (Paragraph 1)
C. "Hopelessness feeds the fatigue that leads the student to quit." (Paragraph 4)
D. "That is why I ignore all the research about children and their language advantage. I don't want to hear it." (Paragraph 4)
Question 3 (1 point)
PART A: What is the author's purpose in the text?
Question 3 options:
to give people an example of how failure is a good thing
to encourage people to keep working hard, even if something is difficult
to prove that nothing can be rewarding if it's not challenging
to urge people to learn a foreign language since that's a necessary skill in the 21st century
Question 4 (1 point)
PART B: Which detail from the text best supports the answer to Part A?
Question 4 options:
A. "I spoke French at the border. I spoke French when I checked in. I spoke French when I went to get lunch." (Paragraph 2)
B. "If there is such a thing, I don't have it. I mishear words. I confuse tenses. I can't really use the subjunctive. Yet." (Paragraph 2)
C. "There is absolutely nothing in this world like the feeling of s—king at something and then improving at it." (Paragraph 5)
D. "I have said this before and will say it again: Studying French is like setting in a canoe from California to China." (Paragraph 6)
Question 5 (1 point)
How does Coates feel about his progress in French?
Question 5 options:
He feels that he has improved as much as he can.
He believes he has completely mastered the language.
He knows he has improved and is continuing to improve.
He believes he can write in French as well as he can in English.
Question 1: The correct answer is A. Learning a new skill is never easy, but it is worth all of the hard work.
Question 2: The correct answer is B. "I started writing as a 6-year-old boy under my mother's tutelage. I always 'felt' I could write." (Paragraph 1)
Question 3: The correct answer is to encourage people to keep working hard, even if something is difficult.
Question 4: The correct answer is C. "There is absolutely nothing in this world like the feeling of s—king at something and then improving at it." (Paragraph 5)
Question 5: He knows he has improved and is continuing to improve.