College and career words

Grade 11 Reading Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Sentence

   Rather than relying on the old claim that the river froze every winter, the class gathered empirical data, measuring the ice at three spots each morning for two months.

2. 1.

   Jun reads a sentence from a college environmental-science report. What does empirical mean here?

   • drawn from people's stories about past winters
   • about the river ice at three spots
   • based on observation and measurement
   • based on reasoning and theory alone

3. Glossary entry

   Culture (noun) 1. Anthropology: the beliefs, customs and arts of a group of people. 2. Biology: a growth of cells or microorganisms kept in a nutrient medium. Sentence (microbiology lab manual): Label each culture with the date and keep it at 37 °C until the colonies appear.

4. 2.

   Pia reads the glossary entry and the lab-manual sentence above. Which meaning of culture fits the sentence?

   • an interest in the arts, such as music
   • the beliefs and customs of a group of people
   • the date written on each lab label
   • a growth of microorganisms kept in a lab

5. Sentence

   The support for the new study method is anecdotal: three students said it helped them, but no one compared their grades with those of students who studied the usual way.

6. 3.

   Milo reads a sentence from a peer review in a psychology course. What does anecdotal mean here?

   • based on a controlled comparison of two groups
   • based on a few personal reports, not careful study
   • based on careful measurement of what can be observed
   • about a new method for studying

7. Glossary entry

   Conservation (noun) 1. Ecology: the protection and careful management of natural resources. 2. Physics: the principle that a quantity, such as energy, stays the same in total during a change. Sentence (physics textbook): If friction is ignored, conservation of energy lets you find the ball's speed at the bottom of the ramp from the height it started at.

8. 4.

   Zee reads the glossary entry and the textbook sentence above. Which meaning of conservation fits the sentence?

   • the protection of forests, rivers and wildlife
   • a total amount that stays the same during a change
   • using less of something to save it for later
   • the height at which the ball starts on the ramp

9. Line

   Applicants whose families meet the income guidelines may ask the college to waive the $50 application fee; the form still goes to the same office, but no payment is attached.

10. 5.

    Kira reads a line on a college application page. What does waive mean here?

    • require the fee before the form is read
    • choose not to require the fee at all
    • put the fee off until a later date
    • send the form to the admissions office

11. Sentence

    The longitudinal study followed the same 400 adults from age 30 to age 60, testing their hearing every five years to see how it changed over time.

12. 6.

    Ren reads a sentence in a research-methods textbook. What does longitudinal mean here?

    • studying the same group again and again over many years
    • studying many different groups at one single moment
    • comparing a treated group with an untreated group
    • about how people's hearing changes

13. Glossary entry

    Capital (noun) 1. Civics: the city where a state's or country's government meets. 2. Economics: wealth, such as money, tools and buildings, used to produce more wealth. Sentence (economics course): A bakery that buys a second oven is investing capital so it can bake and sell more bread each day.

14. 7.

    Esme reads the glossary entry and the course sentence above. Which meaning of capital fits the sentence?

    • wealth used to produce more goods and income
    • the city where a government meets
    • the bread that the bakery sells each day
    • a large letter at the start of a sentence

15. Line

    Admitted students who win a year-long service fellowship may defer enrollment, keeping their place in the class that starts the following fall.

16. 8.

    Noah reads a line in a college admissions letter. What does defer mean here?

    • put off until a later time
    • begin right away, ahead of the usual date
    • win a year-long service fellowship
    • give way to someone else's judgment

17. Glossary entry

    Plasma (noun) 1. Biology: the yellowish liquid part of blood that carries the cells. 2. Physics: matter made of charged particles, formed when atoms lose electrons. Sentence (astronomy unit): The sun is made mostly of plasma, and the sun's magnetic fields push its charged particles into loops and arcs.

18. 9.

    Luz reads the glossary entry and the astronomy sentence above. Which meaning of plasma fits the sentence?

    • a kind of flat television screen
    • the liquid part of blood that carries cells
    • matter made of charged particles, like the sun's
    • the magnetic fields at the sun's surface

19. Line

    Credits transfer only from accredited colleges; a school that has not passed the agency's review cannot send credits that count here.

20. 10.

    Tala reads a line in a college transfer guide. What does accredited mean here?

    • officially approved as meeting set standards
    • not yet reviewed by any agency
    • given credit for an idea or a discovery
    • sending credits to a student's next college each year