Lessons on the Savanna

by Roland Smith

1. “I’m not so worried about time anymore,” I said.

2. He smiled. “Good! You are making progress. Come with me.”

3. He led me to a tree not far from the camp.

4. “You must climb as high as you can and find a comfortable branch where you can
look out over the savanna.” He handed me the water gourd. “You will need this.”

5. I took the gourd. “What about you?”

6. “I will be too busy to drink,” he said.

7. I didn’t know what he meant by this, but I climbed the bone-dry tree anyway and
found a large branch near the top that was comfortable.

8. “Can you see the grass of the savanna?” Supeet yelled up to me.

9. “Yes,” I shouted back.

10. “Good! What else do you see?”

11. Here we go again, I thought. I looked carefully. Shimmering waves of heat

created mirages in the distance. I saw three kopjes1 within a half mile of each
other. Trees dotted the landscape, and there were several small groups of animals
grazing on the dry grass of the savanna. About a hundred and fifty yards away, a
herd of zebras took advantage of the shade of an acacia tree. A few hundred feet
past the herd were a few more trees and underneath them were two rhinoceroses
sleeping. I told Supeet what I saw.

12. “Watch me,” he said. “And remember this will take some time. If you lose track of
where I am, look to the zebras and work your way back to where you last saw
me.”

13. “I will,” I said, still confused about what was going on.

14. Supeet walked briskly out into the savanna, then stopped. He slipped off his
sandals and shuka,2 then reached down for something I couldn’t quite see and
rubbed it all over his body. When he was finished he lay down and rolled on the
ground, then got back to his feet. From head to toes he was covered with red
dust and blended in perfectly with his surroundings.
15. For several minutes he stood perfectly still, looking at the zebras beneath the
acacia tree, then he began to move very slowly in their direction. His movement
reminded me of the mimes I had seen in Central Park. Each step was exaggerated
and painfully slow. Sometimes he froze midstep, holding his leg up for several
minutes, before putting his foot gently on the ground. The closer he got to the
zebras the slower he went. Twice I took my eyes off him and had trouble finding
him again.

16. When he was twenty-five feet away from the zebras they still gave no sign that
they knew he was there. It was incredible! They swished their tails at the flies and
looked out over the savanna as if nothing were happening. I waited for Supeet to
rush in on them, but instead, he moved even more slowly. In fact, the only way I
could tell he was moving was by looking at the spot he had previously occupied.
He literally inched his way toward them. I wondered how long it had taken him to
perfect this technique. If Supeet could make himself essentially invisible, he could
do just about anything—including make it rain.

17. Finally, he was close enough to one zebra to touch it. Which he did, slapping it on
the butt. The zebras jumped around in confusion, then in panic bolted across the
savanna. Supeet stood under the acacia tree laughing at the joke he had played
on them.

18. I climbed down and jogged over to him. When I got up to him I told him that it
was the most amazing thing I had ever seen.

19. “It’s actually a game,” he said. “When we were boys we practiced with
rhinoceroses when they were asleep. The first boy places a rock on the
rhinoceros’s back without waking it. The next boy takes the first boy’s rock and
places his own rock on the back and so on, until someone makes a mistake and
wakes the rhinoceros.”

20. And my parents used to worry about some of the things my friends and I did in
New York City!

21. “It’s great fun,” Supeet said. “Until the animal wakes up, that is.” He laughed.
“Rhinoceroses are easy. Rhinoceroses have few enemies and are not as alert as
animals that are preyed upon. The tribe taught me to stalk many other animals.”

22. “You must be exhausted,” I said.

23. “I could use a drink of water.”

24. I handed him the gourd, and he took a big drink.

25. “Would you like to learn?”

 26. “Yes!”

27. “All right,” he said. “But by the time we finish, it will be too late to travel.”

28. “I don’t care.”

29. “Good! We will stalk the rhinoceroses by those trees. Try not to wake them,
though.”

30. Good safety tip, I thought.

1kopje—an Afrikaans word for a small, rocky hill

2shuka—a Maa word for a decorative length of cloth worn in parts of Africa

1. Which quotation from the passage supports the idea that Supeet is teaching the
narrator a skill that requires patience?

A.“I will be too busy to drink.”

B.“Each step was exaggerated and painfully slow.”
C.“When we were boys we practiced with rhinoceroses when they were asleep.”
D.“The tribe taught me to stalk many other animals.”

2.Which fact can the reader infer about the narrator?

A.He is experienced in working with animals.

B.He is in a hurry to reach his next destination.
C.He was nervous about traveling in the savanna.
D.He was raised in the city rather than in the wilderness.

3. Which definition best matches the use of the word occupied in paragraph 16?

A.to have held (a position or office, etc.)

B.to have taken or filled up (space, time, etc.)
C.to have been a resident or tenant of; to have dwelt in
D.to have taken possession or control of (a place), as by military invasion
 Excerpt from Anne of Green Gables
by L. M. Montgomery

1. Marilla came briskly forward as Matthew opened the door. But when her
eyes fell on the odd little figure in the stiff, ugly dress, with the long braids
of red hair and the eager, luminous eyes, she stopped short in amazement.

2. “Matthew Cuthbert, who’s that?” she exclaimed. “Where is the boy?”

3. “There wasn’t any boy,” said Matthew wretchedly. “There was only her.”

4. He nodded at the child, remembering that he had never even asked her
name.

5. “No boy! But there must have been a boy,” insisted Marilla. “We sent word
to Mrs. Spencer to bring a boy.”

6. “Well, she didn’t. She brought her. I asked the stationmaster. And I had to
bring her home. She couldn’t be left there, no matter where the mistake
had come in.”

7. “Well, this is a pretty piece of business!” exclaimed Marilla.

8. During this dialogue the child had remained silent, her eyes roving from
one to the other, all the animation fading out of her face. Suddenly she
seemed to grasp the full meaning of what had been said. Dropping her
precious carpetbag she sprang forward a step and clasped her hands.

9. “You don’t want me!” she cried. “I might have expected it. Nobody ever did
want me. I might have known it was all too beautiful to last. I might have
known nobody really did want me. Oh, what shall I do? I'm going to burst
into tears!”

10. Burst into tears she did. Sitting down on a chair by the table, flinging her
arms out upon it, and burying her face in them, she proceeded to cry
stormily. Marilla and Matthew looked at each other helplessly across the
 stove. Neither of them knew what to say or do. Finally Marilla stepped
lamely into the breach.

11. “Well, well, there's no need to cry so about it.”

12. “Yes, there is need!” The child raised her head quickly, revealing a tear-
stained face and trembling lips. “You would cry, too, if you were an orphan
and had come to a place you thought was going to be home and found
that they didn’t want you. Oh, this is the most tragical thing that ever
happened to me!”

13. Something like a reluctant smile, rather rusty from long disuse, mellowed
Marilla’s grim expression.

14. “Well, don’t cry any more. We’re not going to turn you out of doors
tonight. You’ll have to stay here until we investigate this affair. What’s your
name?”

15. The child hesitated for a moment.

16. “Will you please call me Cordelia?” she said eagerly.

17. “Call you Cordelia! Is that your name?”

18. “No-o-o, it’s not exactly my name, but I would love to be called Cordelia.
It’s such a perfectly elegant name.”

19. “I don’t know what on earth you mean. If Cordelia isn’t your name, what
is?”

20. “Anne Shirley,” reluctantly faltered forth the owner of that name, “but oh,
please do call me Cordelia. It can’t matter much to you what you call me if
I’m only going to be here a little while, can it? And Anne is such an
unromantic name.”

21. “Unromantic fiddlesticks!” said the unsympathetic Marilla. “Anne is a real

good plain sensible name. You’ve no need to be ashamed of it.”

22. “Oh, I’m not ashamed of it,” explained Anne, “only I like Cordelia better.
I’ve always imagined that my name was Cordelia—at least, I always have
of late years. When I was young I used to imagine it was Geraldine, but I
 like Cordelia better now. But if you call me Anne please call me Anne
spelled with an e.”

23. “What difference does it make how it's spelled?” asked Marilla with another
rusty smile as she picked up the teapot.

24. “Oh, it makes such a difference. It looks so much nicer.”

1. In this excerpt, Anne asks Marilla to call her “Cordelia.” What does this
request reveal about Anne?

A.She tries to make her life more interesting.

B.She wishes she could fit in better with her peers.
C.She feels confused about her own past.
D.She hesitates to share personal details.

2. Drag and drop the events into the chart to show the order in which they occur
in the excerpt.

3. Drag and drop each word that describes Anne into the character web.
 1. Frank Lloyd Wright, who (A) was one of America’s most in uential (B) architects, is
remembered for his innovative (C) designs and boundless energy (D) . No error (E)

2. The teacher warned (A) the students that, if any of them (B) intended to hand in their (C)
assignment after the due date, he or she should be prepared (D) to receive a substantially lower
grade. No error (E)

3. Although (A) Raul Vazquez is (B) working at the company (C) for only (D) 16 months, he was
promoted to Head of Operations last week. No error (E)

4. The twig caterpillar is (A) a bug that escapes detection by (B) birds because of their (C)
striking ability to blend in with the surroundings. (D) No error (E)

5. Sitting on the porch overlooking (A) the lawn below, I could hear (B) Erica and Lydia laughing
as she (C) ran full-speed through (D) the spray of the sprinkler. No error (E)

6. During (A) the Cold War, the Soviet Union and the United States seemed to be (B) engaged (C)
in a constant battle to see who was the strongest (D) nation. No error (E)

7. In (A) my locker was (B) a few textbooks and a bag of sporting equipment that (C) my friend
had forgotten (D) to take home with him. No error (E)

8. The senior members of the law rm (A) were getting tired of him (B) constantly leaving the
o ce early on (C) Fridays to begin (D) his weekend. No error (E)

9. If not (A) in peak (B) physical condition, running a marathon can have (C) devastating e ects on
(D) one's leg muscles. No error (E)

10. A student protest on (A) the social and political control still held (B) by the communist party,
the Tiananmen Square demonstration of 1989 resulted (C) in the deaths of (D) over 2,000 civilians.
No error (E)

11. Of the two (A) sophomores on the debate team, Gilbert was the one less (B) nervous about
speaking (C) in public and was the one selected to represent (D) the team in the state nals. No
error (E)

12. In an e ort (A) to pull (B) the country out of (C) a recession, the President cut taxes, increasing
(D) spending, and lowered interest rates. No error (E)

13. Though many archaeologists have concluded (A) that the ancient Egyptians were morbidly
preoccupied in (B) death, other argue that the Egyptians were instead (C) attempting to
perpetuate good existence in the after-life for the individual (D) that was buried. No error (E)

14. Lavender, like other (A) herbs that can be dried (B), are (C) useful as a salve (D) and lotion. No
error (E)
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