Benchmark 1 FALL 2024

Question 1

Short answer

What is one way the setting in "The Antique Shop" affects Jesse's values? Support your answer with evidence from the story.

Don’t Go Into the Library by Alberto Ríos

The library is dangerous— Don’t go in. If you do

You know what will happen. It’s like a pet store or a bakery—

5 Every single time you’ll come out of there Holding something in your arms.

Those novels with their big eyes. And those no-nonsense, all muscle

Greyhounds and Dobermans, 10All non-fiction and business,

Cuddly when they’re young, But then the first page is turned.

The doughnut scent of it all, knowledge, The aroma of coffee being made

15 In all those books, something for everyone, The deli offerings of civilization itself.

The library is the book of books, Its concrete and wood and glass covers

Keeping within them the very big, 20 Very long story of everything.

The library is dangerous, full Of answers. If you go inside,

You may not come out The same person who went in.

Question 2

Essay

Read the excerpt from "Say What, Horse?" Based on the information in the article, write a response to the following:

Explain what new research reveals about horses' ability to communicate.

Write a well-organized informational composition that uses specific evidence from the article to support your answer.

from Say What, Horse? by Jessie Haas

Humans have been communicating with horses since we first domesticated them around 5,500 years ago. But the conversation has been pretty one way. We gave orders. They behaved as if they understood — or not.

Meanwhile horses have been watching us, reading our moods, and communicating in ways that we usually fail to understand. But science is finally catching on to that and taking a fresh look at the horse-end of this long relationship.

I See What You’re Saying

Horses are highly visual animals. In groups, they establish a pecking order, mainly by making threats. The longer the horses have known each other, the more subtle the threats become, until just a squinty-eyed look from a boss can get a lower-ranked animal to move away. So it makes sense that facial expressions would be important to them, but horse facial expressions went unstudied until very recently.

Research at the University of Sussex in England has identified 17 different facial expressions in horses. That’s more than dogs (16) or chimpanzees (14). Some horse expressions are similar to those of humans — for instance, both horses and humans raise the skin above their eyes when experiencing negative emotions.

Next, the Sussex researchers wondered whether horses recognize human facial expressions. They showed horses photos of people with angry or happy faces. Horses turn their heads to view the angry expressions with their left eyes. Dogs also tend to look at angry faces this way. The horses’ heartbeats sped up while viewing angry faces. Smiling expressions didn’t prompt either a head turn or a change in heart rate. Scientists were interested to learn that, though horses and people have very differently shaped faces and skulls, horses appeared to accurately read human emotions.

Horse people have always known that horses are good at reading our moods, but we’ve attributed that to some kind of sixth sense. Turns out they’re using vision, one of the same five senses we do— sort of. Horses see very differently than we do. Their large eyes magnify objects so they seem up to 50% larger than they do to us. (To them, a bike might appear as big as a pony! ) They’re also highly attuned to motion. A little twitch of a frown on a human face may seem like a great big scary scowl to horses. They interpret it as a threat.

Can you Get Me That?

So we know horses communicate with each other through expressions and that they understand some human expressions. Could they ever communicate with us using these skills? Another new study indicates they can.

Researchers based at the School for Ethical Equitation in Italy created an experiment in which they placed a bucket of oats, carrots, or apples beyond the reach of a horse. A human stood passively nearby. Researchers observed horses looking at the bucket, then at the human, then back at the bucket. If the human did nothing in response, the horse would try other tricks to attract the human’s gaze— nod its head, jerk its nose quickly toward the bucket, or change position so it could make eye contact. If the human walked away, some horses would go over and touch the person.

Up until now, scientists had only formally observed this type of purposeful interspecies communication in dogs. Which makes you wonder, as the title of Frans de Waal’s bestselling book asks, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? Horses might have an opinion on that!

Flashcards for Horses

Horses can use more than body language to tell us things. A 2016 Norwegian study showed that horses can use abstract symbols to communicate. Basically, they can read.

Putting blankets on horses in winter is common, but controversial. Opinions differ on whether they actually need or prefer it. So the Norwegian scientists decided to ask.

Horses were trained to distinguish among simple shapes presented on boards. A vertical bar meant “Take my blanket off.” A horizontal bar meant “Put my blanket on.” And a blank board meant “No change.“ The horses were systematically trained, using positive reinforcements (treats), to touch the appropriate board. All 23 horses in the study learned the symbols within 14 days, in sessions lasting 10 or 15 minutes.

Next, the horses were given a challenge— a heavy blanket on a warm day or no blanket on a cold day. When presented with the three symbols, all horses chose appropriately, asking to have a blanket taken off on a warm day, or put on when it was cold and rainy. On another rainy, moderately cool day, 10 out of 12 horses asked for a blanket. Two signaled, “I’m good!”

It’s About Time!

Horses have been watching us more closely than we imagined, for thousands of years. They’ve been trying to tell us stuff, which we’ve mostly ignored. Now, finally, we’re starting to create ways for them to speak in more detail, ways that we're capable of hearing. What else might they have to say?

Probably “What took you guys so long?”

Teach with AI superpowers

Why teachers love Class Companion

Import assignments to get started in no time.

Create your own rubric to customize the AI feedback to your liking.

Overrule the AI feedback if a student disputes.

Other English / ELA Assignments

10th Grade Unit 2 Essay11th Grade Dystopian Unit Final Assessment11. True love can conquer all problems.12. Love is a decision you make, not something that happens to you.13. You should always listen to the advice of people more experienced than you.14. Our choices determine our destinies.15. The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.#16 TT/EAT Argument Paragraph - Anti-Jewish Decrees#18 TT/EAT + CEREAT Paragraphs (2) Most Difficult Roommate1963 The Year that Changed Everything1. Our lives are controlled by fate.2018 AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE FREE-RESPONSE QUESTION 2 - Albright2018 AP ENGLISH LANGUAGE FREE-RESPONSE QUESTION 2 - Albright2024 AP Lang Jimmy Santiago Baca and Value of Posessions Arugment Essay2024 AP Lang Rhetorical Analysis Simu Liu#20 TT/EAT + CEREAT Appropriateness of selfies#21 Skateboarding in City Parks: Q3 Benchmark Standards Practice2:26 Persuasion Quick Write2-28 Improve PSTAAR ECR#24 Argument Performance Task: Mr. Van Daan#28 ARGUMENTATIVE: The Outsiders#28 INFORMATIVE: The Outsiders#28 NARRATIVE: The Outsiders(2) Compare “On Civil Disobedience” with The Crucible2. Love is only worthwhile if it is difficult.#30 "Nothing Gold Can Stay" + The Outsiders3/1/24: The Impact of Emmett Till's Murder on 1955 America3-22 Failure SCR3/3-Exit Ticket: Grade 6 RLA English Conventions - Practice #1#35 TT/EAT Paragraph "A Kenyan Teen's Discovery"#37: TT/EAT "The Day I Saved a Life"3.8 Debate It: Organizing and Communicating an Argument#39: TT/EAT Paragraph Teen Innovator/Humanitarian3D Printers Argumentative Performance Task (Part 2)3. You should only date people with a similar background to yours.4/14 Exit TIcket SCR BHT4-3 Legacy ECR4. Love should always be defended.4th Cultural Landscape of South Africa in Trevor Noah's 'Born a Crime'4th Grade CMAS Practice- Writing4th Grade STAAR Math Practice Assignment5. Parents should have a say in who you date.#5 TT/EAT Paragraph "Gaming Communities"#6 CEREAT Counter Argument Paragraph6. It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.7.3 L7 Mastery Check7.3 L9 Mastery Check7th ELA STAAR Blitz Day 10 SCR7th ELA STAAR Blitz Day 1 SCR7th ELA STAAR Blitz Day 8 SCR