The Egyptian writing was certainly the quaintest, and perhaps the prettiest, that has ever been known. It is called "hieroglyphic," which means "sacred carving," and it is nothing but little pictures from beginning to end. The Egyptians began by putting down a picture of the thing which was represented by the word they wanted to use, and, though by-and-by they formed a sort of alphabet to spell words with, and had, besides, signs that represented the different syllables of a word, still, these signs were all little pictures. For instance, one of their signs for a was the figure of an eagle; their sign for m was a lion, and for u a little chicken; so that when you look at an Egyptian book written in the hieroglyphic character, you see column after column of birds and beasts and creeping things, of men and women and boats, and all sorts of other things, marching across the page.

Adapted from Peeps at Many Lands: Ancient Egypt, by Rev. James Baikie (1912)

What is the name given to ancient Egyptian writing?

Water was long regarded as an element. In 1781 Cavendish showed that it is formed by the union of hydrogen and oxygen. Being a believer in the phlogiston theory, however, he failed to interpret his results correctly. A few years later Lavoisier repeated Cavendish's experiments and showed that water must be regarded as a compound of hydrogen and oxygen.

Adapted from An Elementary Study of Chemistry by William McPherson, Ph.D. and William Edwards Henderson, Ph.D (1905)

According to the passage, what are the ingredients of water?

Pedro's Pups

Dog-sitting and walking

Ten years experience

211 Main Street, Athens Ohio

(555) 990-0188 pedrospups@yaboo.com

"Pedro's Pups: For all of your Puppy's Needs"

What does the business "Pedro's Pups" do?

A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the Lion's nose. Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.

"Spare me!" begged the poor Mouse. "Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you."

The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go.

Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter's net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.

"You laughed when I said I would repay you," said the Mouse. "Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion."

Adapted rom The Aesop for Children, by Aesop (1919 ed.)

How did the mouse help the lion?

Pedro's Pups

Dog-sitting and walking

Ten years experience

211 Main Street, Athens Ohio

(555) 990-0188 pedrospups@yaboo.com

"Pedro's Pups: For all of your Puppy's Needs"

What information cannot be found in this advertisement?

Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world.

-Adapted from Moby Dick; or, The Whale by Hermann Melville (1851)

What does the speaker mean by the phrase "watery part of the world?"