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HSPA Language Arts Tutorial Cluster 5: Reading Persuasive Text

Sample Persuasive Text/Question Sample A

Directions: Today you are going to take part of the High School Proficiency Assessment for Language Arts Literacy. In this part of the practice test, you will read a persuasive passage. Following the passage, you will need to answer 10 multiple-choice and 2 open-ended questions.

You may look back at the passage and make notes, but you must record your answers to the questions in the spaces provided following the reading. Your teacher will inform you of the time allotted to this activity.

Click here to go directly to the sample questions

The following article appears at http://www.reproductivecloning.net/open/augustarticle.html.

Cloning, Stem Cells and Infertility

(By G. Waite, modified by R. Moorgate)

© 2001 The Reproductive Cloning Network, and affiliated members.

Click here for Reading Tip #1.

Human cloning. Is human cloning inherently wrong, immoral, evil? Or is human cloning a misunderstood technology, a bright light, that offers so much to so many. If my intention was diplomacy, I might declare that the answer lies somewhere in the middle. But that would be a lie, I would be betraying the moral principles that I hold in such esteem. I know of no other technology that is as misunderstood as human cloning. I know of no other biological innovation that has as much potential as human cloning. I honestly could not even begin to imagine another field of research that truly does offer so much to so many.

Click here for Reading Tip #2.

Through the therapeutic cloning of human embryonic stem cells, we have the potential to cure a huge plethora of diseases and disorders that plague our species. How can a civilized society turn its back on the diseases, sickness and suffering of its own people? Is a microscopic cleaving egg, four days after fertilization, really more important that curing your father's Alzheimer's, your mother's Parkinson's, or your son's diabetes? And before you answer, realize that the diseases I have mentioned are but the tip of the iceberg. Cloned human embryonic stem cells have the potential to cure, or assist in the discovery of a cure, for just about any disease or disorder you can imagine. Pliable undifferentiated cloned cells, genetically identical to you, your salvation from the diseases that ail you. Therapeutic human cloning truly is a modern day miracle. But this miracle is only half of the story. And it is with a heavy heart that I write that the other half of this miracle is reproductive human cloning, for I know that I now face an uphill battle.

Reproductive human cloning. The conception of a genetically identical child to one of the parents. A new technology that offers the infertile the chance to have a biologically related child. For the first time in human history, infertile couples, who suffer so much, can have the family they need. This need for a closely bonded, related family, is completely missed by those well meaning friends who suggest (in the strongest possible terms) that you adopt. No-one can dictate your family to you, it is your choice. How a wonderful technology, that involves the creation of life, the creation of a much loved and wanted child, the creation of a family that would not otherwise have existed, has become so hated and misunderstood, remains almost beyond my comprehension.

The only aspect of reproductive human cloning that does concern me, is the developmental problems found in mammalian clones. But recently, exciting steps have been taken towards screening cloned mammalian embryos for abnormally expressed genes. This raises the possibility that we may soon be able to screen out epigenetically abnormal cloned embryos. If this screening can be proven to work in various mammals, logic dictates that it almost certainly work in humans too. As the safety and efficiency of cloning science continues to improve, this novel technology becomes an increasingly viable option for infertile people to conceive a related child.

With approximately one in six married couples having difficulty conceiving, the potential of this technology to fulfill the basic human need for a family, is genuinely immense.

As human cloning technology matures, each one of us must ask ourselves a simple question. Do we possess a fundamental human right to reproduce? The right to have a biologically related family? The right to have a child?

For me, this is the same basic right as the human right to life. And in many ways, I would put the right to reproduce above the right to life; as our children are the future, the next generation. You may die, your body may wither, but your genes survive. Through your children, a small part of you lives on.

Click here for Reading Tip #3.

Please don't deprive infertile couples of this fundamental human right. Cloning technology allows us to have a biologically related child to cherish and love. Yet our society is so blind to this fact. This is why I decided to write this message. In the hope that people who read it might start to look at human cloning with a different perspective. Might begin to comprehend the potential of this novel technology. I hope this simple message opens your mind, at least to some degree, to the beneficial aspects of human cloning.  My only desire is to broaden your perspectives to this new technology, and for you to consider what you may have originally thought unthinkable, that human cloning is not inherently wrong, immoral or evil. But that therapeutic human cloning for embryonic stem cells, has the potential to cure our neighbors, friends and family, and that reproductive human cloning offers infertile couples the chance to conceive a genetically related child.

Please don't allow fear of new technology, to destroy something as intrinsically important, as the fundamental human right to conceive a biologically related child.

Thank you for listening.

Sample Questions

In the second paragraph, the word plethora most closely means

  1. a small selection
  2. an excess, an overabundance
  3. large-celled organisms
  4. extremely dangerous group

In the third paragraph, the word dictate is used to mean

  1. impose with authority
  2. allow sympathy for
  3. completely ignore
  4. create fear of

The author states, "With approximately one in six married couples having difficulty conceiving, the potential of this technology to fulfill the basic human need for a family, is genuinely immense." Which of the following statements does this statement best support?

  1. Cloning is a tool that should be used mainly for couples wishing to have a family.
  2. Strengthening the human family unit is a secondary, but fundamental, strength of the potential for mammalian cloning.
  3. The science of cloning may someday allow humans to achieve the basic human need for a family.
  4. Infertile couples should have primary responsibility for developing the technologies that will perfect cloning science.

The word wither, in the third-to-last paragraph, most closely means the opposite of

  1. to dry up or shrivel
  2. to become vital and refreshed
  3. to become pale or lose skin color
  4. to withdraw

Which of the following BEST expresses the central idea of this article?

  1. Cloning has too many potential dangers to be further developed by science.
  2. Cloning may allow all people to realize their right to have a child and develop a family.
  3. Having children is a basic, inalienable, human right.
  4. The international debate on cloning stem cells is one that is based on myths and misconceptions.

In the third paragraph, the author makes the statement, "The need for a closely bonded, related family, is completely missed by those well meaning friends who suggest (in the strongest possible terms) that you adopt." This statement is most likely meant to appeal to the reader's:

  1. emotions
  2. sense of logic
  3. sense of right and wrong
  4. gullibility

Judging from the article, the author is most likely

  1. a high school student.
  2. someone who is physically unable to have children.
  3. a genetic engineer.
  4. a concerned parent.

Who would most likely use this article to support their position?

  1. scientists
  2. students
  3. infertile couples
  4. parents

Which of the following would not strengthen the article?

  1. Add another argument to the existing two- genetic diseases and reproductive human cloning.
  2. Include statistics and data about cloning failures.
  3. Give an anecdote about an existing family that couldn't conceive.
  4. Add an example of a disease treated successfully.

Which of the following would the author most likely not support?

  1. Mandatory genetic testing for family planning.
  2. Increased funding for theraputic cloning research.
  3. Public education on the benefits of cloning.
  4. Widespread publication of cloning studies.

Open-ended items

In the seventh paragraph, the author states that, "In many ways, I would put the right to reproduce above the right to life; as our children are the future, the next generation."

  • What does the author mean?
  • If adopted by the general public, what would this argument mean for cloning?

Use information from the article to support your response.

A local group in town is holding a fundraiser to elect a candidate funning on a platform of banning cloning research. Based on the article, what arguments could be made to support the fundraiser?

  • Clearly state your point of view.
  • Provide at least two supporting details that would explain your opposition to the author's point of view.

Use information from the article to support your response.

 

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