Cycle Of Tides

Name ________________________________
A Microscope in the Kitchen
I grew up with buckets, shovels, and nets [1] waiting by the back door; hip-waders hanging in the closet; tide table charts covering the refrigerator door; and a microscope [2] was sitting on the kitchen table. [3] Having studied, my mother is a marine biologist. [4] Our household might have been described as uncooperative. Our meals weren’t always served in the expected order of breakfast, lunch, and supper. Everything [5] was subservient to the disposal of the tides. When the tide was low, Mom could be found down on the mudflats. When the tide was high, she would be standing on the inlet bridge with her plankton net.
[6] I have great respect for my mother. I learned
[7] The moon being closer to the earth when full, so [8] its gravitational pull is stronger. I knew that it took about eight hours for the tides to change from high to low, sixteen hours for a complete cycle of tides. (9) I didn’t have to wait to learn these things in school. In our house they were everyday knowledge. [1] Often, my [10] brother and I, joined our mother on her adventures into tidal lands. [2] At the very low tides of the full moon, when almost all the water was sucked [11] away, we found the [12] hideaways where crabs, snails, starfish, and sea urchins hid in order not to be seen. [3] Sometimes we would dig with shovels in the mud, where yellow and white worms lived in their leathery tunnels. (13)
For plankton tows, we would stand on the bridge while Mom lowered a cone-shaped
1.
A. NO CHANGE
B. waiting, by the back door,
C. waiting by the back door,
D. waiting by the back door
2.
F. NO CHANGE
G. would sit
H. sitting
J. sat
3.
A. NO CHANGE

B. As my mother’s interest is science, she is
C. My mother’s occupation is that of
D. My mother is
4. Which choice would most effectively introduce the rest of this paragraph?
F. NO CHANGE
G. There seemed to be no explanation for why Mom ran our household the way she did.
H. Our household didn’t run according to a typical schedule.
J. Mom ran our household in a most spectacular manner.
5.
A. NO CHANGE
B. was defenseless in the face of
C. depended on
D. trusted in
6. Which choice most effectively signals the shift from the preceding paragraph to this paragraph?
F. NO CHANGE
G. Our lives were likewise affected by the phases of the moon.
H. A relationship exists between the moon and the tides.
J. The moon is a mysterious orb afloat in the sky.
7.
A. NO CHANGE
B. Since the moon is
C. The moon is
D. The moon,
8.
F. NO CHANGE
G. one’s
H. it’s
J. its’

9. If the writer were to delete the phrase “sixteen hours for a complete cycle of tides” from