Session 1 Reading Directions In this part of ELAP Plus Third Edition, you will read five passages: The Myth of Persephone and Demeter A Pioneer of Photography The Endangered Mexican Axolotl The Victorian Survival Teamwork There are multiple-choice questions for you to answer after each passage. Refer to the passages as often as you need to. Then fill in the circle of the best answer to each question. Now turn the page and begin. Session One 3 Go On
Read the article. Then answer questions 8 through 14. A Pioneer of Photography 1 Long ago, almost all photographs were in black and white. Cameras could not capture colors like they do today. However, several early photographers experimented with capturing color pictures. One of the most successful was Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky. He was a scientist who spent his life immortalizing the colorful lands and people of the Russian Empire. 2 Prokudin-Gorsky was born in 1863 in Russia. He studied chemistry as a young man. He soon became interested in the new field of photography instead. Prokudin-Gorsky loved it. He also added a new invention to the field. Prokudin-Gorsky developed a system to create color photographs. 3 Scientists had taken a few color photographs as early as 1850. However, these pictures were very hard to create. Prokudin-Gorsky wanted to find an easier way. After years of study with great scientists, he created a method involving colored filters in red, blue, and green. The three filters each captured a separate color. Prokudin- Gorsky had to take three pictures of each image he wanted to capture. When combined, these pictures revealed bright, lifelike colors. 4 Prokudin-Gorsky dreamed of documenting the people and places of Russia. He planned to travel around the Russian Empire taking color photographs. Not interested in making money, he wanted to give his pictures to schools. Prokudin-Gorsky proposed this plan to the leader of Russia, Tsar Nicholas II. The tsar gave the eager photographer a special train car. It had a state-of-the-art photography lab and new tools. 5 In 1907, Prokudin-Gorsky began traveling across the Russian Empire to take pictures. He captured images of leaders, foreign visitors, hardworking farmers, and children at play. One of his most famous photographs was the only known color photograph taken of the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy in 1908. He also photographed important buildings, beautiful landscapes, farms, and factories. Prokudin-Gorsky took about 3,500 photographs. Together, they offer a priceless tour of the long-gone Russian Empire. Photograph of Leo Tolstoy by Prokudin-Gorsky Session One 9 Go On
6 Prokudin-Gorsky ended his journey in 1915. He moved out of Russia in 1918 during a time of great change in the country. Revolutionaries turned the Russian Empire into the Soviet Union. The old ways of life that Prokudin-Gorsky had carefully recorded were no more. His photographs remain important evidence of traditional life in the Russian Empire. They are also an important step in the history of photography. 8 How does the author best explain the importance of Prokudin- Gorsky s photographs? a by comparing him with great Russian leaders b by explaining how most Russians felt about his work c by giving examples of his many different subjects d by comparing him with modern photographers 9 Read this sentence from paragraph 1: He was a scientist who spent his life immortalizing the colorful lands and people of the Russian Empire. Based on this sentence, the word immortalizing means a recording for the future b comparing with the past c studying very closely d changing very quickly Session One 10 Go On
Session 2 Reading and Writing Directions In this part of ELAP Plus Third Edition, you will read three passages: The Writing Assignment The Bayeux Tapestry The Överhogdal Tapestry Then you will write about what you read. Now turn the page and begin. Session Two 27 Go On
Read this article. Then answer questions 41 and 42. The Överhogdal Tapestry 1 I was very excited to start my trip to Sweden to visit my relatives there. My Uncle Gustav and Aunt Agnetha told me they had something very interesting to show me. It had to do with the town where my family came from, Överhogdal. I couldn t even imagine what it would be. I guessed maybe it was an amazing snow-capped mountain or a beautiful castle from ancient times. 2 When I arrived in Sweden and asked about the surprise, I was a little disappointed to hear it was a tapestry, a kind of woven or embroidered hanging used as a decoration. Then again, the more I heard about it, the more interesting it sounded. The Överhogdal Tapestry is a group of fabric sheets that date back to the Viking Age. Scientists have used a test called radiocarbon dating to determine that the tapestry was made around the years 800 to 1100. That s about a thousand years ago! 3 I became very excited to see this picture of the past. My aunt and uncle drove me to a museum in the town of Östersund. There, in a specially designed room, we saw the tapestry on display. It was a remarkable thing for sure. Many of the woven pictures were in bright white and red. They formed beautiful patterns using symbols of horses, trees, people, and shapes. I had never seen anything quite like it before. 4 The guide at the museum explained that the tapestry is similar to the Bayeux Tapestry, which was made around the same time. However, the Swedish tapestry is more mysterious. People today are not entirely sure what all of the symbols and markings on the Överhogdal Tapestry mean. Most think the scenes are based on the myths of the Norse people who once lived in Sweden. In these myths, a huge tree called Yggdrasil holds the whole world together. A big red tree on the tapestry might represent that tree. The people and animals might be heroes and beasts of the ancient myths. Whatever it means, it is fascinating. 5 Just as surprising as the tapestry itself is the story of its discovery. The tapestry was lost in a vestry, a room full of old clothes and fabric. It sat gathering dust for hundreds of years. Around 1909, a man named Jonas Holm stumbled across this amazing piece of history. He took it to the governor of the nearby town of Östersund. There, the governor s wife threw the dusty, dirty tapestry into a bathtub to scrub it clean! When she pulled it out and dried it, she was shocked at the importance of the find. 6 Driving back to Uncle Gustav and Aunt Agnetha s house, I couldn t stop thinking about that important tapestry. It was great to be so close to something that may hold clues into the long-ago history of my family. Session Two 33 Go On
41 How is the author s presentation in The Bayeux Tapestry different from the author s presentation in The Överhogdal Tapestry? Use at least two details from the articles to support your response. Session Two 34 Go On
42 Based on the two authors presentations of information, how are the Bayeux Tapestry and the Överhogdal Tapestry alike? Use at least three details from the articles to support your response. In your response, be sure to do the following: tell what the tapestries show tell how they are similar include at least three details to support your answer Session Two 36 Go On