The Tale of the Stonecutter Andrew Wrestleman
Read the passage on the left to answer the following questions:
8) Which is the BEST statement of theme for this passage?
e ago, a stonecutter lived in the countryside. He
Simple home and led a simple life. He lived beside
I mountain. He traveled to the mountain every day
one that he sold to others. Even though the man
ne mountain every day, he never noticed the spirit
on the mountain. The mountain spirit granted
wishes, but the stonecutter never wished for
because he was happy with his life. He did not
more than what he already had.
Hard work and endurance can lead to success, as
A) seen by the stonecutter's transformation in to a
prince.
Cleverness and strategy can lead to success, as seen
B) by the stonecutter's manipulation of the mountain
spirit to do his bidding for him.
Contentment can lead to laziness, as seen by the
C) stonecutter's return to his lowly job of being a
stonecutter after achieving riches and success earlier.
Jealousy and envy can lead to misery, as seen by the
stonecutter's journey from being content with his life
D)
to becoming miserable as a rock that would chopped
up for someone else's profit.
the stonecutter was on the mountain cutting some
a customer. He brought the stone to the customer's
the customer was a rich merchant. His home was
in silk fabric and gold. It had beautiful lamps and
stonecutter looked all around. He thought about
it would be to have a big, beautiful house like this
9) Which statement BEST describes how the plot unfolds in this story?
Large home" the stonecutter
The stonecutter begins the story sad and depressed,

Excerpt from 100% - the story of a patriot upton sinclair 10 so peter walked along, with his belt drawn tight, and his restless blue eyes wandering here and there, looking for a place to get a meal. there were jobs to be had, but they were hard jobs, and peter wanted an easy one. there are people in this world who live by their muscles, and others who live by their wits; peter belonged to the latter class; and had missed many a meal rather than descend in the social scale. 11 peter looked into the faces of everyone he passed, searching for a possible opening. some returned his glance, but never for more than a second, for they saw an insignificant looking man, undersized, undernourished, and with one shoulder higher than the other, a weak chin and mouth, crooked teeth, and a brown moustache too feeble to hold itself up at the corners. peters' straw hat had many straws missing, his second-hand brown suit was become third-hand, and his shoes were turning over at the sides. in a city where everybody was "hustling," everybody, as they phrased it, "on the make," why should anyone take a second glance at peter gudge? why should anyone care about the restless soul hidden inside him, or dream that peter was, in his own obscure way, a sort of genius? no one did care; no one did dream. 12 it was about two o'clock of an afternoon in july, and the sun beat down upon the streets of american city. there were crowds upon the streets, and peter noticed that everywhere were flags and bunting. once or twice he heard the strains of distant music, and wondered what was "up." peter had not been reading the newspapers; all his attention bad been taken up by the quarrels of the smithers faction and the lunk faction in the first apostolic church, otherwise known as the holy rollers, and great events that had been happening in the world outside were of no concern to him. peter knew vaguely that on the other side of the world half a dozen mighty nations were locked together in a grip of death; the whole earth was shaken with their struggles, and peter had felt a bit of the trembling now and then. but peter did not know that his own country had anything to do with this european quarrel, and did not know that certain great interests throughout the country had set themselves to rouse the public to action. based on the author's characterization of peter in paragraphs 10, 11, and 12, which word best describes him? a) industrious b) loyal c) patriotic d) poor