GED Set 1

What Has Happened to Gregor? As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was lying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes. What has happened to me? he thought. It was no dream. His room, a regular human bedroom, only rather too small, lay quiet between the four familiar walls. Above the table on which a collection of cloth samples was unpacked and spread out--Samsa was a commercial traveler-- hung the picture which he had recently cut out of an illustrated magazine and put into a pretty gilt frame. It showed a lady, with a fur cap on and a fur stole, sitting upright and holding out to the spectator a huge fur muff into which the whole of her forearm had vanished! . . . . He slid down again into his former position. This getting up early, he thought, makes one quite stupid. A man needs his sleep. Other commercials live like harem women. For instance, when I come back to the hotel of a morning to write up the orders I've got, these others are only sitting down to breakfast. Let me just try that with my chief; I'd be sacked on the spot. Anyhow, that might be quite a good thing for me, who can tell? If I didn't have to hold my hand because of my parents I'd have given notice long ago, I'd have gone to the chief and told him exactly what I think of him. That would knock him endways from his desk! It's a queer way of doing, too, this sitting on high at a desk and talking down to employees, especially when they have to come quite near because the chief is hard of hearing.Well, there's still hope; once I've saved enough money to pay back my parents' debts to him--that should take another five or six years--I'll do it without fail. I'll cut myself completely loose then. For the moment, though, I'd better get up, since my train goes at five. --Franz Kafka, from The Metamorphosis (1912) Based on the passage, which is the most logical conclusion to draw about Gregor's personality?

What Has Happened to Gregor? As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was lying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes. What has happened to me? he thought. It was no dream. His room, a regular human bedroom, only rather too small, lay quiet between the four familiar walls. Above the table on which a collection of cloth samples was unpacked and spread out--Samsa was a commercial traveler-- hung the picture which he had recently cut out of an illustrated magazine and put into a pretty gilt frame. It showed a lady, with a fur cap on and a fur stole, sitting upright and holding out to the spectator a huge fur muff into which the whole of her forearm had vanished! . . . . He slid down again into his former position. This getting up early, he thought, makes one quite stupid. A man needs his sleep. Other commercials live like harem women. For instance, when I come back to the hotel of a morning to write up the orders I've got, these others are only sitting down to breakfast. Let me just try that with my chief; I'd be sacked on the spot. Anyhow, that might be quite a good thing for me, who can tell? If I didn't have to hold my hand because of my parents I'd have given notice long ago, I'd have gone to the chief and told him exactly what I think of him. That would knock him endways from his desk! It's a queer way of doing, too, this sitting on high at a desk and talking down to employees, especially when they have to come quite near because the chief is hard of hearing.Well, there's still hope; once I've saved enough money to pay back my parents' debts to him--that should take another five or six years--I'll do it without fail. I'll cut myself completely loose then. For the moment, though, I'd better get up, since my train goes at five. --Franz Kafka, from The Metamorphosis (1912) In lines 4748, Gregor tells himself, "I'd better get up, since my train goes at five." This suggests that

How Are Robots Different from Humans? [Helena is talking to Domain, the general manager of Rossum's Universal Robots factory.] DOMAIN: Well, any one who's looked into anatomy will have seen at once that man is too complicated, and that a good engineer could make him more simply. So young Rossum began to overhaul anatomy and tried to see what could be left out or simplified. In short-- but this isn't boring you,Miss Glory? HELENA: No; on the contrary, it's awfully interesting. DOMAIN: So young Rossum said to himself: A man is something that, for instance, feels happy, plays the fiddle, likes going for walks, and, in fact, wants to do a whole lot of things that are really unnecessary. HELENA: Oh! DOMAIN:Wait a bit. That are unnecessary when he's wanted, let us say, to weave or to count. Do you play the fiddle? HELENA: No. DOMAIN: That's a pity. But a working machine must not want to play the fiddle,must not feel happy,must not do a whole lot of other things. A petrol motor must not have tassels or ornaments, Miss Glory. And to manufacture artificial workers is the same thing as to manufacture motors. The process must be of the simplest, and the product of the best from a practical point of view.What sort of worker do you think is the best from a practical point of view? HELENA: The best? Perhaps the one who is most honest and hard-working. DOMAIN: No, the cheapest. The one whose needs are the smallest. Young Rossum invented a worker with the minimum amount of requirements. He had to simplify him. He rejected everything that did not contribute directly to the progress of work. In this way he rejected everything that made man more expensive. In fact, he rejected man and made the Robot. My dear Miss Glory, the Robots are not people. Mechanically they are more perfect than we are, they have an enormously developed intelligence, but they have no soul. Have you ever seen what a Robot looks like inside? HELENA: Good gracious, no! DOMAIN: Very neat, very simple. Really a beautiful piece of work. Not much in it, but everything in flawless order. The product of an engineer is technically at a higher pitch of perfection than a product of nature. HELENA: Man is supposed to be the product of nature. DOMAIN: So much the worse. --Karel C apek, from R.U.R. (1923, translated by P. Selver) Based on the passage, Rossum is most likely

What's Wrong with Commercial Television? Kids who watch much commercial television ought to develop into whizzes at the dialect; you have to keep so much in your mind at once because a series of artificially short attention spans has been created. But this in itself means that the experience of watching the commercial channels is a more informal one, curiously more `homely' than watching BBC [British Broadcasting Corporation]. This is because the commercial breaks are constant reminders that the medium itself is artificial, isn't, in fact, "real," even if the gesticulating heads, unlike the giants of the movie screen, are life-size. There is a kind of built-in alienation effect. Everything you see is false, as Tristan Tzara gnomically opined. And the young lady in the St. Bruno tobacco ads who currently concludes her spiel by stating categorically: "And if you believe that, you'll believe anything," is saying no more than the truth. The long-term effect of habitually watching commercial television is probably an erosion of trust in the television medium itself. Since joy is the message of all commercials, it is as well they breed skepticism. Every story has a happy ending, gratification is guaranteed by the conventions of the commercial form, which contributes no end to the pervasive unreality of it all. Indeed, it is the chronic bliss of everybody in the commercials that creates their final divorce from effective life as we know it. Grumpy mum, frowning dad, are soon all smiles again after the ingestion of some pill or potion; minimal concessions are made to mild frustration (as they are, occasionally, to lust), but none at all to despair or consummation. In fact, if the form is reminiscent of the limerick and the presentation of the music-hall, the overall mood--in its absolute and unruffled decorum-- is that of the uplift fables in the Sunday school picture books of my childhood. --Angela Carter, from Shaking a Leg (1997) According to the author, what is the main difference between commercial channels and public television stations like the BBC?

What Is the Work-Study Program? Overview of the Work-Study Program The Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program is a student employment program subsidized by the federal government and designed to help students finance their post-secondary education. The program provides funds to colleges, universities, and affiliated organizations which then provide employment to work-study students. Students receive their work- study financial awards in the form of paychecks from their work-study positions. Applying for Work-Study Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to apply. Work-Study grants are awarded based upon demonstrated financial need. To apply, students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. This application must be submitted each year Work-Study employment is desired. What Are the Advantages ofWork-Study? A work-study job is essentially just like any other job--you go to work, do your job, and get paid. But Work- Study positions have several distinct advantages over "regular" jobs: What Types ofWork-Study Jobs Are Available? The work-study positions at Madison Community College are as diverse as the functions of the college. Work-study students are employed as clerical assistants, data entry clerks, computer technicians, laboratory monitors, research assistants, language tutors, and more. In addition, Madison Community College has long-standing relationships with a number of employers and agencies that provide services for the community and have been approved to participate in the Federal Work-Study Program, including the Madison County Children's Museum, the Madison County Library, Children First Day Care, and Right Start Tutoring Agency. Students may be employed as museum guides, library aides, child caregivers, research assistants, tutors, and more. Based on the information in the passage, you should apply for Work-Study if

What Is the Author Asking for? The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky? The land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people. We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins.We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadow, the body heat of the pony, and man, all belong to the same family. The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water, but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you our land, you must remember that it is sacred. Each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father. The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry out canoes and feed our children. So you must give to the rivers the kindness you would give any brother. If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life. So, if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers. Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth, befalls all sons of the earth. This we know: The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood which unites us all. --Chief Seattle, from "This We Know" (1854) The intended audience of this essay is most likely

What Is the Author Asking for? The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky? The land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people. We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins.We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadow, the body heat of the pony, and man, all belong to the same family. The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water, but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you our land, you must remember that it is sacred. Each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father. The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry out canoes and feed our children. So you must give to the rivers the kindness you would give any brother. If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life. So, if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers. Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth, befalls all sons of the earth. This we know: The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood which unites us all. --Chief Seattle, from "This We Know" (1854) What is the author's main goal in this essay?

Why Is the Man Screaming? Edvard Munch's 1893 painting "The Scream" is a powerful work of art that has true aesthetic value. In its raw depiction of the unavoidable human emotions of alienation, anxiety and fear, "The Scream" invites meaningful introspection as the viewer internalizes its message of the vulnerability of the human psyche. "The Scream" is a very dynamic and yet frightening painting. The blood-red sky and eerie water/air seem to be moving and twirling, even enveloping the screaming man's mind as he stands on a bridge completely disregarded by passers-by who do not share in his horror. Viewers of the painting cannot help but ask: Why is the man screaming? And why is he alone in is scream? What is he afraid of? Or, what has he realized or seen that is making him scream? Why aren't the others as affected as he? The threat must be internal, yet the brushstrokes, colors and perspective seem to indicate that the horror is also bound to something in nature, something outside of the man. In any case, the agony and alienation are inescapable. Something horrible has happened or been realized by the man who cannot contain his horror, but has not affected the others on the bridge. That the people in the background are calm and do not share this horror conveys a truth regarding the ownership of our own feelings. We are often alone in our feelings, as can be especially noticed when we are in pain. The horror is the man's own; he must carry it himself. In this expressionist piece, the black, red, and orange colors are both bold and dark, illuminating and haunting at the same time. Remarkably, the light from the blood-reds and vibrant oranges in the distant sky seem to be somewhat detached from the figure in the forefront, failing to reach his persona, suggesting that there is little to illuminate his (and the viewer's) fears. The man's face is nondescript; in fact, it almost looks more like a skull than a living man's face, hollow with two simple dots to indicate the nostrils, no hair, no wrinkles of the skin. This could be any man or woman, left to deal with his or her own horrors. According to the author, what might be making the man scream?

Why Is the Man Screaming? Edvard Munch's 1893 painting "The Scream" is a powerful work of art that has true aesthetic value. In its raw depiction of the unavoidable human emotions of alienation, anxiety and fear, "The Scream" invites meaningful introspection as the viewer internalizes its message of the vulnerability of the human psyche. "The Scream" is a very dynamic and yet frightening painting. The blood-red sky and eerie water/air seem to be moving and twirling, even enveloping the screaming man's mind as he stands on a bridge completely disregarded by passers-by who do not share in his horror. Viewers of the painting cannot help but ask: Why is the man screaming? And why is he alone in is scream? What is he afraid of? Or, what has he realized or seen that is making him scream? Why aren't the others as affected as he? The threat must be internal, yet the brushstrokes, colors and perspective seem to indicate that the horror is also bound to something in nature, something outside of the man. In any case, the agony and alienation are inescapable. Something horrible has happened or been realized by the man who cannot contain his horror, but has not affected the others on the bridge. That the people in the background are calm and do not share this horror conveys a truth regarding the ownership of our own feelings. We are often alone in our feelings, as can be especially noticed when we are in pain. The horror is the man's own; he must carry it himself. In this expressionist piece, the black, red, and orange colors are both bold and dark, illuminating and haunting at the same time. Remarkably, the light from the blood-reds and vibrant oranges in the distant sky seem to be somewhat detached from the figure in the forefront, failing to reach his persona, suggesting that there is little to illuminate his (and the viewer's) fears. The man's face is nondescript; in fact, it almost looks more like a skull than a living man's face, hollow with two simple dots to indicate the nostrils, no hair, no wrinkles of the skin. This could be any man or woman, left to deal with his or her own horrors. According to the author, what is the main effect of viewing this painting?

Why Is the Man Screaming? Edvard Munch's 1893 painting "The Scream" is a powerful work of art that has true aesthetic value. In its raw depiction of the unavoidable human emotions of alienation, anxiety and fear, "The Scream" invites meaningful introspection as the viewer internalizes its message of the vulnerability of the human psyche. "The Scream" is a very dynamic and yet frightening painting. The blood-red sky and eerie water/air seem to be moving and twirling, even enveloping the screaming man's mind as he stands on a bridge completely disregarded by passers-by who do not share in his horror. Viewers of the painting cannot help but ask: Why is the man screaming? And why is he alone in is scream? What is he afraid of? Or, what has he realized or seen that is making him scream? Why aren't the others as affected as he? The threat must be internal, yet the brushstrokes, colors and perspective seem to indicate that the horror is also bound to something in nature, something outside of the man. In any case, the agony and alienation are inescapable. Something horrible has happened or been realized by the man who cannot contain his horror, but has not affected the others on the bridge. That the people in the background are calm and do not share this horror conveys a truth regarding the ownership of our own feelings. We are often alone in our feelings, as can be especially noticed when we are in pain. The horror is the man's own; he must carry it himself. In this expressionist piece, the black, red, and orange colors are both bold and dark, illuminating and haunting at the same time. Remarkably, the light from the blood-reds and vibrant oranges in the distant sky seem to be somewhat detached from the figure in the forefront, failing to reach his persona, suggesting that there is little to illuminate his (and the viewer's) fears. The man's face is nondescript; in fact, it almost looks more like a skull than a living man's face, hollow with two simple dots to indicate the nostrils, no hair, no wrinkles of the skin. This could be any man or woman, left to deal with his or her own horrors. Based on the review, we can infer that Munch left the face of the screamer "nondescript" because