DAY 2 – Summer Holiday Group 3 Year 5 English Trial Test

Extract A: Hurricane Katrina, explained 

Hurricane Katrina hit the coast of Louisiana on August 29, 2005, just off the coast of Louisiana. It hit land as a Category 3 storm with expected structural damage to small buildings and serious coastal flooding to those on low lying land. Due to the damage and deaths it caused, the storm is often thought to be one of the worst in U.S. history. The storm killed an estimated 1,200 people and caused an estimated $108 billion in property damage, making it the most expensive storm ever. 

Hurricane Katrina’s devastating effects brought to light a number of long-standing problems, such as disagreements over the federal government’s response, problems with search-and-rescue efforts, and a lack of preparation for the storm, especially with the city’s ageing system of levees, 50 of which broke during the storm, flooding the low-lying city and causing most of the damage. Most of the people who were hurt by Katrina were poor and/or African American, and many of those who lost their homes had to deal with hard times for years. 

Ten years after the disaster, Barack Obama, who was president at the time, said of Katrina, “What started out as a natural disaster turned into a man-made disaster—a failure of the government to look out for its own citizens.” 

More than a decade after Katrina, the city of New Orleans and other coastal towns in its path are still very different, both physically and culturally. Because the damage was so bad, some controversial experts said that New Orleans should be left alone for good, even though the city promised to rebuild. 

Data Center Research says that in the year after Katrina, the number of people living in New Orleans dropped by more than half. At the time this was written, the number of people had grown back to almost 80% of what it was before the hurricane.

Before the storm hit land, everyone in the city of New Orleans, which had more than 480,000 people at the time, had to leave. Tens of thousands of people left their homes. But many people stayed, especially the poorest people in the city, the elderly, and those who couldn’t get around. Many people stayed in their homes or went to the Superdome, a large sports arena in the city, where things would soon get hard and crazy. 

Early in the morning of August 29, Katrina went over the Gulf Coast. At first, officials thought that New Orleans would not be affected by the storm because most of its worst effects were happening on the coast to the east, near Biloxi, Mississippi, where the winds were the strongest and there was a lot of damage. But later that morning, a levee in New Orleans broke, and floodwater started pouring into the low-lying city in a rush. More levees would soon be swept away by the water.

Extract B: Hurricane safety

Hurricanes are strong storms that can put people’s lives in danger, whether they live near the coast or in the middle of the country. Even though wind may be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a hurricane, water hazards are usually the most dangerous. In this explainer, we’ll talk about the three biggest hurricane risks: storm surge, heavy rain, and strong winds. We’ll also tell you what you can do to protect your life and property before, during, and after a hurricane. 

Always pay attention to the latest forecast, as conditions can change quickly and storms can quickly grow from a tropical storm to a major hurricane. And always go where local authorities tell you to go. Don’t wait for the hurricane to get worse before deciding to leave. If a storm quickly gets stronger right before it hits land, like the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 and many others, the wind and storm surge can do a lot of damage. 

Winds can be stronger farther up in the air. This can make it more dangerous to be in a high-rise building. Wind damage can also be more likely in places like mountains that are high up. This can happen in the Appalachian mountains, and it can be especially dangerous in the Caribbean, where the mountains are closer to the shore. Hurricane Hugo hit land in 1989 near Charleston, South Carolina, as a category 4 storm. It moved quickly across the Carolinas, causing damage well into the interior of the Carolinas and even in the mountains of the southern Appalachians. 

The best way to protect yourself from wind is to put as many walls as you can between you and the outside world. Inside a building, the safest place to be is in a room with no windows. Reinforcing your windows and doors can help keep you safe inside, while securing items outside and cutting back trees can help keep damage to a minimum. If you’re stuck inside during a storm, go to a room with no windows. For extra safety, you can cover yourself with a mattress and wear a helmet. 

Rip currents can be caused by hurricanes and tropical storms with strong winds. Rip currents and high waves can kill even when storms are hundreds of miles offshore, sometimes days before a hurricane hits land. Don’t go to the beach to swim, surf, or hang out. Pay attention to the beach signs and what the local officials and lifeguards tell you to do.

What do the two extracts share?

Extract A: Hurricane Katrina, explained 

Hurricane Katrina hit the coast of Louisiana on August 29, 2005, just off the coast of Louisiana. It hit land as a Category 3 storm with expected structural damage to small buildings and serious coastal flooding to those on low lying land. Due to the damage and deaths it caused, the storm is often thought to be one of the worst in U.S. history. The storm killed an estimated 1,200 people and caused an estimated $108 billion in property damage, making it the most expensive storm ever. 

Hurricane Katrina’s devastating effects brought to light a number of long-standing problems, such as disagreements over the federal government’s response, problems with search-and-rescue efforts, and a lack of preparation for the storm, especially with the city’s ageing system of levees, 50 of which broke during the storm, flooding the low-lying city and causing most of the damage. Most of the people who were hurt by Katrina were poor and/or African American, and many of those who lost their homes had to deal with hard times for years. 

Ten years after the disaster, Barack Obama, who was president at the time, said of Katrina, “What started out as a natural disaster turned into a man-made disaster—a failure of the government to look out for its own citizens.” 

More than a decade after Katrina, the city of New Orleans and other coastal towns in its path are still very different, both physically and culturally. Because the damage was so bad, some controversial experts said that New Orleans should be left alone for good, even though the city promised to rebuild. 

Data Center Research says that in the year after Katrina, the number of people living in New Orleans dropped by more than half. At the time this was written, the number of people had grown back to almost 80% of what it was before the hurricane.

Before the storm hit land, everyone in the city of New Orleans, which had more than 480,000 people at the time, had to leave. Tens of thousands of people left their homes. But many people stayed, especially the poorest people in the city, the elderly, and those who couldn’t get around. Many people stayed in their homes or went to the Superdome, a large sports arena in the city, where things would soon get hard and crazy. 

Early in the morning of August 29, Katrina went over the Gulf Coast. At first, officials thought that New Orleans would not be affected by the storm because most of its worst effects were happening on the coast to the east, near Biloxi, Mississippi, where the winds were the strongest and there was a lot of damage. But later that morning, a levee in New Orleans broke, and floodwater started pouring into the low-lying city in a rush. More levees would soon be swept away by the water.

Extract B: Hurricane safety

Hurricanes are strong storms that can put people’s lives in danger, whether they live near the coast or in the middle of the country. Even though wind may be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a hurricane, water hazards are usually the most dangerous. In this explainer, we’ll talk about the three biggest hurricane risks: storm surge, heavy rain, and strong winds. We’ll also tell you what you can do to protect your life and property before, during, and after a hurricane. 

Always pay attention to the latest forecast, as conditions can change quickly and storms can quickly grow from a tropical storm to a major hurricane. And always go where local authorities tell you to go. Don’t wait for the hurricane to get worse before deciding to leave. If a storm quickly gets stronger right before it hits land, like the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 and many others, the wind and storm surge can do a lot of damage. 

Winds can be stronger farther up in the air. This can make it more dangerous to be in a high-rise building. Wind damage can also be more likely in places like mountains that are high up. This can happen in the Appalachian mountains, and it can be especially dangerous in the Caribbean, where the mountains are closer to the shore. Hurricane Hugo hit land in 1989 near Charleston, South Carolina, as a category 4 storm. It moved quickly across the Carolinas, causing damage well into the interior of the Carolinas and even in the mountains of the southern Appalachians. 

The best way to protect yourself from wind is to put as many walls as you can between you and the outside world. Inside a building, the safest place to be is in a room with no windows. Reinforcing your windows and doors can help keep you safe inside, while securing items outside and cutting back trees can help keep damage to a minimum. If you’re stuck inside during a storm, go to a room with no windows. For extra safety, you can cover yourself with a mattress and wear a helmet. 

Rip currents can be caused by hurricanes and tropical storms with strong winds. Rip currents and high waves can kill even when storms are hundreds of miles offshore, sometimes days before a hurricane hits land. Don’t go to the beach to swim, surf, or hang out. Pay attention to the beach signs and what the local officials and lifeguards tell you to do.

What is the main irony you can point out between the two extracts?

Extract A: Hurricane Katrina, explained 

Hurricane Katrina hit the coast of Louisiana on August 29, 2005, just off the coast of Louisiana. It hit land as a Category 3 storm with expected structural damage to small buildings and serious coastal flooding to those on low lying land. Due to the damage and deaths it caused, the storm is often thought to be one of the worst in U.S. history. The storm killed an estimated 1,200 people and caused an estimated $108 billion in property damage, making it the most expensive storm ever. 

Hurricane Katrina’s devastating effects brought to light a number of long-standing problems, such as disagreements over the federal government’s response, problems with search-and-rescue efforts, and a lack of preparation for the storm, especially with the city’s ageing system of levees, 50 of which broke during the storm, flooding the low-lying city and causing most of the damage. Most of the people who were hurt by Katrina were poor and/or African American, and many of those who lost their homes had to deal with hard times for years. 

Ten years after the disaster, Barack Obama, who was president at the time, said of Katrina, “What started out as a natural disaster turned into a man-made disaster—a failure of the government to look out for its own citizens.” 

More than a decade after Katrina, the city of New Orleans and other coastal towns in its path are still very different, both physically and culturally. Because the damage was so bad, some controversial experts said that New Orleans should be left alone for good, even though the city promised to rebuild. 

Data Center Research says that in the year after Katrina, the number of people living in New Orleans dropped by more than half. At the time this was written, the number of people had grown back to almost 80% of what it was before the hurricane.

Before the storm hit land, everyone in the city of New Orleans, which had more than 480,000 people at the time, had to leave. Tens of thousands of people left their homes. But many people stayed, especially the poorest people in the city, the elderly, and those who couldn’t get around. Many people stayed in their homes or went to the Superdome, a large sports arena in the city, where things would soon get hard and crazy. 

Early in the morning of August 29, Katrina went over the Gulf Coast. At first, officials thought that New Orleans would not be affected by the storm because most of its worst effects were happening on the coast to the east, near Biloxi, Mississippi, where the winds were the strongest and there was a lot of damage. But later that morning, a levee in New Orleans broke, and floodwater started pouring into the low-lying city in a rush. More levees would soon be swept away by the water.

Extract B: Hurricane safety

Hurricanes are strong storms that can put people’s lives in danger, whether they live near the coast or in the middle of the country. Even though wind may be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a hurricane, water hazards are usually the most dangerous. In this explainer, we’ll talk about the three biggest hurricane risks: storm surge, heavy rain, and strong winds. We’ll also tell you what you can do to protect your life and property before, during, and after a hurricane. 

Always pay attention to the latest forecast, as conditions can change quickly and storms can quickly grow from a tropical storm to a major hurricane. And always go where local authorities tell you to go. Don’t wait for the hurricane to get worse before deciding to leave. If a storm quickly gets stronger right before it hits land, like the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 and many others, the wind and storm surge can do a lot of damage. 

Winds can be stronger farther up in the air. This can make it more dangerous to be in a high-rise building. Wind damage can also be more likely in places like mountains that are high up. This can happen in the Appalachian mountains, and it can be especially dangerous in the Caribbean, where the mountains are closer to the shore. Hurricane Hugo hit land in 1989 near Charleston, South Carolina, as a category 4 storm. It moved quickly across the Carolinas, causing damage well into the interior of the Carolinas and even in the mountains of the southern Appalachians. 

The best way to protect yourself from wind is to put as many walls as you can between you and the outside world. Inside a building, the safest place to be is in a room with no windows. Reinforcing your windows and doors can help keep you safe inside, while securing items outside and cutting back trees can help keep damage to a minimum. If you’re stuck inside during a storm, go to a room with no windows. For extra safety, you can cover yourself with a mattress and wear a helmet. 

Rip currents can be caused by hurricanes and tropical storms with strong winds. Rip currents and high waves can kill even when storms are hundreds of miles offshore, sometimes days before a hurricane hits land. Don’t go to the beach to swim, surf, or hang out. Pay attention to the beach signs and what the local officials and lifeguards tell you to do.

What information can you spot in extract A that does not appear in extract B?

Extract A: Hurricane Katrina, explained 

Hurricane Katrina hit the coast of Louisiana on August 29, 2005, just off the coast of Louisiana. It hit land as a Category 3 storm with expected structural damage to small buildings and serious coastal flooding to those on low lying land. Due to the damage and deaths it caused, the storm is often thought to be one of the worst in U.S. history. The storm killed an estimated 1,200 people and caused an estimated $108 billion in property damage, making it the most expensive storm ever. 

Hurricane Katrina’s devastating effects brought to light a number of long-standing problems, such as disagreements over the federal government’s response, problems with search-and-rescue efforts, and a lack of preparation for the storm, especially with the city’s ageing system of levees, 50 of which broke during the storm, flooding the low-lying city and causing most of the damage. Most of the people who were hurt by Katrina were poor and/or African American, and many of those who lost their homes had to deal with hard times for years. 

Ten years after the disaster, Barack Obama, who was president at the time, said of Katrina, “What started out as a natural disaster turned into a man-made disaster—a failure of the government to look out for its own citizens.” 

More than a decade after Katrina, the city of New Orleans and other coastal towns in its path are still very different, both physically and culturally. Because the damage was so bad, some controversial experts said that New Orleans should be left alone for good, even though the city promised to rebuild. 

Data Center Research says that in the year after Katrina, the number of people living in New Orleans dropped by more than half. At the time this was written, the number of people had grown back to almost 80% of what it was before the hurricane.

Before the storm hit land, everyone in the city of New Orleans, which had more than 480,000 people at the time, had to leave. Tens of thousands of people left their homes. But many people stayed, especially the poorest people in the city, the elderly, and those who couldn’t get around. Many people stayed in their homes or went to the Superdome, a large sports arena in the city, where things would soon get hard and crazy. 

Early in the morning of August 29, Katrina went over the Gulf Coast. At first, officials thought that New Orleans would not be affected by the storm because most of its worst effects were happening on the coast to the east, near Biloxi, Mississippi, where the winds were the strongest and there was a lot of damage. But later that morning, a levee in New Orleans broke, and floodwater started pouring into the low-lying city in a rush. More levees would soon be swept away by the water.

Extract B: Hurricane safety

Hurricanes are strong storms that can put people’s lives in danger, whether they live near the coast or in the middle of the country. Even though wind may be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a hurricane, water hazards are usually the most dangerous. In this explainer, we’ll talk about the three biggest hurricane risks: storm surge, heavy rain, and strong winds. We’ll also tell you what you can do to protect your life and property before, during, and after a hurricane. 

Always pay attention to the latest forecast, as conditions can change quickly and storms can quickly grow from a tropical storm to a major hurricane. And always go where local authorities tell you to go. Don’t wait for the hurricane to get worse before deciding to leave. If a storm quickly gets stronger right before it hits land, like the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 and many others, the wind and storm surge can do a lot of damage. 

Winds can be stronger farther up in the air. This can make it more dangerous to be in a high-rise building. Wind damage can also be more likely in places like mountains that are high up. This can happen in the Appalachian mountains, and it can be especially dangerous in the Caribbean, where the mountains are closer to the shore. Hurricane Hugo hit land in 1989 near Charleston, South Carolina, as a category 4 storm. It moved quickly across the Carolinas, causing damage well into the interior of the Carolinas and even in the mountains of the southern Appalachians. 

The best way to protect yourself from wind is to put as many walls as you can between you and the outside world. Inside a building, the safest place to be is in a room with no windows. Reinforcing your windows and doors can help keep you safe inside, while securing items outside and cutting back trees can help keep damage to a minimum. If you’re stuck inside during a storm, go to a room with no windows. For extra safety, you can cover yourself with a mattress and wear a helmet. 

Rip currents can be caused by hurricanes and tropical storms with strong winds. Rip currents and high waves can kill even when storms are hundreds of miles offshore, sometimes days before a hurricane hits land. Don’t go to the beach to swim, surf, or hang out. Pay attention to the beach signs and what the local officials and lifeguards tell you to do.

How do Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Hugo differ in terms of their aftermath?

Extract A: Hurricane Katrina, explained 

Hurricane Katrina hit the coast of Louisiana on August 29, 2005, just off the coast of Louisiana. It hit land as a Category 3 storm with expected structural damage to small buildings and serious coastal flooding to those on low lying land. Due to the damage and deaths it caused, the storm is often thought to be one of the worst in U.S. history. The storm killed an estimated 1,200 people and caused an estimated $108 billion in property damage, making it the most expensive storm ever. 

Hurricane Katrina’s devastating effects brought to light a number of long-standing problems, such as disagreements over the federal government’s response, problems with search-and-rescue efforts, and a lack of preparation for the storm, especially with the city’s ageing system of levees, 50 of which broke during the storm, flooding the low-lying city and causing most of the damage. Most of the people who were hurt by Katrina were poor and/or African American, and many of those who lost their homes had to deal with hard times for years. 

Ten years after the disaster, Barack Obama, who was president at the time, said of Katrina, “What started out as a natural disaster turned into a man-made disaster—a failure of the government to look out for its own citizens.” 

More than a decade after Katrina, the city of New Orleans and other coastal towns in its path are still very different, both physically and culturally. Because the damage was so bad, some controversial experts said that New Orleans should be left alone for good, even though the city promised to rebuild. 

Data Center Research says that in the year after Katrina, the number of people living in New Orleans dropped by more than half. At the time this was written, the number of people had grown back to almost 80% of what it was before the hurricane.

Before the storm hit land, everyone in the city of New Orleans, which had more than 480,000 people at the time, had to leave. Tens of thousands of people left their homes. But many people stayed, especially the poorest people in the city, the elderly, and those who couldn’t get around. Many people stayed in their homes or went to the Superdome, a large sports arena in the city, where things would soon get hard and crazy. 

Early in the morning of August 29, Katrina went over the Gulf Coast. At first, officials thought that New Orleans would not be affected by the storm because most of its worst effects were happening on the coast to the east, near Biloxi, Mississippi, where the winds were the strongest and there was a lot of damage. But later that morning, a levee in New Orleans broke, and floodwater started pouring into the low-lying city in a rush. More levees would soon be swept away by the water.

Extract B: Hurricane safety

Hurricanes are strong storms that can put people’s lives in danger, whether they live near the coast or in the middle of the country. Even though wind may be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a hurricane, water hazards are usually the most dangerous. In this explainer, we’ll talk about the three biggest hurricane risks: storm surge, heavy rain, and strong winds. We’ll also tell you what you can do to protect your life and property before, during, and after a hurricane. 

Always pay attention to the latest forecast, as conditions can change quickly and storms can quickly grow from a tropical storm to a major hurricane. And always go where local authorities tell you to go. Don’t wait for the hurricane to get worse before deciding to leave. If a storm quickly gets stronger right before it hits land, like the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 and many others, the wind and storm surge can do a lot of damage. 

Winds can be stronger farther up in the air. This can make it more dangerous to be in a high-rise building. Wind damage can also be more likely in places like mountains that are high up. This can happen in the Appalachian mountains, and it can be especially dangerous in the Caribbean, where the mountains are closer to the shore. Hurricane Hugo hit land in 1989 near Charleston, South Carolina, as a category 4 storm. It moved quickly across the Carolinas, causing damage well into the interior of the Carolinas and even in the mountains of the southern Appalachians. 

The best way to protect yourself from wind is to put as many walls as you can between you and the outside world. Inside a building, the safest place to be is in a room with no windows. Reinforcing your windows and doors can help keep you safe inside, while securing items outside and cutting back trees can help keep damage to a minimum. If you’re stuck inside during a storm, go to a room with no windows. For extra safety, you can cover yourself with a mattress and wear a helmet. 

Rip currents can be caused by hurricanes and tropical storms with strong winds. Rip currents and high waves can kill even when storms are hundreds of miles offshore, sometimes days before a hurricane hits land. Don’t go to the beach to swim, surf, or hang out. Pay attention to the beach signs and what the local officials and lifeguards tell you to do.

What is the purpose of both extracts?

Extract A: Hurricane Katrina, explained 

Hurricane Katrina hit the coast of Louisiana on August 29, 2005, just off the coast of Louisiana. It hit land as a Category 3 storm with expected structural damage to small buildings and serious coastal flooding to those on low lying land. Due to the damage and deaths it caused, the storm is often thought to be one of the worst in U.S. history. The storm killed an estimated 1,200 people and caused an estimated $108 billion in property damage, making it the most expensive storm ever. 

Hurricane Katrina’s devastating effects brought to light a number of long-standing problems, such as disagreements over the federal government’s response, problems with search-and-rescue efforts, and a lack of preparation for the storm, especially with the city’s ageing system of levees, 50 of which broke during the storm, flooding the low-lying city and causing most of the damage. Most of the people who were hurt by Katrina were poor and/or African American, and many of those who lost their homes had to deal with hard times for years. 

Ten years after the disaster, Barack Obama, who was president at the time, said of Katrina, “What started out as a natural disaster turned into a man-made disaster—a failure of the government to look out for its own citizens.” 

More than a decade after Katrina, the city of New Orleans and other coastal towns in its path are still very different, both physically and culturally. Because the damage was so bad, some controversial experts said that New Orleans should be left alone for good, even though the city promised to rebuild. 

Data Center Research says that in the year after Katrina, the number of people living in New Orleans dropped by more than half. At the time this was written, the number of people had grown back to almost 80% of what it was before the hurricane.

Before the storm hit land, everyone in the city of New Orleans, which had more than 480,000 people at the time, had to leave. Tens of thousands of people left their homes. But many people stayed, especially the poorest people in the city, the elderly, and those who couldn’t get around. Many people stayed in their homes or went to the Superdome, a large sports arena in the city, where things would soon get hard and crazy. 

Early in the morning of August 29, Katrina went over the Gulf Coast. At first, officials thought that New Orleans would not be affected by the storm because most of its worst effects were happening on the coast to the east, near Biloxi, Mississippi, where the winds were the strongest and there was a lot of damage. But later that morning, a levee in New Orleans broke, and floodwater started pouring into the low-lying city in a rush. More levees would soon be swept away by the water.

Extract B: Hurricane safety

Hurricanes are strong storms that can put people’s lives in danger, whether they live near the coast or in the middle of the country. Even though wind may be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a hurricane, water hazards are usually the most dangerous. In this explainer, we’ll talk about the three biggest hurricane risks: storm surge, heavy rain, and strong winds. We’ll also tell you what you can do to protect your life and property before, during, and after a hurricane. 

Always pay attention to the latest forecast, as conditions can change quickly and storms can quickly grow from a tropical storm to a major hurricane. And always go where local authorities tell you to go. Don’t wait for the hurricane to get worse before deciding to leave. If a storm quickly gets stronger right before it hits land, like the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 and many others, the wind and storm surge can do a lot of damage. 

Winds can be stronger farther up in the air. This can make it more dangerous to be in a high-rise building. Wind damage can also be more likely in places like mountains that are high up. This can happen in the Appalachian mountains, and it can be especially dangerous in the Caribbean, where the mountains are closer to the shore. Hurricane Hugo hit land in 1989 near Charleston, South Carolina, as a category 4 storm. It moved quickly across the Carolinas, causing damage well into the interior of the Carolinas and even in the mountains of the southern Appalachians. 

The best way to protect yourself from wind is to put as many walls as you can between you and the outside world. Inside a building, the safest place to be is in a room with no windows. Reinforcing your windows and doors can help keep you safe inside, while securing items outside and cutting back trees can help keep damage to a minimum. If you’re stuck inside during a storm, go to a room with no windows. For extra safety, you can cover yourself with a mattress and wear a helmet. 

Rip currents can be caused by hurricanes and tropical storms with strong winds. Rip currents and high waves can kill even when storms are hundreds of miles offshore, sometimes days before a hurricane hits land. Don’t go to the beach to swim, surf, or hang out. Pay attention to the beach signs and what the local officials and lifeguards tell you to do.

Which of the following are advice given and implied by the two extracts? 

I. Better government response

II. Listen to news

III. Make flood barriers in your own homes

IV. Clear your homes from big trees

Journey of the Magi by T.S. Eliot

A cold coming we had of it,

Just the worst time of the year

For a journey, and such a long journey:

The ways deep and the weather sharp,

The very dead of winter.’ 5

And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,

Lying down in the melting snow.

There were times we regretted

The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,

And the silken girls bringing sherbet. 10

Then the camel men cursing and grumbling

and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,

And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,

And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly

And the villages dirty and charging high prices: 15

A hard time we had of it.

At the end we preferred to travel all night,

Sleeping in snatches,

With the voices singing in our ears, saying

That this was all folly. 20

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,

Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;

With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,

And three trees on the low sky,

And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow. 25

Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,

Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,

And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.

But there was no information, and so we continued

And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon 30

Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,

And I would do it again, but set down

This set down

This: were we led all that way for 35

Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly

We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,

But had thought they were different; this Birth was

Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.

We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, 40

But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,

With an alien people clutching their gods.

I should be glad of another death.

What forms does the poem take?

Journey of the Magi by T.S. Eliot

A cold coming we had of it,

Just the worst time of the year

For a journey, and such a long journey:

The ways deep and the weather sharp,

The very dead of winter.’ 5

And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,

Lying down in the melting snow.

There were times we regretted

The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,

And the silken girls bringing sherbet. 10

Then the camel men cursing and grumbling

and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,

And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,

And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly

And the villages dirty and charging high prices: 15

A hard time we had of it.

At the end we preferred to travel all night,

Sleeping in snatches,

With the voices singing in our ears, saying

That this was all folly. 20

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,

Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;

With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,

And three trees on the low sky,

And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow. 25

Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,

Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,

And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.

But there was no information, and so we continued

And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon 30

Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,

And I would do it again, but set down

This set down

This: were we led all that way for 35

Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly

We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,

But had thought they were different; this Birth was

Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.

We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, 40

But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,

With an alien people clutching their gods.

I should be glad of another death.

The following is a theme of the poem EXCEPT

Journey of the Magi by T.S. Eliot

A cold coming we had of it,

Just the worst time of the year

For a journey, and such a long journey:

The ways deep and the weather sharp,

The very dead of winter.’ 5

And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,

Lying down in the melting snow.

There were times we regretted

The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,

And the silken girls bringing sherbet. 10

Then the camel men cursing and grumbling

and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,

And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,

And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly

And the villages dirty and charging high prices: 15

A hard time we had of it.

At the end we preferred to travel all night,

Sleeping in snatches,

With the voices singing in our ears, saying

That this was all folly. 20

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,

Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;

With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,

And three trees on the low sky,

And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow. 25

Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,

Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,

And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.

But there was no information, and so we continued

And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon 30

Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,

And I would do it again, but set down

This set down

This: were we led all that way for 35

Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly

We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,

But had thought they were different; this Birth was

Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.

We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, 40

But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,

With an alien people clutching their gods.

I should be glad of another death.

The overall tone of the poem is

Journey of the Magi by T.S. Eliot

A cold coming we had of it,

Just the worst time of the year

For a journey, and such a long journey:

The ways deep and the weather sharp,

The very dead of winter.’ 5

And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,

Lying down in the melting snow.

There were times we regretted

The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,

And the silken girls bringing sherbet. 10

Then the camel men cursing and grumbling

and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,

And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,

And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly

And the villages dirty and charging high prices: 15

A hard time we had of it.

At the end we preferred to travel all night,

Sleeping in snatches,

With the voices singing in our ears, saying

That this was all folly. 20

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,

Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;

With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,

And three trees on the low sky,

And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow. 25

Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,

Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,

And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.

But there was no information, and so we continued

And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon 30

Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,

And I would do it again, but set down

This set down

This: were we led all that way for 35

Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly

We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,

But had thought they were different; this Birth was

Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.

We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, 40

But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,

With an alien people clutching their gods.

I should be glad of another death.

The paradoxical synonyms in the poem are

Journey of the Magi by T.S. Eliot

A cold coming we had of it,

Just the worst time of the year

For a journey, and such a long journey:

The ways deep and the weather sharp,

The very dead of winter.’ 5

And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,

Lying down in the melting snow.

There were times we regretted

The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,

And the silken girls bringing sherbet. 10

Then the camel men cursing and grumbling

and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,

And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,

And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly

And the villages dirty and charging high prices: 15

A hard time we had of it.

At the end we preferred to travel all night,

Sleeping in snatches,

With the voices singing in our ears, saying

That this was all folly. 20

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,

Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;

With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,

And three trees on the low sky,

And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow. 25

Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,

Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,

And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.

But there was no information, and so we continued

And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon 30

Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,

And I would do it again, but set down

This set down

This: were we led all that way for 35

Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly

We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,

But had thought they were different; this Birth was

Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.

We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, 40

But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,

With an alien people clutching their gods.

I should be glad of another death.

Which of the following words are personified?

Journey of the Magi by T.S. Eliot

A cold coming we had of it,

Just the worst time of the year

For a journey, and such a long journey:

The ways deep and the weather sharp,

The very dead of winter.’ 5

And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,

Lying down in the melting snow.

There were times we regretted

The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,

And the silken girls bringing sherbet. 10

Then the camel men cursing and grumbling

and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,

And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,

And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly

And the villages dirty and charging high prices: 15

A hard time we had of it.

At the end we preferred to travel all night,

Sleeping in snatches,

With the voices singing in our ears, saying

That this was all folly. 20

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,

Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;

With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,

And three trees on the low sky,

And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow. 25

Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,

Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,

And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.

But there was no information, and so we continued

And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon 30

Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,

And I would do it again, but set down

This set down

This: were we led all that way for 35

Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly

We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,

But had thought they were different; this Birth was

Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.

We returned to our places, these Kingdoms, 40

But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,

With an alien people clutching their gods.

I should be glad of another death.

Which of these lines uses the literary figure of consonance?

There are sentences that have been removed from the article. Choose the correct letter below that contains the sentence that best fits in the paragraph. Take note that there is an extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Physical Therapists

If you go to the Rehabilitation Institute in Chicago, you will see someone working to help patients. This is a job that helps people do more. It is a job that takes patience and skills. This person is a Physical Therapist. As you read what one person says about her job, imagine yourself doing this kind of work some day. 13…………………… 

I work closely with people who have hurt themselves. Their injuries may be as mild as having a sore shoulder, knee or back, or as severe as having paralyzed legs and or arms. It’s my job to evaluate what their problems are and come up with ways to help make them better, stronger, take their pain away or teach them to walk and do things for themselves again.

I need to be able to communicate well with people of all ages and backgrounds everyday. I need to be able to talk to people I’ve never met and ask them personal questions that help me to understand what is wrong with them. 14…………………… 

I chose to go into physical therapy because I love to be with people and talk with them. I decided that I didn’t want to use the computer all day or answer the telephone or be in a lab doing experiments. 15…………………… 

To prepare to become a Physical Therapist, I had to finish college and then go to graduate school for 3 years. 16……………………  I learned how to figure out what is weak and what hurts on people and then how to help. I prepared for knowing all that by taking a lot of classes in biology, chemistry, math, physics, anatomy, physiology and psychology. 

What I like about my job is that it is always very interesting and never boring. 17…………… They tell me that I have made a difference in their life and when I go home at night, I know that I have touched someone else’s life and they appreciate the work I did for them. I also love that my job combines being active and physical with being a thinker and doing a lot of problem solving. 

I love being a Physical Therapist because as the patient undergoes the rehabilitation and recovery process, I get to witness a level of perseverance and will power rarely seen in everyday life. 18……………………

There are sentences that have been removed from the article. Choose the correct letter below that contains the sentence that best fits in the paragraph. Take note that there is an extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Physical Therapists

If you go to the Rehabilitation Institute in Chicago, you will see someone working to help patients. This is a job that helps people do more. It is a job that takes patience and skills. This person is a Physical Therapist. As you read what one person says about her job, imagine yourself doing this kind of work some day. 13…………………… 

I work closely with people who have hurt themselves. Their injuries may be as mild as having a sore shoulder, knee or back, or as severe as having paralyzed legs and or arms. It’s my job to evaluate what their problems are and come up with ways to help make them better, stronger, take their pain away or teach them to walk and do things for themselves again.

I need to be able to communicate well with people of all ages and backgrounds everyday. I need to be able to talk to people I’ve never met and ask them personal questions that help me to understand what is wrong with them. 14…………………… 

I chose to go into physical therapy because I love to be with people and talk with them. I decided that I didn’t want to use the computer all day or answer the telephone or be in a lab doing experiments. 15…………………… 

To prepare to become a Physical Therapist, I had to finish college and then go to graduate school for 3 years. 16……………………  I learned how to figure out what is weak and what hurts on people and then how to help. I prepared for knowing all that by taking a lot of classes in biology, chemistry, math, physics, anatomy, physiology and psychology. 

What I like about my job is that it is always very interesting and never boring. 17…………… They tell me that I have made a difference in their life and when I go home at night, I know that I have touched someone else’s life and they appreciate the work I did for them. I also love that my job combines being active and physical with being a thinker and doing a lot of problem solving. 

I love being a Physical Therapist because as the patient undergoes the rehabilitation and recovery process, I get to witness a level of perseverance and will power rarely seen in everyday life. 18……………………

There are sentences that have been removed from the article. Choose the correct letter below that contains the sentence that best fits in the paragraph. Take note that there is an extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Physical Therapists

If you go to the Rehabilitation Institute in Chicago, you will see someone working to help patients. This is a job that helps people do more. It is a job that takes patience and skills. This person is a Physical Therapist. As you read what one person says about her job, imagine yourself doing this kind of work some day. 13…………………… 

I work closely with people who have hurt themselves. Their injuries may be as mild as having a sore shoulder, knee or back, or as severe as having paralyzed legs and or arms. It’s my job to evaluate what their problems are and come up with ways to help make them better, stronger, take their pain away or teach them to walk and do things for themselves again.

I need to be able to communicate well with people of all ages and backgrounds everyday. I need to be able to talk to people I’ve never met and ask them personal questions that help me to understand what is wrong with them. 14…………………… 

I chose to go into physical therapy because I love to be with people and talk with them. I decided that I didn’t want to use the computer all day or answer the telephone or be in a lab doing experiments. 15…………………… 

To prepare to become a Physical Therapist, I had to finish college and then go to graduate school for 3 years. 16……………………  I learned how to figure out what is weak and what hurts on people and then how to help. I prepared for knowing all that by taking a lot of classes in biology, chemistry, math, physics, anatomy, physiology and psychology. 

What I like about my job is that it is always very interesting and never boring. 17…………… They tell me that I have made a difference in their life and when I go home at night, I know that I have touched someone else’s life and they appreciate the work I did for them. I also love that my job combines being active and physical with being a thinker and doing a lot of problem solving. 

I love being a Physical Therapist because as the patient undergoes the rehabilitation and recovery process, I get to witness a level of perseverance and will power rarely seen in everyday life. 18……………………

There are sentences that have been removed from the article. Choose the correct letter below that contains the sentence that best fits in the paragraph. Take note that there is an extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Physical Therapists

If you go to the Rehabilitation Institute in Chicago, you will see someone working to help patients. This is a job that helps people do more. It is a job that takes patience and skills. This person is a Physical Therapist. As you read what one person says about her job, imagine yourself doing this kind of work some day. 13…………………… 

I work closely with people who have hurt themselves. Their injuries may be as mild as having a sore shoulder, knee or back, or as severe as having paralyzed legs and or arms. It’s my job to evaluate what their problems are and come up with ways to help make them better, stronger, take their pain away or teach them to walk and do things for themselves again.

I need to be able to communicate well with people of all ages and backgrounds everyday. I need to be able to talk to people I’ve never met and ask them personal questions that help me to understand what is wrong with them. 14…………………… 

I chose to go into physical therapy because I love to be with people and talk with them. I decided that I didn’t want to use the computer all day or answer the telephone or be in a lab doing experiments. 15…………………… 

To prepare to become a Physical Therapist, I had to finish college and then go to graduate school for 3 years. 16……………………  I learned how to figure out what is weak and what hurts on people and then how to help. I prepared for knowing all that by taking a lot of classes in biology, chemistry, math, physics, anatomy, physiology and psychology. 

What I like about my job is that it is always very interesting and never boring. 17…………… They tell me that I have made a difference in their life and when I go home at night, I know that I have touched someone else’s life and they appreciate the work I did for them. I also love that my job combines being active and physical with being a thinker and doing a lot of problem solving. 

I love being a Physical Therapist because as the patient undergoes the rehabilitation and recovery process, I get to witness a level of perseverance and will power rarely seen in everyday life. 18……………………

There are sentences that have been removed from the article. Choose the correct letter below that contains the sentence that best fits in the paragraph. Take note that there is an extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Physical Therapists

If you go to the Rehabilitation Institute in Chicago, you will see someone working to help patients. This is a job that helps people do more. It is a job that takes patience and skills. This person is a Physical Therapist. As you read what one person says about her job, imagine yourself doing this kind of work some day. 13…………………… 

I work closely with people who have hurt themselves. Their injuries may be as mild as having a sore shoulder, knee or back, or as severe as having paralyzed legs and or arms. It’s my job to evaluate what their problems are and come up with ways to help make them better, stronger, take their pain away or teach them to walk and do things for themselves again.

I need to be able to communicate well with people of all ages and backgrounds everyday. I need to be able to talk to people I’ve never met and ask them personal questions that help me to understand what is wrong with them. 14…………………… 

I chose to go into physical therapy because I love to be with people and talk with them. I decided that I didn’t want to use the computer all day or answer the telephone or be in a lab doing experiments. 15…………………… 

To prepare to become a Physical Therapist, I had to finish college and then go to graduate school for 3 years. 16……………………  I learned how to figure out what is weak and what hurts on people and then how to help. I prepared for knowing all that by taking a lot of classes in biology, chemistry, math, physics, anatomy, physiology and psychology. 

What I like about my job is that it is always very interesting and never boring. 17…………… They tell me that I have made a difference in their life and when I go home at night, I know that I have touched someone else’s life and they appreciate the work I did for them. I also love that my job combines being active and physical with being a thinker and doing a lot of problem solving. 

I love being a Physical Therapist because as the patient undergoes the rehabilitation and recovery process, I get to witness a level of perseverance and will power rarely seen in everyday life. 18……………………

There are sentences that have been removed from the article. Choose the correct letter below that contains the sentence that best fits in the paragraph. Take note that there is an extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Physical Therapists

If you go to the Rehabilitation Institute in Chicago, you will see someone working to help patients. This is a job that helps people do more. It is a job that takes patience and skills. This person is a Physical Therapist. As you read what one person says about her job, imagine yourself doing this kind of work some day. 13…………………… 

I work closely with people who have hurt themselves. Their injuries may be as mild as having a sore shoulder, knee or back, or as severe as having paralyzed legs and or arms. It’s my job to evaluate what their problems are and come up with ways to help make them better, stronger, take their pain away or teach them to walk and do things for themselves again.

I need to be able to communicate well with people of all ages and backgrounds everyday. I need to be able to talk to people I’ve never met and ask them personal questions that help me to understand what is wrong with them. 14…………………… 

I chose to go into physical therapy because I love to be with people and talk with them. I decided that I didn’t want to use the computer all day or answer the telephone or be in a lab doing experiments. 15…………………… 

To prepare to become a Physical Therapist, I had to finish college and then go to graduate school for 3 years. 16……………………  I learned how to figure out what is weak and what hurts on people and then how to help. I prepared for knowing all that by taking a lot of classes in biology, chemistry, math, physics, anatomy, physiology and psychology. 

What I like about my job is that it is always very interesting and never boring. 17…………… They tell me that I have made a difference in their life and when I go home at night, I know that I have touched someone else’s life and they appreciate the work I did for them. I also love that my job combines being active and physical with being a thinker and doing a lot of problem solving. 

I love being a Physical Therapist because as the patient undergoes the rehabilitation and recovery process, I get to witness a level of perseverance and will power rarely seen in everyday life. 18……………………

Which extract mentions about a form of government that promotes a system for choosing and replacing the government officials through free and fair elections?

Which extract mentions about a form of government in which one or more deities of some type are recognized as supreme ruling authorities?

Which extract mentions about a form of government that promotes fundamental values such as religious freedom and worker rights, but also helps create a more secure, stable, and prosperous global arena in which the state can advance its national interests?

Which extract mentions about form of government of collected people who are thought to be exceptional in some way, and therefore the most qualified to rule?

Which extract mentions about a form of government wherein the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constitution may exist in some countries?

Which extract mentions about a form of government where giving divine guidance is presented to human intermediaries who manage the day-to-day affairs of the government?

Rats by Robert Sullivan

A rat is a rodent, the most common mammal in the world. Rattus norvegicus is one of the approximately four hundred different kinds of rodents, and it is known by many names, each of which describes a trait or a perceived trait or sometimes a habitat: the earth rat, the roving rat, the barn rat, the field rat, the migratory rat, the house rat, the sewer rat, the water rat, the wharf rat, the alley rat, the grey rat, the brown rat, and the common rat. The average brown rat is large and stocky; it grows to be approximately sixteen inches long from its nose to its tail—the size of a large adult human male’s foot—and weighs about a pound, though brown rats have been measured by scientists and exterminators at twenty inches and up to two pounds. The brown rat is sometimes confused with the black rat, or Rattus rattus, which is smaller and once inhabited New York City and all of the cities of America but, since Rattus norvegicus pushed it out, is now relegated to a minor role. (The two species still survive alongside each other in some Southern coastal cities and on the West Coast, in places like Los Angeles, for example, where the black rat lives in attics and palm trees.) The black rat is always a very dark grey, almost black, and the brown rat is grey or brown, with a belly that can be light grey, yellow, or even a pure-seeming white. One spring, beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, I saw a red-haired brown rat that had been run over by a car. Both pet rats and laboratory rats are Rattus norvegicus, but they are not wild and therefore, I would emphasise, not the subject of this book. Sometimes pet rats are called fancy rats. But if anyone has picked up this book to learn about fancy rats, then they should put this book down right away; none of the rats mentioned herein are at all fancy.

Rats are nocturnal, and out in the night the brown rat’s eyes are small and black and shiny; when a flashlight shines into them in the dark, the eyes of a rat light up like the eyes of a deer. Though it forages in darkness, the brown rat has poor eyesight. It makes up for this with, first of all, an excellent sense of smell. . . . They have an excellent sense of taste, detecting the most minute amounts of poison, down to one part per million. A brown rat has strong feet, the two front paws each equipped with four claw-like nails, the rear paws even longer and stronger. It can run and climb with squirrel-like agility. It is an excellent swimmer, surviving in rivers and bays, in sewer streams and toilet bowls.

The brown rat’s teeth are yellow, the front two incisors being especially long and sharp, like buck teeth. When the brown rat bites, its front two teeth spread apart. When it gnaws, a flap of skin plugs the space behind its incisors. Hence, when the rat gnaws on indigestible materials—concrete or steel, for example—the shavings don’t go down the rat’s throat and kill it. Its incisors grow at a rate of five inches per year. Rats always gnaw, and no one is certain why—there are few modern rat studies. It is sometimes erroneously stated that the rat gnaws solely to limit the length of its incisors, which would otherwise grow out of its head, but this is not the case: the incisors wear down naturally. In terms of hardness, the brown rat’s teeth are stronger than aluminium, copper, lead, and iron. They are comparable to steel. With the alligator-like structure of their jaws, rats can exert a biting pressure of up to seven thousand pounds per square inch. Rats, like mice, seem to be attracted to wires—to utility wires, computer wires, wires in vehicles, in addition to gas and water pipes. One rat expert theorises that wires may be attractive to rats because of their resemblance to vines and the stalks of plants; cables are the vines of the city. By one estimate, 26 percent of all electric-cable breaks and 18 percent of all phone-cable disruptions are caused by rats. According to one study, as many as 25 percent of all fires of unknown origin are rat-caused. Rats chew electrical cables. Sitting in a nest of tattered rags and newspapers, in the floorboards of an old tenement, a rat gnaws the head of a match—the lightning in the city forest.

When it is not gnawing or feeding on trash, the brown rat digs. Anywhere there is dirt in a city, brown rats are likely to be digging—in parks, in flower beds, in little dirt-poor backyards. They dig holes to enter buildings and to make nests. Rat nests can be in the floorboards of apartments, in the waste-stuffed corners of subway stations, in sewers, or beneath old furniture in basements. “Cluttered and unkempt alleyways in cities provide ideal rat habitat, especially those alleyways associated with food-serving establishments,” writes Robert Corrigan in Rodent Control, a pest control manual. “Alley rats can forage safely within the shadows created by the alleyway, as well as quickly retreat to the safety of cover in these narrow channels.” Often, rats burrow under concrete sidewalk slabs. Entrance to a typical under-the-sidewalk rat’s nest is gained through a two-inch-wide hole—their skeletons collapse and they can squeeze into a hole as small as three quarters of an inch wide, the average width of their skull. This tunnel then travels about a foot down to where it widens into a nest or den. The den is lined with soft debris, often shredded plastic garbage or shopping bags, but sometimes even grasses or plants; some rat nests have been found stuffed with the gnawed shavings of the wood-based, spring-loaded snap traps that are used in attempts to kill them. The back of the den then narrows into a long tunnel that opens up on another hole back on the street. This second hole is called a bolt hole; it is an emergency exit. A bolt hole is typically covered lightly with dirt or trash—camouflage. Sometimes there are networks of burrows, which can stretch beneath a few concrete squares on a sidewalk, or a number of backyards, or even an entire city block—when Rattus norvegicus first came to Selkirk, England, in 1776, there were so many burrows that people feared the town might sink. Rats can also nest in basements, sewers, manholes, abandoned pipes of any kind, floorboards, or any hole or depression. “Often,” Robert Corrigan writes, “‘city rats’ will live unbeknownst to people right beneath their feet.”

Rats also inhabit subways, as most people in New York City and any city with a subway system are well aware. Every once in a while, there are reports of rats boarding trains, but for the most part rats stay on the tracks—subway workers I have talked to refer to rats as “track rabbits.” People tend to think that the subways are filled with rats, but in fact rats are not everywhere in the system; they live in the subways according to the supply of discarded human food and sewer leaks. Sometimes, rats use the subway purely for nesting purposes; they find ways through the walls of the subway stations leading from the tracks to the restaurants and stores on the street—the vibrations of subway trains tend to create rat-size cracks and holes. Many subway rats tend to live near stations that are themselves near fast-food restaurants. At the various subway stations near Herald Square, for example, people come down from the streets and throw the food that they have not eaten onto the tracks, along with newspapers and soda bottles and, I have noticed, thousands of no longer-charged AA batteries, waiting to leak acid. The rats eat freely from the waste and sit at the side of the little streams of creamy brown sewer water that flows between the rails. They sip the water the way rats do, either with their front paws or by scooping it up with their incisors.

In paragraph 1, different rat names mainly shows that

Rats by Robert Sullivan

A rat is a rodent, the most common mammal in the world. Rattus norvegicus is one of the approximately four hundred different kinds of rodents, and it is known by many names, each of which describes a trait or a perceived trait or sometimes a habitat: the earth rat, the roving rat, the barn rat, the field rat, the migratory rat, the house rat, the sewer rat, the water rat, the wharf rat, the alley rat, the grey rat, the brown rat, and the common rat. The average brown rat is large and stocky; it grows to be approximately sixteen inches long from its nose to its tail—the size of a large adult human male’s foot—and weighs about a pound, though brown rats have been measured by scientists and exterminators at twenty inches and up to two pounds. The brown rat is sometimes confused with the black rat, or Rattus rattus, which is smaller and once inhabited New York City and all of the cities of America but, since Rattus norvegicus pushed it out, is now relegated to a minor role. (The two species still survive alongside each other in some Southern coastal cities and on the West Coast, in places like Los Angeles, for example, where the black rat lives in attics and palm trees.) The black rat is always a very dark grey, almost black, and the brown rat is grey or brown, with a belly that can be light grey, yellow, or even a pure-seeming white. One spring, beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, I saw a red-haired brown rat that had been run over by a car. Both pet rats and laboratory rats are Rattus norvegicus, but they are not wild and therefore, I would emphasise, not the subject of this book. Sometimes pet rats are called fancy rats. But if anyone has picked up this book to learn about fancy rats, then they should put this book down right away; none of the rats mentioned herein are at all fancy.

Rats are nocturnal, and out in the night the brown rat’s eyes are small and black and shiny; when a flashlight shines into them in the dark, the eyes of a rat light up like the eyes of a deer. Though it forages in darkness, the brown rat has poor eyesight. It makes up for this with, first of all, an excellent sense of smell. . . . They have an excellent sense of taste, detecting the most minute amounts of poison, down to one part per million. A brown rat has strong feet, the two front paws each equipped with four claw-like nails, the rear paws even longer and stronger. It can run and climb with squirrel-like agility. It is an excellent swimmer, surviving in rivers and bays, in sewer streams and toilet bowls.

The brown rat’s teeth are yellow, the front two incisors being especially long and sharp, like buck teeth. When the brown rat bites, its front two teeth spread apart. When it gnaws, a flap of skin plugs the space behind its incisors. Hence, when the rat gnaws on indigestible materials—concrete or steel, for example—the shavings don’t go down the rat’s throat and kill it. Its incisors grow at a rate of five inches per year. Rats always gnaw, and no one is certain why—there are few modern rat studies. It is sometimes erroneously stated that the rat gnaws solely to limit the length of its incisors, which would otherwise grow out of its head, but this is not the case: the incisors wear down naturally. In terms of hardness, the brown rat’s teeth are stronger than aluminium, copper, lead, and iron. They are comparable to steel. With the alligator-like structure of their jaws, rats can exert a biting pressure of up to seven thousand pounds per square inch. Rats, like mice, seem to be attracted to wires—to utility wires, computer wires, wires in vehicles, in addition to gas and water pipes. One rat expert theorises that wires may be attractive to rats because of their resemblance to vines and the stalks of plants; cables are the vines of the city. By one estimate, 26 percent of all electric-cable breaks and 18 percent of all phone-cable disruptions are caused by rats. According to one study, as many as 25 percent of all fires of unknown origin are rat-caused. Rats chew electrical cables. Sitting in a nest of tattered rags and newspapers, in the floorboards of an old tenement, a rat gnaws the head of a match—the lightning in the city forest.

When it is not gnawing or feeding on trash, the brown rat digs. Anywhere there is dirt in a city, brown rats are likely to be digging—in parks, in flower beds, in little dirt-poor backyards. They dig holes to enter buildings and to make nests. Rat nests can be in the floorboards of apartments, in the waste-stuffed corners of subway stations, in sewers, or beneath old furniture in basements. “Cluttered and unkempt alleyways in cities provide ideal rat habitat, especially those alleyways associated with food-serving establishments,” writes Robert Corrigan in Rodent Control, a pest control manual. “Alley rats can forage safely within the shadows created by the alleyway, as well as quickly retreat to the safety of cover in these narrow channels.” Often, rats burrow under concrete sidewalk slabs. Entrance to a typical under-the-sidewalk rat’s nest is gained through a two-inch-wide hole—their skeletons collapse and they can squeeze into a hole as small as three quarters of an inch wide, the average width of their skull. This tunnel then travels about a foot down to where it widens into a nest or den. The den is lined with soft debris, often shredded plastic garbage or shopping bags, but sometimes even grasses or plants; some rat nests have been found stuffed with the gnawed shavings of the wood-based, spring-loaded snap traps that are used in attempts to kill them. The back of the den then narrows into a long tunnel that opens up on another hole back on the street. This second hole is called a bolt hole; it is an emergency exit. A bolt hole is typically covered lightly with dirt or trash—camouflage. Sometimes there are networks of burrows, which can stretch beneath a few concrete squares on a sidewalk, or a number of backyards, or even an entire city block—when Rattus norvegicus first came to Selkirk, England, in 1776, there were so many burrows that people feared the town might sink. Rats can also nest in basements, sewers, manholes, abandoned pipes of any kind, floorboards, or any hole or depression. “Often,” Robert Corrigan writes, “‘city rats’ will live unbeknownst to people right beneath their feet.”

Rats also inhabit subways, as most people in New York City and any city with a subway system are well aware. Every once in a while, there are reports of rats boarding trains, but for the most part rats stay on the tracks—subway workers I have talked to refer to rats as “track rabbits.” People tend to think that the subways are filled with rats, but in fact rats are not everywhere in the system; they live in the subways according to the supply of discarded human food and sewer leaks. Sometimes, rats use the subway purely for nesting purposes; they find ways through the walls of the subway stations leading from the tracks to the restaurants and stores on the street—the vibrations of subway trains tend to create rat-size cracks and holes. Many subway rats tend to live near stations that are themselves near fast-food restaurants. At the various subway stations near Herald Square, for example, people come down from the streets and throw the food that they have not eaten onto the tracks, along with newspapers and soda bottles and, I have noticed, thousands of no longer-charged AA batteries, waiting to leak acid. The rats eat freely from the waste and sit at the side of the little streams of creamy brown sewer water that flows between the rails. They sip the water the way rats do, either with their front paws or by scooping it up with their incisors.

The end of paragraph 2 mainly emphasises…

Rats by Robert Sullivan

A rat is a rodent, the most common mammal in the world. Rattus norvegicus is one of the approximately four hundred different kinds of rodents, and it is known by many names, each of which describes a trait or a perceived trait or sometimes a habitat: the earth rat, the roving rat, the barn rat, the field rat, the migratory rat, the house rat, the sewer rat, the water rat, the wharf rat, the alley rat, the grey rat, the brown rat, and the common rat. The average brown rat is large and stocky; it grows to be approximately sixteen inches long from its nose to its tail—the size of a large adult human male’s foot—and weighs about a pound, though brown rats have been measured by scientists and exterminators at twenty inches and up to two pounds. The brown rat is sometimes confused with the black rat, or Rattus rattus, which is smaller and once inhabited New York City and all of the cities of America but, since Rattus norvegicus pushed it out, is now relegated to a minor role. (The two species still survive alongside each other in some Southern coastal cities and on the West Coast, in places like Los Angeles, for example, where the black rat lives in attics and palm trees.) The black rat is always a very dark grey, almost black, and the brown rat is grey or brown, with a belly that can be light grey, yellow, or even a pure-seeming white. One spring, beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, I saw a red-haired brown rat that had been run over by a car. Both pet rats and laboratory rats are Rattus norvegicus, but they are not wild and therefore, I would emphasise, not the subject of this book. Sometimes pet rats are called fancy rats. But if anyone has picked up this book to learn about fancy rats, then they should put this book down right away; none of the rats mentioned herein are at all fancy.

Rats are nocturnal, and out in the night the brown rat’s eyes are small and black and shiny; when a flashlight shines into them in the dark, the eyes of a rat light up like the eyes of a deer. Though it forages in darkness, the brown rat has poor eyesight. It makes up for this with, first of all, an excellent sense of smell. . . . They have an excellent sense of taste, detecting the most minute amounts of poison, down to one part per million. A brown rat has strong feet, the two front paws each equipped with four claw-like nails, the rear paws even longer and stronger. It can run and climb with squirrel-like agility. It is an excellent swimmer, surviving in rivers and bays, in sewer streams and toilet bowls.

The brown rat’s teeth are yellow, the front two incisors being especially long and sharp, like buck teeth. When the brown rat bites, its front two teeth spread apart. When it gnaws, a flap of skin plugs the space behind its incisors. Hence, when the rat gnaws on indigestible materials—concrete or steel, for example—the shavings don’t go down the rat’s throat and kill it. Its incisors grow at a rate of five inches per year. Rats always gnaw, and no one is certain why—there are few modern rat studies. It is sometimes erroneously stated that the rat gnaws solely to limit the length of its incisors, which would otherwise grow out of its head, but this is not the case: the incisors wear down naturally. In terms of hardness, the brown rat’s teeth are stronger than aluminium, copper, lead, and iron. They are comparable to steel. With the alligator-like structure of their jaws, rats can exert a biting pressure of up to seven thousand pounds per square inch. Rats, like mice, seem to be attracted to wires—to utility wires, computer wires, wires in vehicles, in addition to gas and water pipes. One rat expert theorises that wires may be attractive to rats because of their resemblance to vines and the stalks of plants; cables are the vines of the city. By one estimate, 26 percent of all electric-cable breaks and 18 percent of all phone-cable disruptions are caused by rats. According to one study, as many as 25 percent of all fires of unknown origin are rat-caused. Rats chew electrical cables. Sitting in a nest of tattered rags and newspapers, in the floorboards of an old tenement, a rat gnaws the head of a match—the lightning in the city forest.

When it is not gnawing or feeding on trash, the brown rat digs. Anywhere there is dirt in a city, brown rats are likely to be digging—in parks, in flower beds, in little dirt-poor backyards. They dig holes to enter buildings and to make nests. Rat nests can be in the floorboards of apartments, in the waste-stuffed corners of subway stations, in sewers, or beneath old furniture in basements. “Cluttered and unkempt alleyways in cities provide ideal rat habitat, especially those alleyways associated with food-serving establishments,” writes Robert Corrigan in Rodent Control, a pest control manual. “Alley rats can forage safely within the shadows created by the alleyway, as well as quickly retreat to the safety of cover in these narrow channels.” Often, rats burrow under concrete sidewalk slabs. Entrance to a typical under-the-sidewalk rat’s nest is gained through a two-inch-wide hole—their skeletons collapse and they can squeeze into a hole as small as three quarters of an inch wide, the average width of their skull. This tunnel then travels about a foot down to where it widens into a nest or den. The den is lined with soft debris, often shredded plastic garbage or shopping bags, but sometimes even grasses or plants; some rat nests have been found stuffed with the gnawed shavings of the wood-based, spring-loaded snap traps that are used in attempts to kill them. The back of the den then narrows into a long tunnel that opens up on another hole back on the street. This second hole is called a bolt hole; it is an emergency exit. A bolt hole is typically covered lightly with dirt or trash—camouflage. Sometimes there are networks of burrows, which can stretch beneath a few concrete squares on a sidewalk, or a number of backyards, or even an entire city block—when Rattus norvegicus first came to Selkirk, England, in 1776, there were so many burrows that people feared the town might sink. Rats can also nest in basements, sewers, manholes, abandoned pipes of any kind, floorboards, or any hole or depression. “Often,” Robert Corrigan writes, “‘city rats’ will live unbeknownst to people right beneath their feet.”

Rats also inhabit subways, as most people in New York City and any city with a subway system are well aware. Every once in a while, there are reports of rats boarding trains, but for the most part rats stay on the tracks—subway workers I have talked to refer to rats as “track rabbits.” People tend to think that the subways are filled with rats, but in fact rats are not everywhere in the system; they live in the subways according to the supply of discarded human food and sewer leaks. Sometimes, rats use the subway purely for nesting purposes; they find ways through the walls of the subway stations leading from the tracks to the restaurants and stores on the street—the vibrations of subway trains tend to create rat-size cracks and holes. Many subway rats tend to live near stations that are themselves near fast-food restaurants. At the various subway stations near Herald Square, for example, people come down from the streets and throw the food that they have not eaten onto the tracks, along with newspapers and soda bottles and, I have noticed, thousands of no longer-charged AA batteries, waiting to leak acid. The rats eat freely from the waste and sit at the side of the little streams of creamy brown sewer water that flows between the rails. They sip the water the way rats do, either with their front paws or by scooping it up with their incisors.

The reason why the author states “cables are the vines of the city” in paragraph 3 would most likely mean

Rats by Robert Sullivan

A rat is a rodent, the most common mammal in the world. Rattus norvegicus is one of the approximately four hundred different kinds of rodents, and it is known by many names, each of which describes a trait or a perceived trait or sometimes a habitat: the earth rat, the roving rat, the barn rat, the field rat, the migratory rat, the house rat, the sewer rat, the water rat, the wharf rat, the alley rat, the grey rat, the brown rat, and the common rat. The average brown rat is large and stocky; it grows to be approximately sixteen inches long from its nose to its tail—the size of a large adult human male’s foot—and weighs about a pound, though brown rats have been measured by scientists and exterminators at twenty inches and up to two pounds. The brown rat is sometimes confused with the black rat, or Rattus rattus, which is smaller and once inhabited New York City and all of the cities of America but, since Rattus norvegicus pushed it out, is now relegated to a minor role. (The two species still survive alongside each other in some Southern coastal cities and on the West Coast, in places like Los Angeles, for example, where the black rat lives in attics and palm trees.) The black rat is always a very dark grey, almost black, and the brown rat is grey or brown, with a belly that can be light grey, yellow, or even a pure-seeming white. One spring, beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, I saw a red-haired brown rat that had been run over by a car. Both pet rats and laboratory rats are Rattus norvegicus, but they are not wild and therefore, I would emphasise, not the subject of this book. Sometimes pet rats are called fancy rats. But if anyone has picked up this book to learn about fancy rats, then they should put this book down right away; none of the rats mentioned herein are at all fancy.

Rats are nocturnal, and out in the night the brown rat’s eyes are small and black and shiny; when a flashlight shines into them in the dark, the eyes of a rat light up like the eyes of a deer. Though it forages in darkness, the brown rat has poor eyesight. It makes up for this with, first of all, an excellent sense of smell. . . . They have an excellent sense of taste, detecting the most minute amounts of poison, down to one part per million. A brown rat has strong feet, the two front paws each equipped with four claw-like nails, the rear paws even longer and stronger. It can run and climb with squirrel-like agility. It is an excellent swimmer, surviving in rivers and bays, in sewer streams and toilet bowls.

The brown rat’s teeth are yellow, the front two incisors being especially long and sharp, like buck teeth. When the brown rat bites, its front two teeth spread apart. When it gnaws, a flap of skin plugs the space behind its incisors. Hence, when the rat gnaws on indigestible materials—concrete or steel, for example—the shavings don’t go down the rat’s throat and kill it. Its incisors grow at a rate of five inches per year. Rats always gnaw, and no one is certain why—there are few modern rat studies. It is sometimes erroneously stated that the rat gnaws solely to limit the length of its incisors, which would otherwise grow out of its head, but this is not the case: the incisors wear down naturally. In terms of hardness, the brown rat’s teeth are stronger than aluminium, copper, lead, and iron. They are comparable to steel. With the alligator-like structure of their jaws, rats can exert a biting pressure of up to seven thousand pounds per square inch. Rats, like mice, seem to be attracted to wires—to utility wires, computer wires, wires in vehicles, in addition to gas and water pipes. One rat expert theorises that wires may be attractive to rats because of their resemblance to vines and the stalks of plants; cables are the vines of the city. By one estimate, 26 percent of all electric-cable breaks and 18 percent of all phone-cable disruptions are caused by rats. According to one study, as many as 25 percent of all fires of unknown origin are rat-caused. Rats chew electrical cables. Sitting in a nest of tattered rags and newspapers, in the floorboards of an old tenement, a rat gnaws the head of a match—the lightning in the city forest.

When it is not gnawing or feeding on trash, the brown rat digs. Anywhere there is dirt in a city, brown rats are likely to be digging—in parks, in flower beds, in little dirt-poor backyards. They dig holes to enter buildings and to make nests. Rat nests can be in the floorboards of apartments, in the waste-stuffed corners of subway stations, in sewers, or beneath old furniture in basements. “Cluttered and unkempt alleyways in cities provide ideal rat habitat, especially those alleyways associated with food-serving establishments,” writes Robert Corrigan in Rodent Control, a pest control manual. “Alley rats can forage safely within the shadows created by the alleyway, as well as quickly retreat to the safety of cover in these narrow channels.” Often, rats burrow under concrete sidewalk slabs. Entrance to a typical under-the-sidewalk rat’s nest is gained through a two-inch-wide hole—their skeletons collapse and they can squeeze into a hole as small as three quarters of an inch wide, the average width of their skull. This tunnel then travels about a foot down to where it widens into a nest or den. The den is lined with soft debris, often shredded plastic garbage or shopping bags, but sometimes even grasses or plants; some rat nests have been found stuffed with the gnawed shavings of the wood-based, spring-loaded snap traps that are used in attempts to kill them. The back of the den then narrows into a long tunnel that opens up on another hole back on the street. This second hole is called a bolt hole; it is an emergency exit. A bolt hole is typically covered lightly with dirt or trash—camouflage. Sometimes there are networks of burrows, which can stretch beneath a few concrete squares on a sidewalk, or a number of backyards, or even an entire city block—when Rattus norvegicus first came to Selkirk, England, in 1776, there were so many burrows that people feared the town might sink. Rats can also nest in basements, sewers, manholes, abandoned pipes of any kind, floorboards, or any hole or depression. “Often,” Robert Corrigan writes, “‘city rats’ will live unbeknownst to people right beneath their feet.”

Rats also inhabit subways, as most people in New York City and any city with a subway system are well aware. Every once in a while, there are reports of rats boarding trains, but for the most part rats stay on the tracks—subway workers I have talked to refer to rats as “track rabbits.” People tend to think that the subways are filled with rats, but in fact rats are not everywhere in the system; they live in the subways according to the supply of discarded human food and sewer leaks. Sometimes, rats use the subway purely for nesting purposes; they find ways through the walls of the subway stations leading from the tracks to the restaurants and stores on the street—the vibrations of subway trains tend to create rat-size cracks and holes. Many subway rats tend to live near stations that are themselves near fast-food restaurants. At the various subway stations near Herald Square, for example, people come down from the streets and throw the food that they have not eaten onto the tracks, along with newspapers and soda bottles and, I have noticed, thousands of no longer-charged AA batteries, waiting to leak acid. The rats eat freely from the waste and sit at the side of the little streams of creamy brown sewer water that flows between the rails. They sip the water the way rats do, either with their front paws or by scooping it up with their incisors.

The main purposes of the statistics in paragraph 3 is

Rats by Robert Sullivan

A rat is a rodent, the most common mammal in the world. Rattus norvegicus is one of the approximately four hundred different kinds of rodents, and it is known by many names, each of which describes a trait or a perceived trait or sometimes a habitat: the earth rat, the roving rat, the barn rat, the field rat, the migratory rat, the house rat, the sewer rat, the water rat, the wharf rat, the alley rat, the grey rat, the brown rat, and the common rat. The average brown rat is large and stocky; it grows to be approximately sixteen inches long from its nose to its tail—the size of a large adult human male’s foot—and weighs about a pound, though brown rats have been measured by scientists and exterminators at twenty inches and up to two pounds. The brown rat is sometimes confused with the black rat, or Rattus rattus, which is smaller and once inhabited New York City and all of the cities of America but, since Rattus norvegicus pushed it out, is now relegated to a minor role. (The two species still survive alongside each other in some Southern coastal cities and on the West Coast, in places like Los Angeles, for example, where the black rat lives in attics and palm trees.) The black rat is always a very dark grey, almost black, and the brown rat is grey or brown, with a belly that can be light grey, yellow, or even a pure-seeming white. One spring, beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, I saw a red-haired brown rat that had been run over by a car. Both pet rats and laboratory rats are Rattus norvegicus, but they are not wild and therefore, I would emphasise, not the subject of this book. Sometimes pet rats are called fancy rats. But if anyone has picked up this book to learn about fancy rats, then they should put this book down right away; none of the rats mentioned herein are at all fancy.

Rats are nocturnal, and out in the night the brown rat’s eyes are small and black and shiny; when a flashlight shines into them in the dark, the eyes of a rat light up like the eyes of a deer. Though it forages in darkness, the brown rat has poor eyesight. It makes up for this with, first of all, an excellent sense of smell. . . . They have an excellent sense of taste, detecting the most minute amounts of poison, down to one part per million. A brown rat has strong feet, the two front paws each equipped with four claw-like nails, the rear paws even longer and stronger. It can run and climb with squirrel-like agility. It is an excellent swimmer, surviving in rivers and bays, in sewer streams and toilet bowls.

The brown rat’s teeth are yellow, the front two incisors being especially long and sharp, like buck teeth. When the brown rat bites, its front two teeth spread apart. When it gnaws, a flap of skin plugs the space behind its incisors. Hence, when the rat gnaws on indigestible materials—concrete or steel, for example—the shavings don’t go down the rat’s throat and kill it. Its incisors grow at a rate of five inches per year. Rats always gnaw, and no one is certain why—there are few modern rat studies. It is sometimes erroneously stated that the rat gnaws solely to limit the length of its incisors, which would otherwise grow out of its head, but this is not the case: the incisors wear down naturally. In terms of hardness, the brown rat’s teeth are stronger than aluminium, copper, lead, and iron. They are comparable to steel. With the alligator-like structure of their jaws, rats can exert a biting pressure of up to seven thousand pounds per square inch. Rats, like mice, seem to be attracted to wires—to utility wires, computer wires, wires in vehicles, in addition to gas and water pipes. One rat expert theorises that wires may be attractive to rats because of their resemblance to vines and the stalks of plants; cables are the vines of the city. By one estimate, 26 percent of all electric-cable breaks and 18 percent of all phone-cable disruptions are caused by rats. According to one study, as many as 25 percent of all fires of unknown origin are rat-caused. Rats chew electrical cables. Sitting in a nest of tattered rags and newspapers, in the floorboards of an old tenement, a rat gnaws the head of a match—the lightning in the city forest.

When it is not gnawing or feeding on trash, the brown rat digs. Anywhere there is dirt in a city, brown rats are likely to be digging—in parks, in flower beds, in little dirt-poor backyards. They dig holes to enter buildings and to make nests. Rat nests can be in the floorboards of apartments, in the waste-stuffed corners of subway stations, in sewers, or beneath old furniture in basements. “Cluttered and unkempt alleyways in cities provide ideal rat habitat, especially those alleyways associated with food-serving establishments,” writes Robert Corrigan in Rodent Control, a pest control manual. “Alley rats can forage safely within the shadows created by the alleyway, as well as quickly retreat to the safety of cover in these narrow channels.” Often, rats burrow under concrete sidewalk slabs. Entrance to a typical under-the-sidewalk rat’s nest is gained through a two-inch-wide hole—their skeletons collapse and they can squeeze into a hole as small as three quarters of an inch wide, the average width of their skull. This tunnel then travels about a foot down to where it widens into a nest or den. The den is lined with soft debris, often shredded plastic garbage or shopping bags, but sometimes even grasses or plants; some rat nests have been found stuffed with the gnawed shavings of the wood-based, spring-loaded snap traps that are used in attempts to kill them. The back of the den then narrows into a long tunnel that opens up on another hole back on the street. This second hole is called a bolt hole; it is an emergency exit. A bolt hole is typically covered lightly with dirt or trash—camouflage. Sometimes there are networks of burrows, which can stretch beneath a few concrete squares on a sidewalk, or a number of backyards, or even an entire city block—when Rattus norvegicus first came to Selkirk, England, in 1776, there were so many burrows that people feared the town might sink. Rats can also nest in basements, sewers, manholes, abandoned pipes of any kind, floorboards, or any hole or depression. “Often,” Robert Corrigan writes, “‘city rats’ will live unbeknownst to people right beneath their feet.”

Rats also inhabit subways, as most people in New York City and any city with a subway system are well aware. Every once in a while, there are reports of rats boarding trains, but for the most part rats stay on the tracks—subway workers I have talked to refer to rats as “track rabbits.” People tend to think that the subways are filled with rats, but in fact rats are not everywhere in the system; they live in the subways according to the supply of discarded human food and sewer leaks. Sometimes, rats use the subway purely for nesting purposes; they find ways through the walls of the subway stations leading from the tracks to the restaurants and stores on the street—the vibrations of subway trains tend to create rat-size cracks and holes. Many subway rats tend to live near stations that are themselves near fast-food restaurants. At the various subway stations near Herald Square, for example, people come down from the streets and throw the food that they have not eaten onto the tracks, along with newspapers and soda bottles and, I have noticed, thousands of no longer-charged AA batteries, waiting to leak acid. The rats eat freely from the waste and sit at the side of the little streams of creamy brown sewer water that flows between the rails. They sip the water the way rats do, either with their front paws or by scooping it up with their incisors.

The information between the dashes in paragraph 1 provide

Rats by Robert Sullivan

A rat is a rodent, the most common mammal in the world. Rattus norvegicus is one of the approximately four hundred different kinds of rodents, and it is known by many names, each of which describes a trait or a perceived trait or sometimes a habitat: the earth rat, the roving rat, the barn rat, the field rat, the migratory rat, the house rat, the sewer rat, the water rat, the wharf rat, the alley rat, the grey rat, the brown rat, and the common rat. The average brown rat is large and stocky; it grows to be approximately sixteen inches long from its nose to its tail—the size of a large adult human male’s foot—and weighs about a pound, though brown rats have been measured by scientists and exterminators at twenty inches and up to two pounds. The brown rat is sometimes confused with the black rat, or Rattus rattus, which is smaller and once inhabited New York City and all of the cities of America but, since Rattus norvegicus pushed it out, is now relegated to a minor role. (The two species still survive alongside each other in some Southern coastal cities and on the West Coast, in places like Los Angeles, for example, where the black rat lives in attics and palm trees.) The black rat is always a very dark grey, almost black, and the brown rat is grey or brown, with a belly that can be light grey, yellow, or even a pure-seeming white. One spring, beneath the Brooklyn Bridge, I saw a red-haired brown rat that had been run over by a car. Both pet rats and laboratory rats are Rattus norvegicus, but they are not wild and therefore, I would emphasise, not the subject of this book. Sometimes pet rats are called fancy rats. But if anyone has picked up this book to learn about fancy rats, then they should put this book down right away; none of the rats mentioned herein are at all fancy.

Rats are nocturnal, and out in the night the brown rat’s eyes are small and black and shiny; when a flashlight shines into them in the dark, the eyes of a rat light up like the eyes of a deer. Though it forages in darkness, the brown rat has poor eyesight. It makes up for this with, first of all, an excellent sense of smell. . . . They have an excellent sense of taste, detecting the most minute amounts of poison, down to one part per million. A brown rat has strong feet, the two front paws each equipped with four claw-like nails, the rear paws even longer and stronger. It can run and climb with squirrel-like agility. It is an excellent swimmer, surviving in rivers and bays, in sewer streams and toilet bowls.

The brown rat’s teeth are yellow, the front two incisors being especially long and sharp, like buck teeth. When the brown rat bites, its front two teeth spread apart. When it gnaws, a flap of skin plugs the space behind its incisors. Hence, when the rat gnaws on indigestible materials—concrete or steel, for example—the shavings don’t go down the rat’s throat and kill it. Its incisors grow at a rate of five inches per year. Rats always gnaw, and no one is certain why—there are few modern rat studies. It is sometimes erroneously stated that the rat gnaws solely to limit the length of its incisors, which would otherwise grow out of its head, but this is not the case: the incisors wear down naturally. In terms of hardness, the brown rat’s teeth are stronger than aluminium, copper, lead, and iron. They are comparable to steel. With the alligator-like structure of their jaws, rats can exert a biting pressure of up to seven thousand pounds per square inch. Rats, like mice, seem to be attracted to wires—to utility wires, computer wires, wires in vehicles, in addition to gas and water pipes. One rat expert theorises that wires may be attractive to rats because of their resemblance to vines and the stalks of plants; cables are the vines of the city. By one estimate, 26 percent of all electric-cable breaks and 18 percent of all phone-cable disruptions are caused by rats. According to one study, as many as 25 percent of all fires of unknown origin are rat-caused. Rats chew electrical cables. Sitting in a nest of tattered rags and newspapers, in the floorboards of an old tenement, a rat gnaws the head of a match—the lightning in the city forest.

When it is not gnawing or feeding on trash, the brown rat digs. Anywhere there is dirt in a city, brown rats are likely to be digging—in parks, in flower beds, in little dirt-poor backyards. They dig holes to enter buildings and to make nests. Rat nests can be in the floorboards of apartments, in the waste-stuffed corners of subway stations, in sewers, or beneath old furniture in basements. “Cluttered and unkempt alleyways in cities provide ideal rat habitat, especially those alleyways associated with food-serving establishments,” writes Robert Corrigan in Rodent Control, a pest control manual. “Alley rats can forage safely within the shadows created by the alleyway, as well as quickly retreat to the safety of cover in these narrow channels.” Often, rats burrow under concrete sidewalk slabs. Entrance to a typical under-the-sidewalk rat’s nest is gained through a two-inch-wide hole—their skeletons collapse and they can squeeze into a hole as small as three quarters of an inch wide, the average width of their skull. This tunnel then travels about a foot down to where it widens into a nest or den. The den is lined with soft debris, often shredded plastic garbage or shopping bags, but sometimes even grasses or plants; some rat nests have been found stuffed with the gnawed shavings of the wood-based, spring-loaded snap traps that are used in attempts to kill them. The back of the den then narrows into a long tunnel that opens up on another hole back on the street. This second hole is called a bolt hole; it is an emergency exit. A bolt hole is typically covered lightly with dirt or trash—camouflage. Sometimes there are networks of burrows, which can stretch beneath a few concrete squares on a sidewalk, or a number of backyards, or even an entire city block—when Rattus norvegicus first came to Selkirk, England, in 1776, there were so many burrows that people feared the town might sink. Rats can also nest in basements, sewers, manholes, abandoned pipes of any kind, floorboards, or any hole or depression. “Often,” Robert Corrigan writes, “‘city rats’ will live unbeknownst to people right beneath their feet.”

Rats also inhabit subways, as most people in New York City and any city with a subway system are well aware. Every once in a while, there are reports of rats boarding trains, but for the most part rats stay on the tracks—subway workers I have talked to refer to rats as “track rabbits.” People tend to think that the subways are filled with rats, but in fact rats are not everywhere in the system; they live in the subways according to the supply of discarded human food and sewer leaks. Sometimes, rats use the subway purely for nesting purposes; they find ways through the walls of the subway stations leading from the tracks to the restaurants and stores on the street—the vibrations of subway trains tend to create rat-size cracks and holes. Many subway rats tend to live near stations that are themselves near fast-food restaurants. At the various subway stations near Herald Square, for example, people come down from the streets and throw the food that they have not eaten onto the tracks, along with newspapers and soda bottles and, I have noticed, thousands of no longer-charged AA batteries, waiting to leak acid. The rats eat freely from the waste and sit at the side of the little streams of creamy brown sewer water that flows between the rails. They sip the water the way rats do, either with their front paws or by scooping it up with their incisors.

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