Reading Standards for Literature > Comparing Perspectives (CCSS.RL.7.9) Practice Test

Story (Historical Fiction) Maggie had ink on her fingers and sand in her shoes, as always. The wind off the dunes at Kitty Hawk pushed at the door of the telegraph office until it rattled like a tin drum. "They're hauling the machine out again," Mr. Etheridge called from the porch of the lifesaving station. By noon the dunes were dotted with locals and surfmen who had slipped away from their duties to watch. Word traveled fast when something unusual was about to happen.

Two brothers from Ohio, Orville and Wilbur Wright, stood beside a contraption of spruce and cloth. "Steady, Wil," someone said. Maggie wasn't sure which one spoke; she only knew her heart bounced like the loose window sash. The brothers had tried already that morning, skimming the sand like a skipping shell, then mending a strut as patiently as quilt work. "One more," Orville said, and he lay flat on the lower wing.

The machine jolted on its track, dipped, and then—impossibly—rose. For a breath it seemed to hesitate, as if deciding whether to trust the air. A cheer rushed up from the dune. The flyer drifted down after a blink—twelve seconds, someone guessed—but a grin cracked Wilbur's face wide open. "We did it," Maggie whispered, and she was already thinking of wire routes, names to spell right, how to tell the world.

By afternoon, with the wind still singing, the machine flew farther. A surfman slapped Maggie on the shoulder. "Go on then—send it!" She ran to the telegraph key and tapped out the message to Ohio, fingers clumsy, heart fleet: SUCCESS FOUR FLIGHTS THURSDAY MORNING AT KITTY HAWK. She added a line about a sturdy crowd and four tries, because it felt truer than bare numbers. When she looked back toward the dunes, the brothers shook hands like men who knew they had changed the hinge on history and the way doors open.

Historical Account On December 17, 1903, at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved the first controlled, sustained, powered flight of a heavier-than-air machine. Their success followed years of experiments with gliders and an unsuccessful powered attempt on December 14, during which the craft lifted briefly but was damaged on landing. After repairs, the brothers returned to the sand flats on December 17 in steady winds of about 20–27 miles per hour.

Only a small group witnessed the flights, including several members of the local U.S. Life-Saving Service. At 10:35 a.m., Orville piloted the first flight, lasting 12 seconds over a distance of 120 feet. Three additional flights occurred that day, with the longest covering 852 feet in 59 seconds under Wilbur's control. Afterward, the brothers sent a telegram to their father in Dayton, Ohio, reporting the results. While the achievement drew significant attention once reported, the immediate scene was modest—no large crowd or formal ceremony. The Wrights' careful recordkeeping of times and distances, along with photographs taken by a lifesaver, provided evidence that distinguishes December 17, 1903, as the date of the first powered, controlled flights.

Story (Historical Fiction) On the first Monday after Mrs. Parks was arrested, Calvin laced his shoes tight. The bus rumbled past with its empty seats and wide windows, and he felt the pull to climb on. But Mrs. Carter stood at the church steps with a stack of flyers she had run off in her kitchen all night. "Walk with us," she said, her voice low but steady. Calvin slipped a leaflet into his pocket: NO RIDES TODAY. LET YOUR FEET BE YOUR VOICE.

That week felt like a whole season. Men in pressed suits offered rides in old sedans; ladies with casserole dishes passed out biscuits to walkers at noon. At a mass meeting, a young preacher everyone was just getting to know—Rev. King—took the pulpit. Mrs. Carter rose afterward and told the crowd the plan: "We will meet drivers at sunrise, we will share cars, and we will not be moved by teasing or threats." The church shook with amens. Calvin thought the city had never sounded so loud with footsteps.

On Friday, the courtroom was packed. "Quiet," the judge said, banging his gavel. Calvin watched Mrs. Carter speak for the committee, her words crisp as a snapped twig. The judge looked over his glasses, sighed, and read the decision. People squeezed hands. By the next morning, drivers waved as Black riders took any seat they wished. Calvin and his mother boarded together and sat near the front. Though the bus looked the same, it felt like a new thing rolling down the street.

Historical Account The Montgomery Bus Boycott began on December 5, 1955, following the arrest of Rosa Parks on December 1 for refusing to surrender her seat to a white passenger. Organized by the newly formed Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and led by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the boycott initially targeted one day but continued for 381 days. Carpool systems were established, churches served as meeting places, and thousands of Black residents walked to work.

Leaders of the movement included many community organizers and groups, such as Jo Ann Robinson and the Women's Political Council, who helped produce and distribute leaflets calling for action. Legal challenges proceeded through state and federal courts, culminating in the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Browder v. Gayle (November 1956) that bus segregation was unconstitutional. City and bus officials received the mandate in December 1956, and Montgomery's buses were desegregated on December 20, 1956. The boycott's success resulted from sustained community organization, lengthy legal processes, and persistent nonviolent protest, rather than a single courtroom event that immediately changed policy the next day.