Name: Date:

Nobel Speech (with Nobel

Speech—video)
Al Gore

FIRST READ: Comprehension

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

1. According to Gore’s Nobel speech, why is little being done to reduce global
warming?
a. People know that the problem will resolve itself.
b. People fail to recognize the danger of the situation.
c. People assume that the government is tackling the issue.
d. People think that global warming is good for the earth.

2. What solution to reduce global warming does Gore propose in his Nobel
speech?
a. ban motor vehicles
b. close coal factories
c. limit CO2 emissions
d. release trapped heat

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 3. Near the end of his Nobel speech, why does Gore criticize the United States
and China?
a. The countries do not encourage other nations to help solve the
environmental crisis.
b. The countries fail to attend international meetings to discuss global
warming concerns.
c. The countries refuse to share useful renewable energy technologies with
other nations.
d. The countries emit the most CO2 in the world but do little to control its
negative impact.

FIRST READ: Concept Vocabulary

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

4. Which of the following situations could best be used to illustrate the meaning
of crisis?
a. a chilly afternoon
b. a blooming flower
c. a hibernating bear
d. a spreading wildfire

5. If a police officer gives directions with urgency, then which of the

following must be true? Base your answer on the meaning of urgency.
a. The police officer’s directions should be completely ignored.
b. The police officer’s directions should be considered a warning.
c. The police officer’s directions should be followed immediately.
d. The police officer’s directions should be remembered for later.

6. What is most likely the meaning of illusion in the following sentence?

A carnival mirror creates the illusion that people are taller than they actually are.

a. shocking surprise
b. false appearance
c. unpleasant truth
d. undeniable fact

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CLOSE READ: Analyze the Text
Identify the choice that best answers the question.

7. Read the following excerpt from Gore’s Nobel speech.

Last September 21, as the Northern Hemisphere tilted away from the sun, scientists
reported with unprecedented distress that the North Polar ice cap is “falling off a
cliff.” One study estimated that it could be completely gone during summer in less
than 22 years. Another new study, to be presented by U.S. Navy researchers later
this week, warns it could happen in as little as 7 years.
Seven years from now.

What is the impact of the one-sentence paragraph?

a. It shows that people have plenty of time to fix global warming.
b. It reveals that Gore does not understand the Navy’s new study.
c. It starkly emphasizes just how quickly the North Polar ice cap is melting.
d. It suggests that the second study contains questionable research.

8. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A Which answer choice describes Gore’s main reason for writing his
Nobel speech?
a. to convince people to act
b. to describe scientific facts
c. to demand a political treaty
d. to thank the prize committee

Part B Which sentence from the Nobel speech best supports the answer to
Part A?
a. Seven years later, Alfred Nobel created this prize and the others that bear
his name.
b. The experts have told us it is not a passing affliction that will heal by itself.
c. We are what is wrong, and we must make it right.
d. The very web of life on which we depend is being ripped and frayed.

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9. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A In his Nobel speech, what is Gore’s attitude regarding the progress
made to reduce global warming?
a. distrustful but forgiving
b. concerned but positive
c. pleased but confused
d. interested but lazy

Part B Which sentence from the speech best supports the answer to Part A?
a. We, the human species, are confronting a planetary emergency—a threat
to the survival of our civilization that is gathering ominous and destructive
potential even as we gather here.
b. So today, we dumped another 70 million tons of global-warming pollution
into the thin shell of atmosphere surrounding our planet, as if it were an
open sewer.
c. We must quickly mobilize our civilization with the urgency and resolve
that has previously been seen only when nations mobilized for war.
d. These are the last few years of decision, but they can be the first years of a
bright and hopeful future if we do what we must.

10. Read the following sentence from Gore’s Nobel speech.

In every land, the truth—once known—has the power to set us free.

What is most likely the point that Gore is making with this statement?
a. Freedom is more important than acknowledging truth.
b. Truth should only be shared with certain individuals.
c. People who become aware of the truth can change.
d. Every nation has a different understanding of truth.

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CLOSE READ: Analyze Craft and Structure
Identify the choice that best answers the question.

11. Read the following excerpt from Gore’s Nobel speech.

After performing 10,000 equations by hand, Svante Arrhenius calculated that the
earth’s average temperature would increase by many degrees if we doubled the
amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

What persuasive technique is Gore using?

a. an appeal to truth
b. an appeal to reason
c. an appeal to emotion
d. an appeal to authority

12. Which of the following phrases from Gore’s Nobel speech convey strong
emotion? Choose three options.
a. increasing alarm
b. quantities of coal
c. two decades
d. extraordinary threat
e. hometown paper
f. climate crisis

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 13. The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A How does Gore appeal to reason in his Nobel speech?

a. He compares his opinion to public opinion.
b. He presents logical arguments supported by facts.
c. He supports his ideas with celebrity statements.
d. He uses words that convey very strong emotions.

Part B Which quotation from the speech best illustrates the answer to Part A?
a. In the last few months, it has been harder and harder to misinterpret the
signs that our world is spinning out of kilter. Major cities in North and
South America, Asia and Australia are nearly out of water due to massive
droughts and melting glaciers.
b. In the years since this prize was first awarded, the entire relationship
between humankind and the earth has been radically transformed. And
still, we have remained largely oblivious to the impact of our cumulative
actions.
c. Now comes the threat of climate crisis—a threat that is real, rising,
imminent, and universal. Once again, it is the 11th hour.
d. Cordell Hull was described by Franklin Roosevelt as the “Father of the
United Nations.” He was an inspiration and hero to my own father, who
followed Hull in the Congress and the U.S. Senate and in his commitment
to world peace and global cooperation.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: Word Study

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

14. What is the meaning of the Latin prefix uni-?

a. having or consisting of few
b. having or consisting of many
c. having or consisting of nothing
d. having or consisting of only one

15. The word cellular means “made of cells.” Use this information as well as your
knowledge of the prefix uni- to select the correct definition of unicellular.
a. made of no cells
b. made of one cell
c. made of few cells
d. made of many cells

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LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: Conventions
Identify the choice that best answers the question.

16. Which words in the following sentence form an infinitive phrase?

The company hoped to decrease air pollution by creating a new plan.

a. The company hoped

b. to decrease air pollution
c. by creating
d. a new plan

17. Which of the following sentences contains an infinitive phrase that acts as an
adjective?
a. To recycle more was our class goal for this year.
b. Starting the environmental club was a good idea.
c. We hoped to stop the wastefulness at our school.
d. Marcus is the person to speak with about the club.

18. Read the following sentence.

Reading science magazines keeps me informed about current issues.

The phrase reading science magazines is which of the following?

a. a gerund phrase that acts as a subject
b. an infinitive phrase that acts as a noun
c. an infinitive phrase that acts as an adverb
d. a gerund phrase that acts as a direct object

Comparing Text to Media

Identify the choice that best answers the question.

19. How might the video of Al Gore’s Nobel acceptance speech be

considered more effective than the text of his Nobel speech?
a. Only the video calls the audience to action to reduce global warming.
b. Only the video includes relevant facts that support Gore’s arguments.
c. Only the video allows the audience to hear the emotion in Gore’s voice.
d. Only the video conveys Gore’s concern for the state of the environment.

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20. How is the video of Al Gore’s Nobel acceptance speech similar to the text of
his Nobel speech?
a. The format is the same.
b. The content is the same.
c. The medium is the same.
d. The appearance is the same.