Yani Ye's Blog

 Question :  The text states that the paintings of Altamira could be 13,000-34,000 years old. How did scientists estimate the age of these paintings? Use evidence from the text to support your answer. Answer :  Scientists uncovered the estimate age for the cave paintings (13,000-34,000 years old) by using 2 processes - carbon dating and thorium-uranium dating. According to the text, scientists used the carbon dating method on the black charcoal outline of the animals.  Scientists were then able to run tests on the charcoal and receive a time period from when the paintings were made. The text states that the thorium-uranium dating method was to "analyze the mineral layers that formed over the cave painting(s)". Similar to carbon dating, thorium-uranium dating is when a sample of the minerals are tested for their time period. Both results came in as around 15,00-25,00 years ago, making them some of the oldest high-quality cave paintings found.

 Question :  Do you think that Caitlyn will become a numismatist like previous generations of her family? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer Answer :  I believe that Caitlyn will become a numismatist like the previous generations of her family. In the text, it states that Caitlyn bragged "My eyesight's 20/20" to her grandpa (who is a numismatist). This shows that Caitlyn could be a numistmatist because that particular job requires good eyesight, which she has. Also, for her grandpa to even hire her and think she would be capable for the job shows that he thinks Caitlyn could become a future numistmatist. The text also talks about how Caitlyn wanted to continue searching for rare coins instead of just quitting when she found one. This shows that Caitlyn could become a numistmatist because she is already enoying the job at a young age.

  The figurative language used in the quote “The way you grow old is kind of like…my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other” is a simile. When Rachel thinks this, she is envisioning her wooden dolls as each age, the smaller the doll, the younger the age. Wooden nesting dolls fit one inside the other, the smallest doll never goes away, it is just hidden inside the other dolls. Rachel envisions each age to be “covered” by older ages, but never disappear. Her younger age feelings and emotions are just hidden inside her, but can be triggered at any moment. This simile helps us deeper understand the theme of the story (you can feel any emotions at any age) because of the comparison made between the wooden nesting dolls and the way you grow old.

  The figurative language being used in the quote “The red sweater’s still sitting there like a big red mountain” is a simile. When Rachel thinks this, she is seeing the sweater as a towering obstacle that she can’t take her eyes off of. A mountain can sometimes be an obstacle to overcome because of the overwhelming size and contrast between anything else. Rachel sees the red sweater as a mountain, or an overwhelming obstacle she has to overcome. Since she is unsure of where to start to fix the problem, she becomes stressed and starts to panic, which leads to her overreacting scene and thoughts. This simile helps us deeper understand Rachel’s feelings at this certain moment because of how she compares a small sweater to a giant mountain. She over exaggerates the comparison, but is also overwhelmed over her current situation.