Topical Tuesday! You will need a sheet of paper numbered 1-8. You will be given a reading passage spread over several slides. Each reading slide will automatically change. The time ranges from 45 seconds to 1 minute. The time indicator is shown at the bottom. There are 8 multiple choice questions to answer at the end of the reading. You have 25 to 60seconds to answer each before it changes. This activity will be collected by your SOCIAL STUDIES teacher.

Before there were iPods… SCHENECTADY, New York (Achieve3000, December 7, 2012). In 2012, recorded music is often stored on devices like iPods. In 1878, music was stored on tinfoil. Now, people can listen to the oldest recording of an American voice. The sound was transferred from tinfoil to a computer. The recording was made in 1878. It was on a sheet of tinfoil that was 5 inches wide by 15 inches long. The tinfoil was placed on a cylinder of a phonograph. The phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison in 1877. It worked with a hand crank. The crank turned the cylinder under a stylus. The stylus would move up and down over the foil, recording sound waves.

It was a new technology. It was a wonder to people in the 1870s It was a new technology. It was a wonder to people in the 1870s. But the stylus would tear the foil after just a few playbacks. Also, the people showing the technology would usually tear up the tinfoil. Pieces of it were given away. That's why only a handful of the tinfoil recording sheets survived. Of those, only two are playable. The one from 1878 is at a museum in Schenectady, New York. The other is an 1880 recording owned by The Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. The recording from 1878 lasts only 78 seconds. It has the world's first recorded blooper. It opens with a song. Then a man's voice is reciting two nursery rhymes:

"Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Old Mother Hubbard "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Old Mother Hubbard." The man laughs when he recites the wrong words in the second one. "Look at me. I don't know the song," the man says. It is believed the man's voice is that of Thomas Mason. Mason was a St. Louis newspaper writer. Edison Company records show that a new tinfoil phonograph was sold to Mason in 1878. He paid $95.50 (about $2,000 in today's money) for the device. How did the recording end up at the museum? A Connecticut woman gave the tinfoil to the museum in 1978. It was for a show held 100 years after the start of the Edison Company.

In July 2012, the recording was studied at California's Berkeley Lab In July 2012, the recording was studied at California's Berkeley Lab. People working there used a type of technology to copy the action of the phonograph's stylus. It read the grooves in the foil and created a 3-D picture. Then, a computer program studied the picture. It was able to play back the recorded sound from the foil. Some say this was an important thing to do. It saves a piece of history. The foil was Edison's first step in recording and playing back sound. In October 2012, the recording was played for a crowd of people.

It was likely the first time it had been played in public since it was created. At a time when music lovers can carry thousands of songs on a digital player the size of a pack of gum, Edison's tinfoil playback seems ancient. But that dinosaur gives us a look at the first recorded sounds. "In the history of recorded sound that's still playable, this is about as far back as we can go," said John Schneiter. He helps run the museum. Information for this story came from AP.

1. Based on the article, which fits best in the empty box above? The recording on tinfoil only lasts 78 seconds. The technology was a wonder to people in the 1870s. Only a handful of the recording sheets survived. Some tinfoil was placed on a cylinder turned by a hand crank.

2. The article talks mainly about __________. The oldest playable recording of an American voice The most famous nursery rhymes in history The phonograph invented by Thomas Edison in 1877 The reason people enjoy bloopers so much

3. Which is the closest synonym for the word survived? Settled Weakened Lasted Vanished

4. Deneen wants to read more about Thomas Edison 4. Deneen wants to read more about Thomas Edison. She would find most of the information __________. In a book about people who run museums On a Web site about the inventor of today's iPod On a Web site listing people who have made bloopers In a book about inventors from long ago

5. Suppose you were writing a summary of the article 5. Suppose you were writing a summary of the article. Which of these would be most important to put in the summary? In 1877, Thomas Edison invented a device that was powered by a hand crank that turned a cylinder. Nowadays, people store their music on players the size of a pack of gum. A New York museum helped people listen to the oldest playable recording of an American voice. Thomas Mason was a newspaper writer who bought a tinfoil phonograph.

Which would be the closest antonym for the word ancient? Modern The article states: 6. At a time when music lovers can carry thousands of songs on a digital player the size of a pack of gum, Edison's tinfoil playback seems ancient. But that dinosaur gives us a look at the first recorded sounds. Which would be the closest antonym for the word ancient? Modern Foolish Noisy Dusty

7. Which information is not in the article? The number of people who heard the recording in 1878 The amount of money paid for a tinfoil phonograph in 1878 The reason so few tinfoil recordings have survived from 1878 The name of the man who speaks on an 1878 recording

8. Which statement from the article best supports the opinion that the tinfoil recording in the Schenectady museum is important? The recording from 1878 lasts only 78 seconds. At a time when music lovers can carry thousands of songs on a digital player the size of a pack of gum, Edison's tinfoil playback seems ancient. It was on a sheet of tinfoil that was 5 inches wide by 15 inches long. The foil was Edison's first step in recording and playing back sound.