Passage 1 Dad woke me up early today. When I came out of my room, I saw Chris heading to the garage with Dad. While Mom was packing some clothes in a backpack, she told me to finish my breakfast quickly. That's when I realized what was happening—we were supposed to go to the amusement park today. I couldn’t wait to go on the Dark Tunnel ride first thing because every guy in my class had already gone on it.

The park was a two-hour drive from our home, and it was already crowded when we got there. I headed straight for the Dark Tunnel, but it had the longest line of all. Chris said that we should save it for last, when the crowd would thin out. Try as I might, there was no convincing him otherwise. He was my big brother after all.

I almost forgot about the Dark Tunnel because we soon entered the big pool with a machine that created artificial waves. Then there was the Cliffhanger, which Mom didn't allow me to go on, but it was priceless to see Chris's face when he got off the ride. Time was running out on the day, and I was thinking about the Dark Tunnel again. With the park almost closing, we went back to the ride just in time. Chris was right for once—there was hardly a line when we got there.

Passage 2

Ryan never understood how he could lose to his brother in a bicycle race every single time. Even though James was the older brother, Ryan was taller and stronger. It didn’t add up in Ryan’s mind—he should be the victor. After several sleepless nights trying to figure it out, he decided to get his brother’s advice.

"It's because you’re afraid of losing," James said.

Ryan realized that his brother was right. During every single race, he had been focused on not losing. Instead, he now knew, he needed to simply focus on giving it his all. Ryan needed to go out there and race his race without overthinking the outcome.

3
Select the correct answer from the drop-down menu.

Read the passages. Then complete the sentence.

The passages are similar because they both
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