Exam: 986008RR – Interpreting What You Read

Exam: 986008RR – Interpreting What You Read
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Questions 1 to 20: Select the best answer to each question.
Note that a question and its answers may be split across a page
break, so be sure that you have seen the entire question and
all the answers before choosing an answer.
1. Which one of the following statements contains a simile?
A. The soaring bird quickly disappeared from our sight.
B. I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.
C. The maple wears a gayer scarf.
D. The woods went up in flame.
2. Below is the last stanza of a poem, “Dover
Beach,” written in 1876 by Matthew Arnold.
Ah, love, let us be
true
To one another! for
the world, which seems
To lie before us like
a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful,
so new,
Hath really neither
joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor
peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on
a darkling plain
Swept with confused
alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies
clash by night.
Which of these statements best describes the remedy Arnold
proposes for the world?
A. In this deceptive world, ignorance requires faith.
B. Our faith in each other can shelter us from deceptive
chaos.
C. Look to your dreams for answers to life’s questions.
D. The world may end, but love conquers all.
3. In poetry and fiction, the main reason for using vivid
words is to
A. explain an idea.
B. illustrate the writer’s bias.
C. create a mental image.
D. keep the reader guessing.
This question is based on the following poem.
Some say life’s a
monopoly game,
spread like a picnic
to kill the grass, assuring no winners
save some ants,
until amid the fading
rants,
none there are to
punch one’s pass
into the halls of
fame.
4. The metaphor for life in this poem is
A. a picnic.
B. some ants.
C. a monopoly game.
D. halls of fame.
This question based on the “The Little Match
Girl,” which you read in this
study unit.
5. Who is the protagonist in “The Little Match
Girl”?
A. The passerby who finds the little girl’s body
B. The little match girl’s cruel father
C. The little match girl’s grandmother
D. The little match girl
This question is based on the following passage.
Except for a few pigeons, Central Park was deserted. Mist
hung above the chilled grass. Patches of old
snow, scattered here and there, looked like white puddles.
The sun hung just above the horizon, casting red
and orange streaks across low-hanging clouds. The portly,
gray-haired gentleman jogging down the path
looked out of place. For one thing, he was dressed in
ordinary street clothes, not a sweat suit. Also, every
few seconds, he looked anxiously back over his shoulder.
Coming closer to me, I saw that his face was
flushed. He was panting, almost gasping. Abruptly, looking
this way and that, he moved behind a tree.
Seeming not to notice my presence, he stood with his back
against the trunk, panting heavily. After a
moment, he poked his head out to survey the path. It was
still empty, except for a squirrel that dashed
across the path like a furry dart. I checked my watch. It
was now 7:30. Mentally marking the time, I aimed
my camera toward the man’s face.
6. In this paragraph, a white puddle is a simile for
A. snow.
B. grass.
C. mist.
D. fear.
This question is based on the following sentence.
Detective Simon Levant had the unconscious habit of
caressing his moustache while pondering evidence.
7. Which element of an effective fictional narrative does
this sentence best represent?
A. Conflict
B. PlotC. Theme
D. Characterization
This question is based on the following poem:
Seasons are
celebrations.
A year’s a Ferris
wheel.
Both honor our
world’s habit
of spinning ’round a
star.
8. Which one of the following sentences best expresses the
main idea of this poem?
A. There are four seasons in a year.
B. Season are celebrations, while a year on Earth is a
habit.
C. Seasons and Ferris wheels are like Earth’s journey around
the sun.
D. The world has a habit of spinning around.
This question is based on the following paragraph.
(1) After my interview with these four young people, I
reflected on the quiet sense of “difference” I sensed
with many of these Upward Bound students. (2) As a college
teacher who has also taught seventh-grade
science, I have some experience with the faces and attitudes
of adolescence. (3) Upward Bound students
had those faces. (4) There was the puzzled coping with
changing bodies—hormone hell. (5) There was
ambivalence about “authority figures” and
uncertainties about whether or not the world would have some
place for them. (6) There were the studied rationalizations
about lapses on homework assignments,
moments of despair, adolescent angst—all of that. (7) But
there was also that “difference.” (8) Maybe it’s
one part knowing people care and one part beginning to trust
the future. (9) I wasn’t sure.
(Turner, “Onward and Upward: Upward Bound Helps Open
College Doors,” Virginia Journal of Education,
June 1992. Adapted as fair usage.)
9. Which sentence in the passage can best be considered
factual?
A. Sentence 2
B. Sentence 4
C. Sentence 5
D. Sentence 3
10. Opinion often shows bias. Therefore, it’s good to
remember that a fact is different from an opinion
because a fact can be proved or disproved with
A. evidence.
B. opinions.
C. imagery.
D. bias.
This question is based on the following four sentences.
1. Netta and Jim argued over their views of free trade.2.
Netta and Jim had different views on free trade.
3. Netta and Jim were sharply split over the issue of free trade.
4. Netta and Jim refused to discuss the issue of free trade.
11. Which of the four sentences is not neutral?
A. 2
B. 3
C. 1
D. 4
This question is based on the following passage.
Snow was quickly piling up on the ground. Wind howled
through the trees. Karen wrapped a blanket
around her and sighed as she watched the snow through her
bedroom window.
12. In this passage, you can best infer that
A. Karen doesn’t like the snow.
B. Karen thinks the snow is beautiful.
C. Karen is upset because she can’t get out.
D. Karen is at home during a snowstorm.
13. Which one of the following statements contains a
metaphor?
A. She was like a bird in a cage.
B. My dream vanished as a puff of smoke.
C. The mighty oak is the king of the forest world.
D. The water shone like a thousand diamonds.
This question is based on the following passage.
Except for a few pigeons, Central Park was deserted. Mist
hung above the chilled grass. Patches of old
snow, scattered here and there, looked like white puddles.
The sun hung just above the horizon, casting red
and orange streaks across low-hanging clouds. The portly,
gray-haired gentleman jogging down the path
looked out of place. For one thing, he was dressed in
ordinary street clothes, not a sweat suit. Also, every
few seconds, he looked anxiously back over his shoulder.
Coming closer to me, I saw that his face was
flushed. He was panting, almost gasping. Abruptly, looking
this way and that, he moved behind a tree.
Seeming not to notice my presence, he stood with his back
against the trunk, panting heavily. After a
moment, he poked his head out to survey the path. It was
still empty, except for a squirrel that dashed
across the path like a furry dart. I checked my watch. It
was now 7:30. Mentally marking the time, I aimed
my camera toward the man’s face.
14. In this paragraph, at what time of day is the action
taking place?
A. Around sunset
B. Around sunrise
C. Around midnight
D. Around noonThis question based on the “The Little
Match Girl,” which you read in this
study unit.
15. What is the setting of “The Little Match
Girl”?
A. A place in the matchseller’s imagination
B. The matchseller’s attic home
C. A wintry city street
D. The matchseller’s grandmother’s house
This question is based on the following information about
The Call of the Wild, a book by Jack
London.
The Call of the Wild is a story about a dog named Buck. Buck
is a pampered dog who lives with a wealthy
family in southern California. During the Gold Rush, Buck is
captured, sold, and eventually shipped to
Alaska to work as a sled dog. Along the way, Buck is
mistreated by a series of owners. Eventually he
learns to survive as a member of a dog sled team. As a
result, Buck soon realizes that in the Yukon of
Alaska, “the law of club and fang” is stronger
than the rules of civilized society. With each new experience,
Buck becomes more acquainted with his primitive past.
Finally, after losing the one person who treated
Buck well, Buck decides to return to living in the wild.
16. From the information above, which one of the following
headlines would best represent the theme of
Jack London’s story?
A. Pampered Dog Moves to Alaska
B. Dog Learns the Ropes of Sled Teams
C. Dog Mistreated by Owners
D. Dog’s Roots Call Him Back
This question is based on the following four sentences.
1. Netta and Jim argued over their views of free trade.
2. Netta and Jim had different views on free trade.
3. Netta and Jim were sharply split over the issue of free
trade.
4. Netta and Jim refused to discuss the issue of free trade.
17. In these four sentences, the word that’s most obviously
a loaded word is
A. sharply.
B. different.
C. refused.
D. argued.
18. Which one of the following sentences best explains the
term bias?
A. Bias is a negative opinion.
B. Bias is an opinion that favors one point of view.
C. Bias is an interpretation of something.
D. Bias exchanges a negative opinion for a positive one.End
of exam
19. Which one of the following statements contains bias?
A. Charles left for California on the 6:00 A.M. flight.
B. It had rained for three days straight.
C. The employees whined about their low wages.
D. The budget was reduced by $3,000.
This question is based on the following paragraph.
(1) After my interview with these four young people, I
reflected on the quiet sense of “difference” I sensed
with many of these Upward Bound students. (2) As a college
teacher who has also taught seventh-grade
science, I have some experience with the faces and attitudes
of adolescence. (3) Upward Bound students
had those faces. (4) There was the puzzled coping with
changing bodies—hormone hell. (5) There was
ambivalence about “authority figures” and
uncertainties about whether or not the world would have some
place for them. (6) There were the studied rationalizations
about lapses on homework assignments,
moments of despair, adolescent angst—all of that. (7) But
there was also that “difference.” (8) Maybe it’s
one part knowing people care and one part beginning to trust
the future. (9) I wasn’t sure.
(Turner, “Onward and Upward: Upward Bound Helps Open
College Doors,” Virginia Journal of Education,
June 1992. Adapted as fair usage.)
20. Which one of the following statements accurately
reflects bias in relation to this passage?
A. The author is biased in favor of the Upward Bound
Program.
B. The author shows no bias.
C. The author is biased against adolescents.
D. The author feels that adolescence is a bad time for
making choices.