Odd One Out
A. eccentric
B. bizarre
C. peculiar
D. ordinary
D. ordinary
Describing a quarrel over a broken gate as “the greatest tragedy in the history of Sussex” is an example of ____________.
A. irony
B. hyperbole
C. mock-heroic
B. hyperbole
Judith was the easiest to describe: she drifted from room to room in a cloud of sorrow, speaking in whispers and staring out of windows as if she were waiting for news that would never arrive. Flora found this tragic manner exhausting, yet the others treated it as perfectly normal.
Why does Flora find Judith’s manner “exhausting”?
Flora’s journey to the farm was long, and the last part was the strangest. The farm stood so far from the village that it seemed completely (1) ____________, with no neighbours in sight.
dreary
isolated
bizarre
hired hand
devoted
unkempt
isolated
Seth wasted his afternoons at the cinema while the farm work waited for someone else to do it.
A) Seth preferred watching films to doing his share of the work.
B) Seth owned the cinema near the farm.
C) Seth worked at the cinema in the afternoons.
D) Seth finished the farm work before going out.
A) Seth preferred watching films to doing his share of the work.
A. uncultured
B. crude
C. unpolished
D. refined
D. refined
Flora, the city girl, turns out to be calmer and more practical than the country people. This situation is an example of ____________.
A. irony
B. hyperboe
c. caricature
A. irony
“People are like furniture,” she told herself that evening. “They look permanent, but with a little effort you can move them into a better position.” It was an unusually hopeful theory for a farm where nobody had moved anything in decades.
What is the irony in this extract?
Flora is comparing her family to furniture. The farmhouse hasn't been cleaned. To clean, you must move furniture. Flora is suggesting she can "move" her relatives into "better positions" and therefore, "clean" their messes.
The farmhouse looked so ____________ that Flora wondered whether anyone had swept the floors or cut the hedges in years.
A) unkempt
B) resourceful
C) devoted
D) instinctive
A) unkempt
Judith was so wrapped up in her sadness that she barely noticed the people around her.
A) Judith disliked the people around her.
B) Judith’s sadness was so deep that she hardly paid attention to others.
C) Judith was cheerful because she was surrounded by people.
D) Judith pretended not to see her family on purpose.
B) Judith’s sadness was so deep that she hardly paid attention to others.
A. confide
B. reveal
C. conceal
D. disclose
B. reveal
Amos is drawn as a ____________ of a preacher: all thunder and warnings, with no other side to his character.
A. hyperbole
B. mock-heroic
C. caricature
C. caricature
By the end of her first week, Flora had begun to sort her relatives into types, just as a librarian sorts books.
Why does Flora sort her relatives “just as a librarian sorts books”?
A) She is looking for a job in a library.
B) She is organising them by type to understand them.
C) She wants to throw some of them out.
D) She has read about them in a book.
B. She is organising them by type to understand them.
Judith met Flora’s cheerful plans with ____________, because she doubted that anything could change the farm.
A) propriety
B) skepticism
C) correspondence
D) dependency
B) skepticism
Although everyone feared Aunt Ada, no one had ever dared to ask what she had seen long ago.
A) Nobody knew Ada because she had never lived at the farm.
B) Everyone had asked her, but she refused to answer.
C) The family was too frightened of Ada to question her about the past.
D) Ada was afraid of the family and would not explain.
C) The family was too frightened of Ada to question her about the past.
A. unkempt
B. messy
C. scruffy
D. spotless
D. spotless
Telling a tiny household argument in the grand language of a battle is ____________ writing.
A. caricature
B. hyperbole
C. mock-heroic
C. mock-heroic
Seth was a different problem. He lounged around the farm with an air of lazy charm, ignored his chores and talked about nothing but the cinema. The author draws him as a caricature of the handsome country rogue, and Flora, who knew better than to be impressed, found him more amusing than alarming.
The word “lounged” suggests that Seth is …
A) relaxed and lazy
B) angry and tense
C) busy and hard-working
D) shy and nervous
A) relaxed and lazy
Her uncle had a(n) ____________ habit of reading the newspaper aloud to the chickens, which visitors found rather strange.
A) eccentric
B) wealthy
C) isolated
D) disconcerted
A) eccentric
Adam showed more affection towards his cows than he ever showed towards the people he worked for.
A) Adam felt warmer towards the animals than towards his employers.
B) Adam disliked cows and loved people.
C) Adam was paid by the owners of the cows.
D) Adam’s employers loved his cows more than he did.
A) Adam felt warmer towards the animals than towards his employers.
A. sombre
B. grave
C. cheerful
D. solemn
C. cheerful
The use of humor, wit, or exaggeration to mock and criticize foolish human behavior or societal flaws.
A. satire
B. hyperbole
C. mock-heroic
A. satire
Seth was a different problem. He lounged around the farm with an air of lazy charm, ignored his chores and talked about nothing but the cinema. The author draws him as a caricature of the handsome country rogue, and Flora, who knew better than to be impressed, found him more amusing than alarming.
Which word best describes Flora’s attitude towards Seth?
A) impressed
B) frightened C) amused
D) jealous
C) amused
When the car stopped, Flora stayed calm and repaired it with a piece of string and a hairpin. She was clearly ____________.
A) sombre
B) resourceful
C) appalling
D) uncultured
B) resourceful
Flora decided that the family’s gloomy beliefs were less a matter of tradition than a convenient excuse for doing nothing.
A) Flora believed the gloomy traditions deserved great respect.
B) Flora thought the family used their sad beliefs as an excuse to avoid change.
C) Flora felt that doing nothing was a good tradition.
D) Flora wanted to start a new tradition at the farm.
B) Flora thought the family used their sad beliefs as an excuse to avoid change.