Reading Literature
“Did you stay home from school today?” inquired Hannah.
“Why do you want to know?” asked Jenna.
“I don’t know. I was just making conversation,” replied Hannah.
“The trigonometry project is due next Friday,” said Jenna.
What does this conversation reveal to the reader?
A. Jenna skipped school.
B. Hannah is trying to make Jenna feel bad.
C. Jenna wants to avoid Hannah’s question.
D. Hannah thinks Jenna is going to fail the trigonometry project.
C. Jenna wants to avoid Hannah’s question.
She rode to the edge of the pond and looked at the steer unhappily. She was loath to get out in the mud herself. But the annoying steer kept up its crying, and made no effort to get clear of the bog on its own.
Which word from this excerpt BEST helps the reader understand what the word “loath” means?
A. unhappily
B. mud
C. herself
D. crying
A. unhappily
Which is the BEST idea for employee retention?
A. Threaten to fire employees who come to work late.
B. Let employees know when a promotion is coming up.
C. Offer bonuses for employees who do a good job.
D. Allow employees to leave early on their birthdays.
C. Offer bonuses for employees who do a good job.
If you are spontaneous, you are
A. bored
B. impulsive
C. attractive
D. unusual
B. impulsive
Angela is having the time of her life on a cruise ship with food and fun all around her. Just as she is preparing for the limbo competition, the ship crashes into an iceberg, which punctures the hull and causes the ship to sink. Now she and a group of strangers must fight for survival on a life raft deep in the ice-cold ocean waters with limited supplies.
Which is the typical structure of a novel with a flashback?
A. past and then present
B. present, then past, then present again
C. future and then present
D. future, then present, then past, then future again
B. present, then past, then present again
What is a conflict?
when our protagonist faces a problem in the story
Which candy slogan has a negative connotation?
A. “A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play.”
B. “Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don’t.”
C. “There’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s!”
D. “Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger!”
D. “Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger!”
What does “reconciled” mean?
A. to break up a relationship
B. to restore a relationship
C. to become jealous
D. to become emotional
B. to restore a relationship
It's 1938 and Max Schnell is a native German citizen wondering if the world has gone mad around him. His Jewish friends and neighbors have been forbidden to own businesses, work in retail stores, drive cars, go to the movies, or attend public schools. Seeking to raise awareness and to build a resistance against this anti-Semitic movement, Max begins printing an underground newspaper.
Man vs. Society
Which triggers the climax in a story?
A. When the characters and setting are revealed.
B. When the solution to the problem is evident.
C. When the problem of the story is introduced.
D. When the lesson of the story is revealed.
B. When the solution to the problem is evident.
Which of these is a literary allusion?
A. Moses freed the slaves of Egypt.
B. Rena was a Scrooge when it came to money.
C. Tina was Abe Lincoln while on trial.
D. Anne Frank lived in the attic for over two years.
B. Rena was a Scrooge when it came to money.
Which sentence expresses an opinion, rather than a fact?
A. The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865.
B. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America.
C. The Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U.S. history.
D. The war ended with the justly surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865.
D. The war ended with the justly surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865.
(The word “justly” makes it an opinion.)
If you are “meticulous” you are
A. fussy
B. angry
C. intelligent
D. cooperative
A. fussy
Justin didn't want to get involved in the struggle for civil rights. He just wanted to go to school. Unfortunately, many people in the community did not want Justin to go to their school because of his African American heritage. A simple walk to school becomes a powerful march for rights as Justin, a group of civil rights leaders, and millions of supporters make Justin's case the centerpiece in a heated battle for equal rights.
Man vs. Society
Which of these BEST describes the role of an antagonist?
A. to be mean
B. to sever the friendship with the protagonist
C. to keep the protagonist from reaching his or her goal
D. to make sure that the reader does not like him or her
C. to keep the protagonist from reaching his or her goal
Which of these is a historical allusion?
A. Moses freed the slaves of Egypt.
B. Rena was a Scrooge when it came to money.
C. Tina was Abe Lincoln while on trial.
D. Anne Frank lived in the attic for over two years.
C. Tina was Abe Lincoln while on trial.
Angela was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work involved with the experiment on photosynthesis.
Which dictionary definition BEST matches the word “volume” in this sentence?
A. a book forming part of a work or series
B. the amount of space that a substance or object occupies
C. the amount or quantity of something, especially when great
D. fullness or expansive thickness of something
C. the amount or quantity of something, especially when great
If you were in perpetual darkness you
A. would only see shadows
B. would see traces of light
C. would not be able to see at all
D. would be in total darkness soon
C. would not be able to see at all
Buck is the most skilled banjo player in town and is praised by all, until Chuck arrives from the big city. Soon Buck's fans are going to Chuck's showings instead and Buck decides to settle it. Now Buck must compete with Chuck in a contest of dueling banjos to determine who is the greatest and who will leave town for good.
Man vs. Man
“Rico gave Joey a sly smile while explaining that he didn’t know where Joey put his wallet. Joey continued to look through the covers of his bed and in his closet, but to no avail.”
What does this excerpt imply?
A. Joey eventually located his wallet.
B. Rico hopes Joey will be able to locate the wallet.
C. Joey really does know what happened to the wallet.
D. Rico knows more than he is revealing to Joey.
D. Rico knows more than he is revealing to Joey.
Which of these combines a real event or real person’s unusual life story with exaggeration and heroic actions?
A. Fairytale
B. Fable
C. Legend
D. Myth
C. Legend
Which of these BEST describes informational text?
A. Fiction, headings, bolded vocabulary, illustrations
B. Non-fiction, bolded vocabulary, characterization
C. Both fiction and non-fiction, headings, characterization
D. Non-fiction, headings, bolded vocabulary, illustrations
D. Non-fiction, headings, bolded vocabulary, illustrations
Which is a synonym for the word, “quixotic”?
A. kind
B. envious
C. confused
D. impractical
D. impractical
Kirstin was once teased for being heavy, but then she lost a lot of weight. Now Kirstin is very skinny, but there is just one problem: she still sees an overweight girl when she looks in the mirror.
Her friends and family try to convince her of how beautiful she is, but she doesn't believe them. Worse still, she is continuing to diet.
Man vs. Self