Practice FinalAnswer Key

1. In the first paragraph, why does Cerise feel “icy shivers” when she looks up at the building?

Icy shivers raced down Cerise’s back as she peered up at the dark, red brick building looming above her. This was where her beloved Josie had to live? Josephine Davis was a famous artist who for years had been Cerise’s neighbor. Visiting Josie’s home was always an adventure. Mesmerized by her stories of traveling to exotic places, Cerise loved discovering the treasures Josie had collected from all over the world.

One night Josie fell. While she recuperated in the hospital, her niece and nephew claimed Josie couldn’t live by herself any longer. They sold her place and moved all her things to Wedgwood Lodge. It sounded like a nice old English estate. Cerise knew it was a retirement home. Cerise missed her friend and had been anxious to call on her, but now she had toforce her feet to move down the poorly-lithallway and knock on Josie’s door.

OAnswer: B

2. In the third paragraph, what does recuperated mean?

One night Josie fell. While she recuperated in the hospital…

Notes: What do you go to a hospital for?

Correct Answer: C

3. What is the effect of mentioning the missing items in paragraph 8?

Her rooms were dull, with heavy, old colorless furniture. Gone was the bedroom set with hand-carved pineapple bed posts draped with a filmy white mosquito netting; the black ebony chest and its hundred drawers filled with surprises; glass-topped display tables exhibiting Josie’s collections of ivory pieces, seashells, polished rocks and beautiful jewelry. Not a single picture decorated the walls.

“Where’s Images of Africa?” Cerise asked.

 

Josie shrugged. “In the University Gallery.”

 

Cerise recalled the huge paintings decorating the walls in Josie’s old home

Correct Answer: D. It emphasizes the emptiness of Josie’s room now. Our narrator is not used to Josie living in such a plain, boring place.

4. What inference can you make about Cerise?

O “I could drive you to see your paintings,” Cerise offered.

O “Should I open them for you?” Cerise asked.

O Cerise couldn’t stop fretting about Josie or erase the vision of her sad friend.

O On each visit, she brought a gift.

O “Can I help you with your clothes?” Cerise offered.

O Tears wet Cerise’s cheeks. It hurt her to think about Josie existing in such stark surroundings.

O “I’ll bring you art supplies,” Cerise offered.

O Correct Answer: D. She is thoughtful.

5. Which experience can you infer would most likely have helped the author write this selection?

Correct Answer : Acaring/compassion

The author demonstrates the warmth Cerise shows Josephine. Perhaps she is able to characterize Cerise like this because she, too, knows what it’s like to be close to an elderly person.

6. All of the following phrases describe the setting EXCEPT

In paragraph, three, Cerise THINKS the title, Westwood Lodge, sounds like a “nice old English Estate.” But when she goes inside, here’s what she experiences…

Paragraph 5“…now she had to force her feet to move down the poorly-lit hallway and knock on Josie’s door.”

Paragraph 8“Her rooms were dull, with heavy, old colorless furniture.”

Correct Answer: D (The setting is not as nice as she hoped.)

7. Paragraph 2 is the story’s

Paragraph 2Josephine Davis was a famous artist who for years had been Cerise’s neighbor. Visiting Josie’s home was always an adventure. Mesmerized by her stories of traveling to exotic places, Cerise loved discovering the treasures Josie had collected from all over the world.

Exposition: Background information that readers need to understand the story.

Correct Answer: C

8. Josie’s conflict described in paragraph 25 is

Paragraph 25

“I don’t feel like getting dressed.”

Correct Answer: B (Internal)

Note, eliminate choices A and C. They’re trying to trick you because there is no such thing as a rising or falling conflict!

9. Which of the following phrases in paragraphs 32-36 is a sequence clue?

After they were developed, she fit her favorites into frames. Cerise couldn’t wait to place the wrapped gift in Josie’s lap.When Josie opened the box, tears splashed from the crinkled eyes.Cerise smiled. “Since you couldn’t go to Images of Africa, I brought it to you.”Josie whispered, “Thank you so much!”Arranging the photographs around the room, she told Cerise stories about her adventures while sketching and painting the panels.

Correct Answer: A Sequence = reference to time or order of operations.

10. In paragraph 38, “Fingers of sun” is an example of:

Correct Answer: C Personification

Does the sun have human fingers?

11. In paragraph 7, “chocolate brown eyes” is an example of:

Correct Answer: B Metaphor

Comparing the shade of brown in her eyes with the shade of chocolate.

12. In paragraph 15, “dull, dreary place” is an example of:

dull, dreary place

Correct Answer: D Alliteration

13. The use of dash in paragraph 44 is most likely to communicate:

Paragraph 44

“I’m taking her brushes, paper, paints and a seashell. She can hold it up and hear the crashing waves—listen to the world through another ear.”

Correct Answer: B

14. In paragraph 33 the word “crinkled” is a(n)

“When Josie opened the box, tears splashed from the crinkled eyes.”

Crinkled describes the noun eyes. It’s a PAST PARTICIPLE. (Ending in –ed)

Correct Answer: B

15. One message of “A Story Full of the Stuff of Sorrow” is that —

12 It would be nice to think—I will not hold my breath—that Damour’s death would lead at least some of us to finally see that for the obscene lie it is, to realize that seeking wholeness in consumer goods is an act of emptiness, not joy.

13 You, Happier? No.

14 Just you, with more stuff.

Correct Answer: D

16. The last event in paragraphs 4-5 occurs when

4 Last week, a 34-year-old man was trampled to death by a mob rushing into a discount store to buy stuff. Jdimytai Damour was a seasonal worker manning the door of a store in Valley Stream, N.Y., as shoppers eager for so-called “Black Friday” bargains massed outside. The store was scheduled to open at 5 a.m., but that was not early enough for the 2,000 would-be shoppers. At five minutes before the hour, they were banging their fists and pressing their weight against the glass doors, which bowed and then broke in a shower of glass. The mob stormed in.5 Four people, including a pregnant woman, were injured. And Damour was killed as people stomped over him, looking for good prices on DVDs, winter coats and game systems. Nor was the mob sobered by his death. As authorities sought to clear the store, some defiantly kept shopping; others complained that they had been on line since the night before.

OCorrect Answer: B

17. The word compassion in paragraph 6 combines the Latin prefix com-, which means “together” or “with,” and the Latin root -pati-, meaning “to suffer.” The word compassion means —

Paragraph 6

6 And here, it seems appropriate to observe the obvious irony: Black Friday is the traditional beginning of the Christmas shopping season, Christmas being the holiday when, Christians believe, hope was born into the world in the form of a baby who became a man who preached a gospel of service to, and compassion for, our fellow human beings.

Correct Answer: C

18. The word callous in paragraph 7 comes from the Latin word callum, which means “hard skin.” Callous means —

7 It is hard to see evidence of either in the mob’s treatment of Jdimytai Damour and if your inclination is to heap scorn upon them, I don’t blame you. But I would caution against regarding them as freaks or aberrations whose callous madness would never be seen in sane and normal people like ourselves. That would be false comfort.

Correct Answer: D

19. In the first sentence of paragraph 8, the author defines mob psychology as —

You may think I’m talking about mob psychology and to a degree, I am. From soccer riots to the Holocaust itself, human beings have always had a tendency to lose individual identity and accountability when gathered in groups. You will do things as part of a crowd that you never would as an individual. Theoretically, anyone who lacked a strong enough moral center and sense of self could have been part of that mob in Valley Stream.

Correct Answer: D

20. The author says that “the great lie of American consumerism” is that

10 No, sale prices on MP3 players, that’s our true priority. Jdimytai Damour died because too many of us have bought, heart and soul, into the great lie of American consumerism: acquiring stuff will make you whole. “You, Happier,” is how a sign at my local electronics store puts it. As if owning a CD, a DVD, an HDTV, will elevate you to a level of joy otherwise impossible to attain.

Correct Answer: A

21. Which of the following describes the conflict in the selection?

Correct Answer: A Human vs Society

Side One: Writer

Side Two: Greedy Shoppers

22. This format of this article can best be described as

“We say children are a priority, but when did people ever press against the door for Parents’ Night at school? We say education is a priority, but when did people ever bang against the windows of the library? We say faith is a priority, but when did people ever surge into a temple of worship as eagerly as they do a temple of commerce? No, sale prices on MP3 players, that’s our true priority. Jdimytai Damour died because too many of us have bought, heart and soul, into the great lie of American consumerism: acquiring stuff will make you whole.

Correct Answer: C The writer is using this story about Damour to make a connection between greed and it’s effects on our society.

23. What change, if any, should be made to sentence 1?

Sentence One

“Why are people so afraid of stepping outside their social circles?”

Correct Answer: D Make no change.

24. What is the most effective way to improve the organization of the paragraph?

Correct answer: C

New Version: (3) Cheerleaders are in one corner. (7) There are art students who are in another corner.

25. In sentence 7, the pronoun who refers to

Sentence 7

(7) There are art students who are in another corner.

Correct Answer: D Art Students

26. What change, if any, should be made in sentence 4?

Sentence 4(4) Even though we might have different interests that doesn’t mean we can’t try to find some common ground.

Correct Answer: C

Even though we might have different interests that doesn’t mean we can’t try to find some common ground. (Beginning with a dependent clause. This is a sentence introduction.)

27. What is the most effective way to combine sentences 5 and 6 to form one complex sentence?

Sentences 5 and 6

(5) Breaking out of your mold can be good for you. (6) I recommend that you try speaking to someone you don’t usually speak to.

Correct Answer B

Choice A – run-on sentence

Choice C – the first clause should not begin with IF

Choice D – incorrect choice of coordinating conjunction

28. What change, if any, should be made in sentence 8?

Sentence 8

(8) Just go up to someone start a conversation.

Correct Answer: A

29. Sentence 4 contains

Sentence Four

(4) Even though we might have different interests that doesn’t mean we can’t try to find some common ground.

Correct Answer: D Thesis Statement

Note: This is the statement the writer goes on to support, or prove, for the rest of the paragraph.

30. How would you correct the following sentence which uses quotations?

In conclusion, the actress Shirley MacLaine once said “Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends”.

Correct Answer: C

In conclusion, the actress Shirley MacLaine once said, “Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends.” Comma to start quotes period INSIDE closing quotes

31. I am not allowed to ride on the sidewalk. People walk on the sidewalk.

Correct Answer: B (cause and effect)

32. I like to ride my bike everywhere. I like to ride on smooth payment best.

Correct Answer: B

33. I have time. I ride on the bike trail in the park.

Correct Answer: A

34. Jogging three miles every day is good for you.

Correct answer: A (gerund phrase)

Note: The predicate = is

35. The water boiling on the stove is hot.

Correct Answer: B

Note: this is a PRESENT Participle Phrase because the participle ends in –ing. If it were to end in –ed, it would be PAST participle.