Selection: L-10

L-10

Grade level: 12

Word count: 2596 words

Author: Edgar Allan Poe

Synopsis: Edgar Allan Poe's classic short story gives a whole new meaning to the term "solitary confinement."

Excerpt: No excerpt is available for this question.

Question: The events in this tale could best be described by the expression

1. "Stuck between a rock and a hard place."
2. "Actions speak louder than words."
3. "Don't bite the hand that feeds you."
4. "The pen is mightier than the sword."

Selection: L-11

L-11

Grade level: 12

Word count: 2359 words

Author: Diane Lang

Synopsis: Two techie students challenge themselves to develop an innovative means of transportation.

Excerpt: "I'm so sorry, Dad; I wish I could help." Sipping her chocolate malt, a spark ignited inside Ariel, and sitting up straight, she said, "I'm going to create a masterpiece for you, Dad! We have autopilots for airplanes, why not for cars? Brock and I are going to develop a rig for blind people!"

Question: How does Ariel react when her dad tells her he has stage four, diabetic retinopathy?

1. She was sympathetic, but hopeful that he would drive again.
2. She decided to focus on the fine arts, because masterpieces were important to him.
3. She wanted him to have an eye operation that would help him regain his vision.
4. She felt despondent because she knew he would never drive again.

Selection: L-23

L-23

Grade level: 12

Word count: 3221 words

Author: Stephen Crane

Synopsis: What will happen to the four men who have been shipwrecked for more than 30 hours?

Excerpt: The piece of life-preserver lay under him, and sometimes he whirled down the incline of a wave as if he were on a hand sled.

But finally he arrived at a place in the sea where travel was beset with difficulty. He did not pause swimming to inquire what manner of current had caught him, but there his progress ceased. The shore was set before him like a bit of scenery on a stage, and he looked at it and understood with his eyes each detail of it.

Question: At first the correspondent makes good progress as he swims to shore, but then

1. a strong current grabs hold of him.
2. a rope on the lifeboat wraps around his leg.
3. the captain's hand grabs his arm and pulls him under the waves.
4. the cook's life-belt tangles around his neck.

Selection: L-23

L-23

Grade level: 12

Word count: 3221 words

Author: Stephen Crane

Synopsis: What will happen to the four men who have been shipwrecked for more than 30 hours?

Excerpt: Later the correspondent spoke into the bottom of the boat. "Billie!" There was a slow and gradual disentanglement. "Billie, will you spell me?"

"Sure," said the oiler.

This plan enabled the oiler and the correspondent to get respite together. "We'll give those boys a chance to get into shape again," said the captain.

"Boys," said the cook, with the notes of every reluctance in his voice, "she's drifted in pretty close. I guess one of you had better take her to sea again."

"Billie? Billie, will you spell me?"

"Sure," said the oiler.

Question: The author of this selection used the four men in the dinghy to represent different groups that make up a larger society: leaders, followers, decent working men, and philosophical men. Which of the following represented the decent working man?

1. the oiler
2. the correspondent
3. the captain
4. the man on the beach

Selection: L-24

L-24

Grade level: 12

Word count: 2818 words

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer

Synopsis: The General Prologue is the first part of a text written by Geoffrey Chaucer. Here, the first half of the Prologue is presented.

Excerpt: A SERGEANT-AT-LAW, cautious and shrewd, who had been often at consultation, was there also. A prudent and judicious man, or so he seemed as his words were so wise, he had been frequently appointed as a justice in trials by appointment and commission; many were the fees and robes with which he had been presented on account of his great legal knowledge and renown. There was no greater purchaser of land than him, and his dealings were above suspicion; he was the busiest of men, and yet he seemed more busy than he was. He had at his fingertips all the exact terms, cases, and judgments from the time of William the Conqueror; he knew all the statutes by heart, and no man could detect a flaw in his knowledge.

There was a SHIPMAN too, a West-countryman from Dartmouth; he rode upon a horse as well as he was able. He wore a gown of coarse stuff which came down as low as his knee, also a dagger suspended by a lace from his neck under his arm. The hot summer had made his face all brown; he was a fine, hearty-looking fellow. He was not remarkable for tenderness of conscience, seeing that if he were engaged at sea and had got the upper-hand, he always sent his prisoners home by water, but for his skill in reckoning the tides, for knowing the currents, shallows, and sandbanks, for calculating the exact place of the sun and age of the moon, and for his complete art of piloting, there was not his equal between Hull and Carthage. He was a brave and hardy man whose beard many a tempest had shaken, and was well versed with every harbor from Gothland to Cape Finisterre and every creek in Spain and Brittany. His ship was called the Magdalen.

Question: Read these two excerpts. In what way were the Sergeant and the Shipman similar?

1. Both were excellent at their respective trades.
2. Both had been appointed as justices in trials.
3. Both were West-countrymen from Dartmouth.
4. Both had been suspected of illegal dealings.