Cumulative Exam Answers

Consider these versions of The War of the Worlds.Excerpt 1, from H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds:I think everyone expected to see a man emerge—possibly something a little unlike us terrestrial men, but in all essentials a man. I know I did. But, looking, I presently saw something stirring within the shadow: greyish billowy movements, one above another, and then two luminous disks—like eyes. Then something resembling a little grey snake, about the thickness of a walking stick, coiled up out of the writhing middle, and wriggled in the air towards me—and then another.Excerpt 2, from Howard E. Koch's script for Orson Welles's radio adaptation:PHILLIPS: Ladies and gentlemen, this is the most terrifying thing I have ever witnessed . . . Wait a minute! Someone's crawling out of the hollow top. Someone or . . . something. I can see peering out of that black hole two luminous disks . . . are they eyes? It might be a face. It might be . . .(SHOUT OF AWE FROM THE CROWD)PHILLIPS: Good heavens, something's wriggling out of the shadow like a gray snake. Now it's another one, and another. They look like tentacles to me.Which statement best describes the difference between these versions?

Which steps should a writer take to establish a strong claim? Check all that apply.Identify the topic.List opposing topics.Decide on a viewpoint.State a position on the topic.Expose flaws in the evidence.

Read the haiku by Bashō.Midfield,attached to nothing,the skylark singing.

Which line best highlights Frodo’s loyal nature?

Which statements describe haiku? Check all that apply.A haiku is a poem that consists of three lines.A haiku has a patterned rhyme scheme.A haiku often contains a kigo.A haiku contains ideas that are written in present tense.A haiku is a poem that tells a complicated story.

Which excerpt from "Career Planning for High Schoolers" best shows that the author’s purpose is to inform the reader?

Which literary device attaches human qualities or actions to animals, objects, or abstract concepts?

Read the claim.Schools should stop doing standardized testing.Read the counterclaim.The Department of Education says that teaching students to do well on standardized tests helps to motivate students and keep them focused on important subjects.Read the rebuttal.On the contrary, being forced to focus on testing stresses students and limits the amount of knowledge they can gain.

Read the graph.

Which sentences contain vague pronouns? Check all that apply.Bernardo reads both fiction and nonfiction, and he likes it a lot.After the play, Henrique told Isadora that her solo was excellent. Hiroto prepared so well for the debate that he crushed the competition.Vivian met Laura at the coffee shop where she works after school.When Mariana and Rahul studied with Lisa and Nico, it helped them.

Read the excerpt from "Hokusai's The Great Wave” by Neil MacGregor.Here’s a snatch of the letter from the president of the United States that Perry delivered to the Japanese emperor:Many of the large ships-of-war destined to visit Japan have not yet arrived in these seas, and the undersigned, as an evidence of his friendly intentions, has brought but four of the smaller ones, designing, should it become necessary, to return to Edo in the ensuing spring with a much larger force. But it is expected that the government of your imperial majesty will render such return unnecessary, by acceding at once to the very reasonable and pacific overtures contained in the president’s letter . . .This was textbook gunboat diplomacy, and it worked. Japanese resistance melted, and very quickly the Japanese embraced the new economic model, becoming energetic players in the international markets they had been forced to join. They began to think differently about the sea that surrounded them, and their awareness of the possible opportunities in the world beyond grew fast.

To critique society is to examine it in order to

Read the excerpt from Midsummer by Derek Walcott.The leaf stems tug at their chains, the branches bendinglike Boer cattle under Tory whips that drag every wagonnearer to apartheid.

beforeafterinstead ofbetween

Look at the excerpt from "How to Think Like a Researcher," a chapter from How to Find Out Anything.More to our purpose, we need to ask answerable questions for the eminently practical reason that if a question has no end, neither does the research. Pursuing an open-ended question can be a fool’s errand. So, to become a skilled researcher, step number one is learning how to craft the answerable question.______________To become a skilled researcher, step number one is learning how to craft the answerable question._______________Say you’re a reporter for a business magazine and your editor wants to run an article on computer executive compensation. The editor asks you to find out if computer executives are overpaid. This is a great idea for a magazine article. It would probably make for a nifty feature in any number of business and tech magazines.

Read the excerpt from "Benin Plaque: The Oba with Europeans.”All European visitors were struck by the Oba’s position as both the spiritual and the secular head of the kingdom, and the Benin brass plaques are principally concerned with praising him.

Read the excerpt from "Early Victorian Tea Set.” Among the upper classes, tea had been popular since before 1700. It received celebrity endorsement from Charles II’s queen, Catherine of Braganza, and from Queen Anne. It came from China, it was expensive, refreshingly bitter and drunk in tiny cups without milk or sugar. People kept their tea in locked tea caddies, as if it were a drug; for those who could afford it, it often was. In the 1750s Samuel Johnson confessed himself a happy addict:A hardened and shameless tea drinker, who has for twenty years diluted his meals with only the infusion of this fascinating plant, whose kettle scarcely has time to cool, who with Tea amuses the evening, with Tea solaces the midnights, and with Tea welcomes the morning.

Read the paragraph.Students enrolled in Physics 101 were asked to assemble wooden cars to demonstrate the principles of friction. The cars began as uniform kits, each containing a four-inch block of wood, four wheels, and two metal rods. Students carved, assembled, painted, and embellished their creations. In the end, there was an impressive line-up of mini racers with sleek, sanded bodies. They represented every color of the rainbow, with racing stripes and lightning bolts adorning many.

Read the excerpt from Act I of The Importance of Being Earnest.Algernon. Oh! there is no use speculating on that subject. Divorces are made in Heaven.

Read the lines from "Song VII" by Rabindranath Tagore.My poet’s vanity dies in shame before thy sight.O master poet, I have sat down at thy feet.Only let me make my life simple and straight,like a flute of reed for thee to fill with music.

Which sentence correctly uses a hyphen in a compound modifier?

The primary purpose of a procedural text is to

recreates a historical eventrealistically represents lifedoes not depict the real worlddoes not include mythical creatures

One way a Lincoln-Douglas debate differs from a policy debate is that in a Lincoln-Douglas debate,

Read the excerpt from Act III of The Importance of Being Earnest.Cecily. Gwendolen, your common sense is invaluable. Mr. Moncrieff, kindly answer me the following question. Why did you pretend to be my guardian’s brother?Algernon. In order that I might have an opportunity of meeting you.Cecily. [To Gwendolen.] That certainly seems a satisfactory explanation, does it not?Gwendolen. Yes, dear, if you can believe him.Cecily. I don’t. But that does not affect the wonderful beauty of his answer.