Read the lines from "84" by Rabindranath Tagore.The bees forget to sip their honey; drunken with light they foolishly hover and hum. . . .Laughter floats in the air like foam on the flood.
Read the excerpt from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds.There were raised voices, and some sort of struggle appeared to be going on about the pit. Strange imaginings passed through my mind. As I drew nearer I heard Stent's voice:"Keep back! Keep back!"A boy came running towards me."It's a-movin'," he said to me as he passed; "a-screwin' and a-screwin' out. I don't like it. I'm a-goin' 'ome, I am."I went on to the crowd. There were really, I should think, two or three hundred people elbowing and jostling one another, the one or two ladies there being by no means the least active.
Consider these versions of The War of the Worlds.Excerpt 1, from H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds:The common round the sand pits was dotted with people, standing like myself in a half-fascinated terror, staring at these creatures, or rather at the heaped gravel at the edge of the pit in which they lay. And then, with a renewed horror, I saw a round, black object bobbing up and down on the edge of the pit. It was the head of the shopman who had fallen in, but showing as a little black object against the hot western sun. Now he got his shoulder and knee up, and again he seemed to slip back until only his head was visible. Suddenly he vanished, and I could have fancied a faint shriek had reached me.Excerpt 2, from Howard E. Koch's script for Orson Welles's radio adaptation:PHILLIPS: Ladies and gentlemen, you've just heard Mr. Wilmuth, owner of the farm where this thing has fallen. I wish I could convey the atmosphere . . . the background of this . . . fantastic scene. Hundreds of cars are parked in a field in back of us. Police are trying to rope off the roadway leading to the farm. But it's no use. They're breaking right through. Cars' headlights throw an enormous spot on the pit where the object's half buried. Some of the more daring souls are now venturing near the edge. Their silhouettes stand out against the metal sheen.Which statement best describes the similarity between these versions?
Read the excerpt from H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds.The peculiar V-shaped mouth with its pointed upper lip, the absence of brow ridges, the absence of a chin beneath the wedgelike lower lip, the incessant quivering of this mouth, the Gorgon groups of tentacles, the tumultuous breathing of the lungs in a strange atmosphere, the evident heaviness and painfulness of movement due to the greater gravitational energy of the earth—above all, the extraordinary intensity of the immense eyes—were at once vital, intense, inhuman, crippled and monstrous. There was something fungoid in the oily brown skin, something in the clumsy deliberation of the tedious movements unspeakably nasty.
Read the excerpt from "Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell.What is above all needed is to let the meaning choose the word, and not the other way about. In prose, the worst thing one can do with words is to surrender them. When you think of a concrete object, you think wordlessly, and then, if you want to describe the thing you have been visualizing, you probably hunt about till you find the exact words that seem to fit it. When you think of something abstract you are more inclined to use words from the start, and unless you make a conscious effort to prevent it, the existing dialect will come rushing in and do the job for you, at the expense of blurring or even changing your meaning.
Which sentences contain phrases that are hyphenated correctly? Select 3 options.
Which descriptive details does the author include to entertain readers? Select 3 options.
Read the sentence.Our band practices on Mondays at Josef’s Thursdays at Lena’s and Saturdays at my house.
Read the excerpt from Shirley Chisholm’s presidential announcement speech. I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am Black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women’s movement of this country, although I am a woman, and I’m equally proud of that. I am not the candidate of any political body or fat cats or special interests. . . .I am the candidate of the people of America.
Which descriptive details does the author include to entertain readers? Select 3 options.
Read the paragraph.School administrators should be encouraged to increase funding for music education. Many feel that school music programs are expensive and time-consuming. However, participating in band, orchestra, or chorus has been shown to improve student learning. Studies show that children who participate in school music programs achieve higher grades than students who do not. They also perform better on standardized tests.
Which statement best explains the aesthetic elements of a literary work?
Which is an example of hypothetical evidence?
Read the passage from "To Autumn."Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
Read the passage from "To Autumn.”Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
Read the passage from "To Autumn."Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees, And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core
Read the passage from The Importance of Being Earnest.Gwendolen. [To Jack.] Darling!Algernon. [To Cecily.] Darling! [They fall into each other's arms.][Enter Merriman. When he enters he coughs loudly, seeing the situation.]Merriman. Ahem! Ahem! Lady Bracknell!Jack. Good heavens![Enter Lady Bracknell. The couples separate in alarm. Exit Merriman.]Lady Bracknell. Gwendolen! What does this mean?
Read the passage from "Optimism.”A poet once said I must be happy because I did not see the bare, cold present, but lived in a beautiful dream. I do live in a beautiful dream; but that dream is the actual, the present,—not cold, but warm; not bare, but furnished with a thousand blessings. The very evil which the poet supposed would be a cruel disillusionment is necessary to the fullest knowledge of joy.
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Keller’s reason for writing "Optimism” is called her
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