Name:

Ms. Caitlin Hanzlick, Teacher

10th Grade World Literature

4 September 2007

Unit I Test

Section I: Grammar (20 points)

Directions for #1-10: In each of the following sentences, fill in the blanks with the correct part of speech. Be sure that the part of speech you choose makes sense, given what the sentence is about. No credit will be given for incomplete or partially correct responses. In other words, you have to get the whole thing right.

(1) paused before throwing the _______________ to Jake, who smashed it

proper noun common noun

out of the ballpark.

(2) I was born years ago in the city of .

adjective proper noun

(3) In a famous play by August Wilson, the piano is used as a symbol of in the

abstract noun

United States toward African American history.

(4) A who smokes usually has more than a person who doesn’t smoke.

singular noun plural noun

(5) The Lone Ranger always his favorite horse, Silver.

verb

(6) ! I can’t believe how awesome that free concert was!

interjection

(7) Two of my favorite books are The Stranger The Bell Jar.

conjunction

(8) the river and the woods, Grandmother’s house we go.

preposition preposition preposition

(9) The teacher listened as her student explained why her homework was late.

adverb

(10) Dwayne the car in the driveway.

verb

Directions for #11-20: In the following passage, identify the part of speech for each of the following underlined words and write it above the word. Just so you know, the 8 parts of speech are as follows: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.

In (11) America, grammarians are seldom heroes to students. The opposite is more likely to be

true. Just ask any student (12) who is having trouble (13) with high school English. Probably the most

important (14) American grammarian was (15) Noah Webster, who died over a century ago.

(16) Today, however, Webster (17) is not (18) widely known for his work as a grammarian. He is

(19) famous chiefly for the dictionaries that (20) have been named after him, most of which he had

nothing at all to do with.

Section 2: Vocabulary (15 points)

Directions for #1-9: Choose the word in Column B that best fills in the blank of each sentence in Column A. Write the corresponding letter on the blank space provided.

Column A: Column B:

(1) The repairman looked ________ at the bent skateboard. a. critics

(2) His _______ was so great he forgot to put on his shoes. b. prejudice

(3) The artist _________ her goal by painting every day. c. dubiously

(4) The __________ of rain completely soaked the lawn. d. diesel

(5) I often tap my foot _______________ while I work. e. fumes

(6) My best friend was _________ when she saw what I had done to my hair. f. absentmindedly

(7) Is it a ________ when you see a friend you were just thinking about? g. coincidence

(8) The stranger’s _____________ smile made me nervous. h. aghast

(9) I carry a smooth stone as a ___________ to keep worries away. i. publicity

(10) The ________ hated the musical version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. j. talisman

(11) It shows a lot of _________ to ask a black woman to sit at the back of the bus. k. sinister

(12) The newspaper headlines were great ________ for the candidate. l. pursued

(13) The truck’s __________ engine made lots of noise. m. torrent

(14) The ____________ from the fire made my eyes burn. n. privileged

(15) Leo was __________ to hear the famous author speak about her work. o. haste

Section 3: Literature (15 points)

Directions for #1-9: Identify whether each of the following items is work of fiction or nonfiction, and then write your answer on the line provided.

(1) a piece of literature that tells how a real-life mystery was solved

(2) a piece of literature that tries to persuade readers to plant trees

(3) a piece of literature about a group of people who travel to another galaxy

(4) a piece of literature that compares American pizza to Italian pizza

(5) a piece of literature that explain how the universe began

(6) “Hair,” from the Autobiography of Malcolm X

(7) “Tepeyac” by Sandra Cisneros

(8) “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs

(9) “Marian Anderson: Famous Concert Singer” by Langston Hughes

Directions for #10-15: Match the quotation to the short story from which it came. Write the letter corresponding to the correct title in the space provided.

a. “The Monkey’s Paw” c. “One Thousand Dollars” e. “Tepeyac”

b. “By the Waters of Babylon” d. “Marian Anderson” f. “Hair”

(10) “I took the little list of ingredients he had printed out for me and went to a grocery store,

where I got a can of Red Devil lye, two eggs, and two medium-sized white potatoes.

Then at a drugstore near the poolroom, I asked for a large jar of Vaseline, a large bar

of soap, a large-toothed comb and a fine-toothed comb, one of those rubber hoses

with a metal spray-head, a rubber apron, and a pair of gloves.”

(11) “Herbert sat alone in the darkness, gazing at the dying fire, and seeing faces in it. The

last face was so horrible and so simian that he gazed at it in amazement.

(12) “Mr. Tolman reached for the envelope. Gillian was a little quicker in taking it up. He

tore the account and its cover leisurely into strips and dropped them into his pocket.”

(13) “Nevertheless, it was strange. There was a washing-place but no water—perhaps the

gods washed in air. There was a cooking-place but no wood, and though there was a

machine to cook food, there was no place to put fire in it. Nor were there candles or

lamps—there were things that looked like lamps but they had neither oil nor wick. All

these things were magic, but I touched them and lived—the magic had gone out of them.”

(14) “Sensing that she had exceptional musical talent, some of the church members began

to raise money so that she might have singing lessons.”

(15) “Who would’ve guessed, after all this time, it is me who will remember when everything

else is forgotten, you who took with you to your stone bed something irretrievable,

without a name.”

Section 4: Reading comprehension & Literary Analysis (50 points)

Directions for #1-40: For each question, circle the best answer. Note: Some questions may be based on a preceding passage, so pay attention!!

(1) What part of a story introduces the characters and setting?

A. exposition

B. rising action

C. falling action

D. resolution

(2) In a work of literature, what is the author’s perspective?

A. the personality that the author adopts to narrate the work

B. the language that the author chooses to use

C. the particular sound of the author’s words on the page

D. the judgments, attitudes, and experiences the author brings to the subject

Use the following passage to answer #3 and #4:

In the summer, Camille went to the town pool with her brother Fred nearly everyday. Few adults used the pool, except for Mrs. Ramos. Mrs. Ramos came to the pool almost daily, always alone. She complained if Camille and her friends splashed too much when they dove off the diving board; she complained when Fred and his friends made too much noise playing Marco Polo. In revenge, Camille made fun of Mrs. Ramos constantly. One day, as Fred sat by the pool, he let out a terrible scream. Camille ran over and discovered that he had been stung by a wasp. Mrs. Ramos was right bhind her, carrying a special salve that she applied to the sting. Fred’s pain went away quickly, and from then on, so did Camille’s desire to make fun of Mrs. Ramos.

(3) Around which conflict do the events in the story center?

A. Camille’s struggle to take care of her brother

B. Camille’s struggle to learn to swim

C. Mrs. Ramos’s struggle to learn to swim

D. Mrs. Ramos’s struggle to save Fred

(4) Which part of the plot is sentence 2?

A. the exposition

B. the rising action

C. the climax

D. the falling action

(5) In the following passage, how does the author’s perspective change?

When I was a young girl, my favorite relative was my mother’s father, whom I called Abuelito. I could talk to him about all sorts of things—he in his broken English, me in my not-so-perfect Spanish. Still, I did not talk to him as much as I could. I was busy with school, with sports, with friends. He seemed to understand; he always encouraged me to enjoy life. Now Abuelito is long gone—he died over twenty years ago. I regret no spending more time with him, and I wish I knew more about his life.

A. It moves from a child’s perspective to an adult’s.

B. It moves from an adult’s perspective to a child’s.

C. It moves from a beginner’s perspective to a child’s.

D. It moves from an expert’s perspective to a beginner’s.

(6) How would your diction on a postcard to a friend be different from your diction in a letter to the editor of a local newspaper?

A. The diction on the postcard would be less formal and might contain slang.

B. The diction on the postcard would be more flowery and poetic.

C. The diction on the postcard would be more precise and technical.

D. The diction on the postcard would be more formal and polite.

(7) Which type of verb appears in the following sentence?

Demetria trained each day to prepare for the state track meet.

A. transitive verb

B. linking verb

C. passive verb

D. action verb

(8) Which of these sentences contains an incorrectly spelled word?

A. The counterfeit painting was sold for millions.

B. He always played the villane in movies.

C. He became a second lieutenant when he graduated.

D. Our department acts as a liaison between the athletes and the coaches.

(9) What is the purpose of a thesis statement?

A. to conclude the main idea

B. to serve as a clincher

C. to summarize the main idea of the composition

D. to help the writer transition from one idea to the next

(10) Which of the following thesis would BEST present the argument?

A. An increasing amound of historical evidence suggests that William Shakespeare is not

the original author of many of his famous works.

B. There is a lot of symbolism in The Scarlett Letter.

C. The so-called “right to bear arms” is a bunch of junk.

D. Herman Melville is the author of Moby Dick.

(11) Which statement is true about fiction?

A. It can only contain real people.

B. It can contain imaginary people.

C. It cannot contain any facts.

D. It cannot contain any details.

(12) Which statement is true about nonfiction?

A. It is told by an omniscient narrator.

B. It contains only provable facts.

C. It contains a series of imaginary events.

D. It is presented directly by the author.

(13) In an article about a new movie, a writer briefly describes the story, names the main actors and the director, and tell the movie’s rating. What is the author’s purpose?

A. to persuade

B. to inform

C. to entertain

D. all of the above

(14) If the reader cannot be sure whether to believe the person telling the story, the story is probably being told from what point of view?

A. first person

B. second person

C. third person

D. fourth person

(15) Which statement is true about a third-person omniscient narrator?

A. The narrator is a character and plays a role in the story’s development.

B. The narrator knows the thoughts and feelings of all the characters.

C. The narrator knows only what a single character is thinking and feelings.

D. The narrator shares only his or her own thoughts and experiences.

(16) In a nonfiction work, what is tone?

A. how the main character feels and thinks

B. the author’s purpose of creating a mood

C. how the setting relates to the subject matter

D. the author’s attitude toward the subject

(17) For which of the following items would you most describe the tone as matter-of-fact?

A. The policeman scowled as he interrogated me for hours about the crime.

B. The boat bobbed gently as the light breeze blew over the still water.

C. Wow! With a top speed of seventy miles per hour, that boat can almost fly!

D. The policemen asked me what I knew about the crime.

(18) Which of the following scenarios contains the most obvious example of internal conflict?

A. Two cross-country runners are running on a wilderness trail. They are archrivals, both competing for the course record. Each one is waiting for the right moment to pull ahead.

B. In early nearly two years ago, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. Thousands of people from New Orleans, whose levies and damns weakened under the pressure to protect the city, were displaced. Many have still not returned.

C. Tina dreams of being a ballerina with a national dance company. She is extremely talented, the star of her dance school. The only problem is her stage fright. Whenever she has a major audition, she tenses up, starts to shake, and forgets her steps. “I have to get over this fear,” she says to herself. “I’ll try anything.”

D. Dr. Green works in a research laboratory. His mission is to find a cure for the common cold. He feels that he is very close to a breakthrough. He works long into the night, every night. To him the germ he is trying to isolate is the enemy.

(19) What is the primary purpose of the passage below?

It was a beautiful day. Ramona put on her helmet, hopped on her bike, and headed to a desert bike path near her house. She was peddling merrily along when suddenly she heard a loud, hissing sound. “Oh, no,” she thought, “not a snake!” She peddled faster but noticed that her bike was bouncing badly. When she looked back, she saw that her rear tire was flat. “So that was the hissing!” No snake, after all—just a flat tired and a ruined bike ride.

A. to tell a story

B. to inform

C. to persuade

D. to analyze

Use the passage below to answer questions #20-21.

I first learned about climate changes and global warming in college, where I majored in oceanography. My specialty was the study of the polar ice cap. The gradual melting of the ice cap, though disturbing, is truly fascinating. Did you know that there are huge reserves of oil lying beneath the polar ice? Also, did you know that the Antarctic icecap is the world’s largest reserve of fresh water? Antarctica is still the coldest place on earth. My job is to help it stay that way.

(20) Which choice best describes the author’s perspective in the following passage?

A. outraged and angry

B. intelligent and realistic

C. amused and lighthearted

D. serious and scientific

(21) Which of the following statements is a fact the author uses in this passage?

A. Climate change first happened when the author was in college.

B. Oceanography is the study of polar ice caps.

C. The gradual melting of the icecap is both disturbing and truly fascinating.

D. Antarctica is the coldest place on the planet Earth.

(22) What is the BEST definition of an author’s style?

A. his or her special way of using words

B. a story the author tells

C. the type of nouns the author uses

D. a format way of using language

(23) What is the difference between diction and syntax?

A. Diction has to do with sentences, and syntax has to do with word choice.

B. Syntax has to do with sentences, and diction has to do with word choice.

C. Diction has to do with style, but syntax does not.

D. Syntax has to do with style, but diction does not.

Use the following passage to answer #24-25.

There won’t be any trouble. I’m not so hard to understand. I don’t need much, don’t ask for much. Only one thing: a little respect. Just a little. Is that so complicated? Like, when you talk to me, lease actually look at me. And, when I talk to you, listen. Really listen. OK? Are we clear? Good. Then there won’t be any trouble, like I said before.

(24) What type of syntax does this writer use?

A. many short, simple sentences

B. many long, complicated sentences

C. many different types of sentences

D. many long but simple sentences

(25) What does the author’s syntax add to the style?

A. a beautiful flow

B. a poetic sound

C. the sound of a tough guy talking

D. smooth connections between ideas

Section 5: BONUS (5 points)

(1) What is the least populated continent on the planet?

(2) In what year was Ms. Hanzlick born?

(3) What is the name of one album by the rap group OutKast?

(4) Who is one person currently running in the 2008 presidential election?

(5) Who is the Vice President of the United States of America?

Section: # Correct:

1 x 1 = / 20

2 x 1 = / 15

3 x 1 = / 15

4 x 2 = / 50

5 x 1 = / 0

YOUR GRADE = /100