Blog

(01.03 HC)Read the excerpt from The Adventures of Sherlock Homes by Arthur Conan Doyle. Respond to the question that follows.Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of Baker Street would have failed to recognize him. His face flushed and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips compressed, and the veins stood out like ropes in his long, sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is all that district, and there were marks of many feet, both upon the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a definite end.In a paragraph of 3-5 sentences, accomplish the following: identify the bolded figurative language device identify the mood of the passage explain how the figurative language devices helps to develop the mood of the passage for the reader

(01.06 MC)Which sentence contains faulty parallel structure?

(03.01 MC)Read the argumentative essay introduction and answer the question that follows.The gaining of new knowledge never stops. As humans, we are constantly learning new things. The traditional school year should be extended to a year round schedule so that students have access to full-time education. Some say that students need a break to regroup and be children. They believe that downtime is beneficial to the behavioral development of adolescents. However, taking a summer break from consistent learning can cause students to forget important information learned throughout the school year. The lessons lost have to be made up at the beginning of the next school year and more effort is required of students and teachers. With a year-round school year, learning will come full circle for all involved.Which of the following sentences is the author’s counterclaim?

(01.03 LC)The tone of a text is how an author feels about their subject or topic.

(01.03 LC)The mood of a text reflects how the reader feels during or after reading.

(01.03 LC)A thesaurus can assist a writer or speaker in finding a word with the connotation to best match their purpose.

(03.01 MC)Rohan is writing an argumentative essay about standardized test scores and college admission. He claims that colleges should no longer rely on the SAT for admission. Which of the following statements avoids a logical fallacy to support his claim?

(01.02 MC)Read the excerpt from The Death of Ivan Ilyitch by Leo Tolstoy. Answer the question that follows.Ivan Ilych’s life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible. He had been a member of the Court of Justice, and died at the age of forty-five. His father had been an official who after serving in various ministries and departments in Petersburg had made the sort of career which brings men to positions from which by reason of their long service they cannot be dismissed, though they are obviously unfit to hold any responsible position, and for whom therefore posts are specially created, which though fictitious carry salaries of from six to ten thousand rubles that are not fictitious, and in receipt of which they live on to a great age.Which point of view is used in this passage?

(02.01 MC)Read the passage. Answer the question that follows.Homing pigeons have a long and storied history. Dating back to 3,000 BCE, these bright birds were used by Egyptians to send messages and find routes for travel. Their use continued through the centuries, and homing pigeons are credited with the first air mail service delivering messages between New Zealand and the barrier islands of Australia.In World Wars I and II, homing pigeons were considered heroic for their delivery of important messages between battlefields. Flying up to 200 miles one way, the pigeons were the preferred form of communication, as radio messages could be easily intercepted by enemies.Which sentence states the central idea of this passage?

(01.02 MC)Read the fable. Answer the question that follows.A very wealthy old man, imagining that he was on the point of death, sent for his sons and divided his property among them. However, he did not die for several years afterward, and miserable years many of them were. Besides the weariness of old age, the old fellow had to bear with much abuse and cruelty from his sons. Wretched, selfish ingrates! Previously they vied with one another in trying to please their father, hoping thus to receive more money, but now they had received their patrimony, they cared not how soon he left them—nay, the sooner the better, because he was only a needless trouble and expense. And they let the poor old man know what they felt.One day he met a friend and related to him all his troubles. The friend sympathized very much with him, and promised to think over the matter, and call in a little while and tell him what to do. He did so; in a few days he visited the old man and put down four bags full of stones and gravel before him.”Look here, friend,” said he. “Your sons will get to know of my coming here to-day, and will inquire about it. You must pretend that I came to discharge a long-standing debt with you, and that you are several thousands of rupees richer than you thought you were. Keep these bags in your own hands, and on no account let your sons get to them as long as you are alive. You will soon find them change their conduct toward you. Salaam, I will come again soon to see how you are getting on.”When the young men got to hear of this further increase of wealth they began to be more attentive and pleasing to their father than ever before. And thus they continued to the day of the old man’s demise, when the bags were greedily opened, and found to contain only stones and gravel!What universal theme is revealed in the text?