English IV NCFE PRACTICE EXAM--Lowe

Items 1-8 are based on the following passage from Beowulf.

For each item, select the best answer for each given item from the choices provided.

fromBeowulf

My people have said, the wisest, most knowing

And best of them, that my duty was to go to the Danes’

Great king. They have seen my strength for themselves,

Have watched me rise from the darkness of war,

Dripping with my enemies’ blood. I drove (5)

Five great giants into chains, chased

All of that race from the earth. I swam

In the blackness of night, hunting monsters

Out of the ocean, and killing them one

By one; death was my errand and the fate (10)

They had earned. Now Grendel and I are called

Together, and I’ve come. Grant me, then,

Lord and Protector of this noble place,

A single request! I have come so far,

Oh shelterer of warriors and your people’s loved friend,(15)

That this on favor you should not refuse me---

That I, alone and with the help of my men,

May purge all evil from this hall. I have heard,

Too, that the monster’s scorn of men

Is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none.(20)

Nor will I. My lord Higlac

Might think less of me if I let my sword

Go where my feet were afraid to, if I hid

Behind some broad linden shield: my hands

Alone shall fight for me, struggle for life(25)

Against the monster. God must decide

Who will be given to death’s cold grip.

Grendel’s plan, I think, will be

What it has been before, to invade this hall

And gorge his belly with our bodies. If he can, (30)

If he can. And I think, if my time will have come,

There’ll be nothing to mourn over, no corpse to prepare

For its grave: Grendel will carry our bloody

Flesh to the moors, crunch on our bones

And smear torn scraps of our skin on the walls(35)

Of his den. No, I expect no Danes

Will fret about sewing our shrouds, if he wins.

And if death does take me, send the hammered

Mail of my armor to Higlac, return

The inheritance I had from Hrethel, and he(40)

From Wayland. Fate will unwind as it must!”

Hrothgar replied, protector of the Danes:

“Beowulf, you’ve come to us in friendship, and because

Of the reception your father found at our court,

Edgetho had begun a bitter feud,(45)

Killing Hathlaf, a Wulfing warrior:

Your father’s countrymen were afraid of war,

If he returned to his home and they turned him away.

Then he traveled across the curving waves

To the land of the Danes.”(50)

  1. In lines 1-3 which lofty ideal do Beowulf’s people expect him to uphold?
  1. Honesty in all situations
  2. Mercy towards his enemies
  3. Charity for the less fortunate
  4. Responsibility toward those in need
  1. Which phrase is a kenning for the word sea?
  1. blackness of night
  2. this noble place
  3. hammered / Mail
  4. curving waves
  1. In lines 5-11, Beowulf boasts of his legendary
  1. fear and need to overcome it
  2. pride and tendency to exaggerate
  3. kindness and desire to do good deeds
  4. hunting skills and belief in fate
  1. In lines 11-18, Beowulf identifies the battle with Grendel as one between
  1. fear vs. greed
  2. pride vs. humility
  3. strategy (in battle) vs. emotional (unthinking anger in battle)
  4. good vs. evil
  1. Beowulf’s statement in lines 36-37 is ironic because
  1. the Danes will not mourn Beowulf
  2. Beowulf and his men will survive
  3. there will be no corpses if Grendel wins
  4. Beowulf does not trust the Danes
  1. In line 45, the alliteration in “begun a bitter feud” helps to
  1. clarify the meaning of words
  2. create rhythm and unify ideas
  3. convey a sensory experience
  4. explain metaphors and similes
  1. The word “shield” in line 24 means
  1. decorative emblem
  2. large lowland area
  3. military officer’s badge
  4. piece of hand-held armor
  1. In line 42, “protector of the Danes” refers to
  1. Beowulf
  2. Hrothgar
  3. Grendel
  4. Higlac

Items 9-16 are based on the following passage from Grendel. For each item, select the best answer for each given item from the choices provided

fromGrendel by John Gardner

And so I come through the trees and towns to the lights of Hrothgar’s mead-hall. I am no stranger here. A respected guest. Eleven years now and going on twelve I have come up this clean-mown central hill, dark shadow out of the woods below, and have knocked politely on the high oak door, bursting its hinges and sending the shock of my greeting inward like a cold blast out of the cave. “Grendel!” they squeak, and I smile like exploding spring. The drunkest of Hrothgar’s thanes come reeling and clanking down from their wall-hung beds, all shouting their meady, outrageous boasts, their heavy swords aswirl like eagles’ wings. “Woe, woe, woe!” cries Hrothgar, hoary with winters, peaking in, wide-eyed, from his bedroom and back. His wife, looking in behind him, makes a scene. The thanes in the mead-hall blow out the lights and cover the wide stone fireplace with shields. I laugh, crumple over; I can’t help myself. In the darkness, I alone see clear as day. While they squeal and screech and bump into each other, I silently sack up my dead and withdraw to the woods. I eat and laugh and eat until I can barely walk, my chest-hair matted with dribbled blood, and then the roosters on the hill crow, and dawn comes over the roofs of the houses, and all at once I am filled with gloom again.

My belly rumbles, sick on their sour meat. I crawl through blood stained leaves to the eaves of the forest and there peak out. The dogs fall silent at the edge of my spell. Pigs root dully at the posts of a wooden fence, a rumble-horned ox lies chewing in dew and shade. A few men, lean, wearing animal skins, look up at the gables of the king’s hall, or at the vultures circling casually beyond. Hrothgar says nothing, hoarfrost-bearded, his features cracked and crazed. Inside, I hear the people praying--whimpering, whining, mumbling, pleading –to their numerous sticks and stones. He doesn’t go in. The king has lofty theories of his own.

-excerpt from “Grendel” by John Gardner

9. Grendel is written in which point of view?

  1. First-person limited
  2. First-person omniscient
  3. Third-person omniscient
  4. Third-person limited
  1. Who is the narrator of the passage?
  1. Beowulf
  2. Grendel
  3. Hrothgar
  4. The author, John Gardner

11. Read the following sentence from Grendel:

“The drunkest of Hrothgar’s thanes come reeling and clanking down from their wall-hung beds, all shouting their meady, outrageous boasts, their heavy swords aswirl like eagles’ wings.” Based on context clues, what is a “thane?”

  1. A poet
  2. A drunk
  3. An entertainer
  4. A warrior

12. The following sentence from Grendel is an example of which type of figurative language?

“…I smile like exploding spring.”

  1. simile
  2. metaphor
  3. hyperbole
  4. apostrophe

13. Which of the following is an example of alliteration from Grendel?

A. sick on their sour meat

B. shouting their meady, outrageous boasts

C. chest-hair matted with dribbled blood

D. dawn comes over the roofs of the house

  1. Which clue primarily reveals which one of the two reading selections was written first?
  1. The language
  2. The writing style
  3. The point of view
  4. The order of events
  1. “. . . and have knocked politely on the high oak door, bursting its hinges and sending the shock of my greeting inward like a cold blast out of the cave.”

In the above sentence the word politely is used to convey which of the following?

  1. that the speaker is mannerly
  2. the use of ironic, dark humor
  3. to show how mighty and powerful the speaker is
  4. to ridicule the poor construction of the structure
  1. Which of the following was likely John Gardner’s primarily purpose for writing Grendel?
  1. to translate the Beowulf epic for modern readers
  2. to make the tale more historically accurate
  3. to present the tale from a different point of view
  4. to discover whether or not an epic poem could be successfully translated into prose fiction

Items 17-25 are based on the following passage from The Canterbury Tales. For each item, select the best answer for each given item from the choices provided

fromTheCanterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

He had his son with him, a fine young Squire,

A lover and cadet, a lad of fire

With locks as curly as if they had been pressed.

He was some twenty years of age, I guessed.

In stature he was a moderate length,(5)

With wonderful agility and strength.

He’d seen some service with the cavalry

In Flanders and Artois and Picardy

And had done valiantly in little space

Of time, in hope to win the lady’s grace.(10)

He was embroidered like a meadow bright

And full of freshest flowers, red and white.

Singing he was, or fluting all the day;

He was as fresh as is the month of May.

Short was his gown, the sleeves were long and wide;(15)

He knew the way to sit a horse and ride.

He could make songs and poems and recite,

Knew how to joust and dance, to draw and write.

He loved so hotly that till dawn grew pale

He slept as little as a nightingale.(20)

Courteous he was, lowly and serviceable,

And carved to serve his father at the table.

  1. Chaucer develops the Squire’s character by
  1. describing his appearance and talents
  2. comparing him to other young nobles
  3. showing other characters’ reactions to him
  4. relating conversations between characters
  1. In lines 7-14, it is ironic that the Squire is described as “singing he was, or fluting all the day because
  1. the reader assumes that all cadets receive musical instruction as part of their training
  2. Chaucer suggests that the Squire is more interested in traveling than in pleasing his lady
  3. the reading expects the Squire to be training for battle rather than playing music
  4. Chaucer depicts the Squire first as a wild horseman and then as a polite cadet
  1. In lines 11-15, the Squire’s style of dress suggests that he is
  1. youthful and vain
  2. timid and scholarly
  3. rugged and unkempt
  4. strange and mysterious
  1. Which one of the Squire’s character traits emerges in lines 21-22?
  1. bravery
  2. innocence
  3. leadership
  4. respectfulness
  1. Chaucer’s gently ironic depiction of the Squire comes from the contrast between the young man’s
  1. artistic talents and well-groomed appearance
  2. occupation as a knight in training and his personal interests
  3. average height and his impressive athletic abilities
  4. love of family and his loyalty to his country
  1. Which lines in the excerpt characterize the Squire as a well-educated nobleman?
  1. lines 1-3
  2. lines 4-6
  3. lines 7-10
  4. lines 16-18
  1. The Latin word moderari means “to keep within measure.” What is the most likely meaning of the word moderate as it is used in line 5 of the passage?
  1. average
  2. changeable
  3. ideal
  4. unusual
  1. Which meaning of pressed is used in line 3 of the passage?
  1. crowded closely
  2. urged to take action
  3. squeezed into shape
  4. forced into military service
  1. Which meaning of grace is used in line 10 of the passage?
  1. approval
  2. charm
  3. exemption
  4. short prayer

For items 26-30 select the best answer for each given item from the choices provided.

  1. When one is unable to type the title in italics, what possible alternative can be used correctly?
  1. Quotation marks
  2. All capital letters
  3. underlining
  4. cursive handwriting
  1. Which of the following types of titles should appear within quotation marks?
  1. short stories, essay titles, articles, and short poems
  2. epic poems
  3. novels
  4. magazine titles
  1. Irony can be subdivided into how many main types?
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  1. This literary device is intended to convey a significant amounts of a character’s inner thoughts during the performance of a drama.
  1. aside
  2. monologue
  3. soliloquy
  4. dialogue
  1. Shakespeare’s plays can be divided into how many major categories or sub?
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4

Refer to the following paragraph—for which each sentence is numbered--when responding to items 31-35.

(1)In the mid-14th century, the Black Death swept across Europe. (2)The plague had traveled across North African trade routes. (3)Its victims suffered from symptoms such as a high fever and bad headaches and usually died. (4)In some cities, corpses were gathered in the streets. (5)The stench of bodies permeated the air. (6)By the year 1400, the awfully plague had killed approximately 25 million Europeans.

31. What is the most effective way to revise sentence 2?

A. For a while, the plague had traveled along North African trade routes and European trade routes.

B. The plague had traveled over North African trade routes and over European.

C. The plague had traveled along North African and European trade routes.

D. The plague had traveled along, over North African and European trade routes.

32. What change, if any, should be made in sentence 3?

A. Insert an apostrophe in Its.

B. Insert a comma after fever.

C. Change died to dead.

D. Make no change.

33. What is the most effective way to combine sentences 4 and 5?

A. In some cities, corpses were gathered in the streets so that the stench of bodies permeated the air.

B. In some cities, corpses were gathered in the streets where the stench of bodies permeated the air.

C. In some cities, corpses were gathered in the streets, where the stench of bodies permeated the air.

D. In some cities, whose corpses were gathered in the streets where the stench of bodies permeated the air.

34. What change, if any, should be made in sentence 6?

A. Change had killed to has killed.

B. Insert a comma after killed.

C. Change awfully to awful.

D. Make no change.

35. Where is the best place to insert this sentence?

Nearly two-thirds of the population of many European cities died within the first two years of the epidemic.

  1. At the beginning of the paragraph
  2. After sentence 2
  3. After sentence 3
  4. After sentence 6