ELA 9 EQT 3 Practice Test

Read the poem. Then answer the questions that follow.

Mowing

Robert Frost

There was never a sound beside the wood but one,

And that was my long scythe whispering to the ground.

What was it it whispered? I knew not well myself;

Perhaps it was something about the heat of the sun,

5 Something, perhaps, about the lack of sound—

And that was why it whispered and did not speak.

It was no dream of the gift of idle hours,

Or easy gold at the hand of fay or elf:

Anything more than the truth would have seemed too weak

10 To the earnest love that laid the swale in rows,

Not without feeble-pointed spikes of flowers

(Pale orchises), and scared a bright green snake.

The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows.

My long scythe whispered and left the hay to make.

Use “Mowing” to answer these questions.

____ 1. The musings in the poem indicate that the speaker is cutting grass to —

maintain a lawn properly

idle away an afternoon

keep snakes away from crops

make hay from the cuttings

____ 2. The imagery in line 11 appeals to your sense of —

sound

touch

sight

taste

____ 3. Which of the following objects is personified in the poem?

Gold

Scythe

Flower

Snake

____ 4. The poet’s style in “Mowing” can be described by his use of —

frequent similes and sensory language

contractions and slang words

witty humor and sarcastic tone

elaborate sentences and formal diction

____ 5. What is the main theme of the poem?

Physical labor is more rewarding than idle behavior.

The most popular opinion is not always the most accurate.

Being dull but safe is better than being bold but harmed.

Accepting love sometimes means accepting loss.

Read the next selection. Then answer the questions that follow.

In 1960, Dr. W. Randolph Lovelace, the designer of NASA’s medical testing program for

prospective astronauts, invited the aviator Geraldyn Cobb to be the first woman to undergo

his tests.

from The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream

of Space Flight

Martha Ackmann

1 Geraldyn “Jerrie” Cobb reported to the Pensacola base on a hot, muggy May

evening and stowed her gear in the officers’ quarters. After uneasy sleep in the noisy barracks,

she reported at 8 A.M. for the first of her tests. Unlike the previous exams, which had evaluated

her physical and mental condition, the next ten days hurled her into the realm of the hypothetical

with tests that would determine if she could handle the stresses, confusion, and physical assault of

outer space. These exams would judge her reaction to space-high altitudes, high G loads, motion

sickness, violent seat ejection, and even the turbulent chaos of trying to escape from a submerged

cockpit—an underwater test that gave Cobb a frightening feel for what it would be like to be

trapped inside a Mercury capsule swirling to the bottom of the Atlantic. If she passed the tests,

she would prove once more that she had the same physical ability and mental determination that

the Project Mercury astronauts exhibited. Combined with her successful completion of the

physical exams at the Lovelace Foundation and psychological and psychiatric evaluations in

Oklahoma City, the Pensacola tests would allow her to assert that she had passed all the tests the

Project Mercury astronauts had taken. If some of the tests she took were not exactly the same as

those the men took at the Wright Aeromedical Laboratory, they were certainly comparable and, in

the case of the sensory isolation test, more rigorous.

2 After preliminary tests to bring her medical profile up to date, Cobb launched into a day of

physical fitness drills that were used to evaluate the strength and ability of healthy Navy aviators.

Scaling a tall concrete wall became a none-too-subtle metaphor for the rest of the week. The wall

was six feet, six inches high and built to pose a challenge to men who were asked to leap, grab

hold of the top, and throw themselves over to the other side. On her first attempt, Cobb jumped,

failed to get a grip, and fell to the ground. On her second try, she ran harder, leaped higher, and

clawed her way to the top. At five feet, seven inches in height, Cobb surmounted a wall that was

higher for her than it was for men who were, on average, several inches taller. It did not,

however, seem to matter. Sit-ups, pull-ups, marathon runs in the Florida heat—Cobb tackled

every test and succeeded each time.

3 For the rest of the week, Cobb took part in spaceflight simulation tests. In the high-altitude

chamber, she had her first opportunity to wear a full pressure suit. Just as Betty Skelton had

discovered a year earlier when she demonstrated astronaut tests for the Look feature, the military

did not design clothing with a woman’s body in mind. When Cobb tried on the smallest pressure

suit the Navy could locate, it was still too large. Navy personnel spent an hour and a half sealing

and strapping her into the bulky encumbrance and then escorted her into the altitude chamber,

where technicians ran her up to 60,000 feet and watched closely to see if she could retain her

mental acuity and move her legs and arms against the heavy pressure. With her hands encased in

ill-fitting gloves that swelled into balloons, Cobb struggled to make a fist and touch her thumb to

each finger, demonstrating that she could manipulate sticks, knobs, dials, and latches. To measure

Cobb’s ability to withstand a rapid high-altitude descent, technicians altered the pressure of the

room and brought her down to sea level in a free fall.

4 Another test required that Cobb sit in the copilot’s seat of a Douglas Skyraider as the pilot

took the plane up and swung through a series of stomach-turning aerobatics. Eighteen needles

were wired to Cobb’s scalp in order to record an airborne electroencephalogram of brain

activity—an experience she had never encountered before. A camera positioned directly in front

of her face caught her barely detectable flinches as the plane dove, looped, and sliced through the

sky. With each sudden move of the plane, the force slammed Cobb against the seat, whipped her

to the side, and flung her forward. Staring straight ahead, Cobb blinked twice. Her eyes pushed

forward against their sockets and then sank back. “Eyeballs out, eyeballs in,” pilots called it.

5 The Multi-Place Ditching Trainer, or what Navy airmen termed the “Dilbert

Dunker,” tested Cobb’s ability to withstand the disorientation of a landing on water. For pilots, an

ocean ditching was an unusual event, but one for which they needed experience. Practice on the

“Dunker”—a harrowing, chaotic experience—might save the life of a military pilot shot down

over water. For U.S. astronauts, however, a splashdown was the only method of landing a space

capsule. To the unfamiliar eye, the “Dilbert Dunker” looked like a backyard contraption rigged up

by teenagers with creative minds and too much free time. What appeared to be a big round oil

drum sat on top of a steep track that ran into a swimming pool sixteen feet deep. The odd-looking

craft took on a more serious form once it was propelled into motion. First Cobb squeezed in—it

was a tight fit, considering she was wearing a Mae West life preserver and a parachute pack, not

standard astronaut wear but bulky enough to feel like a space suit. Then she buckled into her seat

harness, set her jaw, and waited. With a jolt, the drum shot forward, hurtling down the track until

it crashed into the pool. Instinctively, Cobb held her breath as the craft turned upside down and

water flooded in. She tried to remember what she had been told: don’t panic, unbuckle your

harness, avoid getting your gear looped around hooks, search for a reference object—a latch, an

armrest, the bottom of a seat. Make your way to the hatch, slide out, and bob to the top of the

water. Cobb made it out of the contraption without the help of rescue divers and in the requisite

amount of time. Adrenaline pumping, she heaved herself out of the pool and tried to catch her

breath.

6 One afternoon right after lunch, Cobb faced another aerodynamic carnival ride. It was a

slow-rotation room, a windowless enclosure constructed to resemble an apartment with furniture,

a bedroom area, a washstand, even a hot plate. But unlike a standard room, the structure was

perched atop a forty-two-ton steel gyroscope that spun around at ten revolutions per minute.

Because the room had no windows, a test subject experienced no sense of speed, only turbulent

disorientation. “Just follow instructions,” a voice said over the intercom as Cobb sat in front of a

maze of dials, knobs, and switches. As the room spun, the voice asked Cobb to flip switches and

set dials on command in order to evaluate how accurately she could perform quick maneuvers

while in a confusing, whirling environment. Cobb’s head spun as she reached up, down, back,

forward, left, right with every command. For a moment, she felt her gorge rise, so she tried to

narrow her field of vision and concentrate on each single task. Gradually the sickening swirls in

her head eased and the queasiness subsided. Just as she was getting used to the motion of setting

dials, the voice asked her to stand up and walk across the room to a dart board. With the room

still slowly rotating, Cobb’s senses were so upended that she was unaware that the wall had tilted

to a wild angle. When the voice asked Cobb to toss a dart at the board, she completely missed the

target. Then she realized she had to compensate for the uneven floor by aiming forty-five degrees

to the left. When she was asked to pitch tennis balls into a wastebasket, Cobb used the same

technique and threw far to the left, hitting the target but operating against what her eyes told her

to do.

7 By the end of her ten days at the School of Aviation Medicine, Cobb was delighted to

hear confirmed what she already sensed was true. She had passed phase three space simulation

tests, scoring as well as experienced Navy pilots.

of Random House, Inc.

Use the excerpt from The Mercury 13 to answer the following questions.

____ 6. Which event happened first in the selection?

Navy personnel strapped Cobb into a pressure suit.

Cobb threw darts and tennis balls in a slow-rotation room.

The “Dilbert Dunker” simulated a landing on water.

Cobb scaled a wall nine inches taller than she is.

____ 7. Cobb’s experiences with the ill-fitting space suit in paragraph 3 showed that she was —

excited about the heavy pressure

angry at the technicians

willing to make sacrifices

upset by the awkward suit

____ 8. Which is the best way to paraphrase this sentence in paragraph 1?

“Unlike the previous exams, which had evaluated her physical and mental condition, the next ten days hurled

her into the realm of the hypothetical with tests that would determine if she could handle the stresses,

confusion, and physical assault of outer space.”

The earlier exams tested her body and mind, but the new tests would check her

readiness for space.

Now that she had been evaluated physically and mentally, she was ready to test her

hypothesis.

She disliked the exams, which assaulted her physically and mentally with questions

about outer space.

She had ten days to find out whether her physical and mental condition was a result of

excessive stress.

____ 9. Which of the following is the best summary of paragraph 5?

Most pilots never needed the skills tested by the “Dunker.”

Cobb managed to succeed at the nerve-racking “Dilbert Dunker.”

The drum caught Cobb by surprise when it crashed into the pool.

Cobb unbuckled her harness and made her way to the hatch.

____ 10. Which is the best way to paraphrase this sentence in paragraph 6?

“As the room spun, the voice asked Cobb to flip switches and set dials on command in order to evaluate how

accurately she could perform quick maneuvers while in a confusing, whirling environment.”

A voice commanded Cobb to flip the switch, which would command the spinning room to

slow down.

Cobb used switches and dials to see how well she could maneuver the spinning motion of

the room.

A voice asked Cobb to use the controls in the spinning room, testing her ability to work in

a chaotic situation.

Cobb tried to perform the tasks as quickly as the voice asked, but the room’s spinning

confused her.

____ 11. This selection is mainly about —

Geraldyn Cobb passing a difficult series of tests simulating astronauts’ experiences

astronauts needing to have practice dealing with a splashdown

Geraldyn Cobb succeeding in handling controls in a high-altitude environment

experienced Navy pilots showing physical ability and mental determination

____ 12. The author most likely wrote this selection to —

inform readers about Geraldyn Cobb’s accomplishments

entertain readers with humorous details of Geraldyn Cobb’s life

express feelings about Geraldyn Cobb and the space program

persuade readers that Geraldyn Cobb should take more tests

____ 13. Which sentence shows that the slow-rotation room disoriented those inside it?

Cobb sat in front of a maze of dials, knobs, and switches.

The slow-rotation room was constructed to resemble an apartment.

A voice asked Cobb to stand up and walk across the room.

Cobb tossed balls into a wastebasket by aiming far to its left.

Vocabulary

Use context clues and your knowledge of homonyms to answer the following questions

about words in the poem “Mowing.”

____ 14. Which dictionary definition represents sound as it is used in line 1?

Solid, reliable

Something that can be heard

To make a particular noise

To spread the news

____ 15. Which dictionary definition represents well as it is used in line 3?

To fill with water, tears, or other liquid

In an ethical or courteous way

With no doubt

A hole or shaft dug to obtain water

____ 16. Which dictionary definition represents rows as it is used in line 10?

Things arranged in straight lines

Propels a boat across water using oars

Noisy quarrels or disputes

Lines of seats in a public place

____ 17. Which dictionary definition represents long as it is used in line 14?

Lasting for an extended period of time

To have a strong desire or yearning

Used to describe a drawn-out speech sound

Extending a relatively great length or height

Use context clues and your knowledge of idioms to answer the following questions about

idioms in the excerpt from The Mercury 13.

____ 18. In paragraph 2, the narrator says that Cobb’s medical profile is brought “up to date.” Which

of the following words best defines that idiom?

Punctual

Current

Necessary

Healthy

____ 19. In paragraph 4, the narrator describes aerobatics as “stomach-turning.” Which of the

following words best defines that idiom?

Strengthening

Encouraging

Shocking

Nauseating

____ 20. In paragraph 5, the narrator describes Cobb as trying to “catch her breath.” Which of the

following phrases best defines that idiom?

Trying to breathe regularly

Searching for clean air

Squeezing your lungs

Facing a strong wind

____ 21. In paragraph 6, the narrator says that Cobb’s “head spun.” Which of the following phrases

best defines that idiom?

Became stressed

Felt nervous

Became frightened

Felt overwhelmed

Revising and Editing

Directions

Read this analysis of an author’s style and answer the questions that follow.

(1) Emily Dickinson once wrote, “If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold

no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.”

(2) Her poems “A narrow Fellow in the

Grass” and “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers—

” demonstrate Dickinson’s unique style. (3)

Her use of imagery, point of view, and punctuation give her work the powerful quality that

she once praised in the poetry of others.

(4) An important part of Dickinson’s style is her use of imagery to create complex

and interesting descriptions. (5) In “A narrow Fellow,” for example, she never mentions the

word “snake.” (6) Instead using “a narrow fellow” to describe it. (7) In the simile “The

Grass divides as with a Comb,” she uses an indirect comparison: the image of a comb

moving through hair describes the way a snake moves through grass. (8) Dickinson’s

comparisons are more direct in “Hope.” (9) She says that hope “is the thing with

feathers—

,” comparing hope to a bird directly. (10) She compares hope, an abstract idea, to

a “little Bird,” a concrete thing. (11) She suggests that one thing is

another, an example of

metaphor. (12) These kinds of imaginative comparisons se

t Dickinson’s work apart from

the work of other poets.

(13) In addition, Dickinson uses point of view to give her poems a unique style. (14)

Both “A narrow Fellow” and “Hope” are written in the first person. (15) Dickinson’s use of

the word “I”

gives the impression that each poem is a kind of personal confession. (16) The

last word of “Hope” is “Me,” which leaves the word lingering on the reader’s lips. (17) In

“A narrow Fellow,” Dickinson uses the pronoun “you” to establish an intimate relation

ship

with the reader. (18) When the speaker says, “You may have met Him—did you not,”

Dickinson makes it seem as though she is talking directly to the reader. (19) This ability to

make each poem sound like a personal conversation makes her style truly distinctive.

(20) Dickinson also uses big letters and strange lines to emphasize particular words

and ideas. (21) For instance, she capitalizes “Nature’s People” in “A narrow Fellow” to

show that animals are like humans. (22) In “Hope,” she capitalizes

“Hope,” “Bird,” and

“Me” to emphasize the connection among the three things. (23) In “A narrow Fellow,” the

capital letters in “Zero at the Bone” add to the mystery of this confusing phrase. (24)

Dickinson also inserts dashes at the end of many of her lin

es. (25) These dashes interrupt

the sing-

song rhythm of the poems, which are modeled after church hymns. (26) These

dashes also make the reader pause and think about each line. (27) In “A narrow Fellow,”

there is a dash at the end of the line “It wrinkled, and was gone—”. (28) This creates a

space, or pause, which emphasizes the word “gone.” (29) Few other poets experiment with

capitalization and punctuation in such daring ways.

(30) “A narrow Fellow” and “Hope” are not unique in their stylistic ele

ments. (31)

In fact, many of Emily Dickinson’s poems contain vivid imagery, first-person point of

view, and unusual punctuation. (32) Most people have read a few of her poems, they

recognize these elements in others. (33) Her style makes her poetry powerfu

l, memorable,

and inspiring.

____ 22. Sentence 10 elaborates on details to —

demonstrate Dickinson’s use of pronouns

evaluate the usefulness of imagery

analyze Dickinson’s point of view

explain a comparison of unlike things

____ 23. What is the BEST way to revise sentence 11 using a gerund phrase?

She is suggesting that one thing is another, which is an example of metaphor.

One thing is another, which, as she suggests, is an example of metaphor.

Metaphor is when one thing is another, which is what she suggests.

Suggesting that one thing is another is an example of metaphor.

____ 24. What is the correct way to revise sentence 14 to make it an imperative sentence?

Consider that “Hope” and “A narrow Fellow” are both written in the first person.

Are “Hope” and “A narrow Fellow” both written in the first person?

Both “Hope” and “A narrow Fellow” are written in the first person!

You can see that “Hope” and “A narrow Fellow” are both in the first person.

____ 25. What information does sentence 17 provide about “A narrow Fellow” to help readers follow the analysis?

The snake’s absence in the poem

Dickinson’s private relationships

The speaker’s use of personal pronouns

Dickinson’s obsession with imagery

____ 26. What is the BEST way to revise sentence 20 using precise terms to analyze style?

Dickinson also uses large letters and interesting lines to emphasize particular words and

ideas.

Dickinson also uses unconventional capitalization and dashes to emphasize particular

words and ideas.

Dickinson uses a combination of big letters and long dashes to add emphasis to some

words.

Dickinson makes big letters and extends her lines to emphasize certain parts of her

poems.

____ 27. Which detail would BEST support the author’s main point in the fourth paragraph?

Dickinson capitalizes the words “Fellow” and “Grass” in “A narrow Fellow.”

In the second stanza of “Hope,” Dickinson rhymes “storm” with “warm.”

The phrase “notice sudden” in “A narrow Fellow” seems to be reversed.

Dickinson uses the verbs “perches” and “sings” in the first stanza of “Hope.”

____ 28. What is the BEST way to vary the sentence structures of sentences 25 and 26?

The dashes interrupt the sing-song rhythm of the poems. They are modeled after church

hymns. The dashes also make the reader pause and think about each line

Dashes interrupt the sing-song rhythm of the poems, which are modeled after church

hymns. Dashes also make the reader pause and think about each line.

These dashes interrupt the sing-song rhythm of the poems, which are modeled

after church hymns. They also make the reader pause and think about each line.

Readers see that dashes interrupt the sing-song rhythm of the poems, which

are modeled after hymns. Readers must pause and think about each line because of

dashes.

____ 29. What is the BEST way to revise sentences 27 and 28 using an infinitive phrase?

Using a dash at the end of the line “It wrinkled, and was gone—” creates a space, or pause,

which emphasizes the word “gone.”

In “A narrow Fellow,” there is a dash at the end of the line “It wrinkled, and was gone—”,

creating a space, or pause, and emphasizing the word “gone.”

By placing a dash at the end of the line “It wrinkled, and was gone—” Dickinson creates a

space, or pause, which emphasizes the word “gone.”

In “A narrow Fellow,” Dickinson places a dash at the end of the line “It wrinkled, and was

gone—” to create a space, or pause, which emphasizes the word “gone.”

____ 30. Which sentence states the author’s thesis statement and key points of analysis?

Sentence 3

Sentence 5

Sentence 9

Sentence 12