501 Critical Reading Questions

(Sean Pound) #1

  1. b.In lines 10–12 of Passage 1 the narrator states that the yacht is a
    particular type of ship known as a cutter. In lines 14–15 of Pas-
    sage 2, the Captain explains to his nephew that the Albais cut-
    ter, as well. In that same conversation the nephew learns that all
    cutters share a similar trait: they possess only a single mast(line
    15). Therefore, choice bis the correct answer.

  2. d.When answering this question, the key is to be sure to find the
    only choice that is supported by specific examples from the text.
    Nowhere in the text of Passage 1 does it state that the yacht car-
    ries cargo, but on the other hand it never mentions the fact that
    it does not. The same reasoning goes for choices b, c, and e.
    The yacht may be bigger and faster than the Alba, and the Alba
    may carry only crew, but these facts are never mentioned in the
    texts so we can’t know for sure. That leaves only one possible
    answer: choice d. The yacht is most certainly more luxurious
    than the Alba, and this statement is backed by both nar-
    rators’s descriptions of the their respective vessels.

  3. e.The captain knew it was important that the crew understood
    the boy was no more privileged than anyone else aboard the
    Alba.Evidence for this choice is found in the narrator’s state-
    ment in lines 10–11: because I was his nephew, I would probably
    have to work twice as hard as the others to prove my worth.All the
    other choices do not make sense or are not backed by specific
    examples from the text.

  4. a. As used inPassage 1, line 26, the verb repairmost closely means
    take themselves, or more simply, go.Today, repair is most com-
    monly used as a verb that means to fix something (choice b).
    However, in the context of the sentence, this makes no sense.
    The easiest way to answer this question is to replace repairin
    the sentence with each the answer choices, and see which one
    fits best in context. By doing this you should narrow down your
    choice to just one: choice a.

  5. c. The narrator’s familiarity with yachts and the harbor at Ply-
    mouth (lines 1–12) in Passage 1 seems to indicate that he is an
    experienced yachtsman. He reveals his passion for yachting in
    lines 17–18, when he declares, Of all amusements, give me yacht-
    ing.All the other answer choices either do not make sense or
    are not supported by specific examples from the text.

  6. e.Nigel probably had rotten or missing teeth. The narrator of Pas-
    sage 2 chose to describe Nigel’s smile as a graveyard of yellow sin-
    cerity, describing his yellow teeth as tombstones in a graveyard.
    When a writer uses a descriptive word or phrase in place of

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