Honors English I

Unit 1 Exam

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

1 As winter drew on, Mollie became more and more troublesome. She was late for work every morning and excused
herself by saying that she had overslept, and she complained of mysterious pains, although her appetite was excellent. On
every kind of pretext she would run away from work and go to the drinking pool, where she would stand foolishly gazing
at her own reflection in the water. But there were also rumours of something more serious. One day, as Mollie strolled
blithely into the yard, flirting her long tail and chewing at a stalk of hay, Clover took her aside.
7 "Mollie," she said, "I have something very serious to say to you. This morning I saw you looking over the hedge
that divides Animal Farm from Foxwood. One of Mr. Pilkington's men was standing on the other side of the hedge. And--I
was a long way away, but I am almost certain I saw this--he was talking to you and you were allowing him to stroke your
nose. What does that mean, Mollie?"
11 "He didn't! I wasn't! It isn't true!" cried Mollie, beginning to prance about and paw the ground.
12 "Mollie! Look me in the face. Do you give me your word of honour that that man was not stroking your nose?"
14 "It isn't true!" repeated Mollie, but she could not look Clover in the face, and the next moment she took to her heels
and galloped away into the field.
16 A thought struck Clover. Without saying anything to the others, she went to Mollie's stall and turned over the straw
with her hoof. Hidden under the straw was a little pile of lump sugar and several bunches of ribbon of different colours.
19 Three days later Mollie disappeared. For some weeks nothing was known of her whereabouts, then the pigeons
reported that they had seen her on the other side of Willingdon. She was between the shafts of a smart dogcart painted red
and black, which was standing outside a public-house. A fat red-faced man in check breeches and gaiters, who looked like
a publican, was stroking her nose and feeding her with sugar. Her coat was newly clipped and she wore a scarlet ribbon
round her forelock. She appeared to be enjoying herself, so the pigeons said. None of the animals ever mentioned Mollie
again.

1. In this excerpt, how is Mollie being indirectly characterized?

a. Flirty and troublesome
b. Lazy and disloyal
c. Angry and hot-headed
d. Argumentative and frustrated

2. Which of the following was a direct characterization given of Mollie?

a. Dishonest
b. Troublesome
c. Someone who likes ribbons
d. Cheater

3. Read the following sentence from the reading: “On every kind of pretext she would run away from work and go
to the drinking pool, where she would stand foolishly gazing at her own reflection in the water.” Which of the
following is an acceptable synonym for “pretext”?
a. Truth/reality
b. Imagination/invention
c. Excuse/alibi
d. Story/tale

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4. Which best describes Clover’s tone when talking to Mollie in lines 7-10?
a. Joyful and pleasant
b. Laughable and humorous
c. Concerned and disturbed
d. None of the above

5. In lines 1-3, the narrator describes Mollie’s work ethic. They then go on to mention that she complained of
“mysterious pains, although her appetite was excellent”. What was the author’s purpose in including these lines?
a. To show how she ate so much that the other animals were starting to get upset; because she ate so much,
there was no food left for the other animals.
b. To demonstrate that, though she made a lot of excuses to get out of work, she was eating her fair share of
the food, which the animals had to work hard to produce.
c. To inform the reader that she had a great work ethic which meant that she got to eat more than the other
animals as a reward.
d. To make the reader dislike Mollie as much as the other animals disliked her.

6. What is the purpose of showing the reader Clover’s findings when she looks into Mollie’s belongings?
a. To explain Mollie’s behavior and foreshadow that she would eventually give in to the gifts she was
receiving
b. To create suspense because we were not expecting her to have ribbon and sugar, so this showed us that
she was willing to stab her friends in the back
c. To make a mockery of Clover and show that she should not have been going through Mollie’s things in
the first place
d. Both A & B

7. Read the following line, and select the best characterization of Mollie based on it.

“On every kind of pretext she would run away from work and go to the drinking pool, where she would stand
foolishly gazing at her own reflection in the water.”
a. Talented
b. Self-absorbed
c. Confident
d. Silly

8. Which statement best summarizes the theme of the selection?

a. Personal desire sometimes outweighs what is right.
b. Hard work leads to great satisfaction.
c. Love conquers all.
d. Someone can be their own worst enemy.

9. Which lines from the text best represent the theme?

a. Lines 20-21
b. Lines 11 and 12
c. Lines 17-19
d. Line 14

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10. Reread lines 16-18. Which answer best explains how we know the point of view is third-person limited?
a. We know because, while the narrator told us that Clover had a thought, they could only show us
what she did after having the thought
b. We know because Clover is the one narrating the story, meaning that it is coming from her point
of view. So we saw her thought because she is telling the story
c. We know because the narrator told us that she had a thought, then told us what she was thinking,
then what she did after having the thought
d. We don’t know

I Shall Not Die for Thee

By Douglas Hyde
For thee, I shall not die,
Woman of high fame and name;
Foolish men thou mayest slay
I and they are not the same.

Why should I expire

For the fire of an eye,
Slender waist or swan-like limb,
Is't for them that I should die?

The golden hair, the forehead thin,

The chaste1 mien2, the gracious ease,
The rounded heel, the languid3 tone,--
Fools alone find death from these.

Thy sharp wit, thy perfect calm,

Thy thin palm like foam o' the sea;
Thy white neck, thy blue eye,
I shall not die for thee.

Woman, graceful as the swan,

A wise man did nurture me.
Little palm, white neck, bright eye,
I shall not die for ye.
1. chaste: morally pure
2. mien: facial expression or attitude
3. languid: lacking enthusiasm

11. What is the main idea of this poem?

a. A man describes his decision to never die for any woman.
b. A woman is telling her mother that she will not give her a kidney.
c. A man is yelling at his wife for suggesting that he go to the war.
d. A village is determined not to give in to death in spite of the war going on around them.

12. The narrator’s tone is best described as

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 a. Resolved
b. Strong-willed
c. Firm
d. All of the above

13. What is the purpose of the line “Fools alone find death from these” in the 3rd stanza?
a. The narrator is suggesting that fools are the only ones who die
b. The narrator is suggesting that the qualities previously listed are not enough to die for someone
c. The narrator thinks that women are fools so they should be the ones who die rather than men
d. The narrator thinks that anyone who prefers ‘golden hair’ is a fool

14. The author uses repetition for what purpose?

a. To reinforce the narrator’s point that, though women have favorable qualities that others desire,
he does not see them as great enough to die for
b. To make the reader understand that the narrator refuses to die no matter what
c. To show the reader that the narrator is strong-willed and, because of that, repeats himself to
make his point heard
d. To reinforce the author’s desire to have a woman with all of the qualities named in the poem

15. What does the narrator’s diction relating to the women being described suggest?
a. The narrator’s diction suggests that women are foolish and silly, as seen in line 3
b. The narrator’s diction suggests that women are usually fawned over and highly desired
c. The narrator’s diction suggests that these are ways that women are typically described by other
men
d. Both B & C

16. Which lines best describes the narrator’s tone?

a. “The golden hair, the forehead thin/The chaste1 mien2, the gracious ease…”
b. “For thee, I shall not die/ Woman of high fame and name…”
c. “Slender waist or swan-like limb,/ Is't for them that I should die?”
d. “Woman, graceful as the swan,/ A wise man did nurture me.”

17. The conflict in this poem can be best described as:

a. Man v Man
b. Man v Woman
c. Man v Self
d. Man v Society

The New First Grade: Too Much Too Soon

By Peg Tyre, Newsweek US

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 Brian And Tiffany Aske of Oakland, Calif., desperately want their daughter, Ashlyn, to succeed in first
grade. That's why they're moving--to Washington State. When they started Ashlyn in kindergarten last year,
they had no reason to worry. A bright child with twinkling eyes, Ashlyn was eager to learn, and the
neighborhood school had a great reputation. But by November, Ashlyn, then 5, wasn't measuring up. No matter
how many times she was tested, she couldn't read the 130-word list her teacher gave her: words like "our,"
"house" and "there." She became so exhausted and distraught over homework--including a weekly essay on "my
favorite animal" or "my family vacation"--that she would put her head down on the dining-room table and sob.
"She would tell me, 'I can't write a story, Mama. I just can't do it'," recalls Tiffany, a stay-at-home mom.
The teacher didn't seem to notice that Ashlyn was crumbling, but Tiffany became so concerned that she
began to spend time in her daughter's classroom as a volunteer. There she was both disturbed and comforted to
see that other kids were struggling, too. "I saw kids falling asleep at their desks at 11 a.m.," she says. At the end
of the year, Tiffany asked the teacher what Ashlyn could expect when she moved on to the first grade. The
requirements the teacher described, more words and more math at an even faster pace, "were overwhelming. It
was just bizarre."
So Tiffany and Brian, a contractor, looked hard at their family finances to see if they could afford to send
Ashlyn to private school. Eventually, they called a real-estate agent in a community where school was not as
intense.
In the last decade, the earliest years of schooling have become less like a trip to "Mister Rogers'
Neighborhood" and more like SAT prep. Thirty years ago first grade was for learning how to read. Now,
reading lessons start in kindergarten and kids who don't crack the code by the middle of the first grade get extra
help. Instead of story time, finger painting, tracing letters and snack, first graders are spending hours doing math
worksheets and sounding out words in reading groups. In some places, recess, music, art and even social studies
are being replaced by writing exercises and spelling quizzes. Kids as young as 6 are tested, and tested again--
some every 10 days or so--to ensure they're making sufficient progress. After school, there's homework, and for
some, educational videos, more workbooks and tutoring, to help give them an edge.

18. Which sentence best summarizes the main idea of the article?
a. “At the end of the year, Tiffany asked the teacher what Ashlyn could expect when she moved on
to the first grade. The requirements the teacher described, more words and more math at an even
faster pace…”
b. “A bright child with twinkling eyes, Ashlyn was eager to learn, and the neighborhood school had
a great reputation. But by November, Ashlyn, then 5, wasn't measuring up.”
c. “Kids as young as 6 are tested, and tested again--some every 10 days or so--to ensure they're
making sufficient progress.”
d. “Instead of story time, finger painting, tracing letters and snack, first graders are spending hours
doing math worksheets and sounding out words in reading groups.”

19. This author is biased against:

a. Good education; the author wants schooling to be easy and fun like it was 30 years ago
b. The intensity of kindergarten and 1st grade; the author thinks these early grades should be more
fun and engaging like it was 30 years ago
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 c. The teacher; the author thinks that the teacher has too-high standards and that her classroom
should be more kid-friendly like it was 30 years ago
d. The Aske family; the author doesn’t like how willing the family is to move for their daughter’s
school to change

20. Which statement best explains how the author’s diction contributes to the bias in the article?
a. The author uses words such as succeed, measuring up, and learning to demonstrate how students
feel in the classroom
b. The author uses very simple words so that the reader can follow along with the news story and
feel emotional about the kindergarten students
c. The author uses examples of what kindergarten used to look like then explains what it looks like
now to prove their point that kindergarten is too hard
d. The author uses words such as distraught, crumpling, overwhelming, and bizarre to make a
contrast between how we usually think about kindergarten and how it is now

21. To make their point more clear, the author of the article uses evidence to support their claim. What is the
evidence they use throughout the article?
a. By using quotes from a popular CNN article that most readers would have read
b. By using Tiffany and what she says when she is being interviewed
c. By using the example of the Aske family’s daughter and her experiences
d. By using “Mr. Rogers”, a popular TV show for kids that most people know of or have seen

22. Which line best represents the author’s tone towards new-aged kindergarten and first grade?
a. “Brian And Tiffany Aske of Oakland, Calif., desperately want their daughter, Ashlyn, to succeed
in first grade.”
b. “In the last decade, the earliest years of schooling have become less like a trip to "Mister Rogers'
Neighborhood" and more like SAT prep.”
c. “After school, there's homework, and for some, educational videos, more workbooks and
tutoring, to help give them an edge.”
d. “In some places, recess, music, art and even social studies are being replaced by writing
exercises and spelling quizzes.”

23. Which statement would the author most likely disagree with?
a. Kindergarten is an important stage to get kids prepared to go into real school
b. Kindergarten and first grade need to go hand-in-hand to effectively prepare students to learn real
material
c. Kindergarten needs to be rigorous and packed with learning so that students will understand what
school is really like
d. Kindergarten is a transitional stage between being at home with their parents and being by
themselves during the day

24. Read the following passage. Then, answer the question on a separate sheet of paper in full sentences.
(5 points)

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 All Victor ever wanted to do with his life was be a singer. He didn’t pay attention in school and
he spent all of his time at home watching music videos online and impersonating his idols. His mother
tried to teach him the value of getting an education and having a backup plan, but Victor would respond
the same way every time, “Mom, I won’t need to know any of that boring old stuff when I’m famous.
You’ll see.” But there was one major problem with Victor’s plan: he wasn’t any good at singing. Victor
wanted to be a singer so badly, that he didn’t notice the pained look on the faces of those who endured
his singing. Because he wanted to be a singer so badly, when honest people told him to find something
else to do with his life, he accused them of being “jealous haters” and ignored their advice. After Victor
dropped out of high school to focus on his music career, the years passed and the doors never opened.

What is the theme of the passage? How do you know? How could the theme of this story help
other people in a similar position as Victor? Explain your answer using the proper format and quote
evidence from the text.