Into the Wild: Comprehension Practice

Which of the following inferences is best supported by the first paragraph of the excerpt?

"In May 1990, Chris graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, where he’d been a columnist for, and editor of, the student newspaper, The Emory Wheel, and had distinguished himself as a history and anthropology major with a 3.72 grade point average. He was offered membership in Phi Beta Kappa but declined, insisting that titles and honors are irrelevant."

• A. Chris was an intelligent and thoughtful young man.

• B. Chris wished he’d gone to a different school.

• C. Chris struggled as a student.

• D. Chris didn’t have a great relationship with his parents.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.1

CCSS.RI.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

What does the following passage mainly reveal about Chris McCandless (paragraph 13)?

"At long last he was unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling world of his parents and peers, a world of abstraction and security and material excess, a world in which he felt grievously cut off from the raw throb of existence."

• A. His parents paid his college tuition.

• B. He was happy where he was and had no good reason to leave.

• C. He hoped to find a good job and make a lot of money.

• D. He felt trapped and unfulfilled before deciding to leave.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

In proper context, the title phrase Into the Wild most likely refers to ___________.

• A. becoming more like an animal

• B. making a random guess

• C. losing one’s mind

• D. leaving behind a settled life

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Which of the following selections best describes Chris’s college apartment?

• A. His apartment was crowded and tacky.

• B. His apartment was tasteful and tidy.

• C. His apartment was sparse and clean.

• D. His apartment was simple and large.

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

CCSS.RI.9-10.5

Which sentence from Excerpt 3 most strongly supports the answer to Question 4?

• A. "The final two years of his college education had been paid for with a forty-thousand-dollar bequest left by a friend of the family’s; more than twenty-four thousand dollars remained at the time of Chris’s graduation."

• B. “Two days after McCandless set up camp beside Lake Mead, an unusually robust wall of thunderheads reared up in the afternoon sky, and it began to rain, very hard, over much of the Detrital Valley.”

• C. “During that final year in Atlanta, Chris had lived off campus in a monkish room furnished with little more than a thin mattress on the floor, milk crates, and a table. He kept it as orderly and spotless as a military barracks.”

• D. "When they arrived at his apartment, it was empty and a FOR RENT sign was taped to the window. The manager said that Chris had moved out at the end of June.”

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.1

CCSS.RI.11-12.1

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

Which of the following words best summarizes Chris’s feelings about his ruined car?

• A. terror

• B. delight

• C. sadness

• D. respect

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.6

CCSS.RL.8.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Which sentence from the excerpt most strongly supports the answer to Question 6?

• A. “Instead of feeling distraught over this turn of events, moreover, McCandless was exhilarated: He saw the flash flood as an opportunity to shed unnecessary baggage.”

• B. “But it did get the engine wet, so wet that when McCandless tried to start the car soon thereafter, the engine wouldn’t catch, and in his impatience he drained the battery.”

• C. “If he hoped to get the car back to a paved road, McCandless had no choice but to walkout and notify the authorities of his predicament.”

• D. “Then, in a gesture that would have done both Thoreau and Tolstoy proud, he arranged all his paper currency in a pile on the sand—a pathetic little stack of ones and fives and twenties—and put a match to it.”

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.2

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2