AP Lit MCQ

FIRST PASSAGE

1. The passage as a whole serves primarily to

• (A) portray Babbitt’s philosophy of work

  and leisure

• (B) portray controversial characters

  sympathetically

• (C) introduce Babbitt and his social and

  physical setting

• (D) condemn snobbery

• (E) illustrate class differences

2. The first two paragraphs (lines 1-12) suggest that,

for Babbitt, his car was a

• (A) substitute for human role models

• (B) source of adventure and fascination

• (C) means of escape from dealing with other

  people

• (D) harrowing danger but also a necessity

• (E) reward for hard work and self-sacrifice

3. In lines 3-4, “The office was his pirate ship”

is an example of

• (A) metaphor

• (B) personification

• (C) understatement

• (D) oxymoron

• (E) allusion

4. In the second paragraph (lines 5-12), the narrator

characterizes Babbitt as

• (A) superstitious

• (B) pessimistic

• (C) meticulous

• (D) matter-of-fact

• (E) idealistic

5. Why does Babbitt regret having greeted

Doppelbrau “with more cordiality than he

had intended” (lines 19-20) ?

• (A) He prefers not to show his emotions.

• (B) He does not want to mislead his neighbor.

• (C) He and Doppelbrau are competitors.

• (D) He disapproves of his neighbor.

• (E) He likes to be precise.

6. In context, the phrase “no architectural manners

whatever” (line 26) suggests that the house

• (A) is undistinguished in its features

• (B) is conservative in its design

• (C) breaks accepted rules of building

• (D) has garish adornments

• (E) seems particularly uninviting

7. Babbitt uses the term “Bohemian” (line 29)

to describe neighbors that he believes are

• (A) wasteful

• (B) unsophisticated

• (C) intentionally malevolent

• (D) refreshingly carefree

• (E) morally lax

8. The capitalization of “Great Scholar” (line 44),

“Public” (line 54), and “Widows and Orphans”

(line 56) suggests that these terms

• (A) are used only in reference to other terms

• (B) have different meanings to Babbitt than

  to other people

• (C) are meant to be read ironically

• (D) have been translated from another language

• (E) signal the pride state legislators take in their

  work

9. The narrator suggests that Howard Littlefield’s

presentations “before the board of aldermen

or the state legislature” (line 51) are

characterized by

• (A) engaging, casual anecdotes

• (B) subtle, malicious inconsistencies

• (C) daring, idealistic proposals

• (D) elaborate, slanted data

• (E) earnest, irrefutable research

10. In lines 66-67, the phrase in parentheses

implies that Littlefield is actually

• (A) forgiving

• (B) curious

• (C) self-important

• (D) witty

• (E) erratic