ENGLISH READING TEST

Eugene O’Neill Universally acclaimed as America’s greatest playwright, Eugene O’Neill was born in 1888 in the heart of the theater district in New York City. As the son of an actor he had early exposure to the world line of the theater. He attended Princeton University briefly in 1906, but 5 returned to New York to work in a variety of jobs before joining the crew of a freighter as a seaman. Upon returning from Voyages to South Africa and South America, he was hospitalized for six months to recuperate from tuberculosis. While he was recovering, he determined to write a play about his adventures on the sea. 10 He went to Harvard, where he wrote the one-act Bound East for Cardiff. It was produced in 1916 on Cape Cod by the Provincetown Players, an experimental theater group that was later to settle in the famous Greenwich Village theater district in New York City. The Players produced several more of his one-acts in the years between 15 1916—1920. With the full-length play Beyond the Horizon, produced on Broadway in 1920, O’Neill’s success was assured. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for the best play of the year. O’Neill was to be awarded the prize again in 1922, 1928, and 1957 for Anna Christie, Strange Interlude, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Although he 20 did not receive the Pulitzer Prize for it, Mourning Becomes Electra, produced in 1931, is arguably his most lasting contribution to the American theater. In 1936, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. O’Neill’s plays, forty-five in all, cover a wide range of dramatic 25 subjects, but several themes emerge, including the ambivalence of family relationship, the struggle between the sexes, the conflict between spiritual and material desires, and the vision of modern man as a victim of uncontrollable circumstances. Most of O’Neill’s characters are seeking meaning in their lives. According to his 30 biographers, most of the characters were portraits of himself and his family. In a sense, his work chronicled his life.

1. 1. This passage is a summary of O’ Neill’s

• family

• work

• life

• work and life

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Eugene O’Neill Universally acclaimed as America’s greatest playwright, Eugene O’Neill was born in 1888 in the heart of the theater district in New York City. As the son of an actor he had early exposure to the world line of the theater. He attended Princeton University briefly in 1906, but 5 returned to New York to work in a variety of jobs before joining the crew of a freighter as a seaman. Upon returning from Voyages to South Africa and South America, he was hospitalized for six months to recuperate from tuberculosis. While he was recovering, he determined to write a play about his adventures on the sea. 10 He went to Harvard, where he wrote the one-act Bound East for Cardiff. It was produced in 1916 on Cape Cod by the Provincetown Players, an experimental theater group that was later to settle in the famous Greenwich Village theater district in New York City. The Players produced several more of his one-acts in the years between 15 1916—1920. With the full-length play Beyond the Horizon, produced on Broadway in 1920, O’Neill’s success was assured. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for the best play of the year. O’Neill was to be awarded the prize again in 1922, 1928, and 1957 for Anna Christie, Strange Interlude, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Although he 20 did not receive the Pulitzer Prize for it, Mourning Becomes Electra, produced in 1931, is arguably his most lasting contribution to the American theater. In 1936, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. O’Neill’s plays, forty-five in all, cover a wide range of dramatic 25 subjects, but several themes emerge, including the ambivalence of family relationship, the struggle between the sexes, the conflict between spiritual and material desires, and the vision of modern man as a victim of uncontrollable circumstances. Most of O’Neill’s characters are seeking meaning in their lives. According to his 30 biographers, most of the characters were portraits of himself and his family. In a sense, his work chronicled his life.

2. 2. Where in the passage does the author indicate the reason for O’ Neill’s Hospitalization?

• Lines 10-13

• Lines 3—4

• Lines 6-8

• Lines 16-19

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Eugene O’Neill Universally acclaimed as America’s greatest playwright, Eugene O’Neill was born in 1888 in the heart of the theater district in New York City. As the son of an actor he had early exposure to the world line of the theater. He attended Princeton University briefly in 1906, but 5 returned to New York to work in a variety of jobs before joining the crew of a freighter as a seaman. Upon returning from Voyages to South Africa and South America, he was hospitalized for six months to recuperate from tuberculosis. While he was recovering, he determined to write a play about his adventures on the sea. 10 He went to Harvard, where he wrote the one-act Bound East for Cardiff. It was produced in 1916 on Cape Cod by the Provincetown Players, an experimental theater group that was later to settle in the famous Greenwich Village theater district in New York City. The Players produced several more of his one-acts in the years between 15 1916—1920. With the full-length play Beyond the Horizon, produced on Broadway in 1920, O’Neill’s success was assured. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for the best play of the year. O’Neill was to be awarded the prize again in 1922, 1928, and 1957 for Anna Christie, Strange Interlude, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Although he 20 did not receive the Pulitzer Prize for it, Mourning Becomes Electra, produced in 1931, is arguably his most lasting contribution to the American theater. In 1936, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. O’Neill’s plays, forty-five in all, cover a wide range of dramatic 25 subjects, but several themes emerge, including the ambivalence of family relationship, the struggle between the sexes, the conflict between spiritual and material desires, and the vision of modern man as a victim of uncontrollable circumstances. Most of O’Neill’s characters are seeking meaning in their lives. According to his 30 biographers, most of the characters were portraits of himself and his family. In a sense, his work chronicled his life.

3. 3. How many times was O’ Neill awarded the Pulitzer Prize?

• Three

• One

• Four

• Five

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Eugene O’Neill Universally acclaimed as America’s greatest playwright, Eugene O’Neill was born in 1888 in the heart of the theater district in New York City. As the son of an actor he had early exposure to the world line of the theater. He attended Princeton University briefly in 1906, but 5 returned to New York to work in a variety of jobs before joining the crew of a freighter as a seaman. Upon returning from Voyages to South Africa and South America, he was hospitalized for six months to recuperate from tuberculosis. While he was recovering, he determined to write a play about his adventures on the sea. 10 He went to Harvard, where he wrote the one-act Bound East for Cardiff. It was produced in 1916 on Cape Cod by the Provincetown Players, an experimental theater group that was later to settle in the famous Greenwich Village theater district in New York City. The Players produced several more of his one-acts in the years between 15 1916—1920. With the full-length play Beyond the Horizon, produced on Broadway in 1920, O’Neill’s success was assured. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for the best play of the year. O’Neill was to be awarded the prize again in 1922, 1928, and 1957 for Anna Christie, Strange Interlude, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Although he 20 did not receive the Pulitzer Prize for it, Mourning Becomes Electra, produced in 1931, is arguably his most lasting contribution to the American theater. In 1936, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. O’Neill’s plays, forty-five in all, cover a wide range of dramatic 25 subjects, but several themes emerge, including the ambivalence of family relationship, the struggle between the sexes, the conflict between spiritual and material desires, and the vision of modern man as a victim of uncontrollable circumstances. Most of O’Neill’s characters are seeking meaning in their lives. According to his 30 biographers, most of the characters were portraits of himself and his family. In a sense, his work chronicled his life.

4. 4. What does the author mean by the Statement in lines 29-3 1: “According to his biographers, most of the characters were portraits of himself and his family”?

• His biographers took pictures of him with his family.

• He had paintings of himself and members of his family.

• His biography contained stories about him and his family.

• He used his family and his own experiences in his plays.

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Eugene O’Neill Universally acclaimed as America’s greatest playwright, Eugene O’Neill was born in 1888 in the heart of the theater district in New York City. As the son of an actor he had early exposure to the world line of the theater. He attended Princeton University briefly in 1906, but 5 returned to New York to work in a variety of jobs before joining the crew of a freighter as a seaman. Upon returning from Voyages to South Africa and South America, he was hospitalized for six months to recuperate from tuberculosis. While he was recovering, he determined to write a play about his adventures on the sea. 10 He went to Harvard, where he wrote the one-act Bound East for Cardiff. It was produced in 1916 on Cape Cod by the Provincetown Players, an experimental theater group that was later to settle in the famous Greenwich Village theater district in New York City. The Players produced several more of his one-acts in the years between 15 1916—1920. With the full-length play Beyond the Horizon, produced on Broadway in 1920, O’Neill’s success was assured. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for the best play of the year. O’Neill was to be awarded the prize again in 1922, 1928, and 1957 for Anna Christie, Strange Interlude, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Although he 20 did not receive the Pulitzer Prize for it, Mourning Becomes Electra, produced in 1931, is arguably his most lasting contribution to the American theater. In 1936, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. O’Neill’s plays, forty-five in all, cover a wide range of dramatic 25 subjects, but several themes emerge, including the ambivalence of family relationship, the struggle between the sexes, the conflict between spiritual and material desires, and the vision of modern man as a victim of uncontrollable circumstances. Most of O’Neill’s characters are seeking meaning in their lives. According to his 30 biographers, most of the characters were portraits of himself and his family. In a sense, his work chronicled his life.

6. 6. The word “briefly” in line 4 is closest in meaning to

• without enthusiasm

• on scholarship

• for a short time

• seriously

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Eugene O’Neill Universally acclaimed as America’s greatest playwright, Eugene O’Neill was born in 1888 in the heart of the theater district in New York City. As the son of an actor he had early exposure to the world line of the theater. He attended Princeton University briefly in 1906, but 5 returned to New York to work in a variety of jobs before joining the crew of a freighter as a seaman. Upon returning from Voyages to South Africa and South America, he was hospitalized for six months to recuperate from tuberculosis. While he was recovering, he determined to write a play about his adventures on the sea. 10 He went to Harvard, where he wrote the one-act Bound East for Cardiff. It was produced in 1916 on Cape Cod by the Provincetown Players, an experimental theater group that was later to settle in the famous Greenwich Village theater district in New York City. The Players produced several more of his one-acts in the years between 15 1916—1920. With the full-length play Beyond the Horizon, produced on Broadway in 1920, O’Neill’s success was assured. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for the best play of the year. O’Neill was to be awarded the prize again in 1922, 1928, and 1957 for Anna Christie, Strange Interlude, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Although he 20 did not receive the Pulitzer Prize for it, Mourning Becomes Electra, produced in 1931, is arguably his most lasting contribution to the American theater. In 1936, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. O’Neill’s plays, forty-five in all, cover a wide range of dramatic 25 subjects, but several themes emerge, including the ambivalence of family relationship, the struggle between the sexes, the conflict between spiritual and material desires, and the vision of modern man as a victim of uncontrollable circumstances. Most of O’Neill’s characters are seeking meaning in their lives. According to his 30 biographers, most of the characters were portraits of himself and his family. In a sense, his work chronicled his life.

6. 6. According to the passage, which of O’ Neill’s plays was most important to The American theater?

• Anna Christie

• Long Day’s Journey Into Night

• Beyond the Horizon

• Mourning Becomes Electra

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Eugene O’Neill Universally acclaimed as America’s greatest playwright, Eugene O’Neill was born in 1888 in the heart of the theater district in New York City. As the son of an actor he had early exposure to the world line of the theater. He attended Princeton University briefly in 1906, but 5 returned to New York to work in a variety of jobs before joining the crew of a freighter as a seaman. Upon returning from Voyages to South Africa and South America, he was hospitalized for six months to recuperate from tuberculosis. While he was recovering, he determined to write a play about his adventures on the sea. 10 He went to Harvard, where he wrote the one-act Bound East for Cardiff. It was produced in 1916 on Cape Cod by the Provincetown Players, an experimental theater group that was later to settle in the famous Greenwich Village theater district in New York City. The Players produced several more of his one-acts in the years between 15 1916—1920. With the full-length play Beyond the Horizon, produced on Broadway in 1920, O’Neill’s success was assured. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for the best play of the year. O’Neill was to be awarded the prize again in 1922, 1928, and 1957 for Anna Christie, Strange Interlude, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Although he 20 did not receive the Pulitzer Prize for it, Mourning Becomes Electra, produced in 1931, is arguably his most lasting contribution to the American theater. In 1936, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. O’Neill’s plays, forty-five in all, cover a wide range of dramatic 25 subjects, but several themes emerge, including the ambivalence of family relationship, the struggle between the sexes, the conflict between spiritual and material desires, and the vision of modern man as a victim of uncontrollable circumstances. Most of O’Neill’s characters are seeking meaning in their lives. According to his 30 biographers, most of the characters were portraits of himself and his family. In a sense, his work chronicled his life.

7. 7. The word “struggle” in line 26 is closest in meaning to

• denial

• influence

• conflict

• appreciation

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Eugene O’Neill Universally acclaimed as America’s greatest playwright, Eugene O’Neill was born in 1888 in the heart of the theater district in New York City. As the son of an actor he had early exposure to the world line of the theater. He attended Princeton University briefly in 1906, but 5 returned to New York to work in a variety of jobs before joining the crew of a freighter as a seaman. Upon returning from Voyages to South Africa and South America, he was hospitalized for six months to recuperate from tuberculosis. While he was recovering, he determined to write a play about his adventures on the sea. 10 He went to Harvard, where he wrote the one-act Bound East for Cardiff. It was produced in 1916 on Cape Cod by the Provincetown Players, an experimental theater group that was later to settle in the famous Greenwich Village theater district in New York City. The Players produced several more of his one-acts in the years between 15 1916—1920. With the full-length play Beyond the Horizon, produced on Broadway in 1920, O’Neill’s success was assured. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for the best play of the year. O’Neill was to be awarded the prize again in 1922, 1928, and 1957 for Anna Christie, Strange Interlude, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Although he 20 did not receive the Pulitzer Prize for it, Mourning Becomes Electra, produced in 1931, is arguably his most lasting contribution to the American theater. In 1936, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. O’Neill’s plays, forty-five in all, cover a wide range of dramatic 25 subjects, but several themes emerge, including the ambivalence of family relationship, the struggle between the sexes, the conflict between spiritual and material desires, and the vision of modern man as a victim of uncontrollable circumstances. Most of O’Neill’s characters are seeking meaning in their lives. According to his 30 biographers, most of the characters were portraits of himself and his family. In a sense, his work chronicled his life.

8. 8. The author mentions all of the following as themes for O’Neill’s plays EXCEPT

• adventures at sea

• life in college

• family life

• relationships between men and women

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Eugene O’Neill Universally acclaimed as America’s greatest playwright, Eugene O’Neill was born in 1888 in the heart of the theater district in New York City. As the son of an actor he had early exposure to the world line of the theater. He attended Princeton University briefly in 1906, but 5 returned to New York to work in a variety of jobs before joining the crew of a freighter as a seaman. Upon returning from Voyages to South Africa and South America, he was hospitalized for six months to recuperate from tuberculosis. While he was recovering, he determined to write a play about his adventures on the sea. 10 He went to Harvard, where he wrote the one-act Bound East for Cardiff. It was produced in 1916 on Cape Cod by the Provincetown Players, an experimental theater group that was later to settle in the famous Greenwich Village theater district in New York City. The Players produced several more of his one-acts in the years between 15 1916—1920. With the full-length play Beyond the Horizon, produced on Broadway in 1920, O’Neill’s success was assured. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for the best play of the year. O’Neill was to be awarded the prize again in 1922, 1928, and 1957 for Anna Christie, Strange Interlude, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Although he 20 did not receive the Pulitzer Prize for it, Mourning Becomes Electra, produced in 1931, is arguably his most lasting contribution to the American theater. In 1936, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. O’Neill’s plays, forty-five in all, cover a wide range of dramatic 25 subjects, but several themes emerge, including the ambivalence of family relationship, the struggle between the sexes, the conflict between spiritual and material desires, and the vision of modern man as a victim of uncontrollable circumstances. Most of O’Neill’s characters are seeking meaning in their lives. According to his 30 biographers, most of the characters were portraits of himself and his family. In a sense, his work chronicled his life.

9. 9. The word “it” in line 20 refers to

• theater group

• Harvard

• theater district

• one-act play

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Eugene O’Neill Universally acclaimed as America’s greatest playwright, Eugene O’Neill was born in 1888 in the heart of the theater district in New York City. As the son of an actor he had early exposure to the world line of the theater. He attended Princeton University briefly in 1906, but 5 returned to New York to work in a variety of jobs before joining the crew of a freighter as a seaman. Upon returning from Voyages to South Africa and South America, he was hospitalized for six months to recuperate from tuberculosis. While he was recovering, he determined to write a play about his adventures on the sea. 10 He went to Harvard, where he wrote the one-act Bound East for Cardiff. It was produced in 1916 on Cape Cod by the Provincetown Players, an experimental theater group that was later to settle in the famous Greenwich Village theater district in New York City. The Players produced several more of his one-acts in the years between 15 1916—1920. With the full-length play Beyond the Horizon, produced on Broadway in 1920, O’Neill’s success was assured. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for the best play of the year. O’Neill was to be awarded the prize again in 1922, 1928, and 1957 for Anna Christie, Strange Interlude, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Although he 20 did not receive the Pulitzer Prize for it, Mourning Becomes Electra, produced in 1931, is arguably his most lasting contribution to the American theater. In 1936, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. O’Neill’s plays, forty-five in all, cover a wide range of dramatic 25 subjects, but several themes emerge, including the ambivalence of family relationship, the struggle between the sexes, the conflict between spiritual and material desires, and the vision of modern man as a victim of uncontrollable circumstances. Most of O’Neill’s characters are seeking meaning in their lives. According to his 30 biographers, most of the characters were portraits of himself and his family. In a sense, his work chronicled his life.

10. 10. We can infer from information in the Passage that O’ Neill’s plays were no

• optimistic

• popular

• controversial

• autobiographical

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