Into the Lifeboat from Titanic Survivor Selection Test

What is the most likely reason the author includes her observations in paragraph 3?

• To express her own feelings about the events

• To describe how best to respond in an emergency situation

• To show how passengers and crew first reacted when the ship began to sink

• To introduce characters who will be important later in the selection

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6.6.e

In paragraph 6, which phrase helps the reader understand the meaning of the word reluctance?

• Titanic seemed so steady

• content to bide their time

• some pointed to a light

• another ship's lights

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6.4.c

In paragraph 7 of the selection, how do passengers react when they are asked to board lifeboats?

• Most passengers decline to board lifeboats, believing that the ship will not sink.

• Most passengers board lifeboats in an orderly way, following the crew's instructions.

• Some passengers eagerly board lifeboats, while others need encouragement.

• Some passengers refuse to board lifeboats, while others ignore directions from the crew.

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6.6.b

Read the sentences from paragraph 15 of the selection.

Looking along the length of the ship, I noticed the forward part of her was lower now, much lower! For a fraction of a second, my heart stood still, as is often the case when faith, hitherto unshaken faith, gets its first setback.

These lines reflect the narrator's -

• observations on the deck

• sense of time passing

• faith that all will be fine

• first feelings of alarm

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6.6.e

6.6.f

Read the sentence from paragraph 22 of the selection.

“Surely it is all a dream,” I thought as I looked up the side of the ship, beautifully illuminated, each deck alive with lights; the dynamos were on the top deck.

Which phrase from the sentence helps the reader understand the meaning of the word illuminated?

• Surely it is all a dream

• as I looked up the side of the ship

• each deck alive with lights

• the dynamos were on the top deck

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6.4.c

Select all the answers that describe a description of the Titanic:

• the boat descended a fearful distance into that inky blackness beneath (paragraph 21)

• a bone-cracking thud which started the baby crying in earnest (paragraph 23)

• She was getting lower in the water (paragraph 26)

• the women in the boat started to weep (paragraph 27)

• Only three decks now, and still not a list to one side or the other. (paragraph 27)

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6.5.e

Which quote from the passage uses a simile to describe the conditions on the night the Titanic sank?

• Groaning, the boat descended a fearful distance into that inky blackness beneath, intensified as the lights fell on it occasionally. (paragraph 21)

• We touched the water with a terrific thud, a bone-cracking thud which started the baby crying in earnest. (paragraph 23)

• A tiny breeze, the first we had felt on this calm night, blew an icy blast across my face; it felt like a knife in its penetrating coldness. (paragraph 29)

       

• One awful moment of empty, misty blackness enveloped us in its loneliness, then an unforgettable, agonizing cry went up from 1500 despairing throats . . . (paragraph 30)

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6.5.h

Why does the author describe how she counted the rows of deck lights when she was in the lifeboat?

• To show how she realized that the ship was truly sinking

• To prove that she was right in a conversation with another passenger

• To show that she wanted to soothe the baby she was holding

• To explain that the deck lights were on as a signal for help

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6.5.b

Read this sentence from paragraph 27.

I tried to busy myself with the baby, but could not refrain from looking up again.

Select two words that could replace refrain in this sentence without changing its meaning.

• Avoid

• Check

• Keep

• Run

• Stop

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6.4.c

Which phrase from paragraph 29 uses exaggeration to give the reader a mental image of how unpleasant the night was following the ship’s sinking?

• . . . it felt like a knife in its penetrating coldness.

• I sat paralyzed with cold and misery, as I watched Titanic give a lurch forward.

• One of the huge funnels toppled off like a cardboard model . . .

• . . . the ship seemed to right herself like a hurt animal with a broken back.

Tags

6.5.e