Boy's Life/ Emancipation: A Life Fable

Read the sentence from paragraph 31 in the passage from Boy's Life. "I ran out along the corridor, my arms unencumbered by books, my mind unencumbered by facts and figures, quotations and dates." What does the word unencumbered mean as it is used in the sentence?

• not burdened

• not excited

• not hurried

• not aged

Which sentence from the passage best supports the answer that the boy is no longer burdened?

• 'Have a good summer,' Mrs. Neville said, and I realized suddenly that I was free.

• Before I got out, though, I looked back at Mrs. Neville.

• Mrs. Neville suddenly looked awfully old.

• 'Have a good summer, Mrs. Neville!' I told her from the doorway.

Read the sentence from paragraph 5 in the passage from Boy’s Life.

The world was out there, waiting beyond the square metal-rimmed windows.

How does the sentence help develop the plot of the passage?

• It presents the climax.

• It represents the conflict.

• It indicates how the action changes.

• It establishes how the speaker learns a lesson.

Which detail from the passage best supports the answer that "The world was out there, waiting beyond the square metal-rimmed windows" represents the conflict?

• “The sun had grown steadily hotter . . . .”

• “. . . the baseball field had been mowed . . . .”

• “. . . and how much we’d learned . . .”

• “. . . sat with one eye fixed to the clock.”

In the passage from Boy’s Life, how does the narrator’s attitude toward Mrs. Neville gradually change?

• from confused to angry

• from worried to comforted

• from pitying to discouraged

• from impatient to understanding

Which two sentences from the passage best support the gradual change from impatient to understanding?

• Having your teacher talk to you like a regular person is a disconcerting feeling.

• My insides quaked at the injustice of it.

• She wanted to hold us as long as she possibly could, not out of sheer teacher spite but maybe because she didn’t have anybody to go home to, and summer alone is no summer at all.

• From the hallway we heard a stirring and rustling, followed by laughter and shouts of pure, bubbling joy.

• In spite of what the calendar says, I have always counted the last day of school as the first day of summer.

“Emancipation: A Life Fable” by Kate Chopin

As used in paragraph 1, what does the word confining suggest about the walls?

• The walls are small.

• The walls are limiting.

• The walls are helpful.

• The walls are reassuring.

Which detail from the fable best supports the answer that the walls are limiting?

• "There was once an animal born into this world . . ."

• ". . . opening his eyes upon Life . . ."

• ". . . through which came air and light . . ."

• ". . . this animal was born in a cage."

Read this sentence from the passage. "Back to his corner but not to rest, for the spell of the Unknown was over him, and again and again he goes to the open door, seeing each time more Light." Which statement best describes how this sentence contributes to the development of the plot?

• The sentence introduces new details about the setting that allow the reader to predict what will happen in the future.

• The sentence reflects the change in the animal’s awareness that eventually leads to action.

• The sentence reveals background information that makes the problem clearer to the reader.

• The sentence provides an example of the many challenges that the animal faces in his changing surroundings.

Which sentence from the passage contributes to the plot in a similar way?

• "Here he grew, and throve in strength and beauty under care of an invisible protecting hand." (paragraph 2)

• "In the corner he crouched, wondering and fearingly." (paragraph 3)

• "Then slowly did he approach the door, dreading the unaccustomed, and would have closed it, but for such a task his limbs were purposeless." (paragraph 3)

• "So out the opening he thrust his head, to see the canopy of the sky grow broader, and the world waxing wider." (paragraph 3)