'The Leap' by Louise Erdrich

Read this description of Anna from paragraph 1. She has never upset an object or as much as brushed a magazine onto the floor. She has never lost her balance or bumped into a closet door left carelessly open. The description suggests that Anna has retained her -

• ability to remain calm

• graceful acrobatic skills

• matter-of-fact approach to challenges

• capacity for dealing with extreme situations

Read this sentence from paragraph 5. They loved to drop gracefully from nowhere, like two sparkling birds, and blow kisses as they threw off their plumed helmets and high-collared capes. What does comparing the Flying Avalons to birds mainly suggest about them?

• Their relationship was romantic.

• They enjoyed surprising the audience.

• They looked small and fragile on stage.

• Their acrobatics were skillful and natural.

Read how the words unnoticed in paragraph 4 and unseen in paragraph 12 are used in context. What is the meaning of the prefix un-?

• Bad

• Not

• Never

• Again

The phrase one form of flight for another in paragraph 15 suggests that the -

• ability to read allows the imagination to soar

• mother is willing to exchange excitement for safety

• father understands what the mother has given up

• feeling of contentment is connected to love

The narrator implies that the main reason she moved back to her childhood home to care for her mother was due to her feeling of -

• guilt

• gratitude

• obligation

• admiration

This question has two parts. First, answer Part A. Then, answer Part B. Part A Which theme is conveyed in the selection?

• We rely on our sense of sight more than any other sense.

• Living through difficult circumstances can breed resentment.

• Sometimes a moment in time can seem longer than it actually is.

• Children often grow to be more like their parents than they expect.

Which quotation best supports the answer to Part A?

• She is one with the constant dark now, just as the air was her home, familiar to her, safe, before the storm that afternoon. (paragraph 6)

• My mother once said that I'd be amazed at how many things a person can do within the act of falling. (paragraph 9)

• I suppose you could call it the egocentrism of a child, of all young children, but I considered her a less finished version of myself. (paragraph 11)

• I came home to read to my mother, to read out loud, to read long into the dark if I must, to read all night. (paragraph 15)

Most of 'The Leap' is narrated as a series of flashbacks. What does the use of flashbacks allow the author to do that could not have been done without this technique?

• Narrate important events of the story in reverse chronological order

• Control the pacing to increase the tension of the story's climactic moment

• Slow down significant moments of the story and speed up less significant moments

• Use the narrator's adult knowledge to revise unflattering events from her childhood

Which two inferences can you make about the narrator as a child?

• She was obedient.

• She was very curious.

• She was easily frightened.

• She wanted to become an acrobat.

• She had complete faith in her mother.

Which element makes it difficult to identify the climax in 'The Leap'?

• The use of a narrator who is never named

• The use of two main characters, the narrator and her mother

• Two plot lines, one involving the Flying Avalons and the other involving the narrator as a child

• The story ending, in which the narrator and her mother are still descending to safety on the ground