The Censors Test

How does Juan get his first promotion after taking the job as a censor?

• by betraying a fellow worker

• by replacing an accident victim

• by seeking his letter to Mariana

• by offering to do dangerous work

Which statement best sums up Juan's career?

• He remains at the same level and never gets promoted

• He begins at a low level and keeps getting promoted

• He begins at a high level but then keeps getting demoted

• He begins at a high level and remains at a high level

What happens to Juan by the end of the story?

• He finally discovers his letter to Mariana and is able to destroy it

• He becomes so devoted to his job that he stops eating and gets sick

• He reaches section B, has too few letters to censor, and grows bored

• He censors his own letter, gets himself in trouble, and is executed

This story takes place in a country ruled by a dictator. What do the details and outcome of the story suggest most clearly about dictatorships? Choose THREE options.

• They are very compassionate

• They encourage conformity

• They stimulate creativity

• They can be very violent

• They often seem absurd

Which description best illustrates what it means to sabotage something?

• A spy removes a vital part of a car so that it no longer starts

• A police officer gives a driver a ticket for driving a car too fast.

• A motorist registers a car with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

• A driver visits a service station and fills a car’s tank with gasoline.

If a person is going to intercept a message sent to another person, what does the person most clearly have to do?

• prepare the message well in advance

• suggest ways to speed up delivery time

• read the message after it is sent but before it is delivered

• pass the message to the intended recipient via email or text

Part A What do the details in “The Censors” suggest about the work of censoring letters?

• Few letters are actually scrutinized.

• The censors tend to be fairly lenient.

• A letter can be censored for what it implies, not just for what it says explicitly

• Each censor must work in various departments or sections, not just one.

Part B Which of these sentences from “The Censors” best supports the answer to Part A? Choose 2 sentences

• He knows that they examine, sniff, feel, and read between the lines of each and every letter, and check its tiniest comma and most accidental stain.

• Ulterior motives couldn't be overlooked in the Censorship Division, but they needn't be too strict with those who applied.

• And when he was transferred to Section F, where letters are carefully checked for poison dust, he felt he had climbed a rung in the ladder.

• Very few letters reached him in Section B—only a handful passed the other hurdles—so he read them over and over again.

Part A In “The Censors,” what main change has Juan experienced by the time he reaches Section B in the Censorship Division?

• He comes to despise his job as a censor.

• He becomes proud of his job as a censor.

• He wins great fame in his job as a censor.

• He grows quite lazy in his job as a censor.

Part B Which of these sentences from “The Censors” best supports the answer to Part A?

• The building had a festive air on the outside that contrasted with its inner staidness.

• He didn’t even worry when, in his first month, he was sent to Section K where envelopes are very carefully screened for explosives.

• He had a truly patriotic task, both self-denying and uplifting.

• His basket for censored letters became the best fed as well as the most cunning basket in the whole Censorship Division.