Into the Lifeboat

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

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

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.

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

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

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)

The author wrote this selection most likely to —

• record her personal experience during an important event

• inform the reader about the key details of an important event

• reveal the untold truth about an important event

• convince the reader to agree with her opinion about an important event