WorksheetsCAVA review for i-ready ism 2 #4
Total questions: 15
Worksheet time: 17mins
On a Snowy Day
A lot more snow fell last night, and the news anchors are going on about “beautiful white blankets” and a“downy comforters.” Blech. Trite and insipid. At least come up with some new descriptions! They only make me feel more irritated than I already do. Here is one: the land is smothered as though Jack Frost, God, or whoever is poised above it smashing a pillow down and suffocating its life away. I personally think this will feel more relevant to the viewers anyway. Everyone is sick of winter by this time of year.
I flip channels and see something about an upcoming space shuttle launch. The color of the cloudless blue sky, the pervasive green, and the palm trees seem incongruous compared with the vision out my windows. It is difficult to conceive that I will have to bundle up to go shovel my walk while other people are going about their daily chores, every day, in a place that we fly to when we go on vacation. They actually live there! I could be stepping out in shorts and a T-shirt to go buy dinner at the supermarket instead of layering clothes like bandages.
Winter is not all bad, but it has been too long this year, just like it is too long every year. There is a quality to the light in winter. Monet always captures it in his paintings with snow. There is a blue, or pastel, cast to the light that one never sees in the tropics. And there is the way the world looks when it is extra cold and the sun is shining brightly above, casting diamonds around like they are not rare precious stones, but simple gravel, enough for everyone. And I should not forget the magnificent spectacle of hoarfrost cloaking the trees, especially when the sun shines on it and makes the land magical—a cool and pristine fairy world.
Enough! I will postpone the inevitable no longer. I put on a warm coat, boots, gloves, scarf, and a toque. Encumbered by layers of clothing, I press the button to open the garage door. My neighbor has taken pity on me and has done most of the work already. I invite her in for coffee and muffins, baked this morning as a comfort from the seasonal blues. They are laden with blueberries that I froze from last summer, and they remind me that just like all the winters before, this one will end, and spring will come. It always does.
We enter the warm house, shedding layers like a snake at molting time. It is such a production to go in and out that to finally sit with a friend makes everything taste a little sweeter.
What does the speaker's exclamation of “Enough! I will postpone the inevitable no longer” suggest that she believes?
Meditating
Postulating
Procrastinating
Anticipating
A lot more snow fell last night, and the news anchors are going on about “beautiful white blankets” and a“downy comforters.” Blech. Trite and insipid. At least come up with some new descriptions! They only make me feel more irritated than I already do. Here is one: the land is smothered as though Jack Frost, God, or whoever is poised above it smashing a pillow down and suffocating its life away. I personally think this will feel more relevant to the viewers anyway. Everyone is sick of winter by this time of year.
Which of the following is the best description of the tone in paragraph one of this excerpt?
Sorrow and pity
Annoyance and frustration
Patience and persistence
Shock and astonishment
A lot more snow fell last night, and the news anchors are going on about “beautiful white blankets” and a“downy comforters.” Blech. Trite and insipid. At least come up with some new descriptions! They only make me feel more irritated than I already do. Here is one: the land is smothered as though Jack Frost, God, or whoever is poised above it smashing a pillow down and suffocating its life away. I personally think this will feel more relevant to the viewers anyway. Everyone is sick of winter by this time of year.
The writer sets the tone of impatient frustration in the first paragraph mainly through the use of
short, simple sentence structure
parallel structure
hyperbole
comparison
Winter is not all bad, but it has been too long this year, just like it is too long every year. There is a quality to the light in winter. Monet always captures it in his paintings with snow. There is a blue, or pastel, cast to the light that one never sees in the tropics. And there is the way the world looks when it is extra cold and the sun is shining brightly above, casting diamonds around like they are not rare precious stones, but simple gravel, enough for everyone. And I should not forget the magnificent spectacle of hoarfrost cloaking the trees, especially when the sun shines on it and makes the land magical—a cool and pristine fairy world.
How does the writer achieve a mood of awe of brilliance in the third paragraph?
Through simple sentence structure
Through personification
Through hyperbole
Through juxtaposition
The author uses an exclamation mark after the sentence “ They actually live there! ”mostly to express which of the following?
impatience
urgency
irritation
wonder
What is the most likely reason that the blueberry muffins that the speaker shares with her neighbor are comforting?
She is hungry after shoveling snow.
The blueberries make her think of summer.
They are a warm treat after coming in from the cold.
They provide an opportunity to commiserate with her neighbor.
The sentence “We enter the warm house, shedding layers like a snake at moulting time” contains an example of which literary technique?
Metaphor
Simile
Personification
Alliteration
Which of the following literary techniques is used in the phrase “and the sun is shining brightly, casting diamonds around like they are not rare precious stones”?
Understatement
Parallel structure
Hyperbole
Juxtaposition
The writer most likely employs the present tense in this passage in order to achieve a
more realistic setting
better sense of the wintry scene
more believable narrative
tone of restlessness
Which of the following definitions best describes the meaning of the word “anchor” as used in the opening sentence of the passage?
to hold down
to fasten
a commentator
a weight used to prevent a ship from drifting
Which of the following words is the best synonym for the word “insipid” as it is used in the first paragraph?
dull
frigid
inspiring
disgusting
What is the best meaning for the word “trite” as it is used in the quotation “Trite and insipid”?
commonplace
bitter
demonstrative
inconsiderate
Winter is not all bad, but it has been too long this year, just like it is too long every year. There is a quality to the light in winter. Monet always captures it in his paintings with snow. There is a blue, or pastel, cast to the light that one never sees in the tropics. And there is the way the world looks when it is extra cold and the sun is shining brightly above, casting diamonds around like they are not rare precious stones, but simple gravel, enough for everyone. And I should not forget the magnificent spectacle of hoarfrost cloaking the trees, especially when the sun shines on it and makes the land magical—a cool and pristine fairy world.
In which of the following ways does the author make a shift in the third paragraph of the passage?
sentence structure
speaker's attitude
point of view from which the passage is told
time and setting of the passage
Which of the following statements does not describe a reason that the speaker is angry about the metaphors used by the news anchors in the first paragraph?
They are overused and boring.
They remind her of the obvious.
They are not good descriptions of the weather.
They do not refer to “Jack Frost” or “God” with respect to the weather
What is the most likely reason that the writer uses italics in the sentence “There is a quality to the light in winter”?
To express sarcasm.
To indicate that the word is used in an unusual context.
To stress that particular word.
To suggest that the word is borrowed from a title.
