(excerpt from a pro-voting essay)

Voting is the privilege for which wars have been fought, protests have been organized, and editorials have been
written. “No taxation without representation” was a battle cry of the American Revolution. Women struggled
for suffrage as did all minorities. Eighteen-year-olds clamored for the right to vote, saying that if they were old
enough to go to war, they should be allowed to vote. Yet Americans have a deplorable voting history.
Interviewing people about their voting habits is revealing. There are individuals who state that they have
never voted. Often, they claim that their individual vote doesn’t matter. Some people blame their absence from
the voting booth on the fact that they do not know enough about the issues. In a democracy, we can express
our opinions to our elected leaders, but more than half of us sometimes avoid choosing the people who make
the policies that affect our lives.

1. This argument relies primarily on which of the 3. By choosing the word “clamored,” the author
following techniques to make its points? implies that
a. emotional assertions a. eighteen-year-olds are generally enthusiastic.
b. researched facts in support of an assertion b. voting was not a serious concern to eighteen-
c. emotional appeals to voters year-olds.
d. emotional appeals to nonvoters c. eighteen-year-olds felt strongly that they
should be allowed to vote.
2. Which of the following sentences best summa- d. eighteen-year-olds do not handle themselves
rizes the main idea of the passage? in an adult-like manner.
a. Americans are too lazy to vote.
b. Women and minorities fought for their right
to vote.
c. Americans do not take voting seriously enough.
d. Americans do not think that elected officials
take their opinions seriously.

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 Improving Streamside Wildlife Habitats
(excerpt from Habitat Extension Bulletin distributed by the
Wyoming Game and Fish Department)

Riparian vegetation [the green band of vegetation along a watercourse] can help stabilize stream banks; filter
sediment from surface runoff; and provide wildlife habitat, livestock forage, and scenic value. Well-developed
vegetation also allows bank soils to absorb extra water during spring runoff, releasing it later during drier
months, thus improving late-summer stream flows.
In many parts of the arid West, trees and shrubs are found only in riparian areas. Woody plants are very
important as winter cover for many wildlife species, including upland game birds such as pheasants and
turkeys. Often this winter cover is the greatest single factor limiting game bird populations. Woody vegetation
also provides hiding cover and browse for many other species of birds and mammals, both game and nongame.
Dead trees (“snags”) are an integral part of streamside habitats and should be left standing whenever pos-
sible. Woodpeckers, nuthatches, brown creepers, and other birds eat the insects that decompose the wood. These
insects usually pose no threat to nearby living trees. Occasionally a disease organism or misuse of pesticides will
weaken or kill a stand of trees. If several trees in a small area begin to die, contact your local extension agent
immediately.

4. What is the effect of the word choice “riparian”? 6 . Assume that the author has done some other
a. It gives the article an authoritative, scientific writing on this topic for a different audience. The
tone. other piece begins: “Remember the last time you
b. It causes confusion, since both streams and walked along a stream? No doubt thick vegeta-
rivers could be viewed as riparian. tion prevented easy progress.” What is the likely
c. It seems condescending, as if the author was effect on the reader of this opening?
stooping to teach readers. a. an aroused interest, due to the reference to the
d. It misleads readers into thinking they are get- reader’s personal experience
ting scientific information when they are not. b. resentment, due to being addressed so
personally
5. By listing the specific birds that live in riparian c. loss of interest, because the opening line
areas, the author conveys a sense of makes no attempt to draw the reader in
a. urgency on behalf of endangered species. d. confusion, because not every reader has
b. the rich and varied life in such areas. walked along a stream
c. his or her own importance as a scientific expert.
d. poetic wonder over the variety found in nature. 7. The main subject of the second paragraph of this
passage is
a. the types of birds that live in riparian areas.
b. the effect of winter cover on water purity.
c. the role of trees and shrubs in riparian areas.
d. how winter cover affects game bird
populations.

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8. Overall, the assertions of this passage seem to be 9. What does the word “arid” accomplish in the
based on first sentence of the second paragraph?
a. rash opinion with little observation behind it. a. It provides a sense of the generally high alti-
b. deeply held emotional convictions. tude of the West.
c. fact derived from scientific literature. b. It signifies a change in subject from the
d. inconclusive evidence gathered in field studies. Eastern United States to the West.
c. It clarifies the author’s purpose to discuss
nonurban areas.
d. It clarifies the reason that trees and shrubs are
found only in riparian areas.

(excerpt from “First,” a short story)

First, you ought to know that I’m “only” fourteen. My mother points this out frequently. I can make decisions
for myself when I’m old enough to vote, she says. Second, I should tell you that she’s right—I’m not always
responsible. I sometimes take the prize for a grade-A dork. Last weekend, for instance, when I was staying at
Dad’s, I decided it was time I learned to drive. It was Sunday morning, 7 a.m. to be exact, and I hadn’t slept
well thinking about this argument I’ll be telling you about in a minute. Nobody was up yet in the neighbor-
hood, and I thought there would be no harm in backing the car out of the garage and cruising around the block.
But Dad has a clutch car, and the “R” on the shift handle was up on the left side, awful close to first gear, and I
guess you can guess the rest.
Dad’s always been understanding. He didn’t say, like Mom would, “Okay, little Miss Know-It-All, you can
just spend the rest of the year paying this off.” He worried about what might have happened to me—to me, you
see, and that made me feel more guilty than anything. Overall, I just think he’d be a better number-one care-
giver, if you get my drift. Of course I can’t say things like that to Mom.
To her, I have to say, “But Mom, Dad’s place is closer to school. I could ride my bike.”
She replies, “Jennifer Lynn, you don’t own a bike, because you left it in the yard and it was stolen, and you
haven’t got the perseverance it takes to do a little work and earn the money to replace it.”

10. Which description best explains the structure of 11 . What device does the author use to illustrate
the story so far? the narrator’s feelings about her mother and father?
a. chronological, according to what happens a. vivid and specific visual detail
first, second, and so on b. rhetorical questions, which make a point but
b. reverse chronological order, with the most don’t invite a direct answer
recent events recorded first c. metaphors and other figurative language
c. intentionally confused order, incorporating d. contrast between the parents’ typical reactions
flashbacks to previous events
d. according to importance, with the most
significant details related first

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12. The narrator attributes her inability to sleep 17. In choosing to use the bike argument with her
when staying at her father’s house to mother, the narrator is trying to appeal to
a. thinking about a disagreement with her mother’s
someone. a. compassion over her lost bike.
b. the uncomfortable quiet of an early Sunday b. disregard for material objects.
morning. c. laziness.
c. the sore throat she had from shouting d. reason.
so much.
d. her accident with the car. 18. The main argument the narrator has been having
with her mother is over whether she should
13. The first-person point of view in this story a. be allowed to date.
a. obscures how the narrator’s mind works. b. live with her mother or father.
b. illustrates the thoughts and personality of the c. be allowed to drive a car.
narrator. d. pay for things she breaks.
c. makes the narrator seem distant and rigid.
d. gives us direct access to the minds of all the 19. It appears that the mother has alienated her
characters. daughter by
a. being too busy to give her the attention she
14. When the narrator says she sometimes “take[s] needs.
the prize for a grade-A dork,” the word choice is b. having divorced her father.
intended to indicate c. insisting too much on reasonableness.
a. that she doesn’t know proper English. d. valuing things over people and feelings.
b. her age and culture.
c. that she is unable to judge her own actions. 20. What most likely happened with the car?
d. that she thinks she’s better than most others a. The narrator mistook first gear for reverse and
who might be termed “dorks”. ran into the garage wall.
b. The narrator stole it from her father and drove
15. From the context in the last sentence of the it over to her mother’s.
passage, it can be determined that the word c. The father left it in gear, and when the narra-
“perseverance” most nearly means tor started it, it leapt forward into the wall.
a. attractiveness. d. The narrator attempted suicide through
b. thinking ability. carbon monoxide poisoning.
c. ability to persist.
d. love of danger.

16. Overall, this narrator’s tone is best described as

a. emotional and familiar.
b. stuck up and superior.
c. argumentative and tactless.
d. pleasant and reassuring.

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