ELA 9 EQT 3 Practice Test
Read the poem. Then answer the questions that follow.
Mowing
Robert Frost
There was never a sound beside the wood but one,
And that was my long scythe whispering to the ground.
What was it it whispered? I knew not well myself;
Perhaps it was something about the heat of the sun,
5 Something, perhaps, about the lack of sound—
And that was why it whispered and did not speak.
It was no dream of the gift of idle hours,
Or easy gold at the hand of fay or elf:
Anything more than the truth would have seemed too weak
10 To the earnest love that laid the swale in rows,
Not without feeble-pointed spikes of flowers
(Pale orchises), and scared a bright green snake.
The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows.
My long scythe whispered and left the hay to make.
Use “Mowing” to answer these questions.
____
1. The musings in the poem indicate that the speaker is cutting grass to —
A.
B.
C.
D.
____
2. The imagery in line 11 appeals to your sense of —
A.
B.
C.
D.
____
sound
touch
sight
taste
3. Which of the following objects is personified in the poem?
A.
B.
C.
D.
____
maintain a lawn properly
idle away an afternoon
keep snakes away from crops
make hay from the cuttings
Gold
Scythe
Flower
Snake
4. The poet’s style in “Mowing” can be described by his use of —
A. frequent similes and sensory language
B. contractions and slang words
1
C. witty humor and sarcastic tone
D. elaborate sentences and formal diction
____
5. What is the main theme of the poem?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Physical labor is more rewarding than idle behavior.
The most popular opinion is not always the most accurate.
Being dull but safe is better than being bold but harmed.
Accepting love sometimes means accepting loss.
Read the next selection. Then answer the questions that follow.
In 1960, Dr. W. Randolph Lovelace, the designer of NASA’s medical testing program for
prospective astronauts, invited the aviator Geraldyn Cobb to be the first woman to undergo
his tests.
from The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream
of Space Flight
Martha Ackmann
1
Geraldyn “Jerrie” Cobb reported to the Pensacola base on a hot, muggy May
evening and stowed her gear in the officers’ quarters. After uneasy sleep in the noisy barracks,
she reported at 8 A.M. for the first of her tests. Unlike the previous exams, which had evaluated
her physical and mental condition, the next ten days hurled her into the realm of the hypothetical
with tests that would determine if she could handle the stresses, confusion, and physical assault of
outer space. These exams would judge her reaction to space-high altitudes, high G loads, motion
sickness, violent seat ejection, and even the turbulent chaos of trying to escape from a submerged
cockpit—an underwater test that gave Cobb a frightening feel for what it would be like to be
trapped inside a Mercury capsule swirling to the bottom of the Atlantic. If she passed the tests,
she would prove once more that she had the same physical ability and mental determination that
the Project Mercury astronauts exhibited. Combined with her successful completion of the
physical exams at the Lovelace Foundation and psychological and psychiatric evaluations in
Oklahoma City, the Pensacola tests would allow her to assert that she had passed all the tests the
Project Mercury astronauts had taken. If some of the tests she took were not exactly the same as
those the men took at the Wright Aeromedical Laboratory, they were certainly comparable and, in
the case of the sensory isolation test, more rigorous.
2
After preliminary tests to bring her medical profile up to date, Cobb launched into a day of
physical fitness drills that were used to evaluate the strength and ability of healthy Navy aviators.
Scaling a tall concrete wall became a none-too-subtle metaphor for the rest of the week. The wall
was six feet, six inches high and built to pose a challenge to men who were asked to leap, grab
hold of the top, and throw themselves over to the other side. On her first attempt, Cobb jumped,
failed to get a grip, and fell to the ground. On her second try, she ran harder, leaped higher, and
clawed her way to the top. At five feet, seven inches in height, Cobb surmounted a wall that was
higher for her than it was for men who were, on average, several inches taller. It did not,
however, seem to matter. Sit-ups, pull-ups, marathon runs in the Florida heat—Cobb tackled
every test and succeeded each time.
2
3
4
5
For the rest of the week, Cobb took part in spaceflight simulation tests. In the high-altitude
chamber, she had her first opportunity to wear a full pressure suit. Just as Betty Skelton had
discovered a year earlier when she demonstrated astronaut tests for the Look feature, the military
did not design clothing with a woman’s body in mind. When Cobb tried on the smallest pressure
suit the Navy could locate, it was still too large. Navy personnel spent an hour and a half sealing
and strapping her into the bulky encumbrance and then escorted her into the altitude chamber,
where technicians ran her up to 60,000 feet and watched closely to see if she could retain her
mental acuity and move her legs and arms against the heavy pressure. With her hands encased in
ill-fitting gloves that swelled into balloons, Cobb struggled to make a fist and touch her thumb to
each finger, demonstrating that she could manipulate sticks, knobs, dials, and latches. To measure
Cobb’s ability to withstand a rapid high-altitude descent, technicians altered the pressure of the
room and brought her down to sea level in a free fall.
Another test required that Cobb sit in the copilot’s seat of a Douglas Skyraider as the pilot
took the plane up and swung through a series of stomach-turning aerobatics. Eighteen needles
were wired to Cobb’s scalp in order to record an airborne electroencephalogram of brain
activity—an experience she had never encountered before. A camera positioned directly in front
of her face caught her barely detectable flinches as the plane dove, looped, and sliced through the
sky. With each sudden move of the plane, the force slammed Cobb against the seat, whipped her
to the side, and flung her forward. Staring straight ahead, Cobb blinked twice. Her eyes pushed
forward against their sockets and then sank back. “Eyeballs out, eyeballs in,” pilots called it.
The Multi-Place Ditching Trainer, or what Navy airmen termed the “Dilbert
Dunker,” tested Cobb’s ability to withstand the disorientation of a landing on water. For pilots, an
ocean ditching was an unusual event, but one for which they needed experience. Practice on the
“Dunker”—a harrowing, chaotic experience—might save the life of a military pilot shot down
over water. For U.S. astronauts, however, a splashdown was the only method of landing a space
capsule. To the unfamiliar eye, the “Dilbert Dunker” looked like a backyard contraption rigged up
by teenagers with creative minds and too much free time. What appeared to be a big round oil
drum sat on top of a steep track that ran into a swimming pool sixteen feet deep. The odd-looking
craft took on a more serious form once it was propelled into motion. First Cobb squeezed in—it
was a tight fit, considering she was wearing a Mae West life preserver and a parachute pack, not
standard astronaut wear but bulky enough to feel like a space suit. Then she buckled into her seat
harness, set her jaw, and waited. With a jolt, the drum shot forward, hurtling down the track until
it crashed into the pool. Instinctively, Cobb held her breath as the craft turned upside down and
water flooded in. She tried to remember what she had been told: don’t panic, unbuckle your
harness, avoid getting your gear looped around hooks, search for a reference object—a latch, an
armrest, the bottom of a seat. Make your way to the hatch, slide out, and bob to the top of the
water. Cobb made it out of the contraption without the help of rescue divers and in the requisite
amount of time. Adrenaline pumping, she heaved herself out of the pool and tried to catch her
breath.
3
6
7
One afternoon right after lunch, Cobb faced another aerodynamic carnival ride. It was a
slow-rotation room, a windowless enclosure constructed to resemble an apartment with furniture,
a bedroom area, a washstand, even a hot plate. But unlike a standard room, the structure was
perched atop a forty-two-ton steel gyroscope that spun around at ten revolutions per minute.
Because the room had no windows, a test subject experienced no sense of speed, only turbulent
disorientation. “Just follow instructions,” a voice said over the intercom as Cobb sat in front of a
maze of dials, knobs, and switches. As the room spun, the voice asked Cobb to flip switches and
set dials on command in order to evaluate how accurately she could perform quick maneuvers
while in a confusing, whirling environment. Cobb’s head spun as she reached up, down, back,
forward, left, right with every command. For a moment, she felt her gorge rise, so she tried to
narrow her field of vision and concentrate on each single task. Gradually the sickening swirls in
her head eased and the queasiness subsided. Just as she was getting used to the motion of setting
dials, the voice asked her to stand up and walk across the room to a dart board. With the room
still slowly rotating, Cobb’s senses were so upended that she was unaware that the wall had tilted
to a wild angle. When the voice asked Cobb to toss a dart at the board, she completely missed the
target. Then she realized she had to compensate for the uneven floor by aiming forty-five degrees
to the left. When she was asked to pitch tennis balls into a wastebasket, Cobb used the same
technique and threw far to the left, hitting the target but operating against what her eyes told her
to do.
By the end of her ten days at the School of Aviation Medicine, Cobb was delighted to
hear confirmed what she already sensed was true. She had passed phase three space simulation
tests, scoring as well as experienced Navy pilots.
From The Mercury 13 by Martha Ackmann. Copyright © 2003 by Martha Ackmann. Used by permission
of Random House, Inc.
Use the excerpt from The Mercury 13 to answer the following questions.
____
6. Which event happened first in the selection?
A.
B.
C.
D.
____
Navy personnel strapped Cobb into a pressure suit.
Cobb threw darts and tennis balls in a slow-rotation room.
The “Dilbert Dunker” simulated a landing on water.
Cobb scaled a wall nine inches taller than she is.
7. Cobb’s experiences with the ill-fitting space suit in paragraph 3 showed that she was —
A.
B.
C.
D.
excited about the heavy pressure
angry at the technicians
willing to make sacrifices
upset by the awkward suit
4
____
8. Which is the best way to paraphrase this sentence in paragraph 1?
“Unlike the previous exams, which had evaluated her physical and mental condition, the next ten days hurled
her into the realm of the hypothetical with tests that would determine if she could handle the stresses,
confusion, and physical assault of outer space.”
A. The earlier exams tested her body and mind, but the new tests would check her
readiness for space.
B. Now that she had been evaluated physically and mentally, she was ready to test her
hypothesis.
C. She disliked the exams, which assaulted her physically and mentally with questions
about outer space.
D. She had ten days to find out whether her physical and mental condition was a result of
excessive stress.
____
9. Which of the following is the best summary of paragraph 5?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Most pilots never needed the skills tested by the “Dunker.”
Cobb managed to succeed at the nerve-racking “Dilbert Dunker.”
The drum caught Cobb by surprise when it crashed into the pool.
Cobb unbuckled her harness and made her way to the hatch.
____ 10. Which is the best way to paraphrase this sentence in paragraph 6?
“As the room spun, the voice asked Cobb to flip switches and set dials on command in order to evaluate how
accurately she could perform quick maneuvers while in a confusing, whirling environment.”
A. A voice commanded Cobb to flip the switch, which would command the spinning room to
slow down.
B. Cobb used switches and dials to see how well she could maneuver the spinning motion of
the room.
C. A voice asked Cobb to use the controls in the spinning room, testing her ability to work in
a chaotic situation.
D. Cobb tried to perform the tasks as quickly as the voice asked, but the room’s spinning
confused her.
____ 11. This selection is mainly about —
A.
B.
C.
D.
Geraldyn Cobb passing a difficult series of tests simulating astronauts’ experiences
astronauts needing to have practice dealing with a splashdown
Geraldyn Cobb succeeding in handling controls in a high-altitude environment
experienced Navy pilots showing physical ability and mental determination
____ 12. The author most likely wrote this selection to —
A.
B.
C.
D.
inform readers about Geraldyn Cobb’s accomplishments
entertain readers with humorous details of Geraldyn Cobb’s life
express feelings about Geraldyn Cobb and the space program
persuade readers that Geraldyn Cobb should take more tests
5
____ 13. Which sentence shows that the slow-rotation room disoriented those inside it?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Cobb sat in front of a maze of dials, knobs, and switches.
The slow-rotation room was constructed to resemble an apartment.
A voice asked Cobb to stand up and walk across the room.
Cobb tossed balls into a wastebasket by aiming far to its left.
Vocabulary
Use context clues and your knowledge of homonyms to answer the following questions
about words in the poem “Mowing.”
____ 14. Which dictionary definition represents sound as it is used in line 1?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Solid, reliable
Something that can be heard
To make a particular noise
To spread the news
____ 15. Which dictionary definition represents well as it is used in line 3?
A.
B.
C.
D.
To fill with water, tears, or other liquid
In an ethical or courteous way
With no doubt
A hole or shaft dug to obtain water
____ 16. Which dictionary definition represents rows as it is used in line 10?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Things arranged in straight lines
Propels a boat across water using oars
Noisy quarrels or disputes
Lines of seats in a public place
____ 17. Which dictionary definition represents long as it is used in line 14?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Lasting for an extended period of time
To have a strong desire or yearning
Used to describe a drawn-out speech sound
Extending a relatively great length or height
Use context clues and your knowledge of idioms to answer the following questions about
idioms in the excerpt from The Mercury 13.
____ 18. In paragraph 2, the narrator says that Cobb’s medical profile is brought “up to date.” Which
of the following words best defines that idiom?
A. Punctual
6
B. Current
C. Necessary
D. Healthy
____ 19. In paragraph 4, the narrator describes aerobatics as “stomach-turning.” Which of the
following words best defines that idiom?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Strengthening
Encouraging
Shocking
Nauseating
____ 20. In paragraph 5, the narrator describes Cobb as trying to “catch her breath.” Which of the
following phrases best defines that idiom?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Trying to breathe regularly
Searching for clean air
Squeezing your lungs
Facing a strong wind
____ 21. In paragraph 6, the narrator says that Cobb’s “head spun.” Which of the following phrases
best defines that idiom?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Became stressed
Felt nervous
Became frightened
Felt overwhelmed
Revising and Editing
Directions
Read this analysis of an author’s style and answer the questions that follow.
(1) Emily Dickinson once wrote, “If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold
no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.” (2) Her poems “A narrow Fellow in the
Grass” and “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers—” demonstrate Dickinson’s unique style. (3)
Her use of imagery, point of view, and punctuation give her work the powerful quality that
she once praised in the poetry of others.
(4) An important part of Dickinson’s style is her use of imagery to create complex
and interesting descriptions. (5) In “A narrow Fellow,” for example, she never mentions the
word “snake.” (6) Instead using “a narrow fellow” to describe it. (7) In the simile “The
Grass divides as with a Comb,” she uses an indirect comparison: the image of a comb
moving through hair describes the way a snake moves through grass. (8) Dickinson’s
comparisons are more direct in “Hope.” (9) She says that hope “is the thing with
feathers—,” comparing hope to a bird directly. (10) She compares hope, an abstract idea, to
a “little Bird,” a concrete thing. (11) She suggests that one thing is another, an example of
metaphor. (12) These kinds of imaginative comparisons set Dickinson’s work apart from
the work of other poets.
(13) In addition, Dickinson uses point of view to give her poems a unique style. (14)
7
Both “A narrow Fellow” and “Hope” are written in the first person. (15) Dickinson’s use of
the word “I” gives the impression that each poem is a kind of personal confession. (16) The
last word of “Hope” is “Me,” which leaves the word lingering on the reader’s lips. (17) In
“A narrow Fellow,” Dickinson uses the pronoun “you” to establish an intimate relationship
with the reader. (18) When the speaker says, “You may have met Him—did you not,”
Dickinson makes it seem as though she is talking directly to the reader. (19) This ability to
make each poem sound like a personal conversation makes her style truly distinctive.
(20) Dickinson also uses big letters and strange lines to emphasize particular words
and ideas. (21) For instance, she capitalizes “Nature’s People” in “A narrow Fellow” to
show that animals are like humans. (22) In “Hope,” she capitalizes “Hope,” “Bird,” and
“Me” to emphasize the connection among the three things. (23) In “A narrow Fellow,” the
capital letters in “Zero at the Bone” add to the mystery of this confusing phrase. (24)
Dickinson also inserts dashes at the end of many of her lines. (25) These dashes interrupt
the sing-song rhythm of the poems, which are modeled after church hymns. (26) These
dashes also make the reader pause and think about each line. (27) In “A narrow Fellow,”
there is a dash at the end of the line “It wrinkled, and was gone—”. (28) This creates a
space, or pause, which emphasizes the word “gone.” (29) Few other poets experiment with
capitalization and punctuation in such daring ways.
(30) “A narrow Fellow” and “Hope” are not unique in their stylistic elements. (31)
In fact, many of Emily Dickinson’s poems contain vivid imagery, first-person point of
view, and unusual punctuation. (32) Most people have read a few of her poems, they
recognize these elements in others. (33) Her style makes her poetry powerful, memorable,
and inspiring.
____ 22. Sentence 10 elaborates on details to —
A.
B.
C.
D.
demonstrate Dickinson’s use of pronouns
evaluate the usefulness of imagery
analyze Dickinson’s point of view
explain a comparison of unlike things
____ 23. What is the BEST way to revise sentence 11 using a gerund phrase?
A.
B.
C.
D.
She is suggesting that one thing is another, which is an example of metaphor.
One thing is another, which, as she suggests, is an example of metaphor.
Metaphor is when one thing is another, which is what she suggests.
Suggesting that one thing is another is an example of metaphor.
____ 24. What is the correct way to revise sentence 14 to make it an imperative sentence?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Consider that “Hope” and “A narrow Fellow” are both written in the first person.
Are “Hope” and “A narrow Fellow” both written in the first person?
Both “Hope” and “A narrow Fellow” are written in the first person!
You can see that “Hope” and “A narrow Fellow” are both in the first person.
____ 25. What information does sentence 17 provide about “A narrow Fellow” to help readers follow the analysis?
A. The snake’s absence in the poem
B. Dickinson’s private relationships
C. The speaker’s use of personal pronouns
8
D. Dickinson’s obsession with imagery
____ 26. What is the BEST way to revise sentence 20 using precise terms to analyze style?
A. Dickinson also uses large letters and interesting lines to emphasize particular words and
ideas.
B. Dickinson also uses unconventional capitalization and dashes to emphasize particular
words and ideas.
C. Dickinson uses a combination of big letters and long dashes to add emphasis to some
words.
D. Dickinson makes big letters and extends her lines to emphasize certain parts of her
poems.
____ 27. Which detail would BEST support the author’s main point in the fourth paragraph?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Dickinson capitalizes the words “Fellow” and “Grass” in “A narrow Fellow.”
In the second stanza of “Hope,” Dickinson rhymes “storm” with “warm.”
The phrase “notice sudden” in “A narrow Fellow” seems to be reversed.
Dickinson uses the verbs “perches” and “sings” in the first stanza of “Hope.”
____ 28. What is the BEST way to vary the sentence structures of sentences 25 and 26?
A. The dashes interrupt the sing-song rhythm of the poems. They are modeled after church
hymns. The dashes also make the reader pause and think about each line
B. Dashes interrupt the sing-song rhythm of the poems, which are modeled after church
hymns. Dashes also make the reader pause and think about each line.
C. These dashes interrupt the sing-song rhythm of the poems, which are modeled
after church hymns. They also make the reader pause and think about each line.
D. Readers see that dashes interrupt the sing-song rhythm of the poems, which
are modeled after hymns. Readers must pause and think about each line because of
dashes.
____ 29. What is the BEST way to revise sentences 27 and 28 using an infinitive phrase?
A. Using a dash at the end of the line “It wrinkled, and was gone—” creates a space, or pause,
which emphasizes the word “gone.”
B. In “A narrow Fellow,” there is a dash at the end of the line “It wrinkled, and was gone—”,
creating a space, or pause, and emphasizing the word “gone.”
C. By placing a dash at the end of the line “It wrinkled, and was gone—” Dickinson creates a
space, or pause, which emphasizes the word “gone.”
D. In “A narrow Fellow,” Dickinson places a dash at the end of the line “It wrinkled, and was
gone—” to create a space, or pause, which emphasizes the word “gone.”
____ 30. Which sentence states the author’s thesis statement and key points of analysis?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Sentence 3
Sentence 5
Sentence 9
Sentence 12
9