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ACT Practice Test 1 READING Passage I PROSE FICTION: This passage is an adapted excerpt from Willa Cather’s O Pioneers!. The passage suggests that Alexandra wants Emil to: A.. Passage II

ACT Practice Test 1 READING

Passage I

PROSE FICTION: This passage is an adapted

excerpt from Willa Cather’s O Pioneers! This

novel, set in the Nebraska prairie, was

origi-nally published in 1913.

Carl had changed, Alexandra felt, much

less than one might have expected He had

not become a self-satisfied city man There

was still something homely and wayward

and personal about him Even his clothes [5]

were unconventional He seemed to shrink

into himself as he used to do, as if he were

afraid of being hurt

That evening, Carl and Alexandra were

sitting in the flower garden The gravel paths [10]

glittered in the moonlight, and below them

the fields lay white and still

“You know, Alexandra, I’ve been thinking

how strangely things work out I’ve been

away engraving other people’s pictures, and [15]

you’ve stayed at home and made your own.”

Carl pointed toward the sleeping landscape

“How in the world have you done it? How

have your neighbors done it?”

“We hadn’t much to do with it, Carl [20]

The land pretended to be poor because

nobody knew how to work it; then,

sudden-ly, it worked itself It woke up out of its sleep

and stretched itself, and it was so big, so

rich, that we found we were rich, just from [25]

sitting still You remember when I began to

buy land For years I was always squeezing

and borrowing until I was ashamed to show

my face in the banks And then, all at once,

men began to come to me offering to lend [30]

me money! Then I built this house—for

Emil, really I want you to see Emil, Carl He

is different from the rest of us!”

“How different?”

“Oh, you’ll see! I’m sure it was to have [35]

children like Emil, to give them a chance,

that father left Sweden.”

“Is he going to farm here with you?”

“He shall do whatever he wants to,”

Alexandra declared “He’s going to have a [40]

real chance; that’s what I’ve worked for!”

“How about Lou and Oscar? They’ve

done well, haven’t they?”

“Yes, very well; but they’re different,

and now that they have farms of their own I [45]

don’t see so much of them We divided the

land equally when Lou married They have

their own way of doing things, and they

don’t altogether like my way Perhaps they

think me too independent But I’ve had to [50]

think for myself for many years and am not

likely to change On the whole, though, we

take as much comfort in each other as most

brothers and sisters do.”

Alexandra looked at Carl calmly and [55]

deliberately “Why are you dissatisfied with

yourself?”

Her visitor winced and paused “You

see,” he said, “measured by your standards,

I’m a failure I couldn’t buy even one of your [60]

cornfields I’ve enjoyed many things in New

York, but I’ve nothing to show for it.”

“But you show for it yourself, Carl I’d

rather have had your freedom than my

Carl shook his head “Freedom so often

means that one isn’t needed Here you have

a background of your own, you would be

missed But in the cities there are thousands

of rolling stones like me We’re all alike, pay- [70]

ing an extravagant rent for a few square feet

of space near the heart of things; we have no

ties, we know nobody, we own nothing

When people die, they scarcely know where

Alexandra was silent He knew that she

understood what he meant At last she said

slowly, “And yet I would rather Emil grow

up like that than like his brothers We pay a

high rent, too, though we pay differently We [80]

grow hard and heavy We don’t move lightly

and easily as you do, and our minds get stiff

If the world were no wider than my

corn-fields, I wouldn’t feel that it was worthwhile

to work No, I would rather have Emil like [85]

you I felt that as soon as you came.”

1 The passage suggests that Alexandra wants Emil to:

A eventually take over the management of her farm

B choose a profession other than farming

C grow up to be like Lou and Oscar

D move to New York with Carl

2 The “high rent” mentioned in line 80 refers to:

F the opportunity to reap great financial rewards from farming

G Alexandra’s observation that farming often involves risky, hazardous work

H Carl’s complaint about the high cost of living in the city

J the physical and emotional toll of Alexandra’s life on the farm

3 Based on the passage, it is most reasonable to conclude that Carl is:

A skeptical of Alexandra’s relationship with Lou and Oscar

B jealous of Alexandra’s financial success on the farm

C envious of Alexandra’s ties to her land and community

D confused about Alexandra’s plans for Emil

4 As it is used in line 21, poor most closely means:

F penniless

G deficient

H pitiable

J unhappy

5 Lines 58-62 suggest that Carl considers himself:

A lucky to have escaped the hardships of farm life.

B fortunate to have met many interesting people in New York

C dissatisfied with the quality of life in Nebraska

D unable to account satisfactorily for the life he has led

6 Alexandra’s observations of Carl in the first paragraph (lines 1-8) suggest that she is:

F charmed by his eccentric appearance

G perplexed about why he has come home

H relieved that he seems unchanged

J surprised by her own lack of sympathy for him

7 Alexandra admires Carl most for his:

A range of worldly experience

B professional reputation as an artist

C boldness and self-confidence

D old-fashioned values

8 Based on the passage, Alexandra could be most accurately characterized as:

F independent and strong-willed

G faithful to her family’s traditions

H envious of Carl’s connections in the city

J intimidated by the financial risks associated with her farm

Passage II

PROSE FICTION: This passage is an adapted

excerpt from Jane Austen’s novel Emma In

this passage, Emma confronts a change in

her previously happy life.

Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever,

and rich, with a comfortable home and

happy disposition, seemed to unite some of

the best blessings of existence She had lived

nearly twenty-one years in the world with [5]

very little to distress or vex her She was the

youngest of the two daughters of a most

affectionate, indulgent father, and had, in

consequence of her sister’s marriage, been

mistress of his house from a very early peri- [10]

od Her mother had died too long ago for

her to have more than an indistinct

remem-brance of her caresses, and her place had

been taken by an excellent governess who

had fallen little short of a mother in affec- [15]

tion

Sixteen years had Miss Taylor been in

Mr Woodhouse’s family, less as a governess

than a friend, very fond of both daughters,

but particularly of Emma Between them it [20]

was more the intimacy of sisters Even

before Miss Taylor had ceased to hold the

nominal office of governess, the mildness of

her temper had hardly allowed her to

impose any restraint The shadow of author- [25]

ity being now long passed away, they had

been living together as friend and friend

very mutually attached, and Emma doing

just what she liked, highly esteeming Miss

Taylor’s judgment, but directed chiefly by [30]

her own The real evils, indeed, of Emma’s

situation were the power of having rather

too much her own way, and a disposition to

think a little too well of herself; these were

the disadvantages which threatened alloy to [35]

her many enjoyments The danger, however,

was at present so unperceived, that they did

not by any means rank as misfortunes with

her

Sorrow came—a gentle sorrow—but [40]

not at all in the shape of any disagreeable

consciousness Miss Taylor married It was

Miss Taylor’s loss which first brought grief

It was on the wedding-day of this beloved

friend that Emma first sat in mournful [45]

thought of any continuance The wedding

over, and the bride-people gone, she and her

father were left to dine together, with no

prospect of a third to cheer a long evening

Her father composed himself to sleep after [50]

dinner, as usual, and she had then only to sit

and think of what she had lost

The marriage had every promise of

happiness for her friend Mr Weston was a

man of unexceptionable character, easy for- [55]

tune, suitable age, and pleasant manners

There was some satisfaction in considering

with what self-denying, generous friendship

she had always wished and promoted the

match, but it was a black morning’s work for [60]

her The want of Miss Taylor would be felt

every hour of every day She recalled her

past kindness—the kindness, the affection

of sixteen years—how she had taught her

and how she had played with her from five [65]

years old—how she had devoted all her

powers to attach and amuse her in health—

and how she had nursed her through the

various illnesses of childhood A large debt

of gratitude was owing here, but the inter- [70]

course of the last seven years, the equal

foot-ing and perfect unreserve which had soon

followed Isabella’s marriage, on their being

left to each other, was yet a dearer, tenderer

recollection She had been a friend and [75]

companion such as few possessed:

intelli-gent, well-informed, useful, gentle, knowing

all the ways of the family, interested in all its

concerns, and peculiarly interested in her, in

every pleasure, every scheme of hers—one [80]

to whom she could speak every thought as it

arose, and who had such an affection for her

as could never find fault

How was she to bear the change? It was

true that her friend was going only half a [85]

mile from them, but Emma was aware that

great must be the difference between a Mrs

Weston, only half a mile from them, and a

Miss Taylor in the house With all her

advantages, natural and domestic, she was [90]

now in great danger of suffering from

intel-lectual solitude

9 According to the passage, what are the greatest disadvantages facing Emma?

A Her father is not a stimulating conversationalist, and she is bored

B She is lonely and afraid that Mrs Weston will not have a happy marriage

C She is used to having too much her way, and she thinks too highly of herself

D She misses the companionship of her mother, her sister, and Miss Taylor

10 The name of Emma’s sister is:

F Mrs Weston

G Isabella.

H Miss Taylor

J Mrs Woodhouse

11 As described in the passage, Emma’s relationship with Miss Taylor can be

characterized as:

A similar to a mother-daughter relationship

B similar to the relationship of sisters or best friends

C weaker than Emma’s relationship with her sister

D stronger than Miss Taylor’s relationship with her new husband

12 As used in line 33, disposition can most closely be defined as:

F a tendency

G control

H placement

J transfer

13 Which of the following are included in Emma’s memories of her relationship with Miss Taylor?

I Miss Taylor taking care of Emma during childhood illnesses

II -Miss Taylor’s interest in all of the concerns of Emma’s family

III -Miss Taylor teaching her mathematics

IV -Miss Taylor scolding her for being selfish

A I, III, and IV only

B I and III only

C II, III, and IV only

D I and II only

14 It is most reasonable to infer from Emma’s realization that “great must be the difference between a Mrs Weston, only half a mile from them, and a Miss Taylor in the house” (lines 87-89) that:

F Miss Taylor will no longer be a part of Emma’s life

G Emma is happy about the marriage because now she will have more freedom

H Emma regrets that her relationship with Miss Taylor will change

J Emma believes that her relationship with Miss Taylor will become stronger

15 Based on the passage, Emma could best be described as:

A sweet and nạve

B self-centered and nạve

C self-centered and headstrong

D unappreciative and bitter

16 The passage suggests that the quality Emma values most in a friend is:

F charisma

G devotion

H honesty

J intelligence

17 How does Emma view Mr Weston?

A She thinks that he is an excellent match, and it required considerable self-sacrifice to not pursue him herself

B She considers him to be a respectable if somewhat average match for her friend

C She sees him as an intruder who has carried away her best friend in “a black morning’s work” (line 60)

D She believes he is an indulgent, easily swayed man, reminiscent of her father

18 From the passage, it can be inferred that Emma is accustomed to:

F behaving according to the wishes of her affectionate father

G taking the advice of Miss Taylor when faced with deciding upon a course of action

H doing as she pleases without permission from her father or governess

J abiding by strict rules governing her behavior

Passage III

SOCIAL SCIENCE: The following passage is

an adapted excerpt from “For the Love of

Language” by Geoffrey Cowley, which

appeared in the Newsweek Special 2000

Edi-tion: Your Child.

During the third trimester of

pregnan-cy, many mothers notice that their babies

kick and wiggle in response to music or loud

noises… Researchers at New York’s

Colum-bia Presbyterian Medical Center have found [5]

that fetuses’ heart rates drop predictably

when their mothers speak a simple phrase

(“Hello, baby”) And French scientists have

gone a step further, showing that a fetus

who’s been hearing the same sound repeat- [10]

ed (“babi, babi”) will react to a sudden

reversal of its elements (“biba, biba”)

With-in 96 hours of birth, babies distWith-inguish their

mother tongue from a foreign language,

sucking more vigorously when they hear it [15]

How does a child start to parse this

river of sound into meaningful units?

Sim-ple conditioning is part of the story Anyone

bombarded by a particular language hears [20]

certain sound combinations more often

than others, and babies are quick to home in

on the most probable combinations In one

revealing study, a team led by University of

Wisconsin psychologist Jenny Saffran famil- [25]

iarized 8-month-olds with three-syllable

nonsense words such as “bidaku” and

“padoti” by playing them in random order

on a voice synthesizer Then the researchers

reshuffled the syllables and tested the kids [30]

again The babies easily distinguished

bidaku and padoti not only from other

non-words like “dadobi” but also from hybrids

like “kupado,” a sequence they would have

heard on the training tape whenever “bida- [35]

KU” bumped up against “PADO-ti.” Long

before they could attach meanings to words,

these kids were processing them as discrete

units—saying, in effect, “Call me ‘pretty’ or

call me ‘baby.’ Just don’t call me ‘ty-ba.’” [40]

…Within months of their first

birth-day, most kids start attaching names to

things And whether they’re learning Swahili

or Swedish, they go about it in much the

same way Instead of proceeding by trial and [45]

error—unsure whether “doggie” refers to a

part of a dog, to one dog in particular or to

anything with four legs—children start with

a set of innate biases They assume that

labels refer to wholes instead of parts (the [50]

creature, not the tail) and to classes instead

of items (all dogs, not one dog) They also

figure that one name is enough for any class

of object (if it’s a dog, it’s not a cow).… A

typical child is socking away a dozen words [55]

a day by 18 months, and they may

com-mand 2,000 of them by the age of two

…Having acquired their words

through mimicry, they start combining

them—according to abstract rules that no [60]

one has taught them—to express their

thoughts and feelings Their first sentences

may be crude utterances such as “Gonna

cry!” or “Uppy me!” But between 24 and 30

months, kids who have never heard of syn- [65]

tax usually start marrying noun phrases to

verb phrases to explain who did what to

whom If they happen to speak English, they

know that “man bites dog” and “dog bites

man” tell different stories, despite their [70]

identical words

Some scholars have argued that kids

learn to form sentences just as they learn to

perceive word boundaries—by listening for

statistical regularities in other people’s [75]

speech Grammatical analysis doesn’t

require specialized cognitive software, they

say; it boils down to operant conditioning

According to this argument, a baby who

encounters the sentences “the boy likes [80]

apples” and “the boy likes oranges” 50

times each will learn that the words “the,”

“boy” and “likes” are tightly correlated in

certain circumstances, whereas apples and

oranges show up only 50 percent of the [85]

time As the baby encounters more

sen-tences, the web of associations expands,

providing more templates for original

utterances

But recent studies suggest there is [90]

much more to the story—that children

actively seek out abstract grammatical

rules In one clever experiment, researchers

led by New York University psychologist

Gary Marcus presented 7-month-old [95]

infants with a language problem that

couldn’t be solved by operant conditioning

alone First the children spent two minutes

listening to a series of three-word

“sen-tences” such as “ga-ti-ga” and “li-na-li.” The [100]

“words” varied from one sentence to the

next, but the syntax didn’t: any word