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About ACT Exam
Reading Sample Questions
Click
on the letter choices to determine if you have the correct answer and for
question explanations.
(An actual ACT Reading Test contains 40 questions to be answered
in 35 minutes. |
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DIRECTIONS: The passage in this
test is followed by several questions. After reading the passage, choose the
best answer to each question and fill in the corresponding oval on your
answer document. You may refer to the passage as often as necessary. |
PROSE FICTION: This passage is
adapted from Elizabeth Bishop's
short story "The Housekeeper" (©1984 by Alice Methfessel). |
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Outside, the rain continued to run down the
screened windows of Mrs. Sennett's little Cape Cod
cottage. The long weeds and grass that composed the
front yard dripped against the blurred background of |
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the bay, where the water was almost the
color of the
grass. Mrs. Sennett's five charges were vigorously
playing house in the dining room. (In the wintertime,
Mrs. Sennett was housekeeper for a Mr. Curley, in
Boston, and during the summers the Curley children |
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boarded with her on the Cape.)
My expression must have changed. "Are those
children making too much noise?" Mrs. Sennett
demanded, a sort of wave going over her that might
mark the beginning of her getting up out of her chair. I |
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shook my head no, and gave her a little
push on the
shoulder to keep her seated. Mrs. Sennett was almost
stone-deaf and had been for a long time, but she could
read lips. You could talk to her without making any
sound yourself, if you wanted to, and she more than |
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kept up her side of the conversation in a
loud, rusty
voice that dropped weirdly every now and then into a
whisper. She adored talking.
To look at Mrs. Sennett made me think of eigh-
teenth-century England and its literary figures. Her hair |
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must have been sadly thin, because she
always wore,
indoors and out, either a hat or a sort of turban, and
sometimes she wore both. The rims of her eyes were
dark; she looked very ill.
Mrs. Sennett and I continued talking. She said she |
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really didn't think she'd stay with the
children another
winter. Their father wanted her to, but it was too much
for her. She wanted to stay right here in the cottage.
The afternoon was getting along, and I finally left
because I knew that at four o'clock Mrs. Sennett's "sit |
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down" was over and she started to get
supper. At six
o'clock, from my nearby cottage, I saw Theresa coming
through the rain with a shawl over her head. She was
bringing me a six-inch-square piece of spicecake, still
hot from the oven and kept warm between two soup |
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plates.
A few days later I learned from the twins, who
brought over gifts of firewood and blackberries, that
their father was coming the next morning, bringing
their aunt and her husband and their cousin. Mrs. |
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Sennett had promised to take them all on a
picnic at the
pond some pleasant day.
On the fourth day of their visit, Xavier arrived
with a note. It was from Mrs. Sennett, written in blue
ink, in a large, serene, ornamented hand, on linen-finish |
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paper:
. . . Tomorrow is the last day Mr. Curley has and
the Children all wanted the Picnic so much. The Men
can walk to the Pond but it is too far for the Children. I
see your Friend has a car and I hate to ask this but |
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could you possibly drive us to the Pond
tomorrow
morning? . . .
Very sincerely yours,
Carmen Sennett
After the picnic, Mrs. Sennett's presents to me |
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were numberless. It was almost time for the
children to
go back to school in South Boston. Mrs. Sennett
insisted that she was not going; their father was coming
down again to get them and she was just going to stay.
He would have to get another housekeeper. She said |
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this over and over to me, loudly, and her
turbans and
kerchiefs grew more and more distrait.
One evening, Mary came to call on me and we sat
on an old table in the back yard to watch the sunset.
"Papa came today," she said, "and we've got to go |
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back day after
tomorrow."
"Is Mrs. Sennett going to stay here?"
"She said at supper she was. She said this time she
really was, because she'd said that last year and came
back, but now she means it." |
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I said, "Oh
dear," scarcely knowing which side I
was on.
"It was awful at supper. I cried and cried."
"Did Theresa cry?"
"Oh, we all cried. Papa cried, too. We always do." |
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"But don't you think Mrs. Sennett
needs a rest?"
"Yes, but I think she'll come, though. Papa told
her he'd cry every single night at supper if she didn't,
and then we all did."
The next day I heard that Mrs. Sennett was going |
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back with them just to "help
settle." She came over the
following morning to say goodbye, supported by all
five children. She was wearing her traveling hat of
black satin and black straw, with sequins. High and
somber, above her ravaged face, it had quite a Spanish- |
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grandee air.
"This isn't really goodbye," she said. "I'll be back
as soon as I get these bad, noisy children off my
hands."
But the children hung on to her skirt and tugged at |
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her sleeves, shaking their heads
frantically, silently
saying, "No! No! No!" to her with their puckered-up
mouths. |
1. |
According to the
narrator, Mrs. Sennett wears a hat because she: |
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A. |
is often outside. |
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B. |
wants to look like
a literary figure. |
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C. |
has thin hair. |
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D. |
has unique taste
in clothing. |
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2. |
Considering the
events of the entire passage, it is most reasonable to infer that Mrs.
Sennett calls the children bad (line 92) because she: |
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F. |
is bothered by the
noise they are making. |
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G. |
doesn't like them
hanging on her skirt. |
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H. |
doesn't want to
reveal her affection for them. |
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J. |
is angry that they
never do what she tells them. |
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3. |
Considering
how Mrs. Sennett is portrayed in the passage, it is most reasonable to
infer that the word ravaged, as it is used in line 89, most
nearly means that her face reveals: |
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A. |
irritation and
annoyance. |
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B. |
resentfulness and
anger. |
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C. |
age and fatigue. |
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D. |
enthusiasm and
excitement. |
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4. |
What is the main
insight suggested by the conversation in lines 69-83? |
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F. |
The Curley family
cries to manipulate Mrs. Sennett into doing what they want. |
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G. |
The narrator
regrets that she is not going to Boston and is a little jealous of
Mrs. Sennett. |
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H. |
Mrs. Sennett is
happy to leave the Curley family because they are always whining and
crying. |
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J. |
Mrs. Sennett
intends to return to the Cape soon because she has discovered that they
have been manipulating and taking advantage of her. |
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5. |
Which of the
following does the passage suggest is the result of Mrs. Sennett's loss of
hearing? |
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A. |
She is often
frustrated and short-tempered. |
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B. |
She can lip-read. |
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C. |
She dislikes
conversation. |
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D. |
She is a shy and
lonely woman. |
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6. |
Given the evidence
provided throughout the passage, the children probably silently mouth the
word "no" (lines 94-97) because: |
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F. |
Mrs. Sennett has
just called them bad, noisy children, and they are defending themselves. |
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G. |
they do not want
to leave the Cape before the summer is over and are protesting. |
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H. |
they are letting
the narrator know that Mrs. Sennett is thinking about returning to the
Cape. |
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J. |
they are
continuing their battle against Mrs. Sennett's intention to return to the
Cape. |
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The best answer is J. The last 30+ lines of the
passage focus on this issue. H is simply not true: the children are speaking
to Mrs. Sennett, not the narrator. There is no indication that they are
reluctant to leave, which rules out G. F can be eliminated because
the children do not seem offended by Mrs. Sennett's words; it is more
likely that they are merely continuing their manipulative behavior (see
lines 79, 81-83). |
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7. |
It is reasonable
to infer from the passage that Mrs. Sennett asked "Are those
children making too much noise?" (lines 11-12) because Mrs.
Sennett: |
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A. |
concerns herself
about the well-being of others. |
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B. |
wishes to change
the subject to literary figures. |
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C. |
cannot supervise
the children without the narrator. |
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D. |
is bothered by the
noise the children make. |
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8. |
The details and
events in the passage suggest that the friendship between the narrator and
Mrs. Sennett would most accurately be described as: |
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F. |
stimulating,
marked by a shared love of eccentric adventures. |
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G. |
indifferent,
marked by occasional insensitivity to the needs of the other. |
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H. |
considerate,
notable for the friends' exchange of favors. |
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J. |
emotional, based
on the friends' long commitment to share their burdens with one another. |
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9. |
As it is used in
line 3, the word composed most nearly means: |
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A. |
contented. |
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B. |
unexcited. |
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C. |
satisfied. |
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D. |
constituted. |
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10. |
At what point does
Mr. Curley cry at the supper table? |
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F. |
Before Mary and
the narrator sit and watch the sunset |
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G. |
Before Mrs.
Sennett tells the narrator she doubts she will stay another winter with the
children |
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H. |
Before the
children spend a rainy afternoon playing house in the dining room |
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J. |
After the narrator
learns that Mrs. Sennett will return to Boston |
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