Tag: Year 8 Reading

Keywords: Year 6+, fiction, 8 MCQs, 5 short answer questions, 13 questions overall, early 20th-century literature, 4 pages.

Recommended time: 30 minutes.

Continue reading “Reading Passage 10 – Emily Meets the Murray Family” →

Keywords: Year 7+, 13 questions overall, 9 MCQs, 4 short-answer questions, classic, Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy, 19th century literature, 19th century Russia.

(Chapter 2, Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy.)

Stepan Arkadyevitch was a truthful man in his relations with himself. He was incapable of deceiving himself and persuading himself that he repented of his conduct. He could not at this date repent of the fact that he, a handsome, susceptible man of thirty-four, was not in love with his wife, the mother of five living and two dead children, and only a year younger than himself. All he repented of was that he had not succeeded better in hiding it from his wife. But he felt all the difficulty of his position and was sorry for his wife, his children, and himself. Possibly he might have managed to conceal his sins better from his wife if he had anticipated that the knowledge of them would have had such an effect on her. He had never clearly thought out the subject, but he had vaguely conceived that his wife must long ago have suspected him of being unfaithful to her, and shut her eyes to the fact. He had even supposed that she, a worn-out woman no longer young or good-looking, and in no way remarkable or interesting, merely a good mother, ought from a sense of fairness to take an indulgent view. It had turned out quite the other way.

Questions

1. Stepan’s wife Dolly is mad at him. Why?

a) He isn’t in love with her.

b) He cheated on her with a younger woman.

c) He cheated on her without her knowledge.

d) He doesn’t feel sorry for her and their children.

2. This passage is written in ____________ and in _____________.

a) Third-person, past tense

b) First-person, past tense

c) Third-person, present tense

d) First-person, present tense

3. What assumptions did Stepan make about Dolly’s reaction to the affair?

a) He assumed that she had already known for years and that she decided to just ignore it.

b) He assumed that she would react in the same way she did: being upset and angry.

c) He assumed that she wouldn’t really care about the affair.

d) He assumed she already knew and was waiting for the right time to bring it up.

4. This passage’s writing style can best be described as:

a) Perfunctory and narrative

b) Wordy and persuasive

c) Complex and narrative

d) Informative and narrative

5. What is the main thing Stepan is sorry for?

a) He’s sorry for the way he has hurt Dolly’s feelings.

b) He’s sorry that he has broken Dolly’s trust.

c) He’s sorry that he wasn’t able to hide his affair properly.

d) He doesn’t feel sorry at all.

6. Stepan describes Dolly as “merely a good mother”. This is:

a) An insult, since Stepan doesn’t value motherhood

b) A compliment, since Stepan finds motherhood important

c) An insult, since Dolly isn’t actually a good mother

d) A joke, since Stepan and Dolly don’t have any children

7. Stepan believes that Dolly “ought from a sense of fairness to take an indulgent view”. What does this mean?

a) The fairest reaction Dolly should have towards Stepan’s affair is to allow him to accept it.

b) The fairest reaction Dolly should have towards Stepan’s affair is to have her own affair with someone else.

c) Dolly is being fair in her distressed reaction to Stepan’s affair.

d) Dolly is being fair in her attitude towards Stepan after she found out about the affair.

8. If you had to add a line break (i.e. break up the paragraph), where would be the best place to do it?

a) After the first sentence (“Stepan Arkadyevitch was a truthful man in his relations with himself.”)

b) After the sixth sentence (“Possibly he might have managed to conceal his sins better from his wife if he had anticipated that the knowledge of them would have had such an effect on her.”)

c) After the fourth sentence (“All he repented of was that he had not succeeded better in hiding it from his wife.”)

d) After the ninth sentence (“It had turned out quite the other way.”)

9. What is the overall tone of this passage?

a) Detached and critical

b) Witty and omniscient

c) Comedic and informal

d) Subjective and sagacious

10. If Dolly read this passage, how do you think she’d feel about Stepan’s perspective?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

11. When is Stepan an honest person? How do we know this?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

12. Describe Stepan’s character with two different adjectives. Use quotes to support your answer.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

13. What is Stepan’s opinion of Dolly? Use one quote to support your answer.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Check your answers here!

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Note: This passage is from Chapter 2 of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. To my knowledge, utilising this passage as a free educational exercise falls under fair use. If not, please let me know. I want to make sure that everything on this website is fair and right. The questions are of my own creation.

Keywords: Year 8+, 15 questions, 12 MCQs, 3 short-answer questions, science, non-fiction, National Geographic.

(“Limited Capacity Storage: Short-term memory”. Memory: What It Is, How It Works, and Ways You Can Improve It, National Geographic, Tula Karras.)

Limited capacity storage: Short-term memory

Our limited capacity storage systems aren’t meant to retain information for very long. Similar to a Snapchat message or an Instagram story, information that enters our brain through our senses fade rather quickly unless we have a reason to retain it or unless we practice it. While this sounds inefficient — why can’t we hold every bit of information for a long while? — it’s actually a good thing. Like a hoarder with objects they will never use, our brain would become so crowded remembering everything we experienced that we wouldn’t be able to find and retrieve the things we truly need and want to remember. Although experts generally divide our limited capacity storage systems into short-term memory and working memory, many experts consider short-term memory a component within working memory. Science is still trying to distinguish their many features.

Short-term memory

Short-term (or immediate) memory is the ability to remember a short list of things within a short span of time — usually no longer than 30 seconds and sometimes less. Short-term memories are not stored permanently, but rather stay on our radar briefly in the present moment. We often use short-term memory when we don’t have things in our environment to cue us — so we might engage short-term memory to hold a list of grocery items in our mind by repeating it over and over if we can’t write it down, or when remembering someone’s phone number, or when holding figures in our head while doing an arithmetic problem.

Questions

1. What best summarises the primary aim of this passage?

a) To inform the reader on the attributes of short-term memory

b) To persuade the reader of short-term memory’s flaws

c) To illuminate upon the positive attributes of short-term memory

d) To detail short-term memory and its relationship to working memory

2. Which of these quotes is an example of a simile?

a) “Science is still trying to distinguish their many features.”

b) “…we might engage short-term memory to hold a list of grocery items in our mind…”

c) “…why can’t we hold every bit of information for a long while?”

d) “Like a hoarder with objects they will never use…”

3. Look for any parentheses in the passage. What is their purpose?

a) They include extra, irrelevant information

b) They give a synonym for a previously described term

c) They provide an example to illustrate a point further

d) There are no parentheses in this passage

4. According to the passage, why is short-term memory a positive thing?

a) If it didn’t exist, our memory would become too cluttered with too much information

b) It allows us to consciously forget things

c) If it didn’t exist, we would forget every memory we came across

d) It helps us to study and encode information, like phone numbers

5. “Similar to a Snapchat message or an Instagram story, information that enters our brain through our senses fade rather quickly…” This comparison most likely aims to:

a) Make the article more appealing to the younger generations

b) Illustrate the idea in a way that is understandable to the average reader

c) Make money for the author through Snapchat/Instagram sponsorship

d) Describe the longevity of memory

6. What is the purpose of using sub-sections in this passage?

a) To divide diametrical pieces of information into different areas

b) To make the passage seem less wordy and prolix

c) To categorise pieces of information that focus on different yet related ideas

d) To extend the amount of information that is contained in the passage

7. Look for the em-dashes. In this passage, what are they not used for?

a) To interject with an example that expands upon an idea

b) To clarify an otherwise ambiguous piece of information

c) To divide sentences, making them more efficient

d) To replace a punctuation mark

8. According to the passage, short-term memory is:

a) A well-known and clearly defined concept

b) A definite sub-section within working memory

c) A widely-accepted yet somewhat underdeveloped idea

d) A detailed concept that has remained unchanged from its conception

9. Which of these statements is false?

a) Short-term memory and working memory are two separate concepts

b) Short-term memory holds information for around 30 seconds

c) It’s impossible to remember information held in short-term memory

d) It’s possible that short-term memory is a part of working memory

10. Which of the following would be the best alternate title for this passage?

a) The Disadvantages of Short-term Memory

b) Defining and Explaining Short-term Memory

c) An Analysis of Limited Capacity Storage Systems

d) The Relationship Between Short-term Memory and Working Memory

11. What is this passage’s tone?

a) Direct and avuncular

b) Formal and apoplectic

c) Informative and partial

d) Objective and sagacious

12. Based on this passage, what is a limited-capacity storage system?

a) A kind of memory that only remembers lists for a short time

b) Unlimited storage that contains permanent memories

c) A mental network that creates short-term memories

d) A category of memories that hold information briefly

13. Write down a quote from the passage that uses inclusive language.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

14. “While this sounds inefficient…“. What is the word ‘this’ referring to?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

15. List two things the passage has taught you about short-term memory.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Check your answers here!

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Note: this passage is from the November 2020 Memory issue of National Geographic Magazine. To my knowledge, utilising this passage as a free educational exercise falls under fair use. If not, please let me know. I want to make sure that everything on this website is fair and right. The questions are of my own creation.

Keywords: Year 7-8, poetry, the Romantic period, poetic techniques, literary devices, human nature, 8 MCQs, 2 short-answer questions.

The following is a complete poem by John Keats. It’s titled ‘The Human Seasons’.

Four Seasons fill the measure of the year;
     There are four seasons in the mind of man:
He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clear
     Takes in all beauty with an easy span:
He has his Summer, when luxuriously
     Spring’s honied cud of youthful thought he loves
To ruminate, and by such dreaming high
     Is nearest unto heaven: quiet coves
His soul has in its Autumn, when his wings
     He furleth close; contented so to look
On mists in idleness—to let fair things
     Pass by unheeded as a threshold brook.
He has his Winter too of pale misfeature,
Or else he would forego his mortal nature.

Questions

1. This poem’s tone would best be described as:

a) Pessimistic and sarcastic

b) Apoplectic and lyrical

c) Acerbic and bellicose

d) Observant and explanatory

2. In this poem, Man is described as being like two animals (a bird and a cow). This is an example of:

a) A metaphor and a zoomorphism

b) A simile and alliteration

c) A triptych and a zoomorphism

d) A simile and consonance

3. What is this poem’s structure?

a) ABAB ABAB ABAB CC

b) ABBB ABBB ABBB CC

c) ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

d) AABB CCDD EEFF GG

4. Which of these is a literary device that is used in the poem?

a) Imagery

b) Alliteration

c) Anecdote

d) Triptych

5. As established, Man is associated with cows in the poem. Which line does this?

a) “his Winter too of pale misfeature”

b) “Spring’s honied cud of youthful thought”

c) “when his wings / He furleth close”

d) “when fancy clear / Takes in all beauty with an easy span”

6. Autumn has the highest number of lines and the most description. What is a possible reason behind this choice?

a) Autumn represents the slowest stage of a life; a high number of lines reflects that longevity.

b) Autumn is John Keats’ favourite season, as evidenced by his detailed description of it.

c) Autumn is the longest season of the year, so it is only logical for it to have the highest number of lines.

d) Autumn is a time of play and pleasure. A high number of lines reinforces those themes.

7. Which of these line best demonstrate the use of contrast?

a) “when his wings / He furleth close” and “he would forego his mortal nature“

b) “He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clear / Takes in all beauty with an easy span” and “There are four seasons in the mind of man“

c) “Four Seasons fill the measure of the year” and “There are four seasons in the mind of man“

d) “He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clear / Takes in all beauty with an easy span” and “His soul has in its Autumn…contented so to look / On mists in idleness“

8. Winter is spoken about _____________. This is most likely to illustrate ___________.

a) Sporadically, winter’s longevity

b) A lot, winter’s brevity

c) Briefly, winter’s brevity

d) Briefly, winter’s longevity

9. Is this poem about actual seasons or something else? How can you tell? Provide two pieces of evidence from the text to support your answer (adjectives, the title, dialogue etc.).

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. Choose one season. What kind of personality does this season show in the poem? Provide three adjectives/lines from the text to support your answer.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Check your answers here!

Note: To my knowledge, utilising this passage as a free educational exercise falls under fair use. If not, please let me know. I want to make sure that everything on this website is fair and right. The questions are of my own creation.

Keywords: Fiction, first-person POV, Year 7-ish, 10 questions, 8 MCQs, 2 short-answer questions.

(The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (review here!), Alan Bradley, pg. 1)

It was as black in the old closet as old blood. They had shoved me in and locked the door. I breathed heavily through my nose, fighting desperately to remain calm. I tried counting to ten on every intake of breath, and to eight as I released each one slowly into the darkness. Luckily for me, they had pulled the gag so tightly into my open mouth that my nostrils were left unobstructed, and I was able to draw in one slow lungful after another of the stale, musty air.

I tried hooking my fingernails under the silk scarf that bound my hands behind me but, since I always bit to the quick, there was nothing to catch. Jolly good luck then that I’d remembered to put my fingertips together, using them as ten firm little bases to press my palms apart as they had pulled the knots tight.

Now I rotated my wrists, squeezing them together until I felt a bit of slack, using my thumbs to work the silk down until the knots were between my palms – then between my fingers. If they had been bright enough to think of tying my thumbs together, I should never have escaped. What utter morons they were.

Questions

1. Was the narrator able to breathe through her nose? Why/why not?

a) Yes, because the gag in her mouth was slack

b) Yes, because the silk scarf was too tight

c) Only a little, because the air was too stale and musty

d) Yes, because her nostrils weren’t blocked

2. What does the main character try to do first?

a) Unbind herself and call for help

b) Slacken the scarf binding her body

c) Breathe in and out in a slow and calming way

d) Undoing all of her fingers from the scarf

3. “Bit to the quick”, as used in the passage, is a phrase that means:

a) Jumping to conclusions

b) Going a bit too quickly

c) Biting to the bottom of your fingernails

d) Biting something quickly

4. In the third paragraph, ‘slack’ is used to mean:

a) Loose

b) Lazy

c) Tight

d) Large

5. How did the narrator undo the scarf tied around her hands?

a) She rotated her wrists and pressed her palms apart with her fingertips

b) She hooked her fingernails under the scarf and edged the knot towards her fingers

c) She pressed her fingertips together so the scarf wouldn’t be too tight

d) She used her thumbs to move the scarf down so the knot was within her fingers

6. Based on this passage, what would best describe the narrator?

a) Avuncular and condescending

b) Amiable and patient

c) Sagacious and level-headed

d) Knowledgeable and anxious

7. Which of these quotes is an example of a colloquialism?

a) “It was as black in the old closet as old blood.”

b) “Jolly good luck…”

c) “What utter morons…”

d) There are no colloquialisms in this passage

8. The passage is from a novel. The novel’s genre is most likely to be:

a) A slice of life comedy

b) Mystery

c) Fantasy

d) Biography

9. What is the main character’s opinion of her captors? Use one piece of evidence from the text to support your answer.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. What do you think will happen directly after this passage?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Check your answers here!

Note: this passage is from The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. To my knowledge, utilising this passage as a free educational exercise falls under fair use. If not, please let me know. I want to make sure that everything on this website is fair and right. The questions are of my own creation.