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Multiple-Choice
Tests Classroom of English Instruction
Multiple-Choice Mini-Test:
Mark Twain:
from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Test Taking Directions: The following is
a multiple-choice mini-test. Read
the following passages from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
carefully before you choose your answers. After
reading the passage, choose one of the options on the Directions
for Test Taking Page and begin.
If you have
chosen Option One, click on the
Red Answer/Explanation
after selecting each answer.
If you've
chosen Option Three, click on the ANSWERS
TO THE HUCK FINN MC TEST after completing
the test on paper.
Colonel Grangerford was a gentleman, you see. He was a gentleman
all
over; and so was his family. He was well-born, as the saying
is, and that's
worth as much in a man as it is in a horse, so the Widow Douglas said,
and
line
nobody ever denied that she was one of the first aristocracy of our town;
and
5
pap he always said it, too, though he warn't no more quality than a mudcat
himself. Col. Grangerford was very tall and very slim, and had a
darkish-paly
complexion, not a sign of red in it anywheres; he was clean-shaved
every
morning all over his thin face, and he had the thinnest lips, and the thinnest
10
kind of nostrils, and a high nose, and heavy eyebrows, and the blackest
kind
of eyes, sunk so deep that they seemed like they was looking out of caverns
at you, as you might say. His forehead was high, and his hair was
gray and
straight and hung to his shoulders. His hands was long and thin,
and every
day of his life he put on a clean shirt and a full suit from head to foot
made
15
out of linen so white it hurt your eyes to look at it; and on Sundays
he wore
a blue tail-coat with brass buttons on it. He carried a mahogany
cane with a
silver head to it. There warn't no frivolishness about him, not a
bit, and he
warn't ever loud. He was as kind as he could be--you could feel that,
you
know, and so you had confidence. Sometimes he smiled and it was good
to
20
see; but when he straightened himself up like a liberty-pole, and
the
lightning began to flicker out from under his eyebrows, you wanted to climb
a tree first, and find out what the matter was afterwards. He didn't
ever have
to tell anybody to mind their manners--everybody was always good-mannered
where he was. Everybody loved to have him around, too; he was
sunshine
25
most always--I mean he made it seem like good weather. When he turned
into a cloud-bank it was awful dark for half a minute, and that was enough;
there wouldn't nothing go wrong again for a week.
When him and the old lady come down in the morning all the family got
up out of their chairs and give them good day, and didn't set down again
until
30
they set down. . . .
The old gentleman owned a lot of farms and over a hundred niggers.
Sometimes
a stack of people would come there, horseback, from ten or fifteen mile
around,
and stay five or six days, and have such junketings round about and on
the river,
and dances and picnics in the woods daytimes, and balls at the house nights.
These
35
people were mostly kinfolks of the family. The men brought their
guns. It was a
handsome lot of quality, I tell you.
1. All but one of the following
indicates Huck's Attitude toward aristocracy
(A) The children of aristocratic families all minded their manners.
(B) Aristocratic men were all well-born gentlemen.
(C) No one in the aristocracy had a reddish complexion.
(D) Aristocratic had no more quality than a mudcat.
(E) Aristocratic people always entertained stacks of people.
ANSWER/EXPLANATION
2. All but one of the following
shows how Twain uses contrast to show theme:
(A) At the end of this passage he tells us that the men all had guns.
(B) He uses the word "darkish-paly" to describe Col. Grangerford.
(C) He mentions his Pap's lack of quality and reddish complexion.
(D) The Grangerfords were obviously different than Huck.
(E) The Grangerfords were different than the Widow Douglas.
ANSWER/EXPLANATION
3. Which one of the following
is an example of the exaggeration Twain uses to characterize the Colonel?
I.
"He had the thinnest lips, and the thinnest kind ofnostrils, and a high
nose,
and heavy eyebrows"
II.
"His hands was long and thin, and every day of hislife he put on a clean
shirt and a full suit from head to foot made out of linen so white it hurt
your eyes to look at it"
III. "On Sundays
he wore a blue tail-coat with brass buttons on it. He carried a
mahogany cane with a silver head to it"
(A) I only (B) I and II
(C) I and III (D) III only (E) I, II, and III
ANSWER/EXPLANATION
4. Which one of the following
is a more negative description of the Colonel's character?
(A) "He was as kind as he could beóyou could feel
that, you know, and so you had confidence."
(B) "Sometimes he smiled and it was good to see"
(C) "When he straightened himself up like a liberty-
pole, and the lightning began to flicker out
from under his eyebrows, you wanted to climb
a tree first, and find out what the matter was
afterwards."
(D) "He didn't ever have to tell anybody to mind their
manners--everybody was always good-mannered where he was."
(E) "Everybody loved to have him around, too; he
was sunshine most always--I mean he made
it seem like good weather."
ANSWER/EXPLANATION
5. All but one of the following
shows Twain's use of dialect to characterize Huck:
(A) warn't
(B) frivolishness
(C) clean-shaved
(D) good-mannered
(E) round about
ANSWER/EXPLANATION
6. All but one of the following
topics for theme is alluded to in this passage and developed throughout
the novel?
(A) Slavery
(B) Money
(C) Manners
(D) Superstition
(E) Child Abuse
ANSWER/EXPLANATION
7. Since this passage introduces
the feud between the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons, which of the following
statements in this passage is an example of foreshadowing:
(A) "The Widow Douglas . . . was one of the aristocracy of our town."
(B) "The men brought their guns."
(C) Col. Grangerford was very tall and very slim.
(D) The old gentleman owned a lot of farms.
(E) Sometimes a stack of people would come over there.
ANSWER/EXPLANATION
8. The attention that Huck,
the narrator, pays to the details that describe the Colonel serves primarily
to
(A) Distract the reader from the disconcerting issues raised in the
passage.
(B) Offer the reader a physical sense of the Colonel's presence.
(C) Counter earlier references to the Colonel's gentlemanly qualities.
(D) Entertain the reader prior to presenting more challenging material.
(E) Divert the reader's attention from the narrator's point of view.
ANSWER/EXPLANATION
9. The point of view in
the passage is that of a
(A) Naive observer who is partial to the Colonel
(B) third person narrator who is aware of the Colonel's thoughts
(C) Nonparticipating observer who is unaware of the Colonel's thoughts
(D) First-person narrator who chooses to speak of himself
in the third-person
(E) Third-person narrator who provides insights into
the thoughts of several characters
ANSWER/EXPLANATION
10. The style of the passage
can best be characterized as
(A) Humorless and pedantic
(B) Effusive and subjective
(C) Descriptive and elevated
(D) Terse and epigrammatic
(E) Witty and humorous.
ANSWER/EXPLANATION
11. The narrator's attitude
toward the Colonel can best be described as one of
(A) pity
(B) Objectivity
(C) Sardonic condemnation
(D) Emotional judgment
(E) Jaded disgust
ANSWER/EXPLANATION
If you've
chosen Option Three, click on the ANSWERS
TO THE HUCK FINN MC TEST after completing
the test on paper.
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