Victory for the ACT Student Text 15e

L ESSON 3 | F URTHER U SE OF R EADING S TRATEGIES , P ART 1 • 119

in a dim looking glass, and perpetually encountering her own frown within its ghostly sphere, she had been led to interpret the expression almost as unjustly as the world did. But her heart never frowned. 21. According to the passage, Miss Hepzibah is all of the following EXCEPT: A. elderly. B. reclusive. C. religious. D. vain. 22. The author’s portrait of Miss Hepzibah is: F. critical and disparaging. G. loving and intimate. H. sarcastic and mocking. J. interested and sympathetic. 23. It can be inferred that Miss Hepzibah views the day’s coming events with: A. apprehension. Ǥ…‘ϐ‹†‡…‡Ǥ C. eagerness. D. boredom. 24. Which of the following correctly describes the scene as set by the passage? I. The season is summer. II. The weather is threatening. III. The time is morning. F. I only G. III only H. I and II only J. I and III only According to the passage, which of the following is true? F. A riverboat should always be within 100 feet of the shore. G. On a clear, starlit night, the shoreline is easy to see. Ǥ  ƒ ’‹–…ŠǦ†ƒ” ‹‰Š–ǡ –Š‡ ’‹Ž‘–…ƒ‘– discern the curve of the shoreline. J. The river’s shape gives no hint of underwater snags. 20.

PASSAGE III PROSE FICTION: This passage is adapted from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables . It still lacked a half hour of sunrise when Miss Hepzibah—we will say awoke, it being doubtful whether the poor old lady had so much as closed her eyes during the brief night of midsummer—but, at all events, arose from her solitary pillow, and „‡‰ƒ –Š‡ ƒ†‘”‡– ‘ˆ Š‡” ’‡”•‘Ǥ Š‡ ™ƒ• alone in the old house—quite a house by itself, indeed—with locks, bolts, and oaken bars on all the intervening doors. Inaudible, consequently, were poor Miss Hepzibah’s gusty sighs. Inaudible were the creaking joints of her stiffened knees, as she knelt down by the bedside. And inaudible too, by mortal ear, that almost agony of prayer— now whispered, now a groan, now a struggling silence—wherewith she sought the Divine assistance through the day! Evidently this is to be the day of more than ordinary trial to Miss Hepzibah. For above a quarter of a century gone by, she has dwelt in strict seclusion, taking no part in the business of life, and just as little in its intercourse and pleasures. Here comes Miss Hepzibah. Forth •Š‡ •–‡’• ‹–‘ –Š‡ †—•›ǡ –‹‡Ǧ†ƒ”‡‡† ’ƒ••ƒ‰‡Ǥ –ƒŽŽ ϐ‹‰—”‡ǡ…Žƒ† ‹ „Žƒ… •‹Žǡ ™‹–Š a long and shrunken waist, she feels her way towards the stair like a nearsighted person, which in truth she is. Her scowl—as the world persisted in calling it—had done Miss Hepzibah every ‹ŽŽ ‘ˆϐ‹…‡ǡ ‹ ‡•–ƒ„Ž‹•Š‹‰ Š‡”…Šƒ”ƒ…–‡” ƒ• ƒ ‹ŽŽǦ–‡’‡”‡† ‘Ž† ƒ‹†Ǣ ‘” †‘‡• ‹– ƒ’’‡ƒ” improbable that, by often gazing at herself What is the purpose of including the lengthy explanation provided in the last paragraph of the selection? I. To show how well Bixby speaks II. To show how much a riverboat captain must know III. To show the many modes of the river A. I only B. II only C. I and III only D. II and III only

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Passage Perfect Here we have a –Š‘—‰Š–Ǧ”‡˜‡”•‡” question (indicated by the EXCEPT). Look for the answer choice that does NOT describe Miss Hepzibah. To avoid confusion, cross off the answer choices that do describe her, so you are left with the one that does not.

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