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ANSWER EXPLANATIONSENGLISH ASSESSMENT PRACTICE 5(A) NO CHANGE. The clearest wording is “worse than ever.” “Worser” is a nonstandard comparative form of “worse.”(J) would have. Since President Roosevelt is uncertain about which course of action to take, he was weighing the options. The conditional “would have” should replace “had.”(B) believed. To be parallel with the first clause in the compound clauses following the semicolon, the verb should be in the past tense. (G) conditions; during. A semicolon or comma and coordinating conjunction can be used to join two independent clauses. Although choice J uses a comma and coordination conjunction, the use of “but” incorrectly implies a contradiction between the two clauses.(C) their. The antecedent for the pronoun is the plural “states,” so the pronoun should be the plural “their.” “There” is an adverb.(H) farmers. The use of a pronoun here is vague. The possessive “their” indicated that the subject of the clause is plural. (C) who. To refer to people (in this case “experts”), the relative pronoun “who” should be used. The pronoun is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the verb “were advising.”(G) was. The subject of the verb s the singular “soil,” so the verb should be the singular “was.”(C) violent, flying clouds of dust. “Violent” and “flying” are both descriptors of the dust clouds. The clearest sentence construction places there adjectives before the non they modify. Because they modify the noun in the same way, they are coordinate adjectives and should be separated by a comma. (H) By the time. “That” is a word used to indicate something that has already been mentioned. In this case, no specific time has been previously identified. This makes the article “the” a better choice. Because “By the time” is essential to the meaning of the introductory clause, it should not be followed by a comma.(A) NO CHANGE. The context requires the word “excessively”: “too.”(J) Regardless. This is an error in diction. The correct introductory word, which should be followed by a comma, is “regardless.”(C) friends and me. The pronoun is part of the compound object of the preposition “for” and must be given in the objective case (“me”). The elements of a compound object should not be separated by commas.(G) Fortunately,. The sentence describes an advantageous situation which can be introduced by the word “Fortunately.” Choices H and J imply a greater relationship between this sentence and the one preceding it than actually exists. An introductory word should be followed by a comma.(A) NO CHANGE. The clearest wording is “so threatened.” Choices C and D imply that it is the land which is a threat rather than the land being threatened by external forcesANSWER EXPLANATIONSENGLISH ASSESSMENT PRACTICE 6(C) 1930s, and. A semicolon or comma and coordinating conjunction can be used to join two independent clauses. A semicolon should not be used with a conjunction or a comma, as in choices A and B.(G) they. The sentence is discussing a historical situation and refers to “many people.” A sudden shift to second person is inappropriate. The pronoun “they” correctly refers to a plural antecedent. (D) became. This sentence describes an event which took place in the past. A simple past tense verb should be used. (H) on behalf. To say that one works “on behalf” of another person is a common English idiom. The other choices are nonstandard usage.(A) NO CHANGE. The sentence correctly sets off the parenthetical “and often exaggerated” with commas.(G) they were. To rename the plural antecedent “outlaws,” a plural pronoun should be used. IN this case, the subjective pronoun “they” should be used because it is acting as the subject of the verb that follows.(B) really courteous. The subject’s behavior is being described here as courteous. To modify this adjective, the adverb “really” should be used. Choice C is redundant. (H) Floyd, though,. Two commas should be used to set off this parenthetical expression.(D) courteous nor. The word “neither” should be paired with “nor.”(G) is that. “The reason is” and “because” mean the same thing. The removal of “The reason is” corrects this redundancy without creating awkward wording as would choices H or J.(C) was to rip. The subject of the verb is the singular “One,” so the verb should be the singular “was.” Choice D removes the verb.(G) them, thus. The plural pronoun “them” should be used here to agree with the plural antecedent “banks.” It should be followed by a comma to separate the independent clause from the phrase that follows.(D) led. This verb should be in the past tense to parallel “couldn’t.” Choice C is an incorrect spelling of the past tense “led.”(F) NO CHANGE. “State” is used here as an adjective to describe the borders. Neither of the words should be made possessive.(D) relatively long career. The adverb “relatively” should be used to modify the adjective “long.” It is most clearly placed before the word it modifies.ANSWER EXPLANATIONSENGLISH ASSESSMENT PRACTICE 7(B) responds. The subject of the verb, “each,” is singular, so the verb must be singular. The use of the future tense “will respond” is inconsistent with the present tense discussion of the characters’ behavior that follows. Choice D is not a verb.(J) confronted with. “Confronted with” is a common English idiom. The other choices are nonstandard language.(C) challenge, and he often. The two independent clauses in this sentence should be joined with a comma and coordinating conjunction.(G) since. The correct word to indicate a sequence of events is “since.” Choices H and J are awkward and wordy.(A) NO CHANGE. Items in a series are separated by commas with the final two items being separated by a comma and coordinating conjunction.(J) heroically compassionate. The adverb “heroically” should be used to modify the adjective “compassionate” without the use of a comma. (D) tries. To be consistent with the other present tense verbs should be used in the sentence, the present tense “tries” should be used. (H) he is eventually overwhelmed. “In the end” and “eventually” mean the same thing. Choice H corrects the redundancy. Choice J is awkward and incorrectly shifts the subject of the verb by substituting the pronoun “it” for “he.”(C) dreaming. The compound object if the preposition “on” should consist of parallel terms, in this case gerunds: “focused on finding girls and dreaming of cars.”(G) but really. A contrast is suggested between Uncle John’s view of himself and the reality of his character. Thus, “but” is the conjunction that would make the most sense in the sentence. (A) NO CHANGE. A contraction is correctly used here with the pronoun “it” to refer to the antecedent “novel.” (J) in which. The adverb “where” applies to a location and should not be used to modify the noun “story.” Choice J is the clearest wording. (D) as the spokesman. Because no other spokesman is identified, it makes the most sense that Jim Casy is the spokesman. (F) NO CHANGE. The elements in the compound object of the preposition “for” should not be separated by a comma or semicolon.(C) to read. The simple infinitive “to read” is the clearest wording.ANSWER EXPLANATIONSREADING ASSESSMENT PRACTICE 1(D) the hard-working, average American. Choice D is the most general description of the “common man.” The other choices are too narrowly defined to apply Guthrie’s and Steinbeck’s many works. (G) describe ways in which Steinbeck and Guthrie were similar. The focus of this paragraph is on similarities between Steinbeck and Guthrie, not differences. Although choice F is mentioned, that is not the main focus of the paragraph. Political views are not discussed until the third paragraph. (B) more recent artists have supplanted his position in the public’s awareness. Guthrie’s songs are described as famous (lines 2-4), and it is unlikely that the style of music is not appreciated. It is also unlikely that a controversial nature alone would make them unpopular today considering the controversial nature of many of today’s popular songs. Choice B is the most likely explanation for Guthrie’s current status.(F) they both wrote about welfare. Although they both worked to “promote the welfare of America’s workers” (lines 9-11), welfare specifically is not a topic included in the passage as a topic of their writing. (A) demonstrated how unconcerned he was with public criticism. According to the passage, Guthrie did not believe he could be hurt by the accusations of his critics (lines 27-29). (J) politics. Specific topics of Guthrie’s songs as mentioned in the passage include characters from The Grapes of Wrath in “The Ballad of Tim Joad,” outlaws in a song about Pretty Boy Floyd, and inspiration from his own travels around the country in “This Land is Your Land.” (B) speak out against the troubling things they see in society. The implication in this passage is that both Guthrie and Steinbeck were social critics. Nowhere does it say that they refused to be a part of the mainstream society. The passage clearly states that Guthrie was not a Communist, and Steinbeck’s denial of the “red” accusation implies that he may have been bothered by the negative attention. The clearest inference is that social critics speak out against troubling things they see in society because both Guthrie and Steinbeck wrote about the welfare of American workers as well as other sociopolitical topics. (H) address universal themes of humanity. The themes in The Grapes of Wrath are described as relevant to contemporary readers (lines 37-39). Choice H is most descriptive of its content. (B) artists of different sorts draw on similar themes as the inspiration for their work. The description in this passage of how Guthrie and Steinbeck both wrote about similar topics and issues implies that artists draw from similar sources of inspiration. However, this does not mean that each artist simply re-tells the same ideas in different ways.(F) lobbied the government on behalf of the migrant workers. According to the passage, Guthrie’s song “inspired people to take up the cause of the migrant workers.” Choices G and J have little to do with helping migrant workers. Giving jobs to migrant workers might be helpful but is not on the same scale as taking up their cause. Only lobbying the government implies this level of action. ANSWER EXPLANATIONSREADING ASSESSMENT PRACTICE 2(B) the events of the novel only make sense in the context of the political times.As it is described in lines 3-5, the political events form the backdrop, or context, of the novel.(G) people believed he was a good man. According to the passage, Hoover was elected because of his good works and strong character (lines 14-16), meaning people considered him to be a good person. No mention is made of his political agenda or of political parties. The economic crisis and desire for change occurred after Hoover was elected.(A) their treatment of the poor. The biggest difference between Hoover and Roosevelt’s policies, as focused on in this passage, was their treatment of the poor. Although this relates to their views on the economy and beliefs about the character of the American people, choice A is more specific policy issue.(H) people were dissatisfied with the state of affairs and believed a change was in order. According to the passage, at the time of the election in 1932, people were desperate and wanting a new leader, which is why they elected Roosevelt. This implies a desire for change. (C) desperation. The people are described as desperate in lines 22 and 28.(J) helping him formulate successful approaches to economic policy. Hoover’s success as a businessman, election to the presidency, and belief in the strength of the American people are all described in the second paragraph. It was these beliefs rooted in his personal background of overcoming adversity which shaped his economic policy and ultimately made him successful as president because the public demanded more government assistance.(B) lessen. “Alleviate” most nearly means to lessen or ease, not to take away entirely.(G) emphasize that despite their differences, both Hoover and Roosevelt were public servants. “Like” indicates a comparison between the two presidents, not a focus on Roosevelt alone (choice F). As Roosevelt is generally viewed well among presidents, it is unlikely the author is trying to make him look better (choices H and J). Choice G is most in keeping with the overall theme of the passage.(C) Roosevelt allowed too much government money to go toward programs for the impoverished. Supporters of Hoover would be unlikely to support more types of government assistance, as described in choices A and B. It is most likely that they would take issue with his allocation of government money, a political issue, rather than his personal health. (F) compare and contrast the presidents of the 1920s and the 1930s. As described in the first paragraph, the purpose pf the passage is to give an overview of the political situation during the time period in which the book is set. This entails a discussion of the differences between the two presidents at that time. Choice H overstates the relationship between politics and The Grapes of Wrath.ANSWER EXPLANATIONSREADING PRACTICE ASSESSMENT PRACTICE 3(C) want to be distracted. Following a description of the economic hardships facing the country, the passage describes Americans as “desperate for a diversion” which they found in talking movies (lines 1-9).(H) their government lifestyles served as a substitute for what the impoverished movie-goers were missing. Although the glamour of the movie stars was attractive, and following their lives was likely entertaining, glamorous movie stars were especially entertaining because their on-screen lifestyles contrasted sharply with those of the poor viewers. It is more likely this served as a substitute than an inspiration since that kind of glamour would not be attained by most.(B) Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers was the studio that first introduced movies with sound technology with the use of the Vitaphone (lines 11-13).(J) spirits. “Spirits” is the definition that most nearly describes the general attitude and confidence referred to as “morale.”(A) people were interested in the new sound technology. Choices B, C, and D are all describes in lines 20-25 as reasons for attending movies. The sound technology itself was not a motivation factor.(F) many other forms of entertainment are available at home. Choice F is the best answer because the lack of other forms of entertainment was one of the original reasons people flooded to the movies in the thirties. Although choice J was another reason for the original surge, economic prosperity is not a constant in modern times.(B) list reasons some call the 1930s the golden Age of Hollywood. Because it says “Some experts call the 1930s the Golden Age of Hollywood,” no argument is made here, but rather a description of the reasons for that name is given. Changes to the film industry and the great movies of the 1930s are mentioned in the paragraph but not the main theme. (F) farming. Choices G, H, and J are all listed as signs of economic hardship, a topic which was largely avoided by the film industry in an effort to distract the viewers. Farming is more innocuous, and as such, could be expected to appear in movies. The film version of The Grapes of Wrath is cited as a risky anomaly because of its focus on the Dust Bowl. (D) neither the story nor the characters were glamorous. According to the last paragraph, the movie should not have been as successful because the story was too close to reality as were the characters (lines 36-43). Although choice C may be true, choice D is the more specific answer. No information is provided about the success of the book version. (H) the socioeconomic climate of their introduction was not as conductive to success. The reasons given for the popularity of movies in the thirties involve the social and economic factors of the time, making it likely that the absence of the similar factors make silent films less of a success. There is no suggestion that characters in silent films were more difficult for viewers to relate to, nor that there were no silent film stars. ................
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