College Prep English IV Midterm Exam
Name: ______
Student Number: ______
Multiple Choice: Type your answer choice in the blank.
_____1. Using your knowledge of the Latin prefix mal-, which of these would you most likely describe as malevolence?
A. accidental injury
B. intentional harm
C. beneficial action
D. kind behavior
_____2. Which clause in this sentence is used as an adjective?
When Beowulf arrived, the Danes welcomed him, for they desperately needed someone who could stop Grendel.
A. When Beowulf arrived
B. the Danes welcomed him
C. they desperately needed someone
D. who could stop Grendel
_____3. Which sentence does not contain a misplaced or dangling modifier?
A. Written in heroic couplets, a trivial matter is portrayed as a great catastrophe in Pope’s witty poem.
B. Pope’s witty poem is about a trivial matter portrayed as a great catastrophe written in heroic couplets.
C. Portrayed as a great catastrophe, Pope’s witty poem centers on a trivial matter and is written in heroic couplets.
D. Written in heroic couplets, Pope’s witty poem portrays a trivial matter as a great catastrophe.
_____4. Read this passage from Donne’s “Meditation 17.” Then, answer the question that follows.
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were. Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell* tolls; it tolls for thee.
*bell: here, the death knell, or church bell that tolls for a death
Which sentence best states the belief Donne expresses in this passage?
A. It is wrong to live in isolation, like a hermit.
B. Rich or poor, highborn or low, we are all still human beings.
C. Human beings are all interconnected.
D. No one should fear death, for death is a part of life.
_____5. Which choice would supply the strongest, most logical support for this claim?
Lakeside Manor is a wonderful new community on Lake Winchester.
A. After just a few hours, you will know you want to move there.
B. There is ample parking for all residents and for guests.
C. Residents enjoy so many luxurious amenities that they feel like Greek gods and goddesses.
D. A Miami Herald survey listed it first among 400 Sun Belt communities in terms of location, amenities, and cost.
_____6. Which of these is a specific type of parody?
A. mock-epic
B. folk ballad
C. conceit
D. paradox
_____7. Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
A. Milton wrote many prose works, but is more famous for poetry.
B. In a sequence of sonnets dedicated to his wife Edmund Spenser traced their courtship.
C. Sonnets were new to England, when Sir Philip Sidney wrote them.
D. When Elizabeth I made her famous speech, the Spanish Armada threatened England.
_____8. Which sentence uses consistent verb tenses in telling a story?
A. I met Rob for the first time in the school infirmary, and he smiles at me even though he is clearly in pain.
B. I met Rob for the first time in the school infirmary, and he smiled at me even though he was clearly in pain.
C. I met Rob for the first time in the school infirmary, and he smiled at me even though he is clearly in pain.
D. I had met Rob for the first time in the school infirmary, and he smiled at me even though he is clearly in pain.
_____9. How is a diary, such as Pepys’s, different from a history such as Bede’s?
A. A diary is usually more personal.
B. A diary is usually more objective.
C. A diary is usually more formal.
D. A diary usually lacks historical accuracy.
Short Answer: Type your answer below the question. Use complete sentences, correct grammar, and correct spelling. Do not use the internet.
10. Love, ambition, greed, religious faith—these are some of the human emotions that motivate characters and help explain their personalities and behavior. Choose a character who came alive for you in your readings so far this year. Write an essay in which you examine that character’s personality and motivation and show what the character’s behavior and attitudes reveal about human nature. Begin with an introductory paragraph that captures your reader’s attention and includes a thesis statement that states your view of the character. Then, in the body of your essay, show how details in the work convey the character’s personality and motives. End with a concluding paragraph that sums up your main ideas about the character.