Short Story test
Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
Critical Reading
The questions below are based on the following selection.
The following excerpt comes from the short story “Mushrooms in the City” by Italo Calvino.
...Thus, one morning, as he was waiting for the tram that would take him to Sbav and Co., where he was employed as an unskilled laborer, he noticed something unusual near the stop, in the sterile, encrusted strip of earth beneath the avenue’s line of trees; at certain points near the tree trunks, some bumps seemed to rise and, here and there, they had opened, allowing roundish subterranean bodies to peep out.
Bending to tie his shoes, he took a better look: they were mushrooms, real mushrooms, sprouting right in the heart of the city! To Marcovaldo the gray and wretched world surrounding him seemed suddenly generous with hidden riches; something could still be expected of life, beyond the hourly wage of his stipulated salary, with inflation index, family grant, and cost-of-living allowance.
On the job he was more absent-minded than usual: he kept thinking that while he was there unloading cases and boxes, in the darkness of the earth the slow, silent mushrooms, known only to him, were ripening their porous flesh, were assimilating underground humors, breaking the crust of clods. “One night’s rain would be enough,” he said to himself, “then they would be ready to pick.” And he couldn’t wait to share his discovery with his wife and his six children.
“I’m telling you!” he announced during their scant supper. “In a week’s time we’ll be eating mushrooms! A great fry! That’s a promise!”
And to the smaller children, who did not know what mushrooms were, he explained ecstatically the beauty of the numerous species, the delicacy of their flavor, the way they should be cooked: and so he also drew into the discussion his wife, Domitilla, who until then had appeared rather incredulous and abstracted.
“Where are these mushrooms?” the children asked. “Tell us where they grow!”
At this question Marcovaldo’s enthusiasm was curbed by a suspicious thought: Now if I tell them the place, they’ll go and hunt for them with the usual gang of kids, word will spread through the neighborhood, and the mushrooms will end up in somebody else’s pan! And so that discovery, which had promptly filled his heart with universal love, now made him wildly possessive, surrounded him with jealous and trusting fear.
“I know where the mushrooms are, and I’m the only one who knows,” he said to his children, “and God help if you breathe a word to anybody...”
____1.Which of the following best describes Marcovaldo’s behavior during the day and evening after he discovers the mushrooms?
a. / volatile / c. / exuberantb. / confident / d. / defensive
____2.Why do mushrooms growing in a “sterile, encrusted strip of earth” beside the tram stop make such an impression on Marcovaldo?
a. / Wild mushrooms are one of Marcovaldo’s favorite vegetables.b. / They could be a source of income for Marcovaldo and his family.
c. / He is starved for natural beauty and wonder in the city.
d. / They symbolize his belief in the greatness of the modern city.
____3.What is the effect of the details of the setting involving mushrooms, soil, and rain?
a. / The sensuous details provide the reader with evidence that the mushrooms are merely a figment of Marcovaldo’s imagination.b. / The sensuous details establish a conflict between nature and the modern world.
c. / The sensuous details place the story’s events in a specific place and time.
d. / The sensuous details contrast sharply with Marcovaldo’s dull, plodding work.
____4.What feeling does the discovery of the mushrooms inspire in Marcovaldo?
a. / amusement / c. / contentmentb. / hope / d. / suspicion
____5.In the course of this passage, a conflict is seen to develop
a. / between Marcovaldo and his family.b. / between Marcovaldo and the mushrooms.
c. / within Marcovaldo.
d. / between Marcovaldo and the world.
____6.To clarify the meaning of the term unskilled laborer, it would be best to
a. / review what you have already learned about Marcovaldo’s job.b. / read ahead for more information about Marcovaldo’s job.
c. / look up the word unskilled in a dictionary.
d. / read other works by Italo Calvino.
____7.Whom does Marcovaldo distrust in regard to the mushrooms?
a. / his children / c. / everyoneb. / his co-workers / d. / himself
____8.A dynamic character in a work of fiction
a. / changes during the course of the story.b. / grows up during the course of the story.
c. / is the most interesting and energetic person in the story.
d. / remains the same during the course of the story.
____9.Which of the following would not be useful to employ at the conclusion of reading this passage?
a. / identifying persuasive messages in the textb. / identifying cause and effect relationships in the text
c. / identifying the order in which events occur
d. / identifying which events are of greater or lesser importance
____10.The information you receive when you hear or read a story is influenced by the ____ of the storyteller.
a. / gender / c. / imageryb. / character / d. / point of view
Vocabulary and Grammar
Choose the word or words closest in meaning to the word in italics.
____11.A cyclist coming along the road had to run into the hedge to avoid an imminent collision.
a. / distant / c. / rapidb. / apt to be dangerous / d. / likely to happen soon
____12.I was well aware that the Reverend was a man of strict veracity.
a. / truthfulness / c. / disciplineb. / talkativeness / d. / slander
____13.Ulterior motives couldn’t be overlooked by the Censorship Division, but they needn’t be too strict with those who applied.
a. / obvious / c. / exteriorb. / undisclosed / d. / conspiratorial
____14.14. Which of the following does not apply to the use of parallel structure?
And one voice, with sublime disregard for the situation, read poetry aloud in the fiery study, until all the film spools burned, until all the wires withered and the circuits cracked.
a. / It adds rhythm and balance to writing.b. / It expresses ideas of equal importance in dissimilar ways.
c. / It create links between related ideas.
d. / Form reflects meaning.
____15.It is best to place modifiers such as only and just ____ the word or words they modify.
a. / immediately after / c. / immediately beforeb. / near / d. / in the same clause as
____16.Each of the following sentences contains an adjective clause. Which sentence contains a nonrestrictive adjective clause that should be set off with a pair of commas?
a. / He went through on that purely superficial “cram,” and got compliments too, while others who knew a thousand times more than he got plucked.b. / The strictest measures were taken that the Uskovs’ family secret might not leak out and become generally known.
c. / To outsiders who have no personal interest in the matter, such questions seem simple; for those who are so unfortunate as to have to decide them in earnest, they are extremely difficult.
d. / Orders were given that no one was to be admitted.
____17.Many of the men who ____ behind the ditch ____ to worry.
a. / stand, begins / c. / stands, beginb. / stands, begins / d. / stand, begin
____18.Which of the following is not a conjunctive (or connecting) adverb?
a. / finally / c. / moreoverb. / slowly / d. / nevertheless
____19.The meaning of the Latin root -ultra- is ____.
a. / further; beyond / c. / nearbyb. / not believable / d. / underneath; beside
____20.Which of the following words is not built around the Latin root -ver-, meaning “speaking truly”?
a. / verdict / c. / veryb. / veracity / d. / verify
Essay
Rubric for Evaluating Essays
0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4Blank paper / Incorrect purpose, mode, audience / Correct purpose, mode, audience / Correct purpose, mode, audience / Correct purpose, mode, audience
Foreign language / Brief, vague / Some elaboration / Moderately well elaborated / Effective elaboration
Illegible, incoherent / Unelaborated / Some details / Clear, effective language / Consistent organization
Not enough content to score / Rambling / Gaps in organization / Organized (perhaps with brief digressions) / Sense of completeness, fluency
Lack of language control / Limited language control
Poor organization
21.Choose a selection from Unit 6—such as “A Problem,” “Luck,” or “The Princess and All the Kingdom”—that contains both static and dynamic characters. Identify at least one static and one dynamic character, and, in an essay, give a clear and thorough explanation of your classification. Use references from the text.
22.In some short stories an author’s use of a particular literary element—such as setting, conflict, or point of view—is crucial to the overall meaning of the work. Choose a selection from Unit 6 (“The Open Window,” “Leiningen Versus the Ants,” “By the Waters of Babylon,” “A Problem,” “Luck,” “There Will Come Soft Rains,” “The Garden of Stubborn Cats,” “The Princess and All the Kingdom,” and “The Censors”) in which one literary element is particularly notable. Explain in an essay how the author’s use of this literary element contributes to the total effect of the story.
23.Two writers can treat a similar subject matter in remarkably unique ways. Compare and contrast the ideas and literary characteristics of “There Will Come Soft Rains” and “By the Waters of Babylon.”
24.Most short stories have clear and identifiable plot structures. Choose a selection from Unit 6 (“The Open Window,” “Leiningen Versus the Ants,” “By the Waters of Babylon,” “A Problem,” “Luck,” “There Will Come Soft Rains,” “The Garden of Stubborn Cats,” “The Princess and All the Kingdom,” and “The Censors”) and analyze its plot structure. In your essay, explain what information is introduced in the exposition; identify the inciting incident and the central conflict; describe the rising action and identify the climax; and finally, describe the story’s resolution or end.
25.Like other writers of imaginative literature, short-story writers are interested in communicating themes to the reader. Choose a selection—such as “The Censors,” “Leiningen Versus the Ants,” or “By the Waters of Babylon”—and demonstrate your understanding of the work by writing an essay that analyzes the author’s ideas and explains how the author uses those ideas to convey the theme of the story.
Unit 6 Open Book test
Answer Section
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1.A
2.C
3.D
4.B
5.C
6.B
7.C
8.A
9.A
10.D
11.D
12.A
13.B
14.B
15.C
16.A
17.D
18.B
19.A
20.C
ESSAY
21.Students should make certain that the story they choose contains both types of characters. After identifying examples, students should explain why their two choices are static and dynamic characters, respectively. For example, in “A Problem,” Ivan Markovitch is static, for he does not change or grow during the course of the story; he merely attempts to defend and support his nephew. On the other hand, Sasha Uskov is dynamic because his initial indifference and weariness about life is transformed first into rage and finally into criminal thinking.
22.Students should identify a specific literary element in a selection and explain how it figures centrally in the overall effect of the story. For instance, in “There Will Come Soft Rains,” Ray Bradbury’s use of setting is the single most important element in understanding the story’s ideas. (In fact, this story has no characters and almost no plot.) The setting—both its time frame and its numerous details illustrating future domestic life—provides the reader with vivid proof of the fragility of human life, the destructiveness of war, and the potentially empty promise of progress.
23.Students should note the essential similarity between the two stories—the central subject matter of destroyed civilization. To convey the idea that human life is fragile, Bradbury relies on details of a highly mechanized future (and the specific geography of a single house), whereas Benét uses the lens of religion and a spiritual journey and the geography of a city. Bradbury looks forward, whereas Benét places the reader in a position to look back at our own times.
24.Students should make clear and thorough analyses of a story’s plot structure. For instance, the exposition in “The Princess and All the Kingdom” conveys information about the prince’s valor and skill in battle. The inciting incident (which could be identified either as the princess and prince’s wedding or as the presentation of the city keys to the prince by the aged chancellor) introduces the central conflict—the prince’s exclusive interest in a happy life with the princess versus his responsibility to his new kingdom. The rising action occurs in the animated argument between chancellor and prince. The climax occurs when the prince threatens violence and the chancellor gently crowns him and dubs him king. The resolution occurs in the final sentence, as the new king accepts his lot.
25.Students should identify the theme of a work and discuss the way in which the author conveys that theme. For example, in “The Censors,” Valenzuela conveys his ideas about the importance of resisting tyranny and securing personal and political freedom for people. His plot—involving Juan’s misguided attempts to protect Mariana—highlights the idea that human beings must exert extraordinary concentration and self-control to avoid inadvertently joining the enemy.