Vocabulary Test 91

[passage-header]Read the passage and answer the question that follows: [/passage-header]  In the mind of the mariner, there is a superstitious horror connected with the name of Pirate; and there are few subjects that interest and excite the curiosity of mankind generally, more than 10513the desperate exploits, foul doings, and diabolical career of these monsters in human form. A piratical crew is generally formed of 41406the desperadoes and runagates of every clime and nation. The pirate, from the perilous nature of his occupation, when not crushing on the ocean, 58038the great highway of nations selects the most lonely isles of the sea for his retreat, or 26085secretes himself near the shores of rivers, bays and lagoons of thickly wooded and uninhabited countries, so that if pursued he can escape to the woods and mountain glens of the interior. The islands of the Indian Ocean, and the east and west coasts of Africa, as well as the West Indies, have been 36478their haunts for centuries, and vessels navigating the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, are often captured by them, the passengers and crew murdered, the money and most valuable part of the cargo plundered, the vessel destroyed, thus obliterating all trace of their unhappy fate, and leaving friends and relatives to mourn their loss from the inclemencies of the elements, when they were butchered in cold blood by their fellow men, who by 56008practically adopting the maxim that "dead men tell no tales," enable themselves to pursue their a diabolical career with impunity...
   But 16958the apprehension and foreboding of the mind, when under the influence of remorse, are powerful, and every man, whether civilized or savage has interwoven in his constitution a moral sense, which secretly condemns him when he has committed an atrocious action, even when he is placed in situations which raise him above the fear of human punishment, for "Conscience, the torturer of the soul, unseen. Does fiercely brandish a sharp scourge within; Severe decrees may keep our tongues in awe, but to our minds what edicts can give law? Even you yourself to your own breast shall tell Your crimes, and your own conscience be your hell."
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Call me Ishmael. Some years ago - never mind how long preciesly - having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the 70161spleen, and regulating the circulation. 11473Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off- then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.53120

[passage-header]Read the poem and answer the question that follows:[/passage-header]"On you go now! Run, son, like the devil
And tell your mother to try
To find me a bubble for the spirit level
And a new knot for this tie."

But 76245still he was glad, I know, when I stood my ground,
18228Putting it up to him
With a smile that 26092trumped his smile and his fool's errand,
Waiting for the next move in the game." 
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[passage-header]"The Author to Her Book"[/passage-header]Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain,
Who after birth didst by my side remain,
Till snatched from thence by friends, 11304less wise than true,
Who thee abroad, exposed to public view,
Made thee in rags, halting to th' press to trudge,

Where errors were not lessened (all may judged).
At thy return my blushing was not small,
My rambling brat (in print) should mother call,
I cast thee by as one unfit for light,
Thy visage was so irksome in my sight;

Yet being mine own, at length affection would
Thy blemishes amend, if so I could:
I washed thy face, but more defects I saw,
And rubbing off a spot still made a flaw.
58290I stretched the joints to make thee even feet,

53207Yet still thou run'st more hobbling than is meet;
In better dress to 95382trim thee was my mind,
But nought same homespun cloth i' th' 27694house I find.
In this array 'mongst vulgars may'st thou roam.
In critic hands beware thou dost not come,

And take thy way where yet thou art not known;
If for thy father asked, say thou hadst none;
And for thy mother, she alas is poor,
Which caused her thus to send thee out of door.
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