Reading Comprehension Test 23

[passage-header]Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows. [/passage-header] Joe's funeral was the finest thing Orange County had ever seen with Negro eyes. The motor hearse, the Cadillac, and Buick carriages; Dr. Henderson there in his Lincoln; the hosts from far and wide. Then again the gold and red and purple, the 66653gloat and glamour of the 12959secret orders, each with its insinuations of power and glory undreamed of by the uninitiated. People on farm horses and mules; babies riding astride of brothers' and sisters backs. The Elks band ranked at the church door and playing "Safe in the Arms of Jesus" with such a dominant drum rhythm that it could be stepped off smartly by the long line as it filed inside. The Little Emperor of the crossroads were leaving Orange County as he had come - with the out-stretched hand of power.
  Janie 67723starched and ironed her face and came set in the funeral behind her veil. It was like 65535a wall of stone and steel. The funeral was going on outside. All things concerning death and burial were said and done. Finish. End. Nevermore. 87914Darkness. Deep hole. Dissolution. Eternity. 15272Weeping and wailing outside. Inside the expensive black folds were 98550resurrection and life. She did not reach outside for anything, nor did the things of death reach inside to disturb her calm. She sent her face to Joe's funeral, and herself went rollicking with the springtime across the world. After a while, the 30288people finished their celebration and Janie went on home.
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[passage-header]Read the passage and answer the question that follows:[/passage-header]The principal object of this Work is to remove the erroneous and discreditable notions current in England concerning this City, in common with everything else connected with the Colony. We shall endeavor to represent Sydney as it really is- to exhibit its spacious Gas-lit Streets, crowned by an active and thriving population- its Public Edifices, and its sumptuous shops, which boldly claim a comparison with those of London itself: and to shew that 62994 the Colonists have not been inattentive to matters of higher import, we shall display to our Readers the beautiful and commodious buildings raised by piety and industry for the use of Religion. 64643 It is true, all are not yet in a state of completion; but, be it remembered, that what was done gradually in England, in the course of many centuries, has been here affected in the comparatively short period of sixty years 65329. Our object, in setting forth this work, is one of no 26593 mean moment; and we trust that every Australian, whether this is his native or adopted country, will heartily bid us "God speed!"
   It became necessary, after the rebellion of those Colonies now known as the United States, for Britain to send her convicts elsewhere; and the wide, distant, and almost totally unknown regions of Australia were adjudged most suitable for the purpose. Accordingly, eleven ships, since known in Colonial History as the "First Fleet," sailed for New Holland on the 15th of May, 1787, under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, and arrived in Botany Bay on the 20th day of January in the following year. Finding the spot in many respects unfit for an infant settlement, and but scantily supplied with water, Captain Phillip determined to explore the coast; and proceeded northward, with a few officers and marines, in three open boats. After passing along a rocky and barren line of the shore for several miles, they entered Port Jackson, which they supposed to be of no great dimensions, it having been marked in the chart of Captain Cook as a boat harbor. Their astonishment may be easily imagined when they found its waters gradually expand, and the full proportions of that magnificent harbor (capable of containing the whole navy of Britain) burst upon their view. The site of the intended settlement was no longer a matter of doubt; and, after first landing at Manly Beach, they eventually selected a spot on the banks of a small stream of fresh water, falling into a Cove on the southern side of the estuary.
  Sydney, the capital, is situated on the southern shore of Port Jackson, at the distance of seven miles from the Pacific Ocean. It is built at the head of the far-famed "Cove"; and, with Darling Harbor as its general boundary to the west, extends, in an unbroken succession of houses, for more than two miles in a southerly direction. As a maritime city, its site is unrivaled, possessing at least three miles of water frontage, at any part of which vessels of the heaviest burden can safely approach the wharves. The stratum on which it stands is chiefly sandstone; and, as it enjoys a considerable elevation, it is remarkably healthy and dry. The principal thoroughfares run north and south, parallel to Darling Harbor, and are crossed at right angles by shorter streets. This, at first, gives the place an air of unpleasing sameness and formality, to those accustomed to the winding and romantic streets of an ancient English town; but the eye soon becomes reconciled to the change, and you cease to regret the absence of what is in so many respects undesirable.
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[passage-header]Read the passage and answer the question that follows:[/passage-header]The principal object of this Work is to remove the erroneous and discreditable notions current in England concerning this City, in common with everything else connected with the Colony. We shall endeavor to represent Sydney as it really is- to exhibit its spacious Gas-lit Streets, crowned by an active and thriving population- its Public Edifices, and its sumptuous shops, which boldly claim a comparison with those of London itself: and to shew that 62994 the Colonists have not been inattentive to matters of higher import, we shall display to our Readers the beautiful and commodious buildings raised by piety and industry for the use of Religion. 64643 It is true, all are not yet in a state of completion; but, be it remembered, that what was done gradually in England, in the course of many centuries, has been here affected in the comparatively short period of sixty years 65329. Our object, in setting forth this work, is one of no 26593 mean moment; and we trust that every Australian, whether this is his native or adopted country, will heartily bid us "God speed!"
   It became necessary, after the rebellion of those Colonies now known as the United States, for Britain to send her convicts elsewhere; and the wide, distant, and almost totally unknown regions of Australia were adjudged most suitable for the purpose. Accordingly, eleven ships, since known in Colonial History as the "First Fleet," sailed for New Holland on the 15th of May, 1787, under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, and arrived in Botany Bay on the 20th day of January in the following year. Finding the spot in many respects unfit for an infant settlement, and but scantily supplied with water, Captain Phillip determined to explore the coast; and proceeded northward, with a few officers and marines, in three open boats. After passing along a rocky and barren line of the shore for several miles, they entered Port Jackson, which they supposed to be of no great dimensions, it having been marked in the chart of Captain Cook as a boat harbor. Their astonishment may be easily imagined when they found its waters gradually expand, and the full proportions of that magnificent harbor (capable of containing the whole navy of Britain) burst upon their view. The site of the intended settlement was no longer a matter of doubt; and, after first landing at Manly Beach, they eventually selected a spot on the banks of a small stream of fresh water, falling into a Cove on the southern side of the estuary.
  Sydney, the capital, is situated on the southern shore of Port Jackson, at the distance of seven miles from the Pacific Ocean. It is built at the head of the far-famed "Cove"; and, with Darling Harbor as its general boundary to the west, extends, in an unbroken succession of houses, for more than two miles in a southerly direction. As a maritime city, its site is unrivaled, possessing at least three miles of water frontage, at any part of which vessels of the heaviest burden can safely approach the wharves. The stratum on which it stands is chiefly sandstone; and, as it enjoys a considerable elevation, it is remarkably healthy and dry. The principal thoroughfares run north and south, parallel to Darling Harbor, and are crossed at right angles by shorter streets. This, at first, gives the place an air of unpleasing sameness and formality, to those accustomed to the winding and romantic streets of an ancient English town; but the eye soon becomes reconciled to the change, and you cease to regret the absence of what is in so many respects undesirable.
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[passage-header]Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows. [/passage-header] Joe's funeral was the finest thing Orange County had ever seen with Negro eyes. The motor hearse, the Cadillac, and Buick carriages; Dr. Henderson there in his Lincoln; the hosts from far and wide. Then again the gold and red and purple, the 66653gloat and glamour of the 12959secret orders, each with its insinuations of power and glory undreamed of by the uninitiated. People on farm horses and mules; babies riding astride of brothers' and sisters backs. The Elks band ranked at the church door and playing "Safe in the Arms of Jesus" with such a dominant drum rhythm that it could be stepped off smartly by the long line as it filed inside. The Little Emperor of the crossroads were leaving Orange County as he had come - with the out-stretched hand of power.
  Janie 67723starched and ironed her face and came set in the funeral behind her veil. It was like 65535a wall of stone and steel. The funeral was going on outside. All things concerning death and burial were said and done. Finish. End. Nevermore. 87914Darkness. Deep hole. Dissolution. Eternity. 15272Weeping and wailing outside. Inside the expensive black folds were 98550resurrection and life. She did not reach outside for anything, nor did the things of death reach inside to disturb her calm. She sent her face to Joe's funeral, and herself went rollicking with the springtime across the world. After a while, the 30288people finished their celebration and Janie went on home.
[passage-footer]
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[passage-header]Read the passage and answer the question that follows:[/passage-header]The principal object of this Work is to remove the erroneous and discreditable notions current in England concerning this City, in common with everything else connected with the Colony. We shall endeavor to represent Sydney as it really is- to exhibit its spacious Gas-lit Streets, crowned by an active and thriving population- its Public Edifices, and its sumptuous shops, which boldly claim a comparison with those of London itself: and to shew that 62994 the Colonists have not been inattentive to matters of higher import, we shall display to our Readers the beautiful and commodious buildings raised by piety and industry for the use of Religion. 64643 It is true, all are not yet in a state of completion; but, be it remembered, that what was done gradually in England, in the course of many centuries, has been here affected in the comparatively short period of sixty years 65329. Our object, in setting forth this work, is one of no 26593 mean moment; and we trust that every Australian, whether this is his native or adopted country, will heartily bid us "God speed!"
   It became necessary, after the rebellion of those Colonies now known as the United States, for Britain to send her convicts elsewhere; and the wide, distant, and almost totally unknown regions of Australia were adjudged most suitable for the purpose. Accordingly, eleven ships, since known in Colonial History as the "First Fleet," sailed for New Holland on the 15th of May, 1787, under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, and arrived in Botany Bay on the 20th day of January in the following year. Finding the spot in many respects unfit for an infant settlement, and but scantily supplied with water, Captain Phillip determined to explore the coast; and proceeded northward, with a few officers and marines, in three open boats. After passing along a rocky and barren line of the shore for several miles, they entered Port Jackson, which they supposed to be of no great dimensions, it having been marked in the chart of Captain Cook as a boat harbor. Their astonishment may be easily imagined when they found its waters gradually expand, and the full proportions of that magnificent harbor (capable of containing the whole navy of Britain) burst upon their view. The site of the intended settlement was no longer a matter of doubt; and, after first landing at Manly Beach, they eventually selected a spot on the banks of a small stream of fresh water, falling into a Cove on the southern side of the estuary.
  Sydney, the capital, is situated on the southern shore of Port Jackson, at the distance of seven miles from the Pacific Ocean. It is built at the head of the far-famed "Cove"; and, with Darling Harbor as its general boundary to the west, extends, in an unbroken succession of houses, for more than two miles in a southerly direction. As a maritime city, its site is unrivaled, possessing at least three miles of water frontage, at any part of which vessels of the heaviest burden can safely approach the wharves. The stratum on which it stands is chiefly sandstone; and, as it enjoys a considerable elevation, it is remarkably healthy and dry. The principal thoroughfares run north and south, parallel to Darling Harbor, and are crossed at right angles by shorter streets. This, at first, gives the place an air of unpleasing sameness and formality, to those accustomed to the winding and romantic streets of an ancient English town; but the eye soon becomes reconciled to the change, and you cease to regret the absence of what is in so many respects undesirable.
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[passage-header]Read the poem and answer the question that follows:
[/passage-header]"The Triumph of Time"

It will grow not again, this fruit of my heart,
Smitten with88540 sunbeams, ruined with rain.
11972The singing seasons divide and depart,
Winter and summer depart in twain.
It will grow not again, it is ruined at root,
The bloodlike blossom, the dull red fruit;
84191Though the heart yet sickens, the lips yet smart,
With sullen savour of poisonous pain.

I shall never be friends again with roses;
I shall loathe sweet tunes, where a note grown strong
39685Relents and recoils, and climbs and closes,
As a wave of the sea turned back by song.
There are sounds where the soul's delight takes fire,
Face to face with its own desire;
A delight that rebels, a desire that reposes;
I shall hate sweet music my whole life long.

The pulse of war and passion of wonder,
The heavens that murmur, the sounds that shine,
The stars that sing and the loves that thunder,
30422The music burning at heart like wine,
95973An armed archangel whose hands raise up
56218All senses mixed in the spirit's cup
87505Till flesh and spirit are molten in sunder-
10477These things are over, and no more mine.
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[passage-header]Read the passage and answer the question that follows:[/passage-header]   Eugene Coristine and Farquhar Wilkinson were youngish bachelors and fellow members of the Victoria and Albert Literary Society. 77465Thither, on Wednesday evenings, when respectable church members are 40212wending their way to weekly service, they hastened regularly, to meet with a band of like-minded young men, and spend a literary hour or two74574. In various degrees of fluency, they debated the questions of the day; they read essays with a wide range of style and topic; they gave readings from popular authors, and contributed airy creations in prose and in verse to the Society's manuscript magazine. Wilkinson, the older and more sedate of the two, who wore a tightly-buttoned blue frock coat and an eyeglass, was a schoolmaster, pretty 48366well up in the Toronto Public Schools. Coristine was a lawyer in full practice, but his name did not appear on the card of the firm which profited by his services. He was taller than his friend, more jauntily dressed, and was of a more 73151mercurial temperament than the schoolmaster, for whom, however, he entertained a profound respect. Different as they were, they were linked together by an ardent love of literature, especially poetry, by scientific pursuits, Coristine as a botanist, and Wilkinson as a dabbler in geology, and by a firm determination to resist, or rather to shun, the allurements of female society. Many lady teachers wielded the pointer in rooms not far removed from those in which Mr. Wilkinson held sway, but he did not condescend to be on terms even of bowing acquaintance with any one of them. There were several young lady typewriters of respectable city connections in the offices of Messrs. Tyler. Woodruff and White, but the young Irish lawyer passed them by without a glance. These bachelors were of the opinion that women were bringing the dignity of law and education to the dogs.
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[passage-header]"There Is No Frigate Like a Book"[/passage-header]73011There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away
Nor any 89174coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
18632This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears the human soul!
[passage-footer]"There Is No Frigate Like a Book" was written by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). Her simple poems are filled with imagery.[/passage-footer]

[passage-header]"Brass Spittoons"[/passage-header]Clean the spittoons, boy.
80511Detroit,
Chicago,
Atlantic city,
Palm Beach27033.
Clean the spittoons.
The steam in hotel kitchens,
And the smoke in hotel lobbies,
And the slime in hotel spittoons:
Part of my life.

46241Hey, boy!
A nickel,
A dime,
A dollar,
Two dollars a day.
67417Hey, boy!
A nickel,
A dime,
A dollar,
93286Two dollars
18824Buys shoes for the baby.
House rent to pay.
God on Sunday
My God!

Babies and church
and woman and Sunday
all mixed up with dimes and
dollars and clean spittoons
and house rent to pay
22882Hey, Boy!

91570A bright bowl of brass is beautiful to the Lord.
81704Bright polished brass like the cymbals
57107Of King David's dancers,
12404Like the wine cups of Solomon.
75938Hey, Boy!
61858A clean spittoon on the altar of the Lord.
25571A clean bright spittoon all newly polished,-
At least I can offer that.
49112Com'mere boy! [passage-footer]

* a spittoon is a receptacle for spit (usually in a public place)

"Brass Spittoons" was written by Langston Hughes, one of the most prominent figures of the Harlem Renaissance.

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[passage-header]"Brass Spittoons"[/passage-header]Clean the spittoons, boy.
80511Detroit,
Chicago,
Atlantic city,
Palm Beach27033.
Clean the spittoons.
The steam in hotel kitchens,
And the smoke in hotel lobbies,
And the slime in hotel spittoons:
Part of my life.

46241Hey, boy!
A nickel,
A dime,
A dollar,
Two dollars a day.
67417Hey, boy!
A nickel,
A dime,
A dollar,
93286Two dollars
18824Buys shoes for the baby.
House rent to pay.
God on Sunday
My God!

Babies and church
and woman and Sunday
all mixed up with dimes and
dollars and clean spittoons
and house rent to pay
22882Hey, Boy!

91570A bright bowl of brass is beautiful to the Lord.
81704Bright polished brass like the cymbals
57107Of King David's dancers,
12404Like the wine cups of Solomon.
75938Hey, Boy!
61858A clean spittoon on the altar of the Lord.
25571A clean bright spittoon all newly polished,-
At least I can offer that.
49112Com'mere boy! [passage-footer]

* a spittoon is a receptacle for spit (usually in a public place)

"Brass Spittoons" was written by Langston Hughes, one of the most prominent figures of the Harlem Renaissance.

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