Question

1. Which is a good summary of the final scene between Feld and Sobel in “The First Seven Years” by Bernard Malamud?

Feld agrees that Sobel can propose to Miriam but thinks she’ll reject Sobel because of his age.
Feld and Sobel argue. Sobel says he loves Miriam. Feld accepts the idea but asks Sobel to wait.
Feld confronts Sobel about Miriam. Sobel wins the argument. Feld lets Sobel and Miriam marry.
Feld asks Sobel to come back to work. Sobel says he’ll return only if he can marry Miriam.

Answer 1

2
Read the passage.

[Dee (Wangero) is still admiring the quilts, but the narrator explains that she has promised them to Maggie as a wedding present.]

She gasped like a bee had stung her.

“Maggie can’t appreciate these quilts!” she said. “She’d probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use.” . . .

[The narrator exclaims that she hopes Maggie will use the quilts. No one has used them all this time that she has saved them. She also remembers that Dee (Wangero) had once told her that the quilts were old-fashioned and that she didn’t want to take one to college with her.]

“But they’re priceless!” she was saying now, furiously; for she has a temper. “Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years they’d be in rags. Less than that!” . . .

In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, what does Dee’s dialogue reveal about her feelings toward her sister?


She believes Maggie is simple and ignorant.
She is jealous that Maggie has the quilts.
She thinks Maggie does not deserve marriage.
She sees Maggie as a source of competition.

Answer 2

3. In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, how does the author show that Dee and her mother have a competitive relationship?

Dee and her mother argue regularly.
Dee and her mother dress differently.
They have different views of Maggie.
They have different speaking voices.
4
In his Inaugural Address, President John F. Kennedy expresses the main idea that people should welcome the job of defending freedom. Which detail supports this idea?

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.
Only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger.
For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.
For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.
5 Based on the character of Elizabeth in “The Rockpile” by James Baldwin, what is a mother’s role in the family?

to maintain normalcy
to protect the children
to take care of the house
to please her husband
6.
Read the excerpt.

Sobel vehemently denied it. “So why you look for strange boys in the street they should go out with Miriam? Why you don’t think of me?”
How does this excerpt from “The First Seven Years” by Bernard Malamud contribute to the story’s plot?


It is part of the story’s rising action.
It is part of the story’s falling action.
It is part of the story’s climax.
It is part of the story’s exposition.

7. President Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. both address the issue of freedom. Which message about freedom do both President Kennedy and Dr. King present?

Both suggest that it is the job of citizens, not the government, to preserve freedom.
Both suggest that citizens must be willing to sacrifice to obtain and preserve their liberty.
Both suggest that Americans have failed to fight effectively to preserve their liberty.
Both suggest that it is the job of Americans to fight for freedom all over the globe.
In “The Rockpile” by James Baldwin, which character first identifies the rockpile as a dangerous place?

John
Elizabeth
Roy
Gabriel

9.
Read the summary.

[John argued with his younger brother. He reminded him that their father would be home soon, and that their mother was only a few feet away in the kitchen talking with her friend. Roy explained that he would only be gone for five minutes. Without giving John an option, Roy quickly went down and joined his friends. John refocused his attention on his schoolwork.]
In “The Rockpile” by James Baldwin, which word most accurately describes Roy?


studious
disobedient
talkative
argumentative

10. In what ways do the quilts hold different meanings for Dee and for Maggie in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker?

For Dee, the quilts are memories from her old house, but for Maggie, they represent her married life.
For Dee, the quilts are an inheritance from her grandmother, but for Maggie, they represent her future.
For Dee, the quilts are objects to impress her boyfriend, but for Maggie, they are objects to impress her future husband.
For Dee, the quilts are art objects to be preserved, but for Maggie they are part of her everyday life.