AP English Language & Composition Multiple Choice Walkthrough, Part 2

Multiple Choice Walkthrough, Part 2

• Where to Find the Questions
• This lesson will cover the fourth and fifth passages in the College Board’s 2008 multiple-choice section (it’s available in the Course Description on the College Board website). (The link is here: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap-english-course-description.pdf)
• The questions begin on page 30 of the PDF (it says page 24 in the lower right corner, but it’s really page 30).
• The first passage was covered in the Multiple Choice Practice lesson, and passages 2 and 3 were covered in the first Walkthrough lesson.
• Reading the Passages
• Read for the big picture!
• Try to get the main ideas
• Look for the overall structure
• Pay attention to the author’s goal, tone, and point of view.
• Passage 4
• There are ten questions associated with this passage.
• Question 34: big picture
• Questions 35-38: details
• Question 39: big picture
• Questions 40-41: details
• Question 42: big picture
• Question 43: details
• Big-Picture Questions
• Question 34:How might you describe the passage?
• Eliminate Choice A; this passage is part of a novel, not a monologue.
• Eliminate Choice B; this passage doesn’t have a melodramatic tone, or much of a plot.
• C has merit; the passage lingers in describing a vanished place.
• Eliminate D; this passage is not objective.
• Eliminate E; there’s no evidence that this passage is an allegory.
• Answer: C
• Question 39:What is the speaker’s attitude toward the gamblers from Chicago?
• Choice A is promising; the speaker does seem in awe of the gamblers’ fancy clothes and abundance of money.
• Choices B through D are all negative words, and the speaker doesn’t seem to have a negative attitude. Eliminate these.
• Eliminate E; the speaker seems to have definite feelings about the gamblers, so he’s not indifferent.
• Answer: A
• Question 42:What is the author’s tone at the end of the passage?
• Eliminate A; the author doesn’t seem sorry for having done something wrong.
• Eliminate B; the end of the passage is not particularly humorous.
• Eliminate C; the author isn’t feigning, or faking, anything.
• D is promising; the passage is very nostalgic.
• Eliminate E; the author is in no way cautious.
• Answer: D
• Detail Questions
• Question 35:How is the situation ironic?
• Eliminate Choice A. The author’s attitude toward the springs is not all that strong.
• Eliminate B; there is no evidence of real health benefits.
• C is promising; de Soto is a historical figure.
• Eliminate D and E; the passage never discusses the springs’ exact location or the roots of the belief in their magical properties.
• Answer: C
• Question 36:How does the author illustrate the meaning of the word “schizoid”?
• You’re looking for a strong contrast.
• Choice A is promising; it describes two strongly contrasting elements.
• Eliminate B and C; they describe pairs of similar things.
• Eliminate D; it describes a contrast, but in time, not in space.
• Choice E is off-topic, since it describes two faraway places rather than the “schizoid” town.
• Answer: A
• Question 37:What does the speaker emphasize about the bathhouses and hotel?
• Eliminate Choice A; the buildings are in the middle of the town, not “isolated”.
• Eliminate B; there’s no mystery about them.
• Eliminate C; there’s no suggestion of corruption about these buildings as a group (though individual ones may seem seedy).
• D is promising; these buildings are certainly opulent.
• Eliminate E; the passage emphasizes the impermanence of these structures.
• Answer: D
• Question 38:What sort of viewer is describing this scene?
• Eliminate Choices A and C; this narrator doesn’t have the adult voice to be either objective or cynical.
• Eliminate D; this narrator is not defending the scene (which is what an apologist does).
• Eliminate E; this viewer is clearly local, not a visitor.
• B has real possibilities; certainly “fascinated” could describe this viewer.
• Answer: B
• Question 40:What purpose does this phrase serve?
• Eliminate A; we have no evidence this phrase is a local nickname (and it wouldn’t work as one).
• Choice B is promising; certainly the writer views “Middletown” as homogenous and unworthy of detailed description.
• Eliminate C and D; this is a well-defined town, but it’s not a cultural center.
• Eliminate E; like D, it describes a role that the town doesn’t actually seem to play.
• Answer: B
• Question 41:How does the author use the phrase “Serve-U-Sef”?
• Eliminate A; it’s not a witty sign.
• Eliminate B; the author is too affectionate to describe anything as “churlish”.
• C has possibilities; if the sign is part of a fake version of Southern-ness, this would be a good description.
• Eliminate D; there’s no second meaning here.
• Eliminate E; the sign is generic and therefore not “inimitable”.
• Answer: C
• Question 43:Which line is an exaggeration?
• Look for the impossible!
• Eliminate A; it’s straight description.
• Eliminate B; it’s historical fact.
• C and D might be exaggerated, but they could just as easily be accurate.
• E sounds highly improbable and therefore makes a likely answer; does any smallish town really have 90 hamburger stands?
• Answer: E
• Passage 5
• There are twelve questions associated with this passage.
• Question 44: big picture
• Questions 45-53: details
• Questions 54-55: big picture
• Big-Picture Questions
• Question 44:What is the subject of the passage?
• Eliminate Choice A; the author doesn’t consider ornamentation “senseless”.
• Eliminate Choice B; this passage doesn’t trace much of the development of machinery.
• Eliminate C; it describes a “revolt” that doesn’t really happen.
• D has possibilities; the passage does seem largely concerned with changing aesthetics.
• E has merit, too, but it’s a less specific version of D.
• Answer: D
• Question 54:How does the passage develop?
• Eliminate Choice A; the two ideas don’t really conflict, and they don’t come to a resolution—one replaces the other.
• Eliminate B; there’s no mention of contemporary society.
• C has possibilities; the passage is strongly chronological and sticks to one topic.
• Eliminate D; the passage doesn’t move from the U.S. to the European point of view.
• Eliminate E; the passage is not really concerned with technological advances.
• Answer: C
• Question 55:What do the footnotes (as a whole) suggest?
• Eliminate A; the author isn’t citing very technical sources.
• B has potential; each footnote somehow cites Kasson.
• Eliminate C; we don’t know whether anyone wrote about this before Kasson (except for the historical sources Kasson cites).
• Eliminate D; it’s off-topic.
• Eliminate E; with only one major source, there is no opportunity for comparison.
• Answer: B
• Detail Questions
• Question 45:How might this sentence be made more parallel?
• Reread the previous sentences to absorb their structure.
• Choice A is promising; the previous sentences use “its” twice.
• Eliminate B; there is no parallel for “and thus”.
• Eliminate C, D, and E; they would make the sentence lessparallel by adding elements.
• Answer: A
• Question 46:To what does the word “characteristics” refer?
• You’re looking for the nearest antecedent.
• Eliminate A and B; machinery other than steam engines would not have these parts.
• C is promising; it describes the ornamentation that the author claims was common.
• Eliminate D and E; these choices are kinds of machines, not characteristics of them.
• Answer: C
• Question 47:What is the tone of these lines?
• Eliminate Choices A and B; these are strongly emotional choices, and the passage does not have a strongly emotional tone, except when it’s quoting.
• Choice C is promising for exactly that reason.
• Eliminate D and E; they’re also too emotional.
• Answer: C
• Question 48:What does the footnote indicate?
• If you know how to read footnotes and citations (and you should have at least a little experience at this by now), you should be able to see that the author is citing Kasson, who is himself citing an 1876 article in Engineeringmagazine.
• Eliminate A; Kasson’s probably not that old.
• Eliminate B; it’s off-topic.
• Eliminate C and E; Engineeringis a magazine, not an article.
• D is similar to what you know about the citation.
• Answer: D
• Question 49:What is the sources’ attitude toward highly decorative machinery?
• Eliminate A; they don’t sound amused.
• Choice B is promising; both writers complain about the ornamentation’s impracticality
• Eliminate C; these are American machines.
• Eliminate D; there’s nothing in ornamentation that suggests the complexity of machines.
• Eliminate E; there’s no mention of probable cost of production.
• Answer: B
• Question 50:What does this line imply about human beings?
• A is promising; the article is about embellishment.
• Eliminate B and C; there’s no suggestion of either particular curiosity or particular indifference.
• Eliminate D; while 19^th-century people might have feared machines, the attitude seems to have changed in the 20^th century.
• Eliminate E; there’s no mention of asymmetry.
• Answer: A
• Question 51:What purpose does the phrase “industrial design” serve?
• Eliminate A; no one mocks the phrase.
• Eliminate B; it’s off-topic.
• Eliminate C; there’s no mention of support one way or the other.
• Eliminate D; it’s the opposite of what happened.
• Answer: E
• Question 52:What purpose does this footnote serve?
• If you know how to read a footnote, you’ll know this is the one source that isn’t connected to Kasson.
• Eliminate A and B; there’s nothing in the footnote to support a number of designers or an earlier citation.
• Eliminate C; there’s no reference to a museum.
• Eliminate D; it’s off-topic.
• E is consistent with what you know about footnotes.
• Answer: E
• Question 53:What is the structure of these lines?
• Skim over the lines. You’ll see a general statement followed by a list of specific, supporting details.
• Eliminate A; there’s no exaggeration.
• Eliminate B; the passage moves from the general to the specific, not the other way around.
• Eliminate C; all the examples are historical.
• Eliminate D; what follows the generalization are specifics, not more generalizations.
• E is consistent with the structure of the passage.
• Answer: E