Be sure to choose each answer carefully. You get only one try to answer each question correctly!
This space contains reference material beginning next
to Question 13.
For Questions 13-18, please read the following passage from Chapter
4 of Haruki Murakami’s After Dark. Choose the best responses
to the prompts next to each passage. There is one and only one
correct answer to each prompt.
Chapter 4, pages 63-64
“The camera angle is now fixed. It views the Man with No Face
straight on, from just below center. In his brown suit, he stays
perfectly motionless, looking from his side of the picture tube,
through the glass, into this side. He is on the other side, looking
straight into this room where we are. Of course his eyes are hidden
behind the mysterious glossy mask, but we can vividly feel the
existence—the weight—of his line of vision. With unwavering
determination, he stares at something ahead of him. Judging from the
angle of his face, he could well be staring towards Eri Asai's bed.
We trace this hypothetical line of vision with great care. Yes,
there can be no doubt about it. What the man in the mask is staring
at with his invisible eyes is the sleeping form of Eri. It finally
dawns on us: this is what he has been doing all along. He is able to
see through to this side. The television screen is functioning as a
window on this room.”
For Questions 19-24, please read the following passage from Chapter
6 of Haruki Murakami’s After Dark. Choose the best responses
to the prompts next to each passage. There is one and only one
correct answer to each prompt.
Chapter 6, Page 58
“The Skylark. Big neon sign. Bright seating area visible through the
window. Equally bright laughter from the youthful group of men and
women—college students, likely —seated at a large table. This place
is far livelier than the Denny's. The deepest darkness of the
night-time streets is unable to penetrate here.
Mari is washing her hands in the Skylark restroom. She is no longer
wearing her hat—or her glasses. From a ceiling speaker at low volume
an old hit song by the Pet Shop Boys is playing: "Jealousy." Mari's
big shoulder bag sits by the sink. She washes her hands with great
care, using liquid soap from the dispenser. She appears to be
washing off a sticky substance that clings to the spaces between her
fingers. Every now and then she looks up at her face in the mirror.
She turns off the water, examines all ten fingers under the light,
and rubs them dry with a paper towel. She then leans close to the
mirror and stares at the reflection of her face as if she expects
something to happen. She doesn't want to miss the slightest change.
But nothing happens. She rests her hands on the sink, closes her
eyes, begins counting, and then opens her eyes again. Again she
examines her face in detail, but still there is no sign of change.”
For Questions 25-27, please read the
following passage from enotes.com regarding the setting of Haruki
Murakami’s After Dark. Choose the best responses to the
prompts that follow. There is one and only one correct answer to
each prompt.
“After Dark is set in the entertainment district of Tokyo, a
place of all-night diners, cafes, bars, and (according to this
novel) at least one so-called love motel—a place where people can
rent a room by the hour to have sex.
The story starts a few minutes before midnight and ends as the sun
is rising, right before 7:00 AM. It is the darkness of this setting
that gives the story its intrigue, as it is often insinuated that
this is the time that gangs lurk in the shadows, when women are not
safe on the street, and when a social psychopath can get away with a
brutal beating. Although these same things could be said about
normal daylight, the dark setting provides menacing shadows that add
more tension.
In these late hours, order is thrown out the window as respectable
people sleep and the others roam the street and mothers and fathers
and policemen look the other way. It is also a time of relative
silence and solitude, when young people can talk in a park without
anyone hearing them. And of course, it is a time when people dream,
a special topic for Murakami to explore.”
"After Dark - Setting" eNotes Publishing Ed. Scott Locklear.
eNotes.com, Inc. eNotes.com 1 Jan, 2017 <http://www.enotes.com/topics/after-dark-murakami/in-depth#in-depth-setting>
For Questions 30-32, please read the following poem.
The Drought
by Gary Soto
The clouds shouldered a path up the mountains
East of Ocampo, and then descended,
Scraping their bellies gray on the cracked shingles of slate.
They entered the valley, and passed the roads that went
Trackless, the houses blown open, their cellars creaking
And lined with the bottles that held their breath for years.
They passed the fields where the trees dried thin as hat racks
And the plow’s tooth bit the earth for what endured.
But what continued were the wind that plucked the birds spineless
And the young who left with a few seeds in each pocket,
Their belts tightened on the fifth notch of hunger—
Under the sky that deafened from listening for rain.
For Questions 1-12, please mark the letter of the correct definition of the given vocabulary word.
pasty
(adj.) leisurely
(adj.) mysterious
(adj.) pale
(adj.) sad
respectable
(adj.) abstract
(adj.) assumed
(adj.) clear
(adj.) decent
translucent
(adj.) abstract
(adj.) assumed
(adj.) clear
(adj.) decent
inscrutable
(adj.) leisurely
(adj.) mysterious
(adj.) pale
(adj.) sad
hypothetical
(adj.) abstract
(adj.) assumed
(adj.) clear
(adj.) decent
languorous
(adj.) leisurely
(adj.) mysterious
(adj.) pale
(adj.) sad
permeability
(adj.) visually blurred
(adv.) unnoticeably
(n.) porousness
(n.) shine
luster
(adj.) visually blurred
(adv.) unnoticeably
(n.) porousness
(n.) shine
unobtrusively
(adj.) visually blurred
(adv.) unnoticeably
(n.) porousness
(n.) shine
astigmatic
(adj.) visually blurred
(adv.) unnoticeably
(n.) porousness
(n.) shine
somber
(adj.) leisurely
(adj.) mysterious
(adj.) pale
(adj.) sad
conceptual
(adj.) clear
(adj.) abstract
(adj.) assumed
(adj.) decent
(RL4) What would be the best synonym for “hypothetical” as it’s used in this passage?
assumed
exact
obvious
untrue
(RL5) What is the definitive answer to the mystery that the author has been building in this passage?
“With unwavering determination, he stares at something ahead of him.”
“What the man in the mask is staring at with his invisible eyes is the sleeping form of Eri.”
“Judging from the angle of his face, he could well be staring towards Eri Asai's bed.”
“He is on the other side, looking straight into this room where we are.”
(RL6) Whose point of view is being utilized in the scene?
Eri
the Man with No Face
the television
us
(RL1) What’s the best evidence for the observation that the man can see through the television?
“It finally dawns on us: this is what he has been doing all along.”
“The television screen is functioning as a window on this room.”
“Yes, there can be no doubt about it.”
“We trace this hypothetical line of vision with great care.”
(RL4) What makes the following lines figurative?
“Of course his eyes are hidden behind the mysterious glossy mask, but we can vividly feel the existence—the weight—of his line of vision.”
his “hidden” eyes
the “mysterious” mask
the “weight” of his vision
his “line” of vision
(RL3) What’s the implied motivation of the Man with No Face?
He wants to watch Eri.
He wants to make us uneasy.
He wants to avoid watching television.
He wants to go to sleep.
(RL2) What motif dominates this particular setting and lends itself to the central idea of the text?
sign
hat
light
soap
(RL2) Which of the following is the best theme that can be derived from the described setting?
Signs help people to see where they’re going as well as where they’ve been.
A hat can indicate one’s occupation as well as his/her disposition.
Light heightens and encourages awareness and perception.
Soap washes away all of life’s dirt.
(RL3) What can we infer is Mari’s purpose from her actions in the restroom?
She wants to discover some sort of deep insight about herself.
She wants to get her hands completely clean before she gets some food.
She wants to see if her makeup looks okay after the night’s craziness.
She wants to try counting with her eyes closed as a way of seeing the Man with No Face.
(RL4) What are the dual meanings of the word “bright” in the following lines?
“Bright seating area visible through the window. Equally bright laughter from the youthful group of men and women—college students, likely —seated at a large table."
comfortable & smart
illuminated & happy
colorful & sarcastic
somber & crazy
(RL1) What can we infer is the symbolic meaning of the following line of text?
“The deepest darkness of the night-time streets is unable to penetrate here.”
Cars eat up pavement like restaurant patrons eat up entrees.
Streets require street lights to prevent accidents.
The night is dark, and people who are eating need light.
Dark represents hidden danger while light represents apparent safety.
(RL3) What does the mirror represent to Mari in this passage?
a surface for cleaning
a window to her sister’s room
a way to check makeup
a tool for self-examination
(RI2) Which of the following would provide the best objective summary of the central idea of this paragraph?
After Dark sheds light on natural processes because it’s set in natural light.
The author’s motifs of light and respectability are highlighted in the settings of the work.
Murakami’s novel is centered on locales that embody the dark recesses of society.
The narrative involves the entertainment district of Tokyo, a happy, amusement park of fun.
(RL1) Which of the following is the best inference that a reader could draw from this passage?
Every type of person in Japanese society is shown in the settings of the narrative.
Characters who are honest and trustworthy dominate the settings in Murakami’s work.
The settings of the book are safe and pleasant for all who live inhabit them.
Those who capitalize on hidden, covert activities thrive in the settings of the novel.
(RI3) How are the various settings of After Dark connected by the author?
All of the settings are tightly ruled by human laws and rules.
Every setting is respectable and subject to intense scrutiny.
The settings are all either artificially fake or darkly menacing.
Brightness illuminates all that is obvious in each of the settings.
Pick the best possessive pronouns to fill in the blanks.
Although I’d like to tell this story to ______ I wish now, I don’t remember ______ told it first.
whomever; who
whoever; who
who; whom
whose; whomever
Which sentence is written correctly?
For whom has Carmen already demonstrated her athletic ability good and who has yet to see its skills?
For whom has Carmen all ready demonstrated her athletic ability good and whom has yet to see its skills?
For who has Carmen all ready demonstrated her athletic ability good, and whom has yet to see its skills.
For whom has Carmen already demonstrated her athletic ability well, and who has yet to see her skills?
In “The Drought,” the poet uses vivid images to illustrate the
ways in which the drought impacts people differently.
damage that a drought inflicts on people and their environment.
relief that people feel when they experience rain after a drought.
weaknesses that prevent people from surviving in drought conditions.
Which line from “The Drought” best supports the idea that the drought has had a disastrous effect on agriculture?
Scraping their bellies gray on the cracked shingles of slate.
And lined with the bottles that held their breath for years.
And the plow’s tooth bit the earth for what endured.
Under the sky that deafened from listening for rain.
Which statement best describes the effect of the author’s word choices in the second stanza of “The Drought”?
They establish a desolate atmosphere.
They imply that the weather will soon change.
They indicate a turning point in the speaker’s life.
They emphasize a contrast between the young and the old.