Be sure to choose each answer carefully. You get only one try to answer each question correctly!
For Questions 1-12, please mark the letter of the correct definition of the given vocabulary word.
forbearance
misinterpret
cloudily
self-control
difficult
revulsion
a shell
disgust
fussy
painstakingly
persnickety
a shell
disgust
fussy
painstakingly
affronted
to help
to withdraw
grumpily
offended
fastidiously
a shell
disgust
fussy
painstakingly
opaquely
misinterpret
cloudily
self-control
difficult
accommodate
to help
to withdraw
grumpily
offended
misconstrue
misinterpret
cloudily
self-control
difficult
retract
to help
to withdraw
grumpily
offended
curmudgeonly
to help
to withdraw
grumpily
offended
carapace
a shell
disgust
fussy
painstakingly
arduous
misinterpret
cloudily
self-control
difficult
Which of the following should not be capitalized?
the Northeast
the Moon
A.D.
English class
Which of the following has been written correctly?
Spring and Fall
most improved player award
Earth and Venus
all-New England all stars
How long does Pi survive at sea, and—according to him—what’s the key to his survival?
eighty-three days; fear
118 days; Richard Parker
173 days; courage
227 days; busyness
Why does Pi give up on trying to decipher the navigation manual and studying the stars?
He has no means of controlling the boat.
He’s sick and doesn’t have the strength.
He knows that a higher power will guide him to safety.
He loses the manual and can’t see the stars.
Pi says, “What I saw was an upside-down town, small, quiet, and peaceable, whose citizens went about with the sweet civility of angels” (p. 198). What literary device is he using and what is he describing?
simile; Pondicherry
metaphor; the sea
hyperbole; a ship
onomatopoeia; a zoo
What, on the lifeboat, makes Pi homesick, and how does it make him homesick?
The feel of the oars make him yearn for his bed.
The sound of the waves reminds him of music.
The smell of the flare shells reminds him of cumin.
The sight of RP reminds him of the zoo.
To control Richard Parker and impose territory, Pi makes the tiger “green about the gills” (p. 204). What does this mean and what sort of literary device is being employed?
sick; idiom
fish-like; personification
envious; oxymoron
hungry; irony
How does Pi first witness that his efforts to achieve social dominance on the boat are working?
RP gives Pi food.
RP protects Pi from a shark.
RP purrs at Pi.
RP tries to hide his feces.
Which sentence is written correctly?
Do Noah and Roy’s ownership of this boat entitle them to membership in the Second Street yacht club?
Do Noah and Roy’s ownership of this boat entitle them to membership in the Second Street Yacht Club?
Do Noah's and Roy's ownership of this boat entitle them two to a membership in the second street yacht club
Do Noahs and Roys ownership of this boat entitle them two to a membership in the Second Street Yacht Club?
Which choice answers the following question correctly and has
no grammatical errors?
Question:
What two measures does Pi use as a means of controlling and imposing his territory on the lifeboat?
Pi uses his ability to make Richard Parker seasick and the sound of the whistle to impose his territory on the lifeboat. At any sign of the tiger’s incursion into his territory, the teen employs one of the measures or, preferably, both in conjunction.
Pi uses his whistle and food to control and impose his territory on the lifeboat. Pi blows the whistle randomly and feeds the tiger at irregular intervals.
Pi uses his whistle and the dark to control and impose his territory on the lifeboat. Pi blows the whistle randomly and feeds the tiger only at night, making the tiger wait for his master to eat first.
Pi uses his whistle and the tarp to control and impose his territory on the lifeboat. Pi blows the whistle whenever the tiger advances toward the tarp and feeds the tiger only when the tiger backs away from the tarp.
Which paragraph answers the question correctly and is also grammatically correct?
While discussing boredom and terror, Pi narrates, “Sometimes your life is a pendulum swing from one to the other…Yet even these two opposites do not remain distinct” (p. 217). What does he mean? What stimulus (or stimuli) “consistently excites your emotions,” and why? Also, what point of view (first, second, or third person) does he employ here and why?
Pi’s quote about life being a “pendulum swing” (p. 217) means that life has moments of boredom and terror. These emotions are experienced by all humans, no matter their age or ethnicity. As Pi points out, the responses also occur in animals like Richard Parker. He mentions that at times of intense boredom, feelings of terror are possible and that even in the grips of terror, feelings of boredom are possible. The stimulus that brings the two opposites together, according to Pi, is confrontation between alphas. Confrontation is what “consistently excites your emotions,” as it is gives an adrenalin rush both when thought about and when a situation is actually occurring. The author, Yann Martel, probably has Pi narrate in the third person while discussing this observation because he wants to help the reader directly empathize with Pi’s situation. Furthermore, Martel probably wants to communicate the human universality of Pi’s observation. Certainly, thoughts and fears about confrontation are an element of shared human experience to which every reader can relate.
Pi’s quote about boredom and terror and their metaphorical resemblance to the movement of a clock’s pendulum relates to the extremes represented by each condition. These polar “opposites” (p. 217) represent two distinctly different responses to distinctly different situations. It is not ironic, as Pi points out, that the responses frequently overlap in certain situations. It is to be expected that at times of intense boredom, feelings of terror are possible and that even in the grips of terror, feelings of boredom are possible. The stimulus that brings the two opposites together, according to Pi, is fears or thoughts of oblivion. Death is not what “consistently excites your emotions,” because religious people have no fear of death. Only oblivion is feared in times of danger and contemplated in times of boredom. The author, Yann Martel, probably has Pi narrate in the first person while discussing this observation because he wants to help the reader directly empathize with Pi’s situation. Furthermore, Martel probably wants to communicate the human universality of Pi’s observation. Certainly, thoughts and fears about oblivion are an element of shared human experience to which almost every reader can relate.
Pi’s quote about boredom and terror and their metaphorical resemblance to the movement of a clock’s pendulum relates to the extremes represented by each condition. These polar “opposites” (p. 217) represent two distinctly different responses to distinctly different situations. Ironically, as Pi points out, the responses frequently overlap in certain situations. He mentions that at times of intense boredom, feelings of terror are possible and that even in the grips of terror, feelings of boredom are possible. The stimulus that brings the two opposites together, according to Pi, is fears or thoughts of death. Death is what “consistently excites your emotions,” as it is feared in times of danger and contemplated in times of boredom. The author, Yann Martel, probably has Pi narrate in the second person while discussing this observation because he wants to help the reader directly empathize with Pi’s situation. Furthermore, Martel probably wants to communicate the human universality of Pi’s observation. Certainly, thoughts and fears about death are an element of shared human experience to which every reader can relate.
Pi means that boredom and terror are like a pendulum because they are extremes, but they are unlike a pendulum because both feelings can be experienced at the same time. Obviously, a pendulum cannot be at both sides of its swing at the same time. A stimulus that can cause these emotions at the same time in me is a test. Tests are both boring and terrifying. The point of view Pi uses is third person. He uses it to include all readers, not just himself.