GED Practice Quiz

Directions:

When you are finished, go to the Web Links or choose a different activity or chapter from the menu on the left.

Question 1 refers to the following excerpt.

WILL THE MARQUÉS WIN THE LOTTERY?
       That night the Marqués slept less soundly than he had done since coming to Fuencar; some of those ideas which mortify bachelors kept him awake. He had not relished the grasping avidity with which his servants spoke of the money they might win. "These fellows," the Marqués reflected, "are only waiting to fill their pockets, before they forsake me. And what plans they have! Celedonio (the coachman) talked of setting up a tavern . . . probably to get drunk on his own wine. And that dole of a Doña Rita (she was the governess) is thinking of nothing else but of keeping a boarding house! Jacinto (the butler) kept mighty silent, but I could see him squinting in the direction of that Pepa (the cook) who, let us be frank, has some charm. . . . I would swear that they are planning to get married. Bah!" As he uttered this exclamation, the Marqués de Torresnobles turned in his bed the better to cover himself, for a cold gust of wind had attacked his neck. "And after all, what is all this to me? We won’t win the big prize . . . and if we do, they will have to wait till I leave the money to them in my will."

       A moment later, the good man was snoring.

       Two days later, the lottery was held, and Jacinto, who was more resourceful than Celedonio, arranged matters so that his master should send him to town in order to purchase some needed items. Night fell, there was a heavy fall of snow, and Jacinto had not yet returned, in spite of the fact that he had left the house at dawn.

       The servants were gathered in the kitchen, as usual; suddenly they heard the muffled hoofbeats of a horse over the new-fallen snow, and a man, whom they recognized as their friend Jacinto, entered like a bomb. He was pallid, trembling, and transformed, and with a catch in his voice, let fall these words:

       "The first prize!"

Emilia Pardo Bazan, "The First Prize." Translated by Armando Zegri.

1		Why does the author take his time in describing Jacinto’s return?
			A)	to build suspense
			B)	to make the story longer
			C)	to show Jacinto’s treachery
			D)	to show the servants' fear
			E)	to show that the Marqués’s imagination was not realistic

Questions 2 and 3 refer to the following excerpt from a poem.

WHAT LESSON CAN BE LEARNED FROM THE SPIDER AND THE FLY?

	"Will you walk into my parlor?" said the spider to the fly;
	"’Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy.
	The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
	And I have many pretty things to show when you are there."
(5)	"O no, no," said the little fly, "to ask me is in vain,
	For who goes up your winding stair can ne’er come down again."
	·   ·   ·   ·   ·
	The spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
	For well he knew the silly fly would soon be back again:
	So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly,
(10)	And set his table ready to dine upon the fly.
	Then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing,
	"Come hither, hither, pretty fly, with the pearl and silver wing:
	Your robes are green and purple; there’s a crest upon your head;
	Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead."
(15)	Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little fly,
	Hearing his wily flattering words, came slowly flitting by.
	With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer dew,
	Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue;
	Thinking only of her crested head—poor foolish thing! At last,
(20)	Up jumped the cunning spider, and fiercely held her fast.
	He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,
	Within his little parlor; but she ne’er came out again!
	And now, dear little children, who may this story read,
	To idle, silly flattering words, I pray you ne’er give heed;
(25)	Unto an evil counselor close heart, and ear, and eye,
	And take a lesson from this tale of the Spider and the Fly.
	Mary Howitt, "The Spider and the Fly"

2		How is the spider compared to a person?
			A)	He wore brightly colored robes.
			B)	He set his table for dinner.
			C)	He wove a web.
			D)	He fiercely held the fly.
			E)	He sang a tune.
3		Why does the author tell the story of the spider and the fly?
			A)	to give an example of the food chain
			B)	to illustrate a simple fairy tale
			C)	to warn us not to go with strangers
			D)	to teach readers to be suspicious of friendly people
			E)	to warn readers against false flattery

Question 4 refers to the following excerpt.

WHAT SUBJECTS DID RIVERA PAINT?
       Rivera’s legacy to Mexican art is perhaps without peer. He painted the people, the history, the passion of his land as few others have. He painted the politics and politicians. He painted those he loved and those at whom he scoffed. He painted seven days a week, all hours there was light. And after years of experimentation with different styles and media, he found his artistic voice in what was to become a quintessentially Mexican form of expression—muralism.

Veronica Stoddart, "Rivera Retrospective," Américas, May/June 1986

4		In the passage, what does "voice" mean in the phrase "he found his artistic voice"?
			A)	a political opinion
			B)	a kind of paint
			C)	a type of style
			D)	a way to communicate
			E)	a daily work schedule

Question 5 refers to the following excerpt.

WHAT IS PETE CARSON’S PROBLEM?
       What would you get if you crossed Robin Hood, Superman, and Chicken Little? You’d get a crusader with superhuman powers, but absolutely no courage. And that describes the main character in Jody Tripp’s new novel, The Opal Charm. Pete Carson, Tripp’s version of Robin Hood, would like to embezzle money from the village treasury in order to fund a sweeping welfare program intended to benefit jobless youth. But the problem is that Carson simply lacks the courage. He wants to be Robin Hood, but feels like Caspar Milquetoast.

5		What does the reference to Chicken Little suggest about Pete Carson?
			A)	He enjoys children’s stories.
			B)	He is good hearted.
			C)	He is not well organized.
			D)	He raises poultry.
			E)	He is cowardly.

Questions 6 through 8 refer to the following excerpt.

WAS THE WOMAN IN THE PASSAGE TRULY UNLUCKY?
       There was a woman who was beautiful, who started with all the advantages, yet she had no luck. She married for love, and the love turned to dust. She had bonny children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them. They looked at her coldly, as if they were finding fault with her. And hurriedly she felt she must cover up some fault in herself. Yet what it was that she must cover up she never knew. Nevertheless, when her children were present, she always felt the center of her heart go hard. This troubled her, and in her manner she was all the more gentle and anxious for her children, as if she loved them very much. Only she herself knew that at the center of her heart was a hard little place that could not feel love, no, not for anybody. Everybody else said of her: "She is such a good mother. She adores her children." Only she herself, and her children themselves, knew it was not so. They read it in each other’s eyes.

       There was a boy and two little girls. They lived in a pleasant house, with a garden, and they had discreet servants, and felt themselves superior to anyone in the neighborhood.

D. H. Lawrence, "The Rocking-Horse Winner," 1926

6		According to the excerpt, what troubled the mother most about herself?
			A)	Her children found fault with her.
			B)	Her husband no longer loved her.
			C)	She was not capable of feeling love.
			D)	She was unlucky.
			E)	Neighbors criticized her.
7		They loved in a pleasant house, with a garden, and they had discreet servants, and felt themselves superior to anyone in the neighborhood. Why does the narrator include this statement?
			A)	to establish the setting
			B)	to show how important good servants were to the family
			C)	to set up a dreamlike mood
			D)	to inform that the family had a better life than anyone else they knew
			E)	to reveal that the family was somewhat hypocritical
8		What is the narrator’s attitude toward the mother?
			A)	hostile
			B)	slightly disapproving
			C)	sympathetic
			D)	admiring
			E)	frivolous

Question 9 refers to the following excerpt.

HOW DID THOMAS JEFFERSON AND ALEXANDER HAMILTON CONTRIBUTE TO THE NATION?
       Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were fellow patriots and fellow statesmen. Men of true brilliance, the powerful influence that they exerted on the Republic at the beginning of its history had an effect that has persisted to the present day. To them we owe some of our greatest historical documents—to Jefferson the Declaration of Independence and to Hamilton a number of the famous Federalist papers.

9		According to the author, what did Jefferson and Hamilton have in common?
			A)	They belonged to the Federalist party.
			B)	They were brilliant political leaders.
			C)	They came from the same state.
			D)	They wrote the Declaration of Independence together.
			E)	They had the same political views.

Question 10 refers to the following excerpt.

WHAT DOES THE AUTHOR COMPARE TO A HOUSE?
       Some years ago a famous novelist died. Among his papers was found a list of suggested plots for future stories, the most prominently underscored being this one: "A widely separated family inherits a large house in which they have to live together." This is the great new problem of mankind. We have inherited a house, a great "world house" in which we have to live together—black and white, Easterner and Westerner, Gentile and Jew, Catholic and Protestant, Moslem and Hindu—a family unduly separated in ideas, culture, and interest, who, because we can never again live apart, must learn somehow to live with each other in peace.

10		What idea does the author illustrate with his comparisons?
			A)	Different nations are like rooms of a house.
			B)	All people of the world are related.
			C)	We need to take better care of our "home."
			D)	There’s enough space for everyone.
			E)	We must learn to accept each other’s differences.