Explanation
Passage
When I was 11 years old, my only brother, who had just graduated, from the college, came to die. A young man of great talent and promise, he was the pride of my father's heart.
I recall going into large darkened parlor and finding the casket, mirrors, and pictures all draped in white, and my father seated, pale and immovable. As he took no notice of me, after standing a long while, I climbed upon his knee, when he mechanically put his arm about me, and, with my head resting against his beating heart, we both sat in silence, he thinking of the wreck of all his hopes in the loss of dear son, and I wondering what could be said or done to fill the void in his breast. At length the heaved a deep sigh and said: "Oh, my daughter, I wish you were a boy!"
Throwing my arms about his neck, I replied: "I will try to be all my brother was".
All that day and far into the night I pondered the problem of boyhood. I thought that the chief thing to be done in order to equal boys was to be learned and courageous. So I decided to study Greek and learn to manage a horse. I learned to leap a fence and ditch on horseback.
I began to study Latin, Geek, and mathematics with a class of boys in the academy, many of whom were older than I. For three years one boy kept his place at the head of the class, and I always stood next. Two prizes were offered in Greek. I strove for one and took the second. One thought alone filled my mind. "Now, "said I, "my father will be satisfied with me".
I rushed breathless into his office, laid down the new Greek Testament, which was my prize, on his table and exclaimed: "There, I got it!". He took up the book, asked me some questions about the class, and, evidently pleased, handed it back to me. Then he kissed me on the forehead and exclaimed with a sigh, "Ah, you should have been a boy!".
1. The best title for this passage is ____?
A. Women of the 19th Century
B. The Struggle for Success
C. The Prize
D. You Should Have Been a Boy
Answer: D) You Should Have Been a Boy. The passage focuses on the father's wish for his daughter to be like his deceased son and her effort to meet those expectations.
2. The tone of this passage is best stated as ____?
A. Humourous
B. Furious
C. Sorrowful
D. Indignant
Answer: C) Sorrowful. The passage conveys a sense of deep sadness and longing as the narrator reflects on the father's grief and her own efforts to fulfill his wishes.
3. The best meaning of the word "Void" is _____?
A. Emptiness
B. Vessel
C. Blood
D. Feeling
Answer: A) Emptiness. In this context, "void" refers to the emotional emptiness left by the loss of the brother.
4. We can infer that speaker of this passage will _____?
A. Become angry, depressed and withdrawn
B. Go to Greece to study it's culture
C. Not go to the College
D. Continue to struggle to be seen as equal to men
Answer: D) Continue to struggle to be seen as equal to men. The speaker's determination to prove herself and meet her father's expectations suggests she will keep striving for recognition.
5. Which word best describes the father's feeling toward his daughter?
A. Warm
B. Scornful
C. Reproachful
D. Irritated
Answer: C) Reproachful. The father’s repeated wish that his daughter had been a boy suggests a sense of disappointment or reproach toward her inability to fulfill the role of his son.
