Literature L3 P1
Questions 1-11 are based on the following passage. I dreamed all night about Indians, deserts, and silver bars,
45 and in due time, next day, we took shipping at the St. Louis
This passage is adapted from Mark Twain, "Roughing It." Originally wharf on board a steamboat bound up the Missouri River.
published in 1872. We were six days going from St. Louis to "St. Jo."—a trip
that was so dull, and sleepy, and eventless that it has let no
My brother had just been appointed Secretary of Nevada more impression on my memory than if its duration had been
Territory—an oice of such majesty that it concentrated in 50 six minutes instead of that many days. No record is let in my
itself the duties and dignities of Treasurer, Comptroller, mind, now, concerning it, but a confused jumble of savage-
Line Secretary of State, and Acting Governor in the Governor's looking snags, which our boat deliberately walked over with
5 absence. A salary of eighteen hundred dollars a year and the one wheel* or the other; and of reefs which we butted and
title of "Mr. Secretary," gave to the great position an air of butted, and then retired from and climbed over in some soter
wild and imposing grandeur. I was young and ignorant, and I 55 place; and of sand-bars which we roosted on occasionally,
envied my brother. I coveted his distinction and his inancial and rested, and then got out our crutches and sparred over.
splendor, but particularly and especially the long, strange In fact, the boat might almost as well have gone to St. Jo.
10 journey he was going to make, and the curious new world he by land, for she was walking most of the time, anyhow-
was going to explore. He was going to travel! I never had climbing over reefs and clambering over snags patiently and
been away from home, and that word "travel" had a seductive 60 laboriously all day long. he captain said she was a "bully"
charm for me. Pretty soon he would be hundreds and boat, and all she wanted was more "shear" and a bigger
hundreds of miles away on the great plains and deserts, and wheel. I thought she wanted a pair of stilts, but I had the deep
15 among the mountains of the Far West, and would see sagacity not to say so.
bufaloes and Indians, and prairie dogs, and antelopes, and
have all kinds of adventures, and have ever such a ine time, *he narrator is on a paddle steamer, a boat that uses steam power to
and write home and tell us all about it, and be a hero. And he turn a large wheel in the rear of the boat.
would see the gold mines and the silver mines, and maybe go
20 about of an aternoon when his work was done, and pick up
two or three pailfuls of shining slugs, and nuggets of gold
and silver on the hillside. And by and by he would become
very rich, and return home by sea, and be able to talk as
calmly about San Francisco and the ocean, and "the isthmus"
25 as if it was nothing of any consequence to have seen those
marvels face to face.
What I sufered in contemplating his happiness, pen
cannot describe. And so, when he ofered me, in cold blood,
the sublime position of private secretary under him, it
30 appeared to me that the heavens and the earth passed away,
and the irmament was rolled together as a scroll! I had
nothing more to desire. My contentment was complete.
At the end of an hour or two I was ready for the journey.
Not much packing up was necessary, because we were going
35 in the overland stage from the Missouri frontier to Nevada,
and passengers were only allowed a small quantity of
baggage apiece. here was no Paciic railroad in those ine
times of ten or twelve years ago—not a single rail of it. I
only proposed to stay in Nevada three months—I had no
40 thought of staying longer than that. I meant to see all I could
that was new and strange, and then hurry home to business. I
little thought that I would not see the end of that three-month
pleasure excursion for six or seven uncommonly long years!
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Literature L3 P1
1 4
Over the course of the passage, the main focus shifts Which statement best characterizes the narrator’s
from relationship with his brother?
A) the narrator’s view on his brother’s job to the A) The narrator is disinterested in emulating his
narrator’s hopes for his own trip. brother.
B) the narrator’s jealousy of his brother to the B) The narrator is solely motivated by his brother’s
narrator’s anxiety about his own trip. wealth.
C) the narrator’s expectations about the Far West to C) The narrator is generally unrealistic about his
the reality of life in the Far West. brother’s situation.
D) the narrator’s excitement about traveling west to D) The narrator is mostly critical of his brother’s
the narrator’s fear of leaving home. recent decisions.
2 5
As used in line 2, “majesty” most nearly means Which choice provides the best evidence for the
answer to the previous question?
A) solemn royalty.
A) lines 1–5 (“My . . . absence”)
B) breathtaking beauty.
B) lines 8–11 (“I . . . explore”)
C) impressive dignity.
C) lines 18–22 (“And . . . hillside”)
D) extreme difficulty.
D) lines 27–28 (“What . . . describe”)
3
6
Based on lines 7-8, (“I . . . brother)” it can reasonably
be inferred that the narrator’s perspective is one of At the end of the first paragraph, the description of
the brother’s return mainly serves to
A) critical reflection upon his past views.
A) demonstrate that the narrator is correct to be
B) objective analysis of his prior actions. envious of his brother.
C) fond recollection of his recent adventures. B) call into question the idea that the Far West is a
D) regretful remembrance of his past mistakes. “curious new world.”
C) suggest that the narrator’s expectations about the
Far West are fantastical.
D) support the narrator’s view of his brother’s job
with specific examples of its glamour.
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Literature L3 P1
7 10
It can be reasonably inferred from the discussion As used in line 55, “roosted on” most nearly means
of Nevada in paragraph 3 (lines 33–43) that the
A) made a nest.
narrator's stay was
B) lay down to sleep.
A) less exciting than he had expected.
C) settled in a single place.
B) much longer than he had planned.
D) climbed to the top of.
C) more pleasurable than he had anticipated.
D) more dangerous than he had expected.
11
8
In the description of the boat's movements, the words
Which choice provides the best evidence for the “walked” and “walking” primarily serve to establish a
answer to the previous question? tone of
A) lines 34–37 (“Not . . . apiece”) A) humor.
B) lines 38–40 (“I only . . . that”) B) foreboding
C) lines 40–41 (“I meant . . . business”) C) strangeness
D) lines 41–43 (“I . . . years”) D) awe.
9
Which situation is most similar to the situation
described in paragraph 4 (lines 44–46)?
A) While paying his bills, a man daydreams about
winning money in the lottery.
B) The night before the school play, a boy worries
that he will forget his lines.
C) On her way to practice, a softball player pictures
herself going up to bat.
D) As he prepares for a diving excursion, a diver
imagines finding sunken treasure.
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