ACT Reading Practice Test

What changes in the stranger’s message between when he speaks to the boy and when he speaks to Tetsuya himself?

• To the boy, he claims he wants to challenge Tetsuya, but to Tetsuya, he insists he only wants to demonstrate his own mastery.

• To the boy, he ridicules Tetsuya’s skill, but to Tetsuya, he expresses his awe of it.

• To the boy, he says Tetsuya is considered the best archer in the country, but to Tetsuya, he claims Tetsuya is no longer a legend.

• To the boy, he says that Tetsuya has abandoned his art, but to Tetsuya, he reveals he knows Tetsuya is still practicing.

The passage implies that the boy mainly views the stranger’s demonstration of his archery skills as:

• a humiliating insult to Tetsuya.

• an inconvenience to the day’s carpentry work.

• a startling and confusing display.

• a fun and exciting game.

It can reasonably be inferred that Tetsuya has no arrows, because:

• he hasn’t used his bow in a long time.

• he used them all up in recent practice.

• he has had no time to make them in his carpentry shop.

• he is too poor to afford them.

The repeated descriptions of the rituals of shooting the bow (bowing to the other archer, bowing toward the target) are most likely intended to emphasize:

• the boy’s exasperation with the repetitiveness of the archery competition.

• Tetsuya’s and the stranger’s connection with their heritage.

• the sacredness of the ritual and the respect with which the archers treat the art.

• . the irony of Tetsuya’s and the stranger’s feigned respect in the heat of competition.

It can be assumed that Tetsuya takes the stranger to bridge for his archery demonstration because:

• it is Tetsuya’s favorite archery spot.

• it is a place where Tetsuya is assured to win the competition.

• it is far enough away to exhaust the stranger before he has a chance to shoot again

• it is an ideal place to demonstrate the importance of learning to shoot in unfavorable circumstances.

It can reasonably be inferred that the stranger is “deathly pale” when he returns to the bank:

• because he was terrified by the fraying bridge and the long drop below.

• because he failed to hit a target he has always made in the past.

• because he is fearful of Tetsuya’s punishment

• because of the cold and dampness near the mountain river.

According to the passage, Tetsuya and the stranger are similar to each other in all of the following ways EXCEPT:

• they are both skilled archers

• they both have a respect for the bow

• they both have an understanding of the connection between archery and the mind

• they complete similar rituals before shooting their arrows.

As it is used in line 76, the word loaded most nearly means:

• weighed down

• armed

• supplied abundantly

• took on

Tetsuya’s comments to the stranger in lines 91 - 99 are most intended to demonstrate:

• Tetsuya’s wisdom in understanding that the way of the bow is a lifelong process.

• Tetsuya’s arrogance in assuming that he knows more about archery than the stranger.

• Tetsuya’s desire to return to archery.

• Tetsuya’s reasoning for why he gave up archery.

It can reasonably be concluded that the stranger, upon leaving, reacts to Tetsuya's lesson with:

• anger

• guilt

• humility

• triumph