Life on the Titanic Quiz

What is the most likely reason the author includes her observations in paragraph 3?

• To express her own feelings about the events

• To describe how best to respond in an emergency situation

• To show how passengers and crew first reacted when the ship began to sink

• To introduce characters who will be important later in the selection

In paragraph 6, which phrase helps the reader understand the meaning of the word reluctance?

• Titanic seemed so steady

• content to bide their time

• some pointed to a light

• another ship’s lights

In paragraph 7 of the selection, how do passengers react when they are asked to board lifeboats?

• Most passengers decline to board lifeboats, believing that the ship will not sink.

• Most passengers board lifeboats in an orderly way, following the crew’s instructions.

• Some passengers eagerly board lifeboats, while others need encouragement.

• Some passengers refuse to board lifeboats, while others ignore directions from the crew.

Read the sentences from paragraph 15 of the selection.

Looking along the length of the ship, I noticed the forward part of her was lower now, much lower! For a fraction of a second, my heart stood still, as is often the case when faith, hitherto unshaken faith, gets its first setback.

These lines reflect the narrator’s —

• observations on the deck

• sense of time passing

• faith that all will be fine

• first feelings of alarm

Read this sentence.

This passage, which was written in the early twentieth century, describes the sinking, of the Titanic from one crew member’s perspective.

How should the sentence be corrected?

• Delete the comma after passage.

• Delete the comma after century.

• Delete the comma after sinking.

• No change should be made.

Read this sentence.

Violet Jessop was a member of the staff aboard the Titanic the biggest ship in the world.

How should the sentence be corrected?

• Add a comma after staff.

• Add a comma after Titanic.

• Add a comma after ship.

• No change should be made.

Read the sentence from paragraph 22 of the selection.

“Surely it is all a dream,” I thought as I looked up the side of the ship, beautifully illuminated, each deck alive with lights; the dynamos were on the top deck.

Which phrase from the sentence helps the reader understand the meaning of the
word illuminated?

• Surely it is all a dream

• as I looked up the side of the ship

• each deck alive with lights

• the dynamos were on the top deck

Which quote from the passage uses a simile to describe the conditions on the night the
Titanic sank?

• Groaning, the boat descended a fearful distance into that inky blackness beneath, intensified as the lights fell on it occasionally. (paragraph 21)

• We touched the water with a terrific thud, a bone-cracking thud which started the baby crying in earnest. (paragraph 23)

• A tiny breeze, the first we had felt on this calm night, blew an icy blast across my face; it felt like a knife in its penetrating coldness. (paragraph 29)

• One awful moment of empty, misty blackness enveloped us in its loneliness, then an unforgettable, agonizing cry went up from 1500 despairing throats . . . (paragraph 30)

The author wrote this selection most likely to —

• record her personal experience during an important event

• inform the reader about the key details of an important event

• reveal the untold truth about an important event

• convince the reader to agree with her opinion about an important event

True or False?

A comma is a a punctuation mark (,) indicating a pause between parts of a sentence.

• True

• False