(from “On the Gulls’ Road,” by Willa Cather, 1908) Read the passage and write a one-paragraph response of at least three to five sentences. Provide specific examples to support your answer.

It often happens that one or another of my friends stops before a red chalk drawing in my study and asks me where I ever found so lovely a creature. I have never told the story of that picture to any one, and the beautiful woman on the wall, until yesterday, in all these twenty years has spoken to no one but me. Yesterday a young painter, a countryman of mine, came to consult me on a matter of business, and upon seeing my drawing of Alexandra Ebbling, straightway forgot his errand. He examined the date upon the sketch and asked me, very earnestly, if I could tell him whether the lady were still living. When I answered him, he stepped back from the picture and said slowly:

“So long ago? She must have been very young. Was she happy?”

”As to that, who can say—about any one of us?” I replied. “Out of all that is supposed to make for happiness, she had very little.”

We returned to the object of his visit, but when he bade me goodbye at the door his troubled gaze again went back to the drawing, and it was only by turning sharply about that he took his eyes away from her.

I went back to my study fire, and as the rain kept away less impetuous visitors, I had a long time in which to think of Mrs. Ebbling. I even got out the little box she gave me, which I had not opened for years, and when Mrs. Hemway brought my tea I had barely time to close the lid and defeat her disapproving gaze.

What inferences can you make about this story, based on the happening hints?

Me read the letter. dear aunt mary, you for the wonderful painting. you are so talented! i was thrilled that you chose to paint horses. you must have remembered that i was crazy about horses when i was a little kid—and i still love them. i have hung the painting in my room so that i can see it every morning when i wake up. your loving niece, celia what makes this letter appropriate for its intended audience? it is written from the third-person point of view. it is concise and impersonal. its sentence structure is varied. its language is informal.

21) this excerpt involves david, who travels with an inventor named perry. they test their experimental invention, a vehicle that burrows into the earth's crust. which statement best reflects the human experience that is represented in this excerpt? a) humans are not always reliable guides. b) humans desire wealth and a life of ease. c) humans are drawn to explore and experiment. d) humans attempt to conquer and control nature. 22) which statement best reflects the human experience that is represented in this excerpt? a) humans desire to control nature. b) humans are frightened by nature. c) humans are fascinated by nature. d) humans cannot understand nature. 23) 8 “what do you mean perry? ” i cried. “do you think that we are dead, and this is heaven? ” suppose the author changed section eight as listed below. 8 “perry, i have to object! ” i cried. “you don't think that we are dead, and this is heaven, do you? ” which correctly identifies the author's meaning for the word object? consider the effect of the stressed or unstressed syllable in the word object. a) you would stress the second syllable because the word is a noun and means a goal or purpose. b) you would stress the second syllable because the word is a verb and means to express or feel disapproval. c) you would stress the first and second syllable because the word is a verb and means to modify an adjective. d) you would stress the first syllable because the word is a noun and means a thing that has a finite, physical form. 24) 2 together we stepped out to stand in silent contemplation of a landscape at once weird and beautiful. before us a low and level shore stretched down to a silent sea. as far as the eye could reach the surface of the water was dotted with countless tiny isles—some of towering, barren, granitic rock—others resplendent in gorgeous trappings of tropical vegetation, myriad starred with the magnificent splendor of vivid blooms. 3 behind us rose a dark and forbidding wood of giant arborescent ferns intermingled with the commoner types of a primeval tropical forest. huge creepers depended in great loops from tree to tree, dense under-brush overgrew a tangled mass of fallen trunks and branches. upon the outer verge we could see the same splendid coloring of countless blossoms that glorified the islands, but within the dense shadows all seemed dark and gloomy as the grave. which most completely analyzes this excerpt for a comment about life? a) beauty is kind and inviting. b) nature is evil and forbidding. c) there is no risk in following beauty. d) what appears beautiful can also be deadly.

Read the following poem carefully, and then answer the questions that follow. sonnet 73 by william shakespeare that time of year thou mayst in me behold when yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang upon those boughs which shake against the cold, bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. in me thou seest the twilight of such day as after sunset fadeth in the west, which by and by black night doth take away, death's second self, that seals up all in rest. in me thou see'st the glowing of such fire that on the ashes of his youth doth lie, as the death-bed whereon it must expire consumed with that which it was nourish'd by. this thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong, to love that well which thou must leave ere long. comprehension what seasonal images do you see in this poem? how do these images contribute to the poem's tone of loss and sadness?