Reading Comprehension Success in 20 Minutes a Day, 3rd Edition

40. Which description best explains the structure of
the story so far?
a. chronological, according to what happens
first, second, and so on
b. reverse chronological order, with the most
recent events recorded first
c. intentionally confused order, incorporating
flashbacks to previous events
d. according to importance, with the most
significant details related first
41. What device does the author use to illustrate the
narrator’s feelings about her mother and father?
a. vivid and specific visual detail
b. rhetorical questions, which make a point but
don’t invite a direct answer
c. metaphors and other figurative language
d. contrast between the parents’ typical reactions

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42. The narrator attributes her inability to sleep
when staying at her father’s house to
a. thinking about a disagreement with 
someone.
b. the uncomfortable quiet of an early Sunday
morning.
c. the sore throat she had from shouting
so much.
d. her accident with the car.
43. The first-person point of view in this story
a. obscures how the narrator’s mind works.
b. illustrates the thoughts and personality of the
narrator.
c. makes the narrator seem distant and rigid.
d. gives us direct access to the minds of all the
characters.
44. When the narrator says she sometimes “take[s]
the prize for a grade-A dork,” the word choice is
intended to indicate
a. that she doesn’t know proper English.
b. her age and culture.
c. that she is unable to judge her own actions.
d. that she thinks she’s better than most others
who might be termed “dorks”.