SSAT Reading Comprehension Practice Test 41

1. This passage serves mainly to

• A. recount the author's experience working on a farm in summer
• B. provide a description of the author's summer home
• C. describe the joys of being in the country
• D. convey the author's love of family celebrations
• E. explain the significance of the pony's name

2. In lines 8–13, the author includes the story of the pony's name primarily to

• A. show his love for animals
• B. poke good-hearted fun at his sister later
• C. point up the difficulty of raising a pony
• D. show his love for his own children.
• E. emphasize the friendship between the Roosevelt and Grant families

3. All of the following can be explicitly answered by information in the passage EXCEPT:

• A. Where did the author and his siblings prefer to spend their childhood summers?
• B. What types of pets did the author and his siblings have in the country?
• C. How did the author and his siblings spend their time in the country?
• D. Where did the author and his siblings stay while in the country?
• E. How did the author feel about Thanksgiving?

4. The statement that "I never knew any one else have what seemed to me such attractive Christmases, and in the next generation I tried to reproduce them exactly for my own children" (lines 34–38) primarily suggests that the author

• A. wanted his children to follow his example
• B. missed the Christmases from his childhood
• C. went to great lengths trying to recreate his childhood
• D. carried on certain traditions because he thought his children would enjoy them, too
• E. wanted his children to know the value of carrying on traditions

5. The passage is told from the point of view of

• A. an adult looking back fondly on his own life
• B. a child describing his life
• C. an adult describing another person's life
• D. a child describing events that happened to someone else
• E. an adult filled with regret over the passing of time