SSAT Middle Level Reading Comprehension Practice Test 7

By day the bat is cousin to the mouse;

He likes the attic of an aging house.

His fingers make a hat about his head.

His pulse-beat is so slow we think him dead.

5 He loops in crazy figures half the night

Among the trees that face the corner light.

But when he brushes up against a screen,

We are afraid of what our eyes have seen:

For something is amiss or out of place

When mice with wings can wear a human face.

—Theodore Roethke

1. The "hat" referred to in line 3 is meant to refer to

• A. the attic of the house
• B. the bat's head
• C. the bat's wings
• D. the death of the bat
• E. the mouse

2. The passage uses which of the following to describe the bat?

I.The image of a winged mouse

II.The image of a vampire

III.The way he flies

• A. I only
• B. I and II only
• C. II and III only
• D. I and III only
• E. I, II, and III

3. The author mentions the "crazy figures" in line 5 to refer to

• A. the comic notion of a mouse with wings
• B. the pattern of the bat's flight
• C. the shape of the house
• D. the reason the bat appears dead
• E. the trees in the yard

4. The author would most probably agree with which of the following statements?

• A. Bats are useful animals.
• B. Bats are related to mice.
• C. Bats are feared by many.
• D. Most people have bats in their attic.
• E. Bats are an uninteresting phenomenon.