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Question of the Day: PSAT Critical Reading
Adapted From "Tony Kytes, The Arch-Deceiver" in Life's Little Ironies: A Set of Tales, with some colloquial sketches, entitled, A Few Crusted Characters by Thomas Hardy (1905 ed.)
I shall never forget Tony’s face. It was a little, round, firm, tight face, with a seam here and there left by the small-pox, but not enough to hurt his looks in a woman's eye, though he'd had it baddish when he was a boy. So very serious looking and unsmiling 'a was, that young man, that it really seemed as if he couldn't laugh at all without great pain to his conscience. He looked very hard at a small speck in your eye when talking to 'ee. And there was no more sign of a whisker or beard on Tony Kytes's face than on the palm of my hand. He used to sing "The Tailor's Breeches," with all its scandelous lyrics, in a religious manner, as if it were a hymn. He was quite the women's favorite.
But in course of time Tony got fixed down to one in particular, Milly Richards – a nice, light, small, tender little thing; and it was soon said that they were engaged to be married. One Saturday he had been to market to do business for his father, and was driving home the wagon in the afternoon. When he reached the foot of the hill, who should he see waiting for him at the top but Unity Sallet, a handsome girl, one of the young women he'd been very tender towards before he'd got engaged to Milly.
As soon as Tony came up to her she said, "My dear Tony, will you give me a lift home?"
"That I will, darling," said Tony. "You don't suppose I could refuse 'ee?"
She smiled a smile, and up she hopped, and on drove Tony.
"Tony," she says, in a sort of tender chide, "Why did ye desert me for that other one? In what is she better than I? I should have made 'ee a finer wife, and a more loving one, too. 'Tisn't girls that are so easily won at first that are the best. Think how long we've known each other—ever since we were children almost—now haven't we, Tony?"
"Yes, that we have," says Tony, struck with the truth o't.
"And you've never seen anything in me to complain of, have ye, Tony? Now tell the truth to me."
"I never have, upon my life," says Tony.
"And—can you say I'm not pretty, Tony? Now look at me.
He let his eyes light upon her for a long while. "I really can't," says he. "In fact, I never knowed you was so pretty before!"
The tone of this passage could best be described as __________.
open-minded and admonishing
serious and lecturing
local and humorous
unrepentant and obstinate
whimsical yet verbose
When you are working toward a great college career and aiming for scholarships, you will need to prepare for the PSAT. This standardized test helps you qualify for the National Merit Scholarship, and is one of the points on your high school resume that proves to colleges that you are serious about your education. However, you shouldn’t cram at the last minute for this test, but instead, get in the habit of daily test practice with Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools, including Question of the Day.
As you prepare for the PSAT, you will prepare for two sections of this test – the Critical Reading, and the Mathematics sections. The Critical Reading section involves reading passages from famous works, then asking multiple-choice questions based on your understanding. One of the best ways to prepare for this section of the exam is using Learning Tools. With Question of the Day, you get a new question every day of the week, so you can spend at least a few minutes on daily test review leading up to your exam. This question is also based on past PSAT Critical Reading questions, so you get the best understanding of how the PSAT Critical Reading section will be formatted.
After you answer PSAT Critical Reading Question of the Day, you can immediately see whether you go the answer right or wrong. This alone is very helpful as you structure your PSAT Critical Reading test review, but it is not the only great study function that is offered. PSAT Critical Reading Question of the Day also tracks your progress as you answer more and more questions each day. You can watch your test review improve as you work hard using this great tool, because Question of the Day will show you a pie chart on the answer page that tracks your percentage of right and wrong answers as you go. You can even compare your answers to those of other students using Question of the Day to prepare for this complex section of the exam.
If you scroll to the bottom of the answer page, you will see an explanation of the correct answer. Even if you answered the question right, you might get new information from this detailed explanation that will help you on the PSAT Critical Reading section of the exam.
Most importantly, Question of the Day has a timer feature. You can take as much time answering this practice question as you need, but the actual PSAT has time limits on both sections. In order to prepare for the high pressure environment of the exam, you can use the timer feature on PSAT Critical Reading Question of the Day to get used to answering multiple-choice questions fast, but correctly. You can also discover how hard certain types of literature are for you to understand, so you can focus your PSAT study sessions on improving your understanding of literary devices and reading comprehension.
The free PSAT Critical Reading practice offered with Question of the Day is just one of the great study tools offered through Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools online.
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