epdf.pub_cbest-cliffs-test-prep13a9b242c7cb4125e6cca92d00a73d5a41681

Part V: Practice-Review-Analyze-Practice
Read the passage below and answer the
three questions that follow.
Despite his enormous ability, Jackie
Robinson did not begin to play major league
baseball until he was twenty-eight. In 1947,
he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers as the first
black player. He promptly won the Rookie of
the Year award, and within three years became
the batting champion and the Most
Valuable Player in the National League. He
was, observers agree, the most versatile
player of his era.
When his baseball career was over, Robinson
entered the business world and rose to the
vice presidency of a large coffee company. In
addition, he wrote a sports column for a New
York newspaper, appeared on a weekly radio
program, and was active in the N.A.A.C.P.
________ He was, however, a leader of two
of the earliest civil rights marches and an
ally of Martin Luther King. Robinson’s baseball
achievements were never forgotten. In
1962, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of
Fame.
3. Which of the following is the best
definition of the word versatile as it is
used in the first paragraph of this
passage?
A. famous
B. fiercely competitive
C. accomplished in many areas
D. opportunistic and insightful
E. victimized and courageous
4. Which sentence, if inserted into the
blank space in the second paragraph,
would be most consistent with the
writer’s purpose and intended audience?
A. When I was growing up, I was a
Dodger fan, but when Robinson
retired, I began to lose interest in
baseball.
B. Many expected he would one day
enter politics, but he never really
became an important political
figure.
C. If you lived in New York at this
time, you probably read his column
in the newspaper, or heard his radio
broadcasts.
D. This was in the days when the
N.A.A.C.P. was about to become a
big deal in the campaign for civil
rights.
E. Informed opinion hypothesized that
Robinson would become a political
potentate, but this sanguine
expectation proved to be erroneous.
5. Which of the following best describes
the principles of organization used in
this passage?
A. The first paragraph is contrasted
with the second, using the
opposition of youthful success
versus the decline of old age.
B. The passage is organized
chronologically, with the first
paragraph on his baseball career
and the second on Robinson’s years
after leaving baseball.
C. In the first paragraph, the passage
uses specific details of Robinson’s
baseball career, while the second
paragraph uses generalizations
derived from these details.
230