Read the following excerpt from Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi:When I was a boy, there was but one permanent ambition among my comrades in our village on the west bank of the Mississippi River. That was, to be a steamboatman. We had transient ambitions of other sorts, but they were only transient. When a circus came and went, it left us all burning to become clowns; the first negro minstrel show that ever came to our section left us all suffering to try that kind of life; now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates. These ambitions faded out, each in its turn; but the ambition to be a steamboatman always remained.What is one effect of the hyperbole in this passage?A.It exaggerates the danger of the children's environment by suggesting they might not live.B.It makes it sound as if every newcomer who arrived in town eventually left.C.It conveys a sense of how strongly the children ached for these career ambitions.D.It expresses the idea that career ambitions are easily changed and should be controlled by God.

Early on, Twain says his young friends had "transient ambitions," meaning that                *10 pointsthey only wanted to work on the river and would not consider any other jobs.they frequently changed their minds about what they wanted to do.they knew they had to go to school for many years to reach their goal.

Read these lines from Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi:This ["cub"-engineer] had money, too, and hair oil. . . . If ever a youth was cordially admired and hated by his comrades, this one was. No girl could withstand his charms. He "cut out" every boy in the village. When his boat blew up at last, it diffused a tranquil contentment among us such as we had not known for months. But when he came home the next week, alive, renowned, and appeared in church all battered up and bandaged, a shining hero, stared at and wondered over by everybody, it seemed to us that the partiality of Providence for an undeserving reptile had reached a point where it was open to criticism.What is one effect of the irony in this passage?A.It exaggerates the appeal of the "cub"-engineer and the effect he has on girls and boys in the village.B.It makes fun of the notion that the "cub"-engineer held a popular job but was popular only because of the accident.C.It creates humor in that God's favor seems unpredictable and unexplainable to the young boys.D.It pokes fun at the unexpected outcome of the accident: The "cub"-engineer is now even more desirable.SUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS

The most likely reason that Ritchie badgers Twain is that Ritchie              *10 pointsis trying to get Twain to quit his job.is basically just as mean as Brownthinks it is amusing that Twain is now suffering as Ritchie had

Read the following excerpt from "I Sell a Dog" by Mark Twain:Twenty-four dollars a week would really have been riches to us if we hadn't had to support that jug; because of the jug we were always sailing pretty close to the wind.What is the role of the idiom in this sentence?A.To explain how the partners' fortunes were dependent on an outside forceB.To explain that bad habits are creating a bad financial situationC.To show that Twain was used to living a hand-to-mouth existenceD.To communicate Twain's disapproval of Swinton's fondness for whiskeySUBMITarrow_backPREVIOUS

Read the following excerpt from Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain:I went meekly aboard a few of the boats that lay packed together like sardines at the long St. Louis wharf, and humbly inquired for the pilots, but got only a cold shoulder and short words from mates and clerks.How does Twain use an idiom in this excerpt?A.To show how Twain was deliberately made to feel unwelcomeB.To show a contrast between Twain's expectation and the reality of the situationC.To compare two unlike things, boats and sardines, by using the word likeD.To describe the way that the mates and clerks tapped Twain on the shoulder