ACT English practice test 23
My First White-Water Rafting Trip
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White-water rafting being a favorite pastime
of mine for several years. I have drifted down
many challenging North American rivers,
including the Snake, the Green, and the Salmon,
and there are many other rivers in America as
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well. I have spent some of my best moments in
dangerous rapids, yet nothing has matched the
thrill I experienced facing my first, rapids, on the
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Deschutes River.
1.
F. NO CHANGE
G. have been
H. has been
J. was
2.
A. NO CHANGE
B. Salmon, just three of many rivers existing in
North America.
C. Salmon; many other rivers exist in North
America.
D. Salmon.
3.
F. NO CHANGE
G. first: rapids on the Deschutes River.
H. first rapids; on the Deschutes River.
J. first rapids on the Deschutes River.
4.
A. NO CHANGE
B. it happened that it was
C. was
D. being
My father and I spent the morning floating
down a calm and peaceful stretch of the
Deschutes in his wooden MacKenzie river boat.
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This trip it being the wooden boat's first time
down rapids, as well as mine. Rapids are rated
according to a uniform scale of relative difficulty.
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5.
F. NO CHANGE
G. Rated according to a uniform scale, rapids
are relatively difficult.
H. (Rapids are rated according to a uniform
scale of relative difficulty.)
J. OMIT the underlined portion.
Roaring, I was in the boat approaching
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Whitehorse Rapids. I felt much like a novice
skier peering down her first steep slope: I was
scared, but even more excited. The
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water churned and covering me with a
refreshing spray. My father, toward the stern,
controlled the oars. The carefree expression he
usually wore on the river had been replaced, and
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instead he adopted a look of intense
6.
A. NO CHANGE
B. It roared, and the boat and I approached
Whitehorse Rapids.
C. While the roaring boat was approaching
Whitehorse Rapids, I could hear the water.
D. I could hear the water roar as we
approached Whitehorse Rapids.
7.
F. NO CHANGE
concentration as he maneuvered around boulders G. churned, and covering me
dotting our path. To release tension, we began to H. churning and covering me
J. churned, covering me
holler like kids on a roller-coaster, our voices
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echoing across the water as we lurched violently
about.
8.
A. NO CHANGE
B. with
C. by another countenance altogether:
D. instead with another expression;
9.
F. NO CHANGE
G. throughout
H. around
J. from
Suddenly we came to a jarring halt and we
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stopped ; the left side of the bow was wedged
on a large rock. A whirlpool swirled around us; if
we capsized, we would be sucked into the
undertow. Instinctively, I threw all of my weight
toward the right side of the tilting boat. Luckily, it
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was just enough force to dislodge us, and we
10.
A. NO CHANGE
B. which stopped us
C. and stopped
D. OMIT the underlined portion.
11.
F. NO CHANGE
G. it's
continued on downstream to enjoy about 10 more
H. it is
minutes of spectacular rapids.
J. its
Later that day, we went through Buckskin
12.
Mary Rapids and Boxcar Rapids. When we pulled A. NO CHANGE
up on the bank that evening, we saw that the boat B. that was a
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C. which was a
had received its first scar: that scar was a small
D. a
hole on the upper bow from the boulder we had
wrestled with. In the years to come, we went
13.
down many rapids and the boatreceiving
F. NO CHANGE
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G. received many
many bruises, but Whitehorse remains the
H. received much
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most memorable rapids of all.
J. receives many
14. Which of the following concluding
sentences would most effectively emphasize
the final point made in this paragraph while
retaining the style and tone of the narrative as
a whole?
A. The brutal calamities that it presented the
unwary rafter were more than offset by its
beguiling excitement.
B. Perhaps it is true that your first close
encounter with white water is your most
intense.
C. Or, if not the most memorable, then at least
a very memorable one!
D. Call me crazy or weird if you want, but
white-water rafting is the sport for me.
15. Question below asks about the preceding passage as a whole.
The writer has been assigned to write an essay that focuses on the techniques of white-water
rafting. Would this essay meet the requirements of that assignment?
F. No, because the essay's main focus is on a particular experience, not on techniques.
G. No, because the essay mostly deals with the relationship between father and daughter.
H. Yes, because specific rafting techniques are the essay's main focus.
J. Yes, because it presents a dramatic story of a day of white-water rafting.
16. Question below asks about the preceding passage as a whole.
Suppose that the writer wants to add the following sentence to the essay: