Practice Passage
Directions: Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.
From
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
By Anne Frank
Saturday, 7 November, 1942
Dear Kitty,
Mummy is frightfully irritable and that always seems to herald unpleasantness for me. Is it he
just a chance that Daddy and Mummy never rebuke Margot and that they always drop on me for
everything? Yesterday evening, for instance: Margot was reading a book with lovely drawings in it; she
got up and went upstairs, put the book down ready to go on with it later. I wasn’t doing anything, so
picked up the book and started looking at the pictures. Margot came back, saw “her” book in my hands,
wrinkled her forehead and asked for the book back. Just because I wanted to look a little further on,
Margot got more and more angry. Then Mummy joined in: “Give the book to Margot; she was reading it,
she said. Daddy came into the room. He didn’t even know what it was all about, but saw the injured look
on Margot’s face and promptly dropped on me: “I’d like to see what you’d say if Margot ever started
looking at one of your books!: I gave way at once, laid the book down, and left the room--- offended, as
they thought. It so happened I was neither offended nor cross, just miserable. It wasn’t right of Daddy to
judge without knowing what the squabble was about. I would have given Margot the book myself, and
much more quickly, if Mummy and Daddy hadn’t interfered. They took Margot’s part at once, as though
she were the victim of some great injustice…
Yours,
Anne
Sample Main Idea and Theme Questions
1. Which is the best summary of this passage?
a. Anne’s mother is unhappy. Because of her bad mood, everyone else in Anne’s family is
unhappy, too. The evening of Friday, November 6, 1942, was especially unpleasant.
b. Anne is reading her sister Margot’s book while Margot is gone from the room. When
Margot returns, she is upset with Anne. Anne’s parents scold Anne even though Anne
feels she has done nothing wrong.
c. Anne’s father scolds her for taking her sister Margot’s book. Anne’s feelings are hurt
because she doesn’t think her father understands what is going on.
d.
It seems that whenever Anne’s mother is in a bad mood, Anne gets in trouble more
often. Her sister Margot never gets in trouble.
2. Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
a. An Unfair Judgment
b. Just Another Saturday
c. The Frank Family
d. The Mystery of the Borrowed Book
3. Which of the following would be the best motto for this passage?
a. Spare the rod and spoil the child.
b. There are two sides to every story.
c. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
d. Children should be seen and not heard.
4. What is the main idea of this passage?
a. Anne’s mother is upset with Anne.
b. Anne and his sister Margot don’t always get along very well.
c. Anne’s family has a lot of arguments over unimportant issues.
d. Anne feels that her parents unfairly take her sister’s side in a quarrel.
Additional Practice Questions
5. Which of the following statement from the passage is an opinion?
a. Margot was reading a book…
b. Daddy came into the room.
c. It wasn’t right of Daddy to judge…
d. They took Margot’s part…
6. What type of writing is the passage?
a. journal
b. mystery
c. biography
d. historical fiction
7. What causes Anne to feel most “miserable”?
a. Her mother is irritable.
b. Margot wants the book back.
c. Her parents take Margot’s side.
d. She doesn’t have a book of her own.
8. According to the passage, Anne’s father criticized Anne because
a. Anne tore a page in Margot’s book.
b. Margot complained to him about Anne.
c. he saw that Margot was upset about something.
d. Anne’s mother asked him to discipline Anne for picking on Margot.
9. The tone of this passage is one of
a. Satisfaction.
b. frustration.
c. shame.
d. revenge.