“Mangroves” – Dillard
M.C. Test Practice
Answer Key with explanations
Our class performed near the national averages for the percentage of people answering each question
correctly. We only missed the national average per question by 1.6%. This is really quite good for
sophomores half-way through the AP course – a course taken by juniors and seniors in 98% of the
schools around the nation.
28. To understand the metaphor used in the first paragraph, you must examine the syntax of its first and
only sentence. The sentence presents an if/then proposition. The basis of the proposition is, "If survival is
an art ... " The colon that appears after the first clause directs you to an explanation of why--if survival is
an art--Dillard considers mangroves to be "artists of the beautiful." Since Dillard states the mangroves are
"artists" because they can survive "alive and homeless on the water," the best answer is (B), which
captures the spirit of survival. Since floating mangroves are cut off from the shore's soil and protection,
these hostile circumstances are unique for the growth of the mangroves. Although mangrove leaves may
be colorful, choice (A) is incorrect since Dillard says nothing about how quickly mangroves grow. Option
(C) correctly notes that mangroves support unusual forms of life, but this information comes later, as does
the information in option (E). Choice (D) states that the mangrove islands seem to move, which is not
inaccurate, but it is not the crux of the metaphor asked about in the item.
The correct answer (B) was chosen by 65% of test takers.
Our classes 63.46
Difference -1.54
29. This question requires you to analyze the structure of the opening sentence. Alliteration--choice (B)-and onomatopoeia--choice (E)--are not apparent in this sentence. The sentence is neither ironic--choice
(C)--nor understated--choice (D). However, it does exhibit parallel structure. Its parallelism is evident in
the way it balances "If" and "then" in the first clause, with "not only" and "but that" in the second clause.
Parallelism also occurs with the use of the verbs "can and do," and with the phrases "as floating islands"
and "as trees upright and loose." Therefore, choice (A), parallelism, is correct.
The correct answer (A) was chosen by 59% of test takers.
Our classes 75
Difference +16
30. This question asks you to look at vocabulary in context. In relation to the passage, the word "lapped"
can be taken two ways. If you think about waves lapping against the shore, you know that answer I--to
wash against--fits. In addition, if you think about mangroves as "thickets" of mysterious life"--that is, as
places that envelop spaces with their roots and branches--then answer II is also possible. Hence (C),
which combines these two possible interpretations, is the correct answer. Choices (A) and (B)--each of
which states that only one of these two definitions suggests the contextual meaning of the word--are
incorrect. And since there is no suggestion at all in the passage of being overtaken in a race (being
lapped), you can eliminate options (D) and (E).
The correct answer (C) was chosen by 30% of test takers.
Our Classes 17.3
Difference -12.7
31. This question asks you to consider the organization of the second paragraph. The second paragraph
includes only specific details and no general statements, so choice (A) should not attract you. Dillard
makes no rebuttals (attempts to refute something said earlier) in these lines, so option (B) is also wrong.
And choice (C) is not the best answer because Dillard does not analyze the details she presents. Option
(E) might seem tempting because the paragraph begins with "I," but a closer reading reveals that the
speaker provides no personal commentary on what she describes. Instead, a close examination of the
paragraph reveals that the speaker presents descriptions of different types of mangroves, and then
amplifies or enlarges upon them with more specific details--option (D).
The correct answer (D) was chosen by 57% of test takers.
Our Classes 65.38
Difference +8.38
32. To identify the rhetorical purpose of the third paragraph, you need to ask yourself what Dillard
accomplishes in this paragraph. Since she explains how a mangrove can become a floating island, option
(A)--expository (which means explanatory)--is the correct choice. Since Dillard is not speculative here-choice (B)--and since she is not analytical--choice (C)--those answers are not correct. Similarly, Dillard is
not engaging in deductive reasoning from the general to the specific, and there is no argument in the
passage, so choices (D) and (E) are wrong.
The correct answer (A) was chosen by 50% of test takers.
Our Classes 51.92
Difference +1.92
33. Notice how the first of the two sentences to which the question refers is long and elaborated, while the
second is only two words. By shifting to that two-word sentence after the more detailed preceding
sentences, Dillard surprises us, both syntactically and with the information she presents. Option (C) best
captures this effect. Choice (A) is wrong because Dillard communicates no change of heart. Option (B) is
incorrect because there is no contradiction of any kind being shown. Choice (D) may be tempting, since
the two-word sentence presents a sudden change in structure, but the change does not indicate an
interruption, just a surprising outcome. Finally, choice (E) is incorrect because Dillard does not describe
two types of mangroves.
The correct answer (C) was chosen by 69% of test takers.
Our classes 65.38
Difference -3.62
34. This question focuses on your ability to recognize the various ways in which a single image functions.
(Remember: the question is an EXCEPT question, which means the correct answer is the one that is
NOT a reason why the image is included!) Since the image of floating mangroves as dancers does not
undercut but rather amplifies Dillard's earlier description, (A) is the correct answer. The image does add
the poetic element indicated in choice (B); it expands on Pliny's report, as noted in choice (C); it conveys
a sense of wonder--choice (D); and it enlarges the reader's perspective--choice (E). Because these
options accurately reflect the function of the image in the passage, they are not correct.
The correct answer (A) was chosen by 58% of test takers.
Our Classes 55.76
Difference -2.24
35. The speaker tells us clearly and directly what happens if you lick a mangrove leave. We believe her; it
sounds as if she has done just that. Hence the best answer is (B), which shows Dillard using her direct
experience as evidence. Option (A) is wrong because it suggests a more formal, scientific tone than the
sentence reflects. Choice (C) is incorrect because the sentence does not look forward to the next
paragraph but backward to the sentence before it. Option (D) is wrong because there is no sense of
intimidation involved. And choice (E) is incorrect because the speaker does not exhibit contempt for her
subject; rather, she is fascinated by mangroves.
The correct answer (B) was chosen by 84% of test takers.
Our Classes 71.15
Difference -12.85
36. This question asks you to consider the effect or impression made by a series of images. Since the
details collectively describe how a mangrove develops and grows, choice (C) is the best answer.
("Gestation" is a period of development, as when a fetus grows in its mother's womb.) There is no sense
of struggle or desperation in lines 33-47, so option (A) is wrong. Nor is there any suspicion--choice (B).
Danger is not an issue in these lines, nor are rising and falling indicated, so options (D) and (E) are also
incorrect.
The correct answer (C) was chosen by 83% of test takers.
Our Classes 82.69
Difference -.31
37. This question invites you to think about how Dillard enlarges or complicates her idea. Her description
of the island as a society serves to focus, or encapsulate, the details surrounding it. Only option (C)
captures the sense in which the details before and after the relevant sentence are made coherent in the
quotation. Choice (A) is wrong since similarity, not difference, is emphasized in the line, and choice (B)
incorrectly characterizes Dillard's tone straightforward tone as ironic. Option (D) might be tempting
because Dillard does introduce a new observation, but it is less a personal observation than it is an
expansion or extension of what the details imply. Finally, choice (E)--which emphasizes the idea of a new
argument that qualifies earlier assertions--is wrong because the statement provides closure rather than
introducing something new, and is expository rather than argumentative.
The correct answer (C) was chosen by 44% of test takers.
Our Classes 44.23
Difference +.23
38. This question encourages you to look at how Dillard achieves a sense of vitality, or liveliness, in
particular sentences. Comparisons are not a central feature of these lines--choice (A)--nor are
subordinate clauses--choice (D). And no colloquial expressions--choice (E)--appear in these lines. You
might be tempted by option (C)--scientific terms--because of words like "submersed," "limpets," and
"pelagic," but these words, though descriptive, do not add vitality to the sentences. However, note how
many striking and vivid verbs, action verbs all, that Dillard uses: "throng," "clamber," "peer," "clamp," and
"seek." These lively verbs add vitality to the paragraph through the actions they suggest, making answer
(B) the correct choice.
The correct answer (B) was chosen by 68% of test takers.
Our Classes 44.23
Difference -23.77
39. This question asks you about the overall impression of the final paragraph's description of the floating
mangrove island. You can eliminate option (A) because no sense of tragedy is suggested in lines 58-68.
Choice (B) is wrong because although there is danger to the mangrove, it is not described as running
away--or taking any other purposeful action for that matter. The negative connotations of dubious make
option (C) unacceptable; the opposite is suggested in the passage--that the mangrove's accomplishment
is not questionable but wonderful and amazing. Since fairness is not an issue, option (E)--an unfair
contest--is unsatisfactory. Only choice (D)--an erratic journey--accurately captures the sense of Dillard's
paragraph.
The correct answer (D) was chosen by 78% of test takers.
Our Classes 76.92
Difference -1.08
40. This EXCEPT question requires you to choose the one answer that does NOT accurately describe
Dillard's final paragraph. Since the paragraph does indeed show Dillard's appreciation of the unlikely
mangrove islands, option (A) is not the answer you want. Since the paragraph does show life emerging
from decay, you can ignore choice (B). The paragraph emphasizes chance, so option (C) is not correct.
And, since choice (D) describes the sea creatures that live on the mangrove, it fits the paragraph--and is
wrong--as well. The only answer that does NOT characterize Dillard's paragraph is option (E). The last
paragraph does not refer to diverse, or different kinds of, mangroves.
The correct answer (E) was chosen by 83% of test takers.
Our Classes 71.15
Difference -11.85
41. Since the paragraph includes no parodies, you can exclude answers that include selection I. Thus
choices (B), (C), and (E) are incorrect. Dillard does personify the mangrove with the verbs "wanders" and
"walks," so option (A) is a possibility--but only if she does not also use alliteration. However, she does use
alliteration in the sentence: "It walks teetering and wanton before the wind" and "starve while still a
sapling". Therefore, choice (D) is your answer because it states that only selections II and III--alliteration
and personification--are evident in the paragraph.
The correct answer (D) was chosen by 40% of test takers.
Our Classes 61.53
Difference +21.23
42. This question asks you to consider the overall organization of the passage. The best of the answers is
option (A), since the passage begins with some relatively generalized remarks about survival as an art
and about mangroves as artistic survivors, and then moves to greater degrees of specificity and detail.
You likely recognized choice (B) as incorrect, since there is no technical data and no analysis in the
passage. Option (C) is wrong in mentioning an argument about causes, which is not included in the
passage, and option (D) incorrectly identifies Dillard's beginning as hypothesizing (speculating or
theorizing), which she does not do. Finally, choice (E) is wrong in suggesting that there is a shift from
objective reporting to personal experience; the end of the passage is no more personal than the
beginning.
The correct answer (A) was chosen by 56% of test takers.
Our Classes 48.07
Difference -7.93
43. This question asks you to characterize Dillard's style. What techniques does she use most often in the
passage? Option (A) is not the best answer because there are very few literary allusions in the passage-only one direct reference to the Roman historian Pliny, and an indirect reference to Nathaniel
Hawthorne's story, "The Artist of the Beautiful." Choice (B) refers to abstract metaphors, and everything
about the passage is the opposite of abstract--concrete and specific. Option (C) stresses both rapid
transitions and arguments, neither of which are present in the passage. And option (D) should be easy to
rule out since myth does not appear at all in the passage--to say nothing of the juxtaposition of fact and
myth. What characterizes the passage is its consistent vividness of diction--its specific details, colorful
images, and precise verbs and nouns.
The correct answer (E) was chosen by 73% of test takers.
Our classes 76.92
Difference +3.92