Common Core: 10th Grade English Language Arts : Use Common Grade-Appropriate Greek or Latin Affixes and Roots to Determine Word Meanings: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.4.B
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Common Core: 10th Grade English Language Arts
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Language
Passage adapted from Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1798)
There passed a weary time. Each throat
Was parched, and glazed each eye.
A weary time! a weary time!
How glazed each weary eye,
When looking westward, I beheld
A something in the sky.
At first it seemed a little speck,
And then it seemed a mist:
It moved and moved, and took at last
A certain shape, I wist.
A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!
And still it neared and neared:
As if it dodged a water-sprite,
It plunged and tacked and veered.
With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,
We could not laugh nor wail;
Through utter drought all dumb we stood!
I bit my arm, I sucked the blood,
And cried, A sail! a sail!
With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,
Agape they heard me call:
Gramercy! they for joy did grin,
And all at once their breath drew in,
As they were drinking all.
See! see! (I cried) she tacks no more!
Hither to work us weal;
Without a breeze, without a tide,
She steadies with upright keel!
The western wave was all a-flame
The day was well nigh done!
Almost upon the western wave
Rested the broad bright Sun;
When that strange shape drove suddenly
Betwixt us and the Sun.
And straight the Sun was flecked with bars,
(Heaven's Mother send us grace!)
As if through a dungeon-grate he peered,
With broad and burning face.
Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud)
How fast she nears and nears!
Are those her sails that glance in the Sun,
Like restless gossameres!
Are those her ribs through which the Sun
Did peer, as through a grate?
And is that Woman all her crew?
Is that a DEATH? and are there two?
Is DEATH that woman's mate?
Her lips were red, her looks were free,
Her locks were yellow as gold:
Her skin was as white as leprosy,
The Night-Mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she,
Who thicks man's blood with cold.
The naked hulk alongside came,
And the twain were casting dice;
"The game is done! I've won! I've won!"
Quoth she, and whistles thrice.
The Sun's rim dips; the stars rush out:
At one stride comes the dark;
With far-heard whisper, o'er the sea.
Off shot the spectre-bark.
The use of the bolded and underlined word "unslaked" tells the reader that the sailor's throats are ________________.
raw from shouting
dry with thirst
black
darkened
dry with thirst
The very first thing to note about the word you're being asked about here is that it includes a negating prefix. What's a negating prefix? you ask. The answer is "un." When you are "unhappy" you are NOT happy. Anytime you see this prefix you know that the root word is being negated, its opposite is being suggested.
So, what does "slaked" mean? If you've heard this word before, you've probably heard it in reference to thirst. Used in a sentence: "I need a glass of water to slake my thirst." To "slake" is to satisfy an urgent desire (almost always thirst). So, our prefix here creates a double negative, "unslaked" throats are "dry with a thirst" that has not yet been "quenched."
It was also possible to solve this question by guessing the word's intended meaning from the context of the rest of the sentence. Immediately following the reference to the "unslaked" throats, we have a reference to "baked" lips so dry that they are "black," so it's most reasonable to assume the throats, like the lips, are dry.
Example Question #2 : Use Common Grade Appropriate Greek Or Latin Affixes And Roots To Determine Word Meanings: Ccss.Ela Literacy.L.9 10.4.B
The underlined and bolded word "unheard" is closest in meaning to _____________.
not perceived
perceived
unenthused
Excluded from a group
not perceived
The prefix "un" always acts as a negation, so something that is "unheard" is "not heard." Take note, however, that this option does not appear in your answer options. We can immediately eliminate any non-negative answers, like "perceived."
Now that we've slimmed down our options, let's think about other synonyms for "heard." If you "hear" or see or smell or feel something, you "perceive" that object or sensation. The best choice here is "unperceived."
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