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Question of the Day: PSAT Critical Reading
Adapted from "The Writing of Essays" in Certain Personal Matters by H.G. Wells (1901)
The art of the essayist is so simple, so entirely free from canons of criticism, and withal so delightful, that one must needs wonder why all men are not essayists. Perhaps people do not know how easy it is. Or perhaps beginners are misled. Rightly taught it may be learnt in a brief ten minutes or so, what art there is in it. And all the rest is as easy as wandering among woodlands on a bright morning in the spring.
Then sit you down if you would join us, taking paper, pens, and ink; and mark this, your pen is a matter of vital moment. For every pen writes its own sort of essay, and pencils also after their kind. The ink perhaps may have its influence too, and the paper; but paramount is the pen. This, indeed, is the fundamental secret of essay-writing. Wed any man to his proper pen, and the delights of composition and the birth of an essay are assured. Only many of us wander through the earth and never meet with her—futile and lonely men.
And, of all pens, your quill for essays that are literature. There is a subtle informality, a delightful easiness, perhaps even a faint immorality essentially literary, about the quill. The quill is rich in suggestion and quotation. There are quills that would quote you Montaigne and Horace in the hands of a trades-union delegate. And those quirky, idle noises this pen makes are delightful, and would break your easy fluency with wit. All the classical essayists wrote with a quill, and Addison used the most expensive kind the Government purchased. And the beginning of the inferior essay was the dawn of the cheap steel pen.
Wells' tone in this essay is __________.
pedantic and prescriptive
solemn and serious
playful and poetic
sarcastic and sassy
When you are working toward a great college career and aiming for scholarships, you will need to prepare for the PSAT. This standardized test helps you qualify for the National Merit Scholarship, and is one of the points on your high school resume that proves to colleges that you are serious about your education. However, you shouldn’t cram at the last minute for this test, but instead, get in the habit of daily test practice with Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools, including Question of the Day.
As you prepare for the PSAT, you will prepare for two sections of this test – the Critical Reading, and the Mathematics sections. The Critical Reading section involves reading passages from famous works, then asking multiple-choice questions based on your understanding. One of the best ways to prepare for this section of the exam is using Learning Tools. With Question of the Day, you get a new question every day of the week, so you can spend at least a few minutes on daily test review leading up to your exam. This question is also based on past PSAT Critical Reading questions, so you get the best understanding of how the PSAT Critical Reading section will be formatted.
After you answer PSAT Critical Reading Question of the Day, you can immediately see whether you go the answer right or wrong. This alone is very helpful as you structure your PSAT Critical Reading test review, but it is not the only great study function that is offered. PSAT Critical Reading Question of the Day also tracks your progress as you answer more and more questions each day. You can watch your test review improve as you work hard using this great tool, because Question of the Day will show you a pie chart on the answer page that tracks your percentage of right and wrong answers as you go. You can even compare your answers to those of other students using Question of the Day to prepare for this complex section of the exam.
If you scroll to the bottom of the answer page, you will see an explanation of the correct answer. Even if you answered the question right, you might get new information from this detailed explanation that will help you on the PSAT Critical Reading section of the exam.
Most importantly, Question of the Day has a timer feature. You can take as much time answering this practice question as you need, but the actual PSAT has time limits on both sections. In order to prepare for the high pressure environment of the exam, you can use the timer feature on PSAT Critical Reading Question of the Day to get used to answering multiple-choice questions fast, but correctly. You can also discover how hard certain types of literature are for you to understand, so you can focus your PSAT study sessions on improving your understanding of literary devices and reading comprehension.
The free PSAT Critical Reading practice offered with Question of the Day is just one of the great study tools offered through Varsity Tutors’ Learning Tools online.
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