Reading Nineteenth-Century Prose Unseen · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Cracking open older prose unseen

English · Reading Comprehension · ages 15-16
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. What is the first step with a sentence that runs for six lines?

    • Look up every word at once
    • Skip it and hope the next is easier
    • Split off the main clause

  2. What should you expect from nineteenth-century sentences?

    • Long sentences, late point
    • Short plain sentences with no extra clauses
    • Dialogue with no description at all

  3. A strange old word should be solved from the sentence around it.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. You guess a strange word means tired. What proves the guess?

    • It still makes sense a few sentences later
    • It sounds right when said aloud
    • It matches the word's modern slang use

  5. A sentence opens with Although, notwithstanding years of failure. What do you do?

    • Treat the opening as the main claim
    • Flag it and find the main clause
    • Ignore the sentence as unworkable

  6. You should analyse the style of a passage before working out what it says.

    Circle one:   True   False

  7. Two endings both fit one paragraph, but only one fits the whole passage. Which wins?

    • The more dramatic ending
    • The ending the full passage supports
    • The ending that uses modern ideas

  8. A student claims an old word means bitter because a friend said so. What went wrong?

    • The guess was written in the margin
    • The paragraph was read only once
    • The guess came from outside, not the surrounding sentence
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Cracking open older prose unseen W1-mt_9kI4W1A79W-s1

  1. Split off the main clause · Find where the qualifying part ends. The main clause is the prize.
  2. Long sentences, late point · Old sentences pack ideas and qualifications in before the claim lands.
  3. True · The neighbours decide the meaning. Outside knowledge misleads.
  4. It still makes sense a few sentences later · A guess must survive the rest of the paragraph. Test it sentences later.
  5. Flag it and find the main clause · Openings like this qualify. The claim waits further along.
  6. False · Hold the plain sense first. Analysis comes after the one-sentence restatement.
  7. The ending the full passage supports · Never jump further than the passage allows. The whole text is the judge.
  8. The guess came from outside, not the surrounding sentence · Friends and roots are outside knowledge. The sentence around it decides.
Worksheet · LightMySky