Read the paragraph. The pool party came to an abrupt end when a huge lightning bolt flashed in the sky. We were surprised and disappointend because the weather for-cast was called sunny skies. Luckily, the storm passed quickly.

What did abrupt mean in this paragraph?

sudden and without a warning

scary, but expected,

quiet and uneventful

noisy, but amazing

Read the excerpt from "home front diary." jimmy simmons stopped by today to tell me that he had enlisted in the army. he asked me if i would write to him, and i said i would. i told him that i've been writing to my uncle arthur and susan's cousin john for about a year, and as an experienced correspondent i had some advice about all the censorship. "don't write down any information about your location or the number of soldiers in your unit because the censors will cut all of that away," i said. "in my experience, loose lips not only sink ships, they make letters look like snowflake decorations! ” well, he belly laughed over that one. how is the author's perspective different from jimmy's? the author has been to war and she can give jimmy advice. jimmy has become a soldier and does not believe the author’s advice. the author has experience writing to soldiers but jimmy does not. jimmy has more experience at letter writing than the author.

Read the excerpts from part 3 of "an occurrence at owl creek bridge." a rising sheet of water curved over him, fell down upon him, blinded him, strangled him! the cannon had taken a hand in the game. as he shook his head free from the commotion of the smitten water he heard the deflected shot humming through the air ahead, and in an instant it was cracking and smashing the branches in the forest beyond. *** a whiz and rattle of grapeshot among the branches high above his head roused him from his dream. the baffled cannoneer had fired him a random farewell. he sprang to his feet, rushed up the sloping bank, and plunged into the forest. *** as he is about to clasp her he feels a stunning blow upon the back of the neck; a blinding white light blazes all about him with a sound like the shock of a cannon—then all is darkness and silence! what function does the motif of the cannon serve throughout the story? the cannon continually pushes farquhar to continue his journey through his dream and back to reality. the cannon encourages farquhar to investigate whether his escape was a dream or reality. the cannon reminds farquhar that time is subjective and encourages him to move quickly in order to reach his home. the cannon represents farquhar’s romantic dream that he escaped his execution and will return home.

Read the excerpt from "the storyteller." the smaller girl created a diversion by beginning to recite "on the road to mandalay.” she only knew the first line, but she put her limited knowledge to the fullest possible use. she repeated the line over and over again in a dreamy but resolute and very audible voice; it seemed to the bachelor as though some one had had a bet with her that she could not repeat the line aloud two thousand times without stopping. whoever it was who had made the wager was likely to lose his bet. "come over here and listen to a story,” said the aunt, when the bachelor had looked twice at her and once at the communication cord. the children moved listlessly towards the aunt’s end of the carriage. evidently her reputation as a storyteller did not rank high in their estimation. in a low, confidential voice, interrupted at frequent intervals by loud, petulant questionings from her listeners, she began an unenterprising and deplorably uninteresting story about a little girl who was good, and made friends with every one on account of her goodness, and was finally saved from a mad bull by a number of rescuers who admired her moral character. which instances of situational irony occur in the passage? select two options. a.) “whoever it was who had made the wager was likely to lose his bet.” b.) “‘come over here and listen to a story,’ said the aunt, when the bachelor had looked twice at her and once at the communication cord.” -- c.) “the children moved listlessly towards the aunt’s end of the carriage.” d.) “evidently her reputation as a story-teller did not rank high in their estimation.” -- e.) “in a low, confidential voice, interrupted at frequent intervals by loud, petulant questionings from her listeners, she began an unenterprising and deplorably uninteresting story about a little girl who was good.”