STAAR
TEXAS STAAR reading
STAAR THE CHOSEN
Reading
Highlights of STAAR Reading Resource Guides: 6 selected passages from the literary work, each followed by: 7-9 multiple-choice questions 2 open-ended questions A paired selection and graphic, followed by 16-18 multiple-choice questions 3 open-ended questions Detailed answer explanations Correlations to the TEKS for all multiple-choice questions Charts for tracking student progress
Applied
Practice
Supplemental Curriculum • Integrated Test Preparation
Reading Selection 2 Read the following selection from Book VIII of The Odyssey and choose the best answer to each question. 1
Supper was then served, and the wine was mixed for drinking. A servant led in the favorite bard Demodocus, and set him in the midst of the company, near one of the bearing-posts supporting the cloister, that he might lean against it. Then Odysseus cut off a piece of roast pork with plenty of fat (for there was abundance left on the joint) and said to a servant, “Take this piece of pork over to Demodocus and tell him to eat it; for all the pain his lays may cause me I will salute him none the less; bards are honored and respected throughout the world, for the muse teaches them their songs and loves them.”
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The servant carried the pork in his fingers over to Demodocus, who took it and was very much pleased. They then laid their hands on the good things that were before them, and as soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, Odysseus said to Demodocus: “Demodocus, there is no one in the world whom I admire more than I do you. You must have studied under the Muse, Zeus’ daughter, and under Apollo, so accurately do you sing the return of the Achaeans with all their sufferings and adventures. If you were not there yourself, you must have heard it all from someone who was. Now, however, change your song and tell of the wooden horse which Epeus made with the assistance of Athene, and which Odysseus got by stratagem into the fort of Troy after freighting it with the men who afterwards sacked the city. If you will sing this tale aright, I will tell all the world how magnificently heaven has endowed you.”
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2
A
would only sing if they were fed well
B
only sang about events they had seen
C
would sing better if given fat, roasted pork
D were inspired by the gods and the Muse ___________________________________________________________________ 3
The bard inspired of heaven took up the story at the point where some of the Argives set fire to their tents and sailed away while others, hidden within the horse, were waiting with Odysseus in the Trojan place of assembly. For the Trojans themselves had drawn the horse into their fortress, and it stood there while they sat in council round it, and were in three minds as to what they should do. Some were for breaking it up then and there; others would have it dragged to the top of the rock on which the fortress stood, and then thrown down the precipice; while yet others were for letting it remain as an offering and propitiation for the gods, and this was how they settled it in the end, for the city was doomed when it took in the Argives waiting to bring death and destruction on the Trojans. Anon he sang how the sons of the Achaeans issued from the horse, and sacked the town, breaking out from their ambuscade. He sang how they overran the city hither and thither and ravaged it, and how Odysseus went raging like Ares along with Menelaus to the house of Deiphobus. It was there that the fight raged most furiously, nevertheless by Athene’s help he was victorious.
It can be inferred that Odysseus’s opinion of whether or not Demodocus sings this tale aright (paragraph 2) will be based mainly on Odysseus’s judgment of the song’s — A
accuracy
B
originality
C
creativity
D musicality ___________________________________________________________________ 4
All this he told, but Odysseus was overcome as he heard him, and his cheeks were wet with tears. He wept as a woman weeps when she throws herself on the body of her husband who has fallen before his own city and people, fighting bravely in defense of his home and children. She screams aloud and flings her arms about him as he lies gasping for breath and dying, but her enemies beat her from behind about the back and shoulders, and
The simile in the fourth paragraph, He wept as a woman weeps . . . , shows that the original audience for The Odyssey most likely — A
had very active imaginations
B
believed it was not manly to cry
C
were very familiar with war
D valued women mainly for their beauty ___________________________________________________________________ 5
©2012 by Applied Practice, Ltd., Dallas, TX. All rights reserved.
The first two paragraphs show that the Greeks thought that bards —
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The king wants the song ended because he — A
does not like the song that Demodocus is singing
B
does not want to have to pay Demodocus
C
wants to wait until his brother comes to hear the end
D sees that the song is making his guest uncomfortable
©2012 by Applied Practice, Ltd., Dallas, TX. All rights reserved.
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