1. Choose the definition below that matches the bold word in the following sentence:
The picnic plans were ANNULLED because of bad weather.

>enhanced
>increased
>revised
>cancelled

2. Which of the following details from " No Witchcraft for sale" would be least important to include in a summery of the story?

>Teddy is referred to by Gideon as "little Yellow Head"
>Gideon is protective of Teddy and treats him as his own.
>Teddy enjoys using his scooter to chase the chickens and dogs.
>Gideon realizes that as Teddy grows up society will separate them.

3. Read the following paragraph from "No Witchcraft for sale"
Now, when such a thing happens on a farm, it cannot be long before everyone hears of it. Mr. and Mrs. Farquar told their neighbors, and the story was discussed from one end of the district to the other. The bush is full of secrets. No one can live in Africa, or at least on the veld, without learning very soon that there is an ancient wisdom of leaf and soil and season-and, too, perhaps most important of all, of the darker tracts of the human mind-which is the black man's heritage. Up and down the district people were telling anecdotes, reminding each other of things that had happened to them.

Which of the following sentences most effectively paraphrases the ides in this paragraph?

>Mr. and Mrs. Farquar spread the rumor of what had happened on their farm. The white farmers were surprised but their black servants were not.
>Soon, Mr. and Mrs. Farquars' neighbors learned of what had happened on their farm. While the tribal folks understood the mysteries of the veld, the district residents shared this tale and other personal stories.
>The news of what had happened on the farm spread quickly throughout the district. Everyone in Africa knew that the bush had something to hide, but the black men knew this secret was theirs to share when and how they close.
>Everyone soon heard about what had happened on Mr. and Mrs. Farquar's farm because gossip spreads quickly. The bush land of Africa and the mysteries it held were well-known by local tribe members; these secrets inspired others to share stories about the strange things that they had seen and experienced.

The verb "to annul" means "to invalidate, to declare void or null". "Annuled", the way we see it in the sentence, is an example of past participle functioning as an adjective. Plus, it is in passive voice. The remaining options (enhanced/ increased/ revised) could all have been accepted as the right alternative if it had been a matter of syntax. However, the right answer in this case lies on semantics, that is, meaning.

2. The details from " No Witchcraft for sale" which would be least important to include in a summary of the story are the following ones:

Teddy enjoys using his scooter to chase the chickens and dogs.

Those details are certainly the least relevant if we compare them to the ones in the other alternatives, which outline things about the relationship between Teddy and Gideon, and not only describes how Teddy manages to engage in his "hobby". In other words, the least important details are the least profound ones.

3. The sentence which most effectively paraphrases the ideas in the paragraph is the following one:

Everyone soon heard about what had happened on Mr. and Mrs. Farquar's farm because gossip spreads quickly. The bush land of Africa and the mysteries it held were well-known by local tribe members; these secrets inspired others to share stories about the strange things that they had seen and experienced.

At first, Mr. and Mrs. Farquar merely told their neighbors about what had happened, but then it quickly turned into gossip. Everyone was familiar with it, especially local tribe members (who lived on the veld, the elevated open grassland in Southern Africa). Then people started telling anecdotes (short accounts of incidents) that seemed as mysterious as what had happened to Mr. and Mrs. Farquar.