因为太阳是继续a "predestind course," it cannot not choose its own course nor move independently.

Passage adapted from Johann von Goethe'sFaust(1808)

This description of Caliban being taught to name the "bigger light" and "the less" is a description of him learning the names for the sun and the moon. The elaboration that the lights "burn by day and night" should make it clear to students that that is what is being described. Students who do not read closely or struggle with comprehension may choose one of the other answers, but the passage contains no direct evidence to support those answers.

Passage adapted from William Shakespeare'sThe Tempest(1611).

Here, “so late” means “at long last”. Lines 15-16 tell us that Cyrano has loved Roxane for a long time.
Try plugging the other answer choices into the sentence. When we realize that Cyrano's tone is hopeful, "at long last" is the only choice that makes sense, because it's expressing his hope that his dream may finally be coming true.

“Guerdon” means “reward”. Even if you don’t know the word, you can still home in on the correct answer if you understand that Cyrano is exclaiming about something positive. He’s saying something like, “Even in my wildest dreams, I never imagined anything as wonderful as this [guerdon] that I’m getting now!”



The other answer options — “suffering”, “imprisonment”, “hubris”, and “treachery” — are all negative and don’t make sense in the context.

Lines 13-16 reveal that Cyrano has reached a moment of supreme happiness. He’s exclaiming that he may as well die now because life can’t possibly get better than this.

Looking at the lines immediately preceding, we see that Cyrano is not despairing or facing literal death. He is talking about his greatest possible joy: the hope that Roxane might hear and understand:

"Each glance of thine awakes in me a virtue,--
A novel, unknown valor. Dost begin, sweet,
To understand? So late, dost understand me?
Feel'st thou my soul, here, through the darkness mounting?"

Though he said earlier that he would gladly sacrifice his own happiness for Roxane's, there is no clear connection between that image and his ecstatic, "Naught is left me
But to die now!"

“Hearken” means “listen”. Even if you don’t know the word, you can still home in on the correct answer if you understand that Cyrano is exclaiming about something that Roxane might do to give him joy. Try plugging in all the answer choices. "Listen" is the only one that makes sense in the context.

The word “mine” refers to Cyrano’s own joy. “I for your joy would gladly lay mine own down” means, “I would gladly sacrifice my own joy for yours.”

The archaic syntax of this sentence makes it tricky to parse. The verb is “would lay down”. The subject of that verb (i.e., the doer of the action) is “I”. In modern English, the subject and verb would be right next to each other: “I would lay down . . .” Here, a prepositional phrase — “for your joy” — has been stuck in between. We have to keep reading the end of the sentence to find out what that phrase means, and what it has to do with the verb.

Contrasting words or phrases are usually a big clue to meaning. Here, Cyrano is contrasting his own joy with Roxane’s:

“I for YOUR joy would gladly lay MINE OWN down.”

This is the quickest way to see that “joy” is what the two contrasting elements have in common. Therefore, that’s what they’re both referring to.