One Fair Season
At first glance a Renaissance fair, (16) looks a lot like a theme park. Crowds of people mill about, moseying they’re way past (17) costumed characters and colorful booths.
Being that (18) roller coasters and Ferris wheels, the fair’s attractions are the sights, sounds, and tastes inspired by sixteenth-century England. Musicians, magicians, and archers demonstrate their talents to curious fairgoers. Horses carrying knights (19) to a jousting match walk (20) along the streets.
Vendors, ranging from king-sized turkey legs to suits of armor, peddle wares. (21)
I’ve always enjoyed attending Renaissance fairs, and I found out just how interesting they are. (22) Those of us working at the fair spent weeks perfecting our characters’ accents and mannerisms. We also incorporated sixteenth-century English vocabulary into our speech. Substituting (23) good morrow for “good morning” and gramercy for “thank you.” In my role as a lady-in-waiting, I often used the sixteenth-century expressions while I served the queen’s meals or introduced (24) her to guests.
It was exhausting to spend every day in the hot summer temperatures while pretending to be a person whom had lived (25) in a different country and century. The physical demands were especially strenuous for the queen and us ladies-in-waiting because our costumes, they (26) consisted of confining corsets, several scratchy petticoats, and heavy velvet gowns. [27]
We strove to make the fairgoers’ experience as authentic as possible. Things that had come into existence more recently (28) after the sixteenth century had to be explained in Renaissance terms. However, (29) when a guest wished to take a photograph, we would marvel at the camera and ask how such lifelike paintings were created inside the tiny box.
After three tiring months of rehearsals and performances, the fair closed for the season, and I bade fare thee well to my Renaissance character when the summer months were over. (30) Although it had been a wonderful trip back in time, it was a relief to return to the comforts of my own century.
16.
F. NO CHANGE
G. glance, a Renaissance fair,
H. glance, a Renaissance fair
J. glance a Renaissance fair;
17.
A. NO CHANGE
B. they’re way passed
C. their way passed
D. their way past
18.
F. NO CHANGE
G. Yet instead of
H. Because of
J. Given that
19.
A. NO CHANGE
B. Horses, carrying knights,
C. Horses carrying knights,
D. Horses, carrying knights
20. Which choice best conveys the horses’ movement in a way that adds a sensory detail to the description of the fair?
F. NO CHANGE
G. clip-clop
H. move
J. travel
21.
A. NO CHANGE
B. Peddling wares, ranging from king-sized turkey legs to suits of armor are vendors.
C. Ranging from king-sized turkey legs to suits of armor, vendors peddle wares.
D. Vendors peddle wares ranging from king-sized turkey legs to suits of armor.
22. Which choice best introduces the subject of the paragraph and the rest of the essay?
F. NO CHANGE
G. but it wasn’t until I spent a summer working at one that I understood how much effort went into re-creating the past.
H. and I knew that getting a job at one would be the easiest way to experience one and have fun at the same time.
J. so one summer’s day, some friends and I decided to attend a nearby fair.
23.
A. NO CHANGE
B. speech, we substituted
C. speech, substituting
D. speech; substituting
24.
F. NO CHANGE
G. to introduce
H. introducing
J. introduce
25.
A. NO CHANGE
B. who were to live
C. whom lived
D. who lived
26.
F. NO CHANGE
G. of our costumes, they
H. of our costumes
J. our costumes
27. At this point, the writer is considering adding the following sentence: Many theme park characters have to wear uncomfortable costumes. Should the writer make this addition here?
A. Yes, because it develops the essay’s earlier comparison between Renaissance fairs and theme parks.
B. Yes, because it elaborates on the preceding sentence’s point about costumes.
C. No, because it adds a comment that’s only loosely related at this point in the essay.
D. No, because it repeats information stated elsewhere in the essay.
28.
F. NO CHANGE
G. Any kind of object or type of item created and introduced for use
H. Anything invented
J. Stuff from
29.
A. NO CHANGE
B. For example,
C. One time,
D. Instead,
30.
F. NO CHANGE
G. when the fair closed down.
H. at the end of the summer.
J. DELETE the underlined portion and end the sentence with a period.
Answers
16. The best answer is H because it correctly inserts a comma only after the prepositional phrase that begins the sentence.
17. The best answer is D because it correctly uses the possessive pronoun their and the preposition past to explain the direction of movement; the people are passing by costumed characters and colorful booths.
18. The best answer is G because it creates a logical sentence that contrasts theme parks and Renaissance fairs. This comparison makes sense in the paragraph, which has been describing how theme parks and Renaissance fairs are similar up to this point.
19. The best answer is A because no punctuation is needed here. The absence of punctuation creates the clearest indication that the sentence is referring to the horses that are carrying knights.
20. The best answer is G because the verb clip-clop provides the sound the horses’ hooves make on the streets, which is a sensory detail about the horses’ movement.
21. The best answer is D because it correctly positions the phrase “ranging from king-sized turkey legs to suits of armor” so that it modifies wares. The wares are the things that vary in this way.
22. The best answer is G because it effectively introduces the subject that is developed in the paragraph and in the rest of the essay: the hard work that goes into re-creating the past at the Renaissance fair.
23. The best answer is C because it results in a complete sentence with a comma separating the main clause from the participial phrase that begins with substituting.
24. The best answer is F because it uses the past tense verb introduced, which is parallel with the verb served (the other verb in the sentence’s compound predicate). The past tense is used in most of the essay.
25. The best answer is D because it correctly uses the pronoun who to introduce the clause that describes the person the narrator was pretending to be. In this sentence, who is required because it functions as the subject of the clause.
26. The best answer is J because no punctuation is needed here. The absence of punctuation creates the clearest and most understandable sentence that links the subject costumes to the verb consisted.
27. The best answer is C because the sentence about the costumes theme park characters wear isn’t very relevant in an essay about working at a Renaissance fair, especially given that the first paragraph makes a distinction between Renaissance fairs and theme parks.
28. The best answer is H because it most clearly and concisely refers to all manner of inventions. It does not repeat the same idea, and it does not add unnecessary words to the sentence.
29. The best answer is B because the phrase “for example” serves as a transition from the preceding sentence, which discusses describing things in Renaissance terms, to this sentence, which has the narrator describing a photograph as a small painting in a tiny box.
30. The best answer is J because it removes unnecessary and redundant phrases from the sentence.