Name:_______________

Date:________________
Section:______________
1) Which choice below best describes the mood in the passage below?
The absent no longer entered our thoughts. One spoke of themwho knows what happened to
them?but their fate was not on our minds. We were incapable of thinking. Our senses were
numbed, everything was fading into a fog. We no longer clung to anything. The instincts of
self-preservation, of self-defense, or pride, had all deserted us. In one terrifying moment of
lucidity, I thought of us as damned souls wandering through the void, souls condemned to
wander through space until the end of time, seeking redemption, seeking oblivion, without any
hope of finding either.
--from Night by Elie Wiesel
A)
B)
C)
D)

content
optimistic
depressing
hopeful

2) Which choice best describes the mood in the passage below?

Except for the steady swish of the wind, the farm was very quiet. Jody knew his mother
wouldnt mind if he didnt go in to eat his lunch. After a little while he went slowly back to the
barn. His dog followed him inside and they both curled up in the hay, listening to the occasional
sighs of the horses in the nearby stalls, as they dozed of to sleep.
--adapted from The Red Pony by John Steinbeck
A)
B)
C)
D)

anxious
peaceful
suspenseful
energized

3) What choice best describes the mood of the passage below?

I remember the day that I decided I would never live in the village again.
It was a morning of thick fog and the sound of far off waves breaking on the shore. I had never
noticed before how silent the village was. Fog crept in and out of the empty huts. It made shapes
as it drifted and they reminded me of all the people who were dead and those who were gone.
The noise of the surf seemed to be their voices speaking.
--from Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott ODell

A)
B)
C)
D)

eerie
pessimistic
hopeful
bitter

4) What choice best describes the mood of the passage below?

During the holidays, my mothers house glittered with decorations and hummed with
preparations. We ate cookies and drank cider while we helped her wrap bright packages and trim
the tree. We felt warm and excited, listening to Christmas carols and even singing along
sometimes. We would tease each other about our terrible voices and then sing even louder.
A)
B)
C)
D)

happy
anxious
jealous
romantic

5) What choice best describes the mood of the passage below?

After New Years the time came to put all the decorations away and settle in for the long, cold
winter. The house seemed to sigh as we boxed up its finery. The tree was dry and brittle, and
now waited forlornly by the side of the road to be picked up.
A)
B)
C)
D)

dreary
hopeful
cautious
tense

6) What choice best describes the mood of the passage below?

William and Shanell were early for baseball practice. They decided to run up and down
the bleachers to exercise before the rest of the team arrived.
William was first to the top. He whispered to Shanell, Look over there. He pointed to
a man sleeping on the highest, narrow bench of the bleachers. His pants and shirt were faded,
worn, and too large for his thin frame. One big toe stuck out of a huge hole in his sock. His
scraped-up shoes sat a few feet away.
Shanell whispered, We should help him out. Lets hide something good in his shoes.
Then, when he wakes up, he will have a nice surprise.
A)
B)
C)
D)

detached
bitter
disappointed
inspired

7) What choice best describes the mood of the passage below?

Old Mother West Wind had gone to her days work, leaving all the Merry Little Breezes to play
in the Green Meadows. They had played tag and run races with the Bees and played hide and
seek with the Sun Beams, and now they had gathered around the Smiling Pool, where on a green
lily pad, say Grandfather Frog.
A)
B)
C)
D)

restless
carefree
gloomy
suspenseful