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AP English Literature and Composition 1.3 Passage Drill 1 381 Views


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AP English Literature and Composition 1.3 Passage Drill 1. In the context of the passage, what does the word "compass" in line 15 mean?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Lookin' for shmoop in all the wrong places...

00:08

Pause and review -- you know the drill.

00:23

In the context of the passage, what does the word "compass" in line 15 mean?

00:29

And here are the potential answers...

00:34

This question is testing to make sure we have a little basic common sense.

00:38

So... you might want to unplug your laptop or get out of the bathtub before continuing.

00:43

Let's look at the line in question, as well as the couple lines surrounding it:

00:47

He told me "that sometimes, though very rarely, a child happened to be born in a family, with

00:53

a red circular spot in the forehead, directly over the left eyebrow, which was an infallible

00:58

mark that it should never die." The spot, as he described it, "was about the compass

01:03

of a silver threepence, but in the course of time grew larger, and changed its colour.

01:12

The key thing to notice here is what directly follows this comparison to a "silver threepence."

01:17

It says that the spot then "grew larger"... and there's a "but" there...

01:23

...so whatever "compass" means here, it must have something to do with size.

01:28

So, that's it. That eliminates A, B and D.

01:33

It's tempting to go with "direction," since we're dealing with the word "compass..."

01:37

...but that choice is nothing more than a trap covered with some twigs and branches.

01:41

Let's not fall into it.

01:43

Between C and E... we kinda get the impression

01:45

that E is playing on the "threepence" thing to persuade us to pick it...

01:49

...like, we're going to be so blinded by the word "three" that we're going to

01:53

carelessly stumble into choosing the wrong answer.

01:56

But we're too smart for such silly tricks. So C it is.

02:00

Anybody want to give this guy a hand?

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