Test Prep CBEST-SECTION-2 Exam Questions & Answers

(1)

Produced in 1959, Lorraine Hansberrys play, A Raisin in the Sun, was a quietly revolutionary work that depicted African-American life in a fresh, new, and realistic way. The play made her the youngest American, the first African-American,

and the fifth woman to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best

Play of the Year. In 1961, it was produced as a film starring Sydney Poitier and has since become a classic, providing inspiration for an entire generation of

African-American writers.

(2)

Hansberry was not only an artist but also a political activist and the daughter of activists. Born in Chicago in 1930, she was a member of a prominent family devoted to civil rights.Her father was a successful real-estate broker, who won an

anti-segregation case before the Illinois Supreme Court in the mid-1930s, and her uncle was a Harvard professor. In her home, Hansberry was privileged to meet many influential cultural and intellectual leaders. Among them were artists and

activists such as Paul Robeson, W.E.B. DuBois, and Langston Hughes.

(3)

The success of A Raisin in the Sun helped gain an audience for her passionate views on social justice. It mirrors one of Hansberrys central artistic efforts, that of freeing many people from the smothering effects of stereotyping by depicting

the wide array of personality types and aspirations that exist within one Southside

Chicago family. A Raisin in the Sun was followed by another play, produced in 1964, The Sign in Sidney Brusteins Window. This play is about an intellectual in

Greenwich Village, New York City, a man who is open-minded and generous of spirit who, as Hansberry wrote, "cares about it all. It takes too much energy not to care."

(4)

Lorraine Hansberry died on the final day of the plays run on Broadway. Her early death, at the age of 34, was unfortunate, as it cut short a brilliant and promising career, one that, even in its short span, changed the face of American

theater. After her death, however, her influence continued to be felt. A dramatic adaptation of her autobiography, To Be Young, Gifted, and Black, consisted of vignettes based on Hansberrys plays, poems, and other writings. It was produced

Off-Broadway in 1969 and appeared in book form the following year.Her play, Les Blancs, a drama set in Africa, was produced in 1970; and A Raisin in the Sun was adapted as a musical, Raisin, and won a Tony award in 1973.

(5)

Even after her death, her dramatic works have helped gain an audience for her essays and speeches on wide-ranging topics, from world peace to the evils of the mistreatment of minorities, no matter what their race, and especially for her

works on the civil-rights struggle and on the effort by Africans to be free of colonial rule. She was a woman,much like the characters in her best-known play, who was determined to be free of racial, cultural, or genderbased constraints.

On the basis of above passage please answer the following question.

The main purpose of the passage is to

A.

praise Lorraine Hansberry's writings and illustrate their artistic and political influence.

B.

summarize Lorraine Hansberry's best-known works.

C.

demonstrate that if one is raised in a welleducated family, such as Lorraine Hansberry's, one is likely to succeed.

D.

show Lorraine Hansberry's difficult struggle and ultimate success as a young female writer.

E.

persuade students to readA Raisin In The Sun.

(1)

Produced in 1959, Lorraine Hansberrys play, A Raisin in the Sun, was a quietly revolutionary work that depicted African-American life in a fresh, new, and realistic way. The play made her the youngest American, the first African-American,

and the fifth woman to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best

Play of the Year. In 1961, it was produced as a film starring Sydney Poitier and has since become a classic, providing inspiration for an entire generation of

African-American writers.

(2)

Hansberry was not only an artist but also a political activist and the daughter of activists. Born in Chicago in 1930, she was a member of a prominent family devoted to civil rights.Her father was a successful real-estate broker, who won an

anti-segregation case before the Illinois Supreme Court in the mid-1930s, and her uncle was a Harvard professor. In her home, Hansberry was privileged to meet many influential cultural and intellectual leaders. Among them were artists and

activists such as Paul Robeson, W.E.B. DuBois, and Langston Hughes.

(3)

The success of A Raisin in the Sun helped gain an audience for her passionate views on social justice. It mirrors one of Hansberrys central artistic efforts, that of freeing many people from the smothering effects of stereotyping by depicting

the wide array of personality types and aspirations that exist within one Southside

Chicago family. A Raisin in the Sun was followed by another play, produced in 1964, The Sign in Sidney Brusteins Window. This play is about an intellectual in

Greenwich Village, New York City, a man who is open-minded and generous of spirit who, as Hansberry wrote, "cares about it all. It takes too much energy not to care."

(4)

Lorraine Hansberry died on the final day of the plays run on Broadway. Her early death, at the age of 34, was unfortunate, as it cut short a brilliant and promising career, one that, even in its short span, changed the face of American

theater. After her death, however, her influence continued to be felt. A dramatic adaptation of her autobiography, To Be Young, Gifted, and Black, consisted of vignettes based on Hansberrys plays, poems, and other writings. It was produced

Off-Broadway in 1969 and appeared in book form the following year.Her play, Les Blancs, a drama set in Africa, was produced in 1970; and A Raisin in the Sun was adapted as a musical, Raisin, and won a Tony award in 1973.

(5)

Even after her death, her dramatic works have helped gain an audience for her essays and speeches on wide-ranging topics, from world peace to the evils of the mistreatment of minorities, no matter what their race, and especially for her

works on the civil-rights struggle and on the effort by Africans to be free of colonial rule. She was a woman,much like the characters in her best-known play, who was determined to be free of racial, cultural, or genderbased constraints.

On the basis of above passage please answer the following question.

According to the passage, which of the following dramatic works was based most directly on Hansberrys life?

A.

A Raisin in the Sun

B.

Les Blancs

C.

The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window

D.

To Be Young, Gifted, and Black

E.

The musical Raisin

Emperor Charlemagne of the Franks was crowned in 800 A.D. The Frankish Empire at that time extended over what is now Germany, Italy, and France.

Charlemagne died in 814, but his brief reign marked the dawn of a distinctly European culture. The artists and thinkers that helped create this European civilization drew on the ancient texts of the Germanic, Celtic, Greek, Roman, Hebrew,

and Christian worlds. __________________________________________. These mores in turn laid the groundwork for the laws, customs, and even attitudes of todays Europeans.

On the basis of above passage please answer the following question

Which sentence, if inserted into the blank line in the passage, would be most consistent with the writers purpose and intended audience?

A. In order to understand these traditions as prototype, one must be familiar with the issues surrounding the transference of rites from generation to generation.

B. Cultural traditions function to identify members of a culture to one another and, also, to allow the individual to self-identify.

C. Many of the traditions of these cultures remained active in Frankish society for centuries.

D. When tradition is lacking or is not honored by the younger generation in a society, there is danger that the culture will be lost.

E. I don't think it is necessary to discuss the origin of these traditions; it will only muddy the water.