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Hola, GED studiers! Ready for the GED reading test, yet? I got a practice question for you, just like you might find on the GED test… so test out your GED reading skills… Here’s an excerpt from Jack London’s “To Build a Fire,” written in 1910:

The man flung a look back along the way he had come. The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice. On top of this ice were as many feet of snow. It was all pure white, rolling in gentle undulations where the ice-jams of the freeze-up had formed. North and south, as far as his eye could see, it was unbroken white, save for a dark hairline that curved and twisted from around the spruce-covered island to the south, and that curved and twisted away into the north, where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island. This dark hairline was the trail—the main trail—that led south five hundred miles to the Chilcoot Pass, Dyea, and salt water; and that led north seventy miles to Dawson, and still on to the north a thousand miles to Nulato, and finally to St. Michael on Bering Sea, a thousand miles and a half thousand more.

The writer describes layers of ice and snow covering the ground, and large distances to other areas. This emphasizes:

A) That the man is alone with himself and nature.

B) That the man is cold and lonely.

C) That the man has no feelings or emotions.

D) That the man is used to being in a cold climate.

Do you get the answer? Think about the passage, and why the writer might write it like that. Do you see that it doesn’t say a lot about the man. He looks back, and then the writer tells what the man sees. It doesn’t say how the man thinks or what he feels. That’s why I wouldn’t say “C” or “B.” The writer doesn’t really tell you what the man’s emotions are like. So you don’t know if he’s lonely or not. But that doesn’t mean he has no emotions… you just don’t know yet. See, the writer chooses to show you some things… like all the white snow and distance around the man… but he doesn’t show you other things… like what the man is thinking.

So, there’s two other answers… “D” says the man is used to being in a cold climate… well, the man doesn’t really react or anything. But the passage doesn’t really say anything about the man… just that he’s there and looking around. Is he used to the cold climate? I’m not sure.

That leaves “A.” The man is alone… well, the passage describes everything that’s around, snow and a path. Seems very much alone to me! There’s just him… and nature… That’s exactly what answer A says. So, that’s my answer. See, it’s just taking it step by step and thinking about what the writer is actually saying.

Good luck with your GED studying!

For more information on the GED test or GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

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