Use Narrative Techniques Including Reflection Practice Test

Read the narrative passage.

The first time I tried out for the basketball team, I missed every layup in warm-ups. The ball slapped the backboard and bounced away like it was embarrassed to be associated with me.

Coach Ramirez blew his whistle. “Next!”

I jogged to the end of the line, cheeks burning.

“Forget it,” my friend Nia muttered. “They already picked their favorites.”

I wanted to agree. It would’ve been easier.

But when my turn came again, I slowed down. I listened to my shoes squeak, felt the ball’s pebbled skin, watched the rim instead of the faces in the bleachers. I jumped—missed—then grabbed the rebound and went up again.

After tryouts, Nia said, “Why’d you keep doing that to yourself?”

I surprised myself with the answer. “Because quitting hurts longer than missing.”

I didn’t make the team that year. Still, I walked home lighter, like I’d finally learned the difference between failing and stopping.

Question: Which choice best explains how multiple narrative techniques develop the narrator’s growth?

Read the narrative passage.

I waited outside the band room with my trumpet case digging into my palm. The hallway smelled like floor wax and old brass. Inside, someone hit the same wrong note again and again—bright, sharp, and embarrassing, like it was aimed at me.

Maya slid up beside me. “You’re early.”

“I’m not early,” I said. “I’m… on time.”

She tilted her head. “Your hands are shaking.”

“They’re not.” I tightened my grip until the latch pressed a square into my skin.

The door handle was cold. I turned it slowly, like it might bite. The band room opened in inches: chairs in crooked rows, music stands like black skeletons, Mr. Dorsey’s baton tapping once, twice.

“Alex?” he called. “You ready?”

I nodded even though my throat felt glued shut.

Later, I would tell myself I’d been brave for walking in. But in that moment, all I could think was that everyone would hear the first mistake and decide it was the only thing about me.

Question: How does the slow pacing as the narrator opens the band-room door affect the event in the passage?