Question

directions: read the passage, read each question, and choose the best answer. workers are nickel and dimed 1 at the beginning of june 1998 i leave behind everything that normally sustains the body - home, soothes the ego and reputation, atm card, career, companion, low - wage workforce. - for a plunge into the beginning, of being unemployed. i am terrified, at the middle - class journalist masked for what i am: a world that welfare mothers are entering, at the rate of approximately 50,000 a month. 2 three days go by like this, and, to my chagrin, no one out of the approximately twenty places ive applied calls me for an interview. i had been vain enough to worry about coming across as too educated for the jobs i sought, but no one even seems interested in finding out how overqualified i am. only later will i realize that the want ads are not a reliable measure of the actual jobs available at any particular time. they are... the employers insurance policy against the relentless turnover of the low - wage work - force. most of the big hotels run ads almost continually, just to build a supply of applicants to replace the current workers as they drift away or are fired, so finding a job is just a matter of being at the right place at the right time and flexible enough to take whatever is being offered that day. this finally happens to me at one of the big discount hotel chains, where i go, as usual, for housekeeping and am sent, instead, to try out as a waitress at the attached \family restaurant,\ a dismal spot with a counter and about thirty tables that looks out on a parking garage and features such tempting fare as \pollish sic sausage and bbq sauce\ on 95 - degree days. phillip, the dapper young west indian who introduces himself as the manager, interviews me with about as much enthusiasm as if he were a clerk processing me for medicare, the principal questions being what shifts can i work and when can i start. i mutter something about being woefully out of practice as a waitress, but hes already on to the uniform: im to show up tomorrow wearing black slacks and black shoes; hell provide the rust - colored polo shirt with hearthside embroidered on it, though i might want to wear my own shirt to get to work, ha ha. from the harpers article nickel and dimed by barbara ehrenreich, © 1998 10. which word best describes the authors style in this passage? a. emotional b. argumentative c. anecdotal d. mysterious 11. the author says, \i had been vain enough to worry about coming across as too educated for the jobs i sought.\ what does this statement indicate about the authors attitude? a. the author sees herself as below the people she is writing about. b. the author has little experience with the subject matter. c. the author displays a nervous attitude and is uneasy about her topic. d. the author displays a sense of humor about herself and is aware she has things to learn. 12. the author says that the \family restaurant\ features tempting fare. how would the tone of the sentence change if she had substituted the word food for tempting fare? a. the sentence would not have the same tone of approval. b. the sentence would lose some of its sarcastic humor. c. the tone would be more critical. d. the tone would be less formal. 13. the author describes the manager of the restaurant as \the dapper young west indian.\ what impact does the word dapper have in the passage? a. it tells you that the writer is educated and is attempting to show that she is educated and has an extensive vocabulary. b. it adds an element of politeness and formality to the passage. c. it makes the passage more elegant because dapper has a connotation of sophistication. d. it adds an ironic tone, because people do not think of family restaurant managers as dapper.

Explanation:

1. The author uses personal anecdotes (like her own job - seeking and work experiences) to tell the story.
2. The author's statement shows a sense of humor (e.g., "I had been vain enough to worry about coming across as too educated") and an awareness that she has things to learn (realizing her initial assumptions about the job market were wrong).
3. "Tempting" has a more positive connotation, while "fare" is more neutral. Changing to "food for tempting fare" would lose the sarcastic edge (as the description of the "family restaurant" is somewhat sarcastic with its "dismal spot" etc., and "tempting" was part of that sarcastic tone).
4. "Dapper" has a connotation of sophistication. In the context of a family - restaurant manager (a more ordinary job), using "dapper" creates an ironic tone as people don't typically think of family - restaurant managers as dapper.

Answer:

1. C. anecdotal
2. D. The author displays a sense of humor about herself and is aware she has things to learn.
3. B. The sentence would lose some of its sarcastic humor.
4. D. It adds an ironic tone, because people do not think of family restaurant managers as dapper.