I.

EASY CATEGORY

1. In linguistics, the International Phonetic Alphabet is a system of phonetic notation
devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds
(phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. Using the IPA, how many standard
phonetic symbols comprise the word ENGLISH?
A. Two C. Seven
B. Six D. Four
Answer: B (Six)

2. In the production of speech sounds, what articulator plays a decisive role in forming
the constrictions for many consonants and in distinguishing vowels, and which is
considered as the most mobile and flexible structure in the vocal tract?
A. Pharynx C. Velum
B. Tongue D. Hard Palate
Answer: B (Tongue)

3. The word BOY has one, BOYS has two, and BOYISHNESS has three. What do we
call the basic semantic unit of language?
A. Phoneme C. Syllable
B. Morpheme D. Inflection
Answer: B (Morpheme)

4. What literary criticism approach has been considered as a subset of historical
criticism, the focus being narrowed to the authors life and thought, relating these to his or
her literature?
A. Freudian Psychological Criticism
B. Biographical Criticism
C. Marxist Criticism
D. Structuralism
Answer: B (Biographical Criticism)

5. Listen as I read a stanza:
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
(The question) In the 2012 game Mass Effect 3, this second stanza of the poem is cited by
one of the main characters: Ashley Williams, lieutenant-commander of the Alliance. From
what poem the stanza was taken?
A. Tagores Gitanjali
B. Henleys Invictus
C. Tu Fus The Little Rain
D. Frosts The Road Not Taken
Answer: B (Henleys Invictus)





6. Which idiom best supplies the given statement: Last night, we (blank) my
grandmothers old diary while clearing out the attic?
A. Came down with C. Came about
B. Came across D. Came up with
Answer: B (Came across)

7. Many areas of the world are populated by people who speak diverse languages. In
such areas where groups desire social or commercial communication, one language is used
by common agreement. Such language is called a lingua franca. (The question) If French,
at one time, was the lingua franca of diplomacy, and Latin was a lingua franca of the
Roman Empire and of Western Christendom for a millennium, what has been called as the
lingua franca of the whole world?
A. Greek C. English
B. Chinese D. Anglo-Saxon
Answer: C (English)

8. We will win the championships, coach Kenn Marquez confidently declared
yesterday. In campus journalism, the sample news story lead can be classified
as___________.
A. Literary Allusion Lead C. Question Lead
B. Direct Address Lead D. Quotation Lead
Answer: D (Quotation Lead)

9. In poetry, what do we call a single, related chunk of lines or a unit or group of lines
which forms one particular faction in poetry?
A. Rhythm and Rhyme C. Poetic Foot
B. Tone D. Stanza
Answer: D (Stanza)

10. In morphology, some classes of words are called closed because they contain
relatively small number of items to which no new words or bound morphemes can
normally be added. (the question) Which of the following belongs to closed word classes?
A. Fear C. Across
B. Boy D. Live
Answer: C (Across)

11. What particular literary genre presents a historical account of facts or events in the
order of time and usually continuous and detailed but without analysis or interpretation?
A. Chronicle C. Biography
B. Historical Myth D. Diary
Answer: A (Chronicle)

12. What do we call the modern verse or poetry without any formal structure; that is
without systematic regularity in rhythm and in rhyme?
A. Blank Verse C. Free Verse
B. Diamond Verse D. Nursery Rhyme
Answer: C (Free Verse)

13. Nouns are used in different ways: The dog barks. The man bit the dog. In the first
case, dog is the actor, or the one that initiates the action of the verb. In the second, dog is
acted upon. In The dog barks, the dog is the subject of the verb. In the other sentence,
dog is________.
A. Indirect object C. Subject complement
B. Direct object D. Predicate nominative
Answer: B (Direct Object)

14. In Greek mythology, he is the youth loved and accidentally killed by Apollo who
memorializes him with a flower growing from the youths blood.
A. Adonis C. Hyacinthus
B. Narcissus D. Theseus
Answer: C (Hyacinthus)

15. It names a quality, a characteristic or an idea (e.g. popularity, coldness, efficiency).
A. Concrete noun C. Abstract noun
B. Compound noun D. Collective noun
Answer: C (Abstract noun)

16. In the sentence, He was tired; therefore, he stayed home, the word THEREFORE
modifies the clause of which is a part and connects the clause to the previous part of the
sentence. THEREFORE is not to be used as a conjunction, hence the semicolon. In word
classes, adverbs like therefore, accordingly, besides, etc. are called?
A. Conjunctive adverbs C. Adverbs of time
B. Relative adverbs D. Adverbs of manner
Answer: A (Conjunctive adverbs)

17. This book of the Bible deals with Hebrews escape from Egypt and their journey back
to Palestine under the able leadership of Moses.
A. Leviticus C. Genesis
B. Exodus D. Deuteronomy
Answer: B (Exodus)

18. Historically, men have controlled literary production and criticism, so the female voice
has been grossly underrepresented in both. What emerging literary criticism approach
focuses on literature by female authors, previously ignored genres to which female authors
were once limited and the representation of females in literature?
A. Historicism C. Deconstructionism
B. Jungian Psychological Criticism D. Feminist Criticism
Answer: D (Feminist Criticism)






19. For example, TOILET is usually classified as a noun. But in UK, primary school
teachers often speak of toileting children (I had to TOILET John twice today.). In
describing such a sentence, you should be guided by the internal grammar of the sentence
(syntax) rather than the dictionary. Here TOILET is a transitive verb. If this usage
becomes standard, lexicographers will record it. (the question) What kind of word
formation takes place?
A. Derivation C. Conversion
B. Neologism D. Agglutination
Answer: C (Conversion)

20. (Complete this statement) The examination ___________two hours, didnt it?
A. Didnt last C. Should last
B. Lasted D. Hasnt lasted
Answer: B (lasted)

21. What do we call an expression that has become hackneyed and trite; an expression that
has lost its precise meaning by constant reiteration, in other words, becomes stereotyped?
A. Clich C. Slang
B. Colloquial D. Jargon
Answer: A (Clich)

22. Complete the statement: Arlington National Cemetery was built (blank) and other war
heroes during the American Civil War.
A. According to honour C. In order to honour soldiers
B. For honour of soldiers D. To soldiers that we honoured
Answer: C (In order to honour soldiers)




















II. AVERAGE CATEGORY

1. He was the first of the free-verse poets and his frankness of expression disturbed
many literary critics.
A. Washington Irving C. James Cooper
B. Walt Whitman D. John Milton
Answer: B (Walt Whitman)

2. It is the oldest complete prophetic book in the Bible which voices a stern and
uncompromising warning to the Kingdom of Israel; a warning of utter annihilation unless
social reforms are immediately affected.
A. Hosea C. Amos
B. Micah D. Isaiah
Answer: C (Amos)

3. What novel of Chinua Achebe documents the disintegration of a rural community
under the impact of Westernization and is a classical statement of this archetypal theme?
A. The Palm-Wine Drunkard C. A Man of People
B. Things Fall Apart D. Girls At War
Answer: B (Things Fall Apart)

4. Which American philosopher, and often-quoted advocate of individualism, published
essays on Self-Reliance, Love, Heroism, Character and Manners in his Collections of 1841
and 1844?
A. Benjamin Franklin C. Ralph Waldo Emerson
B. Mark Twain D. Edgar Allan Poe
Answer: C (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

5. He is the most distinguished name in English literature of the Medieval Period whose
brilliant character portrayals made his Canterbury Tales an enduring literary legacy.
A. Geoffrey Chaucer C. William Caxton
B. William Shakespeare D. William Blake
Answer: A (Geoffrey Chaucer)

6. The medical term PAP SMEAR means a test usually done on females for detecting
cancer of the cervix. What word formation takes place if the traceable original term for
this is PAPPENICOLAOU?
A. Acronymy C. Blending
B. Clipping D. Affixation
Answer: B (Clipping)




7. It is an Egyptian pessimistic literary work that describes a topsy-turvy world in which
everything is awry, the poor usurping the land and place of the rich, the foreigners
invading the land, no respect and no virtue anywhere, yet redeemer is at hand.
A. The Shipwrecked Sailor
B. The Story of Eloquent Peasant
C. Dialogue of a Pessimist with His Soul
D. The Admonitions of An Egyptian Sage
Answer: D (The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage)

8. The nucleus of this Indian epic concerns the battle between two rival bands of
brothers, both descendants of a common grandfather who came to war over their heritage.
A. Mahabharata C. Savitri
B. Ramayana D. Bhagavad Gita
Answer: A (Mahabharata)

9. Which of these statements best describes a KICKER in a campus paper?
A. It is a line giving the source of the story or illustration, as reprinted from the Manila
Times.
B. A tagline placed above but smaller than the headline, also known as teaser. If it is
bigger than the headline, it is called hammer.
C. The beginning of a news story
D. The title of any news story
Answer: B (A tagline placed above but smaller than the headline, also known as teaser. If it
is bigger than the headline, it is called hammer.)

10. In the play Much Ado About Nothing, noted playwright William Shakespeares
character Dogberry says, Our watch, sir, have indeed comprehended two auspicious
persons. Instead, what the character means to say is Our watch, sir, have apprehended
two suspicious persons. What trick is used to ensure that the two words sound similar
enough for the reader to catch onto the intended switch and find humour in the result?
A. Malapropism C. Litotes
B. Nemesis D. Onomatopoeia
Answer: A (Malapropism)

11. In Greek mythology, it is described as a monster, shaped half like a man and half like a
bull, confined in the labyrinth built by Daedalus for King Minos. It is given a periodic
tribute of youths and maidens as food until slain by Theseus.
A. Gorgon C. Cyclops
B. Centaur D. Minotaur
Answer: D (Minotaur)

12. What controversial novel begins: [a persons name], light of my life, fire of my loins.
My sin, my soul,?
A. Vladimir Nabokovs Lolita C. Thomas Keneallys Schindlers Ark
B. C S Lewiss Susan D. Charlotte Brontes Jane Eyre
Answer: A (Vladimir Nabokovs Lolita)

13. In Philippine literature, what religious poetry in octosyllabic quintillas penned by
Gaspar Aquino de Belen in1704 which has become entrenched in the Filipinos
commemoration of Christs agony and resurrection at Calvary?
A. Ang Mahal na Passion ni Jesu Christong Panginoon natin na tola
B. Manual de Urbanidad
C. Ejemplo
D. Memorial de la vida Cristiana en lengua tagala
Answer: A (Ang Mahal na Passion ni Jesus Christong Panginoon natin na tola)

14. What type of literary plot presents a change from ignorance to knowledge, producing
love or hatred between the persons, destined by the author for good or bad fortunes?
A. Anagnorisis C. Catastrophe
B. Reversal of intention D. Peripeteia
Answer: A (Anagnorisis)

15. In the dictionary of newsroom terms, what term best applies to an apprentice to a
printer?
A. Dogwatch C. Cub
B. Bimo (read as bymow) D. Devil
Answer: D (Devil)

16. Which of these best classifies Richard Bachs Jonathan Livingston Seagull?
A. A novel about seagulls C. A fable in a short story
B. A fable in a novella D. A biographical sketch
Answer: B (A fable in a novella)

17. Complete the statement with an appropriate conjunction. My goal is to become a
doctor; ___________, I work especially hard in my science classes.
A. Nevertheless C. However
B. But D. Therefore
Answer: D (Therefore)

18. A three-headed dog that in Greek mythology, guards the entrance to Hades:
A. Charon C. Cerberus
B. Dionysus D. Chiron
Answer: C (Cerberus)

19. It is an examination of the morphemic structure of words; an appreciation of the fact
that words with common roots share common meanings, and the affixes change words in
predictable and consistent ways.
A. Phonology C. Semantics
B. Morphology D. Lexicography
Answer: B (Morphology)



20. It concerns Rama (an incarnation of Vishnu) and his wife Sita; Ramas exile; Sitas
faithfulness when tempted by Ravana, an evil spirit; and Ramas eventual destruction of
Ravana.
A. Mhabharata C. Vedas
B. Ramayana D. Gora
Answer: B (Ramayana)








































III. DIFFICULT CATEGORY

1. The award winning 2005 children's book And Tango Makes Three has been subject to
much controversy as it was seen to be highlighting what behaviour in the animal kingdom?
A. Cruelty C. Homosexuality
B. Discrimination D. Rivalry
Answer: C (Homosexuality) The book is based on the true story of Roy and Silo, two male
Chinstrap Penguins in New York's Central Park Zoo. Due to the penguin parents being of
the same sex, some adults in the United States have objected to children reading the book.

2. In a certain poem, the word SMOG, built in combining FOG and SMOKE is used by
a poet to mean something that has the properties of both. In formal stylistic analysis, what
device best defines the practice?
A. Spoonerism C. Verisimilitude
B. Portmanteau D. Cacophony
Answer: B (Portmanteau) In stylistics, portmanteau is a practice of joining together two or
more words in order to create an entirely new word; this is often done in order to create a
name or word for something by combining the individual characteristics of two or more
other words.

3. Who is the Filipino-born journalist, filmmaker, and immigration activist who
authored and contributed to three Washington Post articles about the Virginia Tech
Shootings that were awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting?
A. Carlos P. Romulo C. Jose Antonio Vargas
B. Bienvenido Santos D. Jessica Hagedorn
Answer: C (Jose Antonio Vargas) Jose Antonio Vargas was born on February 3, 1981 in
Antipolo city, Rizal. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at San Francisco State
University. In his career as a journalist, filmmaker and activist, he was awarded Pulitzer
Prize and the Sidney Award. He is also the founder of Define America, a non-profit
organization to open up dialogue about criteria people use to determine who is an
American. About himself he says, I am an American. I just dont have the right papers.

4. What literary device is employed by a novelist when in the middle of the characters
dilemmas, the protagonist is suddenly led to find a solution through a divine intervention?
A. Doppelganger C. Deus ex Machina
B. Epithet D. Hubris
Answer: C (Deus ex Machina) Deus ex Machina is a rather debatable and often criticized
form of literary device. It refers to the incidence where an implausible concept or character
is brought into the story in order to make the conflict in the story resolve and to bring
about a pleasing solution. The use of Deus ex Machina is seldom recommended as it is seen
to be the mark of a poor plot that the writer needs to resort to random, insupportable and
unbelievable twists and turns to reach the end of the story.
5. He had no idea of the disastrous chain of events to follow. In this sentence, while the
protagonist is clueless of further developments, the reader learns that something disastrous
and problematic is about to happen to/for him. What then, is employed by the writer to
suggest an upcoming outcome to the story?
A. Flashback C. Faulty Parallelism
B. Euphony D. Foreshadowing
Answer: D (Foreshadowing) Foreshadowing refers to the use of indicative words or phrases
and hints that set the stage for a story to unfold and give the reader a hint of something
that is going to happen without revealing the story or spoiling the suspense.

6. What literary device is employed in the poetic line: He spoke of times past and
future, and dreamt of things to be?
A. Anagram C. Allusion
B. Anastrophe D. Aphorism
Answer: B (Anastrophe) Anastrophe is a form of literary device wherein the order of the
noun and adjective in the sentence or line is exchanged. In standard parlance and writing,
the adjective comes first before the noun but when one is employing an anastrophe, the
noun is followed by the adjective. This reserved order creates a dramatic impact and lends
weight to the description offered by the adjective.

7. What is the opening sentence of the book that ends with It was the devious-cruising
Rachel that in her retracing search after missing children, only found another orphan.?
A. Call me Ishmael C. Come here, Rachel
B. Oh My Captain Ahab D. The Whale, The Whale
Answer: A (Call me Ishmael) from Herman Melvilles Moby-Dick

8. What evident literary device is used by the poet in the line: The soft whistling teapot
informed him it was time for breakfast?
A. Paradox C. Nemesis
B. Negative Capability D. Pathetic Fallacy
Answer: D (Pathetic Fallacy) Pathetic fallacy is a type of literary device whereby the
author ascribes the human feelings of one or more of his/her characters to non-human
objects or nature or phenomenon. It is a type of personification, and is known to occur
more by accident and less on purpose.

9. What French classical theory of language style posses a high aesthetic characteristics
and is used by poets and other literary artists?
A. Stylus Altus C. Stylus Humilis
B. Stylus Mediocris D. Explication de Texte
Answer: A (Stylus Altus) Stylus Mediocris or style of high society is a language style used
by the royalties; Stylus Humilis or style of low society is a language style for all kinds of
people or language style of the masses; while, Explication de Texte is a French school which
developed a method of text analysis and interpretation known as close reading. Stylus Altus
or work of art is a language style used by poets and other literary artists.
10. In Carl Gustav Jungs heroic archetypes, which hero of tragedy has a fatal flaw which
brings about his downfall but not without achieving some kind of realization or wisdom?
A. Hero as a Scapegoat C. Transcendent hero
B. Apocalyptic hero D. Proto-Feminist hero
Answer: C (Transcendent hero) Carl Jung first applied the term archetype to literature.
He recognized that there were universal patterns in all stories and mythologies regardless
of culture or historical period and hypothesized that part of the human mind contained a
collective unconscious shared by all members of the human species, a sort of universal,
primal memory. Transcendent heroes are archetypes first observed in Greek and
Shakespearean tragedies----Oedipus, Hamlet, Macbeth, etc.)

11. In Sigmund Freuds psychoanalytic approach to literary criticism, an art or literature
is considered as reconciliation between pleasure and reality principles, a sublime working
through of Eros and Thanatos and the fulfilment of basic bodily drives via transformation
into something better, civilized and artistic. (The question) If Richard Crashaws poems
depict his adoration to the mother figure and anathematization of the father, a
psychoanalytic analyst would likely reconsider what certain stage in the psychoanalytic
development?
A. Oral Stage C. Genital Stage
B. Phallic Stage D. Sadistic-anal Stage
Answer: B (Phallic Stage) In this stage, the child undergoes the Oedipal complex of desire
for the mother, rivalry with the father, and appropriate super-ego guilt taught through
castration anxiety which causes the child to desire others outside of the family.

12. What do we call the practice as that initiated by Roland Barthes, of analyzing sign
systems, not just language, but objects, images, and behaviours, and which opens itself up
to literary and media studies of film, television, and pop culture?
A. Cryptology C. Semantics
B. Semiotics D. Intertextuality
Answer: B (Semiotics) Semiotics is a general philosophical theory of signs and symbols that
deals especially with their function in both artificially constructed and natural languages
and comprises syntactic, semantics, and pragmatics.

13. Which best-selling 1989 novel begins My father has asked me to be fourth corner at
the X. I am to replace my mother, whose seat at the mah-jong table has been empty since
she died two months ago?
A. The Notebook C. The Joy Luck Club
B. Waiting Between the Trees D. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Answer: C (The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan) It focuses on four Chinese American
immigrant families in San Francisco, California who start a club known as "the Joy Luck
Club," playing the Chinese game of mah-jong for money while feasting on a variety of
foods. The book is structured somewhat like a mah-jong game, with four parts divided into
four sections to create sixteen chapters.

14. Karataka and Damanaka are the names of the two jackals that are retainers to a lion
king. Their lively adventures as well as the stories they tell one another make up nearly half
of which classic ancient Sanskrit work?
A. The Panchatantra C. Jatakas
B. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves D. Sinbad, The Sailor

Answer: A (The Panchatantra) literally, Five Principles, it is a collection of originally
Indian animal fables in verse and prose. The original Sanskrit work, now long lost, and
which some scholars believe was composed in the 3rd century BCE, is attributed to Vishnu
Sarma.

15. John F. Kennedy's often quoted sentence in his 1961 inaugural address was inspired by
which Lebanese-American poet who wrote "Are you a politician asking what your country
can do for you or a zealous one asking what you can do for your country?..."?
A. Aminal Rayhani C. David Diop
B. Ibn Amjed D. Khalil Gibran
Answer: D (Khalil Gibran (1883-1931) He was born in Lebanon and spent much of his
productive life in the United States. One of his most notable lines of poetry in the English
speaking world is from Sand and Foam (1926), which reads : 'Half of what I say is
meaningless, but I say it so that the other half may reach you'. This was taken by John
Lennon and placed, though in a slightly altered form, into the song "Julia" from The
Beatles' 1968 album The Beatles (a.k.a. The White Album).

16. In what great 20th century novel does Rose of Sharon having lost her baby offer milk
from her breasts to a starving man?
A. The Grapes of Wrath C. Of Mice and Men
B. The Great Gatsby D. The Old Man and the Sea
Answer: A (The Grapes of Wrath) (1939) by John Steinbeck

17. After this novel was published in the country it was set in, the author was sued by
Mineko Iwasaki claiming that the author violated their agreement to protect her
anonymity if she told him about her life and profession. What is this 1997 novel that
chronicles the pursuit of Chiyo Sakamoto to become an entertainer?
A. The Makioka Sisters C. Haruki Murakami
B. Memoirs of a Geisha D. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Answer: (Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden) Golden listed Iwasaki as a source in his
acknowledgments for the novel, causing her to face a serious backlash. In 2003, Golden's
publisher settled with Iwasaki out of court for an undisclosed sum of money. Iwasaki later
went on to write her own autobiography, which shows a very different picture of twentieth-
century geisha life than the one shown in Golden's novel. The book was published as
Geisha, a Life in the U.S. and Geisha of Gion in the U.K.




18. Originally coined by a Czech theorist, Jan Mukarovsky as aktualisace, it is a term in
English borrowed from the Prague School of Linguistics and encompasses deviations from
linguistic or other socially accepted norms which invoke the analogy of a literary figure
seen against a background.
A. Foregrounding C. Stylistic Deviation
B. De-familiarization D. Automatization
Answer: A (Foregrounding) Foreground is a term usually used in art, having opposite
meaning to background. In literature foregrounding is described as artistically motivated
deviation which refers to stylistic effects that occur whether in at the phonetic,
grammatical and/or semantic levels.

19. What literary awards of the Philippines have been termed by the Manila Standard as
the Pulitzer Prize of the Philippines although, unlike the nominations for the Pulitzers,
entries to these awards competitions have to be previously unpublished pieces?
(NO CHOICES)
Answer: The Palanca Awards or the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.
The Palanca Awards, organized by the Carlos Palanca, is one of the Philippines most long-
running awards. It was established in 1950 to inspire Filipino writers to improve their
literary works. In 2009, it added a category for poetry for children in both Filipino and
English.

20. Which functional style of the English language has an aesthetic-cognitive function and
employs genuinely imaginative means and stylistic devices, the use of words in their
contextual meaning and the peculiar individual selection of syntax?
A. The Publicist Functional Style C. The Official Documents Functional Style
B. The Scientific Prose Functional Style D. The Belles-Letters Functional Style
Answer: D (The Belles-Letters Functional Style) The term BELLE is a French term which
literally means beautiful or fine. Belles Letters Functional Style of the English
language is usually employed in poetries, emotive prose and dramas.
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