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June 2024 English Regents — Answer Key & Worked Solutions

Every question from the June 2024 English Regents exam, with the correct answer and a full step-by-step solution. Check your work, learn the method, then see how it's scored.

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These are real questions from the June 2024 English New York State Regents examination, published by NYSED. Worked solutions are written by RegentsLab.

Question 1 · 2 pts
The stranger came early in February, one wintry day, through a biting wind and a driving snow, the last snowfall of the year, over the down, walking as it seemed from Bramblehurst railway station, and carrying a little black portmanteau in his thickly gloved hand. He was wrapped up from head to foot, and the brim of his soft felt hat hid every inch of his face but the shiny tip of his nose; the snow had piled itself against his shoulders and chest, and added a white crest to the burden he carried.

Mrs. Hall is not alarmed by the stranger (lines 1 through 6) because his

Given the biting wind, driving snow, and wintry conditions described, the stranger's heavy wrappings and gloves seem like sensible protection from the weather rather than a cause for suspicion.

Question 2 · 2 pts
He staggered into the Coach and Horses, more dead than alive as it seemed, and flung his portmanteau down. "A fire," he cried, "in the name of human charity! A room and a fire!" He stamped and shook the snow from off himself in the bar, and followed Mrs. Hall into her guest parlour to strike his bargain. And with that much introduction, that and a ready acquiescence to terms and a couple of sovereigns flung upon the table, he took up his quarters in the inn.

The description in lines 6 through 11 serves to introduce the stranger as

Staggering in "more dead than alive," flinging down his bag, and demanding a fire and room without delay show a man worn out by travel and impatient to be settled.

Question 3 · 2 pts
He staggered into the Coach and Horses... followed Mrs. Hall into her guest parlour to strike his bargain. And with that much introduction, that and a ready acquiescence to terms and a couple of sovereigns flung upon the table, he took up his quarters in the inn.

Which phrase from the passage best helps the reader understand "ready acquiescence" (line 10)?

"Ready acquiescence to terms" describes his quick agreement while settling the deal, which is exactly what "to strike his bargain" refers to.

Question 4 · 2 pts
He made no answer, and had turned his face away from her again, and Mrs. Hall, feeling that her conversational advances were ill-timed, laid the rest of the table things in a quick staccato and whisked out of the room. When she returned he was still standing there, like a man of stone, his back hunched, his collar turned up, his dripping hat-brim down, hiding his face and ears completely. She put down the eggs and bacon with considerable emphasis, and called rather than said to him, "Your lunch is served, sir."

Lines 29 through 34 reinforce the idea that

Her sense that her "conversational advances were ill-timed," her abrupt exit, and setting down the food "with considerable emphasis" reveal her frustration at his rude silence.

Question 5 · 2 pts
He held a white cloth, it was a serviette he had brought with him, over the lower part of his face, so that his mouth and jaws were completely hidden... But it was not that which startled Mrs. Hall. It was the fact that all his forehead above his blue glasses was covered by a white bandage, and that another covered his ears, leaving not a scrap of his face exposed excepting only his pink, peaked nose... This muffled and bandaged head was so unlike what she had anticipated, that for a moment she was rigid.

Lines 44 through 53 suggest that the image of the stranger

The text states his appearance "startled Mrs. Hall" and left her "rigid" for a moment, showing she was shocked by his completely bandaged, unexpected appearance.

Question 6 · 2 pts
When Mrs. Hall went to clear away the stranger's lunch, her idea that his mouth must also have been cut or disfigured in the accident she supposed him to have suffered, was confirmed, for he was smoking a pipe, and all the time that she was in the room he never loosened the silk muffler he had wrapped round the lower part of his face to put the mouthpiece to his lips.

Lines 61 through 65 suggest that Mrs. Hall

Mrs. Hall believes his hidden, bandaged face is the result of "the accident she supposed him to have suffered," showing she assumes an accidental mishap explains his condition.

Question 7 · 2 pts
He sat in the corner with his back to the window-blind and spoke now, having eaten and drunk and being comfortably warmed through, with less aggressive brevity than before. The reflection of the fire lent a kind of red animation to his big spectacles they had lacked hitherto.

Lines 66 through 69 impact the passage by

Now warmed and fed, the stranger speaks with "less aggressive brevity than before," signaling a shift in tone from his earlier curt, guarded manner toward Mrs. Hall.

Question 8 · 2 pts
Mrs. Hall, nothing loath, answered his questions and developed a conversation. "It's a steep road by the down, sir," she said in answer to the question about a trap; and then, snatching at an opening, said, "It was there a carriage was upsettled, a year ago and more. A gentleman killed, besides his coachman. Accidents, sir, happen in a moment, don't they?"

Mrs. Hall's objective in lines 75 through 78 is to

By "snatching at an opening" to bring up a dramatic accident and ask a leading question, Mrs. Hall is fishing for the stranger to open up and share more about himself.

Question 9 · 2 pts
"It was there a carriage was upsettled, a year ago and more. A gentleman killed, besides his coachman. Accidents, sir, happen in a moment, don't they?"

As used in line 77, the word "upsettled" most nearly means

In the context of a carriage accident that killed a gentleman and his coachman, "upsettled" means the carriage was overturned, or toppled.

Question 10 · 2 pts
He was wrapped up from head to foot... "I prefer to keep them on," he said with emphasis... He held a white cloth... over the lower part of his face, so that his mouth and jaws were completely hidden... all his forehead above his blue glasses was covered by a white bandage, and that another covered his ears, leaving not a scrap of his face exposed excepting only his pink, peaked nose.

Which statement best presents a theme of the passage?

The stranger's insistence on keeping his hat, glasses, and bandages on, and hiding nearly every inch of his face and body, reflects a deep desire to keep himself concealed and private.

Question 11 · 2 pts
The other day as I was ricocheting slowly off the pale blue walls of this room, bouncing from typewriter to piano, from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor, I found myself in the L section of the dictionary where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

Which phrase helps to clarify the meaning of the word "ricocheting" in line 1?

"Bouncing from" typewriter to piano to bookshelf directly restates and clarifies the aimless, bounding movement described by "ricocheting."

Question 12 · 2 pts
I found myself in the L section of the dictionary where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard. No cookie nibbled by a French novelist could send one more suddenly into the past, a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp by a deep Adirondack lake learning how to braid thin plastic strips into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

The comparison of the lanyard to the cookie (lines 5 through 8) serves to

Just as Proust's cookie triggered a sudden rush of memory, the word "lanyard" instantly carries the narrator back to his childhood at camp.

Question 13 · 2 pts
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp by a deep Adirondack lake learning how to braid thin plastic strips into a lanyard, a gift for my mother. I had never seen anyone use a lanyard or wear one, if that's what you did with them, but that did not keep me from crossing strand over strand again and again until I had made a boxy red and white lanyard for my mother.

Lines 9 through 18 reveal that the boy believes

Even though he had never seen anyone actually use a lanyard, he persisted "again and again" to finish it as a gift, showing his belief that his effort would please her.

Question 14 · 2 pts
She gave me life and milk from her breasts, and I gave her a lanyard... And here, I wish to say to her now, is a smaller gift, not the archaic truth that you can never repay your mother, but the rueful admission that when she took the two-tone lanyard from my hands, I was as sure as a boy could be that this useless, worthless thing I wove out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

The poem conveys a reflection on the

By contrasting the mother's immeasurable sacrifices (life, milk, meals, education) with the boy's trivial lanyard, the poem reflects on the boundless, unrepayable value of a mother's love.

Question 15 · 2 pts
In work and in life, we are constantly taught that acting early is the key to success, because "he who hesitates is lost." ... There are, of course, clear advantages to speed: we can be sure to finish what we start and beat competitors to market. But surprisingly, as I've studied originals, I've learned that the advantages of acting quickly and being first are often outweighed by the disadvantages. It's true that the early bird gets the worm, but we can't forget that the early worm gets caught.

Which statement helps clarify the meaning of the metaphor, "the early bird gets the worm" (lines 7 and 8)?

The metaphor "the early bird gets the worm" echoes the widely taught idea stated in line 1 that acting early leads to success.

Question 16 · 2 pts
Shin proposed that when you put off a task, you buy yourself time to engage in divergent thinking rather than foreclosing on one particular idea. As a result, you consider a wider range of original concepts and ultimately choose a more novel direction.

As used in line 14, the word "divergent" most nearly means

"Divergent thinking," as opposed to "foreclosing on one particular idea," means considering a wider range of different concepts.

Question 17 · 2 pts
Recently, an unusually creative doctoral student named Jihae Shin approached me with a counterintuitive idea: procrastination might be conducive to originality. When you procrastinate, you're intentionally delaying work that needs to be done. You might be thinking about the task, but you postpone making real progress on it or finishing it to do something less productive. Shin proposed that when you put off a task, you buy yourself time to engage in divergent thinking rather than foreclosing on one particular idea.

According to lines 9 through 16, Shin's theory suggests that

Shin's theory is that delaying a task "buys time" for divergent thinking and a wider range of concepts, meaning procrastination gives ideas room to develop.

Question 18 · 2 pts
When Shin randomly assigned some of the participants to procrastinate, putting off the task to play computer games like Minesweeper, FreeCell, and Solitaire, they produced more novel business ideas, like a tutoring center and a storage facility.

It may be inferred from lines 19 through 22 that the individuals who were directed to put off the task "to play computer games" were more likely to

The passage states these participants "produced more novel business ideas," showing they were more likely to generate original solutions.

Question 19 · 2 pts
Delaying progress enabled them to spend more time considering different ways to accomplish it, rather than "seizing and freezing" on one particular strategy.

The phrase "seizing and freezing" (line 37) emphasizes the

"Seizing and freezing" describes grabbing the first idea and locking onto it immediately, which the passage frames as a pitfall of acting too quickly without considering alternatives.

Question 20 · 2 pts
Long before the modern obsession with efficiency precipitated by the Industrial Revolution and the Protestant work ethic, civilizations recognized the benefits of procrastination. In ancient Egypt, there were two different verbs for procrastination: one denoted laziness; the other meant waiting for the right time.

The purpose of lines 38 through 42 is to present

The lines contrast the modern efficiency-obsessed view with ancient Egypt's more nuanced view (having two separate verbs for procrastination), showing how attitudes have differed historically.

Question 21 · 2 pts
The pioneers were first movers: the initial company to develop or sell a product. The settlers were slower to launch, waiting until the pioneers had created a market before entering it. When Golder and Tellis analyzed hundreds of brands in three dozen different product categories, they found a staggering difference in failure rates: 47 percent for pioneers, compared with just 8 percent for settlers.

Golder and Tellis's findings (lines 49 through 57) suggest that settlers' success is the result of

Settlers deliberately waited until the market was established before entering, a matter of strategic timing that led to much lower failure rates than pioneers.

Question 22 · 2 pts
When Golder and Tellis analyzed hundreds of brands in three dozen different product categories, they found a staggering difference in failure rates: 47 percent for pioneers, compared with just 8 percent for settlers.

The "staggering difference" in lines 53 and 54 refers to a comparison between the

The "staggering difference" directly refers to the failure rate statistics, 47 percent versus 8 percent, comparing the success/failure rates of pioneer and settler companies.

Question 23 · 2 pts
A settler, Nintendo, acquired the Odyssey's distribution rights for Japan in 1975, and then blew Magnavox out of the water in the following decade by creating an original Nintendo Entertainment System that featured games like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. Nintendo transformed gaming with a user-friendly controller, sophisticated characters, and interactive role-playing.

In the context of lines 63 through 68, the phrase "blew Magnavox out of the water" suggests the author's

The author's enthusiastic praise of Nintendo for having "transformed gaming" with innovative features conveys clear admiration for its achievement.

Question 24 · 2 pts
Procrastination may be the enemy of productivity, but it can be a resource for creativity.

Which statement best reflects a central idea of the text?

This line directly summarizes the passage's overarching argument that although procrastination hurts productivity, it can serve as a valuable resource for creative thinking.

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