Regents Victory Companion Worksheet
REGENTS HIGH SCHOOL EXAMINATION COMPANION 4TH GRADE SUCCESS SCATTER
Regents Victory Companion
Your special helper guide for the ELA Regents Exam (June 2025). This booklet matches the teacher's slides page-for-page!
Passage Margins
Stuck on a hard sentence? Look directly to the yellow sidebar! It translates long, difficult high school lines into clear, simple ideas.
Word Banks
Every highlighted word in your text has an easy definition sitting right next to it in the Word Bank. No guessing needed!
Question Decoders
Regents questions use confusing words. Beneath each question, you will find a "Decoder Box" that explains exactly what to look for.
Perfect 1:1 Match
Page numbers and paragraph lines match the official test exactly. When the teacher says, "Look at Page 3, line 45," look at Page 3 of this book!
A Note for You
"Take a deep breath. You are capable of amazing reading. Use your tools, take your time, and enjoy the stories!"
Regents Exam in ELA — June '25 [1] Success Guide for Independent Readers
PART 1: READING COMPREHENSION PASSAGE A: PROSE
Reading Comprehension Passage A
The Possibility of Evil
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…She [Miss Adela Strangeworth] knew everyone in town, of course; she was fond of telling strangers—tourists who sometimes passed through the town and stopped to admire Miss Strangeworth’s roses—that she had never spent more than a day outside this town in all her long life. She was seventy-one, Miss Strangeworth told the tourists, with a pretty little dimple showing by her lip, and she sometimes found herself thinking that the town belonged to her. “My grandfather built the first house on Pleasant Street,” she would say, opening her blue eyes wide with the wonder of it. “This house, right here. My family has lived here for better than a hundred years. My grandmother planted these roses, and my mother tended them, just as I do. I’ve watched my town grow; I can remember when Mr. Lewis, Senior, opened the grocery store, and the year the river flooded out the shanties on the low road, and the excitement when some young folks wanted to move the park over to the space in front of where the new post office is today. They wanted to put up a statue of Ethan Allen”—Miss Strangeworth would frown a little and sound stern—“but it should have been a statue of my grandfather. There wouldn’t have been a town here at all if it hadn’t been for my grandfather and the lumber mill.” …
20
Walking down Main Street on a summer morning, Miss Strangeworth had to stop every minute or so to say good morning to someone or to ask after someone’s health. When she came into the grocery, half a dozen people turned away from the shelves and the counters to wave at her or call out good morning. …
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“Good morning,” Mr. Lewis said, and added politely, “lovely day.”
“It is a very nice day,” Miss Strangeworth said as though she had only just decided it would do after all. “I would like a chop, please, Mr. Lewis, a small, lean veal chop. Are those strawberries from Arthur Parker’s garden? They’re early this year.”
“He brought them in this morning,” Mr. Lewis said.
“I shall have a box,” Miss Strangeworth said. Mr. Lewis looked worried, she thought, and for a minute she hesitated, but then she decided that he surely could not be worried over the strawberries. He looked very tired indeed. He was usually so chipper, Miss Strangeworth thought, and almost commented, but it was far too personal a subject to be introduced to Mr. Lewis, the grocer, so she only said, “And a can of cat food and, I think, a tomato.” …
35
Miss Strangeworth moved slightly to make room for Mrs. Harper at the counter.
“Morning, Adela,” Mrs. Harper said, and Miss Strangeworth said, “Good morning, Martha.” …
“Ran out of sugar for my cake frosting,” Mrs. Harper explained. Her hand shook slightly as she opened her pocketbook. Miss Strangeworth wondered, glancing at her quickly, if she had been taking proper care of herself. Martha Harper was not as young as she used to be, Miss Strangeworth thought. She probably could use a good, strong tonic.
“Martha,” she said, “you don’t look well.”
Word Bank
- strangers / tourists: visitors.
- admire: look at with joy.
- dimple: small dent in cheek.
- tended: took care of.
- stern: strict and serious.
- lumber mill: wood factory.
- veal chop: small slice of meat.
- chipper: happy and cheerful.
- personal: private / secret.
- grocer: food seller.
- tonic: healthy liquid medicine.
Margin Notes
📌 Lines 1-15: Miss Strangeworth is 71. She feels like she owns the town because her grandfather built the first house. She is extremely proud of her roses.
📌 Lines 16-19: She walks Main Street and greets everyone. She loves feeling popular.
📌 Lines 20-35: She stops at the food store. The owner (Mr. Lewis) and neighbor (Mrs. Harper) look tired and upset, but she stays out of their personal business for now.
Regents Exam in ELA — June '25 [2] Grade 4 Reader Support Guide
PART 1: READING COMPREHENSION PASSAGE A CONTINUED
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“I’m perfectly all right,” Mrs. Harper said shortly. She handed her money to Mr. Lewis, took her change and her sugar, and went out without speaking again. Looking after her, Miss Strangeworth shook her head slightly. Martha definitely did not look well. …
Many people seemed disturbed recently, Miss Strangeworth thought. Only yesterday the Stewarts’ fifteen-year-old Linda had run crying down her own front walk and all the way to school, not caring who saw her. People around town thought she might have had a fight with the Harris boy, but they showed up together at the soda shop after school as usual, both of them looking grim and bleak. Trouble at home, people concluded, and sighed over the problems of trying to raise kids right these days.
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From halfway down the block Miss Strangeworth could catch the heavy accent of her roses, and she moved a little more quickly. The perfume of roses meant home, and home meant the Strangeworth House on Pleasant Street. Miss Strangeworth stopped at her own front gate, as she always did, and looked with deep pleasure at her house, with the red and pink and white roses massed along the narrow lawn, and the rambler going up along the porch; and the neat, the unbelievably trim lines of the house itself, with its slimness and its washed white look. Every window sparkled, every curtain hung stiff and straight, and even the stones of the front walk were swept and clear. People around town wondered how old Miss Strangeworth managed to keep the house looking the way it did, and there was a legend about a tourist once mistaking it for the local museum and going all through the place without finding out about his mistake. But the town was proud of Miss Strangeworth and her roses and her house. They had all grown together. Miss Strangeworth went up her front steps, unlocked her front door with her key, and went into the kitchen to put away her groceries. She debated having a cup of tea and then decided that it was too close to midday dinnertime; she would not have the appetite for her little chop if she had tea now. Instead she went into the light, lovely sitting room, which still glowed from the hands of her mother and her grandmother, who had covered the chairs with bright chintz and hung the curtains. All the furniture was spare and shining, and the round hooked rugs on the floor had been the work of Miss Strangeworth’s grandmother and her mother. Miss Strangeworth had put a bowl of her red roses on the low table before the window, and the room was full of their scent.
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Miss Strangeworth went to the narrow desk in the corner, and unlocked it with her key. She never knew when she might feel like writing letters, so she kept her notepaper inside, and the desk locked. Miss Strangeworth’s usual stationery was heavy and cream-colored, with “Strangeworth House” engraved across the top, but, when she felt like writing her other letters, Miss Strangeworth used a pad of various-colored paper, bought from the local newspaper shop. It was almost a town joke, that colored paper, layered in pink and green and blue and yellow; everyone in town bought it and used it for odd, informal notes and shopping lists. It was usual to remark, upon receiving a note written on a blue page, that so-and-so would be needing a new pad soon—here she was, down to the blue already. Everyone used the matching envelopes for tucking away recipes, or keeping odd little things in, or even to hold cookies in the school lunch boxes. Mr. Lewis sometimes gave them to the children for carrying home penny candy. …
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After thinking for a minute, she decided that she would like to write another letter, perhaps to go to Mrs. Harper, to follow up the ones she had already mailed. She selected a green sheet this time and wrote quickly: Have you found out yet what they were all laughing about after you left the bridge club on Thursday? Or is the wife really always the last one to know?
Word Bank
- disturbed: upset or worried.
- grim & bleak: sad/hopeless.
- concluded: guessed or decided.
- accent: strong smell.
- rambler: climbing vine.
- trim: neat and clean.
- legend: famous story.
- appetite: hunger.
- chintz: colorful fabric.
- scent: sweet smell.
- stationery: letter paper.
- engraved: printed fancy.
- informal: casual.
Margin Notes
📌 Lines 36-45: Miss Strangeworth notices that many people in town seem deeply upset or worried lately, including local teens.
📌 Lines 46-67: She loves her perfect home. It is so clean and neat that tourists sometimes think it is a museum!
📌 Lines 68-78: She keeps secret colored paper locked in her desk. Everyone in town uses this paper, making it perfect for writing secret, unsigned notes.
📌 Lines 79-80: She writes a mean letter to Mrs. Harper, asking if people laugh at her behind her back.
Regents Exam in ELA — June '25 [3] Grade 4 Reader Support Guide
PART 1: READING COMPREHENSION PASSAGE A CONCLUSION
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Miss Strangeworth never concerned herself with facts; her letters all dealt with the more negotiable stuff of suspicion. Mr. Lewis would never have imagined for a minute that his grandson might be lifting petty cash from the store register if he had not had one of Miss Strangeworth’s letters. Miss Chandler, the librarian, and Linda Stewart’s parents would have gone unsuspectingly ahead with their lives, never aware of possible evil lurking nearby, if Miss Strangeworth had not sent letters to open their eyes. Miss Strangeworth would have been genuinely shocked if there had been anything between Linda Stewart and the Harris boy, but, as long as evil existed unchecked in the world, it was Miss Strangeworth’s duty to keep her town alert to it. It was far more sensible for Miss Chandler to wonder what Mr. Shelley’s first wife had really died of than to take a chance on not knowing. There were so many wicked people in the world and only one Strangeworth left in town. Besides, Miss Strangeworth liked writing her letters. …
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She had been writing her letters—sometimes two or three every day for a week, sometimes no more than one in a month—for the past year. She never got any answers, of course, because she never signed her name. If she had been asked, she would have said that her name, Adela Strangeworth, a name honored in the town for so many years, did not belong on such trash. The town where she lived had to be kept clean and sweet, but people everywhere were lustful and evil and degraded, and needed to be watched; the world was so large, and there was only one Strangeworth left in it. Miss Strangeworth sighed, locked her desk, and put the letters into her big, black leather pocketbook, to be mailed when she took her evening walk. …
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She drew the shades, took the rose-satin spread from the bed, slipped out of her dress and her shoes, and lay down tiredly. She knew that no doorbell or phone would ring; no one in town would dare to disturb Miss Strangeworth during her afternoon nap. She slept, deep in the rich smell of roses. …
—Shirley Jackson, adapted from “The Possibility of Evil” (1997)
Word Bank
- negotiable: unreal; easily changed.
- suspicion: guessing someone did a bad thing without proof.
- lifting petty cash: stealing store money.
- unsuspectingly: not knowing.
- evil lurking: bad things hiding.
- duty: an important job.
- alert: watchful.
- wicked: bad or evil.
- honored: highly respected.
- trash: worthless letters.
- degraded: ruined and shameful.
Margin Notes
📌 Lines 81-94: She writes mean letters based on rumors, not facts. She believes she is protecting the town from "evil." She actually enjoys doing it.
📌 Lines 95-104: She never signs her name because she thinks her respected name shouldn't be on such "trash." She believes she is the only good person left in town.
📌 Lines 105-107: She sleeps peacefully, feeling completely safe and proud.
Regents Exam in ELA — June '25 [4] Grade 4 Reader Support Guide
PART 1: QUESTIONS 1-10 (PASSAGE A) QUESTION DECODER ACTIVE
1 The first paragraph develops a central idea regarding Miss Strangeworth’s
(1) sense of entitlement
(2) acceptance of strangers
(3) kindness towards others
(4) comfort with flattery
💡 Decoder: What does paragraph 1 show? "Entitlement" means she feels better than everyone else and deserves special treatment.
2 Miss Strangeworth’s opinion about Mrs. Harper (lines 33 through 39) could best be described as
(1) kindly (3) critical
(2) superficial (4) gracious
💡 Decoder: What is her attitude? "Critical" means judging someone harshly or finding faults in them.
3 The statement “many people seemed disturbed recently” (line 40) hints at
(1) a strong understanding
(2) a possible motive
(3) an unlikely problem
(4) an unpleasant reality
💡 Decoder: It shows an unpleasant reality (a sad truth) about the town—many people are actually suffering or upset.
4 The details in lines 46 through 53 suggest that Miss Strangeworth
(1) believes that her lifestyle is superior
(2) resents the appearance of her neighbors’ homes
(3) thinks that the neighbors are envious of her
(4) appreciates the closeness of her community
💡 Decoder: Look at how she describes her neat house. She thinks her way of living is superior (better than anyone else's).
5 Lines 69 through 78 indicate that Miss Strangeworth
(1) wishes to appear sophisticated
(2) wants to remain anonymous
(3) enjoys expensive traditions
(4) values proper communication
💡 Decoder: Why does she use cheap paper instead of her famous family paper? She wants to stay anonymous (keep her name secret).
6 Lines 83 through 94 detail Miss Strangeworth’s
(1) justification of the methods of her actions
(2) generosity of charity towards others
(3) purity of intentions towards others
(4) understanding of the impact of her actions
💡 Decoder: "Justification" means making excuses. She invents excuses to explain why her mean secret letters are actually a good deed.
7 The decision to italicize the word had in line 89 emphasizes that Miss Strangeworth
(1) dislikes judging other people
(2) prefers living life in the past
(3) knows her accusations are false
(4) believes her reputation is secure
💡 Decoder: Miss Strangeworth would be shocked if there had been anything... This word shows she knows her rumors are completely false.
8 The statement “There were so many wicked people in the world and only one Strangeworth left in town” (lines 92 and 93) is an example of
(1) personification (3) allusion
(2) irony (4) metaphor
💡 Decoder: This is irony (when the opposite of what is expected happens). She thinks she is the only good person, but she is the one hurting people!
9 The final paragraph stresses that
(1) the vision of the town presented in the first paragraph is true
(2) Miss Strangeworth is satisfied with her life in her town
(3) Miss Strangeworth believes that everything is perfect in her town
(4) the security of the town is based on the routines of daily life
💡 Decoder: She lies down for a nice nap, feeling completely satisfied and happy with her day of spreading secrets.
10 Throughout the text, Miss Strangeworth’s roses represent the
(1) beauty of the image Miss Strangeworth wishes to project
(2) sweetness of Miss Strangeworth’s temperament
(3) loveliness of Miss Strangeworth’s view of the world
(4) preciousness of the people Miss Strangeworth seeks to protect
💡 Decoder: The perfect roses hide her ugly secret letters. They represent the beautiful image she wishes to project (show) to the town.
Regents Exam in ELA — June '25 [5] Grade 4 Reader Support Guide
PART 1: READING COMPREHENSION PASSAGE B: POEM
Reading Comprehension Passage B
Naming the Birds
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The beach is noiseless, stretching behind my father’s house, a mile of stones and driftwood for those herons, ghostlike, carefully picking their way down the shoreline, all knees and neck, looking for crabs or something they lost in the surf, and my father points at them and says their names like he is making a wish.
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Then they are all gone and it’s just me and the seagulls hover overhead saying their own names, the sky making those sounds airplanes make when the world has nothing left to say to you.
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I have no memory of any wish of mine coming true, no knowledge of how a man turns to another man and promises never to leave him, but the other day I named the shadow of a cardinal through a frosty window for my son, described it so he would know it when he sees one for himself.
—W. Todd Kaneko, “Naming the Birds” (2020)
Word Bank
- noiseless: completely silent.
- driftwood: wood washed onto the beach.
- herons: tall water birds.
- ghostlike: quiet, pale, and mysterious.
- surf: ocean waves.
- hover: float in one spot.
- memory: remembering the past.
- cardinal: bright red bird.
- frosty: cold and icy.
Margin Notes
📌 Lines 1-11: The writer remembers walking the quiet beach with their father, who made pointing at and naming birds feel like a magical wish.
📌 Lines 12-17: The father and the magical herons leave. Loud, lonely seagulls fly overhead.
📌 Lines 18-25: Although the writer's own wishes never came true, they pass this naming tradition down to their own son.
Regents Exam in ELA — June '25 [6] Grade 4 Reader Support Guide
PART 1: QUESTIONS 11-14 (PASSAGE B) QUESTION DECODER ACTIVE
11 The herons’ searching for something “they lost” (line 9) implies
(1) the speaker’s admiration of their efforts
(2) the speaker’s fears for their survival
(3) a competition between the speaker and them
(4) a parallel between the speaker and them
💡 Decoder: Why does the writer say the birds lost something? A "parallel" means they are matching—the speaker is also searching for something lost in their life.
12 In the context of the poem as a whole, line 12 signals that the
(1) waves are forceful and the beach is calm
(2) speaker is thinking about a past event
(3) father is looking at the birds but not talking
(4) birds are too far away for the speaker to hear
💡 Decoder: Line 12 says: "Then they are all gone and it's just me." This marks a shift from a warm memory of the past to the lonely present.
13 The descriptions of the “herons” (line 4) and the “seagulls” (line 13) suggest a
(1) contrast between what is remembered and what is present
(2) comparison between the habits of the two species
(3) regard for the presence of such beautiful birds
(4) recognition of the significance of the past and its lessons
💡 Decoder: "Contrast" means showing differences. The beautiful herons are in the happy past memory; the noisy seagulls are in the lonely present.
14 The naming of the birds throughout the poem serves to
(1) affirm a respect for nature
(2) create a link between generations
(3) exemplify the importance of words
(4) distinguish the species of birds
💡 Decoder: The father named birds for the speaker, and now the speaker names birds for their son. This creates a link (connection) between generations (family ages).
Regents Exam in ELA — June '25 [7] Grade 4 Reader Support Guide
PART 1: READING COMPREHENSION PASSAGE C: NONFICTION
Reading Comprehension Passage C
A Forgotten Black Founding Father: Why I’ve Made it My Mission to Teach Others About Prince Hall
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Massachusetts abolished enslavement before the Treaty of Paris brought an end to the American Revolution, in 1783. The state constitution, adopted in 1780 and drafted by John Adams, follows the Declaration of Independence in proclaiming that all “men are born free and equal.” In this statement Adams followed not only the Declaration but also a 1764 pamphlet by the Boston lawyer James Otis, who theorized about and popularized the familiar idea of “no taxation without representation” and also unequivocally asserted human equality. “The Colonists,” he wrote, “are by the law of nature free born, as indeed all men are, white or black.” In 1783, on the basis of the “free and equal” clause in the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution, the state’s chief justice, William Cushing, ruled enslavement unconstitutional in a case that one Quock Walker had brought against his enslaver, Nathaniel Jennison.
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Many of us who live in Massachusetts know the basic outlines of this story and the early role the state played in standing against enslavement. But told in this traditional way, the story leaves out another transformative figure: Prince Hall, a free African American and a contemporary of John Adams. From his formal acquisition of freedom, in 1770, until his death, in 1807, Hall helped forge an activist Black community in Boston while elevating the cause of abolition to new prominence. Hall was the first American to publicly use the language of the Declaration of Independence for a political purpose other than justifying war against Britain. In January 1777, just six months after the promulgation of the Declaration and nearly three years before Adams drafted the state constitution, Hall submitted a petition to the Massachusetts legislature requesting emancipation, invoking the resonant phrases and founding truths of the Declaration itself.
Prince Hall's Actual Letter (1777):
The petition of A Great Number of Blackes detained in a State of Slavery in the Bowels of a free & christian Country Humbly shuwith that your Petitioners Apprehend that Thay have in Common with all other men a Natural and Unaliable Right to that freedom which the Grat — Parent of the Unavese hath Bestowed equalley on all menkind...
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In this passage, Hall invokes the core concepts of social-contract theory, which grounded the American Revolution, to argue for an extension of the claim to equal rights to those who were enslaved. He acknowledged and adopted the intellectual framework of the new political arrangements, but also pointedly called out the original sin of enslavement itself. …
Hall was a relentless petitioner, undaunted by setbacks. When Hall submitted his 1777 petition, co-signed by seven other free Black men, to the Massachusetts legislature, he was building on the efforts of other African Americans in the state to abolish enslavement.
Word Bank
- abolished / abolition: ended slavery.
- constitution: highest state rules.
- unequivocally: completely and clearly.
- unconstitutional: against the law.
- transformative: changing history.
- contemporary: living at the same time.
- activist: person fighting for rights.
- petition: formal request letter.
- relentless / undaunted: never giving up.
Margin Notes
📌 Lines 1-10: Massachusetts ended slavery early. The court ruled slavery was illegal because the state rules said "all men are born free and equal."
📌 Lines 11-22: Prince Hall was a free Black leader whom history books often forget. In 1777, he used the words of the Declaration of Independence to ask the government to free all slaves.
📌 Lines 23-33 (Translation): Hall wrote: "Black people have a natural right to freedom given by God. They were stolen from their homes and sold like animals."
Regents Exam in ELA — June '25 [8] Grade 4 Reader Support Guide
PART 1: READING COMPREHENSION PASSAGE C CONTINUED
43
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and its neighboring towns put forward six known petitions and likely more to this end. Hall led the formation of the first Black Masonic lodge in the Americas, and possibly in the world. The purpose of forming the lodge was to provide mutual aid and support and to create an infrastructure for advocacy. Fourteen men joined Hall’s lodge almost surely in 1775, and in the years from then until 1784, records reveal that 51 Black men participated in the lodge. Through the lodge’s history, one can trace a fascinating story of the life of Boston’s free Black community in the final decades of the 18th century.
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Why did Hall choose Freemasonry as one of his life’s passions? Alonza Tehuti Evans, a former historian and archivist of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, took up that question in a 2017 lecture. Hall and his fellow lodge members, he explained, recognized that many of the influential people in Boston—and throughout the colonies—were deeply involved in Freemasonry. George Washington is a prominent example, and symbolism that resonates with Masonic meaning adorns the $1 bill to this day. Hall saw entrance into Freemasonry as a pathway to securing influence and a network of supporters. …
60
In the winter and spring of 1788, Hall was leading a charge in Boston against enslavers who made a practice of using deception or other means to kidnap free Black people, take them shipboard, and remove them to distant locations, where they would be sold into enslavement. He submitted a petition to the Massachusetts legislature seeking aid—asking legislators to “do us that justice that our present condition requires”—and publicized his petition in newspapers in Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. …
65
Prince Hall’s work on abolition and its enforcement was just the beginning of a lifetime of advocacy. Disillusioned by how hard it was to secure equal rights for free Black men and women in Boston, he submitted a petition to the Massachusetts legislature seeking funds to assist him and other free Blacks in emigrating to Africa. That same year, he also turned his energies to advocating for resources for public education. Through all, his Masonic membership proved both instrumental and spiritually valuable.
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Founding the lodge had not been easy. Although Hall and his fellows were most likely inducted into Freemasonry in 1775, they were never able to secure a formal charter for their lodge from the other lodges in Massachusetts: Prejudice ran strong. Hall and his fellows had in fact probably been inducted by members of an Irish military lodge, planted in Boston with the British army, who had proved willing to introduce them to the mysteries of the order. Hall’s lodge functioned as an unofficial Masonic society—African Lodge No. 1—but received a formal charter only after a request was sent to England for a warrant. The granting of a charter by the Grand Lodge of England finally arrived in 1787.
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In seeking this charter, Hall had written to Masons in England, lamenting that lodges in Boston had not permitted him and his fellows a full charter but had granted a permit only to “walk on St John’s Day and Bury our dead in form which we now enjoy.” Hall wanted full privileges, not momentary sufferance...
Word Bank
- lodge: local club or group.
- mutual aid: helping each other.
- Freemasonry: a powerful secret club.
- influential: having power and impact.
- network: group of supporters.
- deception: tricking people.
- disillusioned: disappointed by unfairness.
- charter: official license.
- prejudice: racism or unfair dislike.
Margin Notes
📌 Lines 43-48: Hall started a Black Masonic Lodge (club) so free Black people had a safe support system.
📌 Lines 49-56: He chose this club because powerful leaders (like George Washington) were Masons. It helped him build supportive connections.
📌 Lines 57-68: He fought evil kidnappers who sold free Black people back into slavery. He also built schools.
📌 Lines 69-84: White lodges in Boston blocked them. Hall bypassed them by getting an official charter directly from England.
Regents Exam in ELA — June '25 [9] Grade 4 Reader Support Guide
PART 1: PASSAGE C CONCL. & QUESTIONS 15-22 DECODER ACTIVE
Passage C Conclusion (Lines 85-87):
"like a hall pass—an opportunity to have a parade as a community, to come out and step high, without harassment..." —Danielle Allen, March 2021
💡 Decoder Note:
The club license was like a "hall pass." It let Black people safely gather, march in parades, and have peaceful funerals without being harassed.
15 The word “unequivocally” (line 6) most likely means
(1) clearly (3) judgmentally
(2) harshly (4) repeatedly
💡 Decoder: It means stating something directly, leaving no doubt. It means clearly.
16 The use of the word “forge” in line 15 suggests Hall’s
(1) reassessment of his principles
(2) shrewd means of attaining his goals
(3) gradual emergence as an historical figure
(4) determination to create equality
💡 Decoder: To "forge" means to craft with heavy, careful effort. This shows his deep determination to create equality.
17 Lines 14 through 16 contribute to a central idea that what was needed to advance the cause of freedom was
(1) devoted followers (3) a committed leader
(2) federal courts (4) a united legislature
💡 Decoder: Look at what Hall accomplished. To push for big changes, they needed a committed leader who wouldn't quit.
18 Hall’s use of lines from the Declaration of Independence in his petition (lines 23 through 33) indicates that he was
(1) showing respect for the process
(2) trying to criticize legislators
(3) skilled at repurposing an argument
(4) capable of outsmarting the court
💡 Decoder: Hall used the country's own founding words to show slavery was wrong. He was skilled at repurposing (reusing) an argument.
19 Hall chose to seek membership in the Freemasons (lines 51 through 55) because it
(1) would allow him to fully integrate into the upper class
(2) gave him the best chance to make powerful connections
(3) could enhance his chance to hold a political office
(4) presented an opportunity to raise money for court cases
💡 Decoder: Why did he join? He saw that powerful leaders were Masons, which gave him the best chance to make powerful connections.
20 As used in line 68, the word “instrumental” most nearly means
(1) sensible (3) impressive
(2) academic (4) essential
💡 Decoder: "Instrumental" means acts as a highly helpful tool. In this sentence, it means essential (necessary and valuable).
21 Lines 69 through 73 reflect a central idea that induction into Freemasonry did not necessarily
(1) adhere to the Masonic laws established in separate countries
(2) guarantee equal treatment throughout all Masonic society
(3) prevent secret persecution of Masonic members
(4) encourage participation in Masonic business by new members
💡 Decoder: Even inside this powerful club, white Masons in Boston treated them unfairly. It didn't guarantee equal treatment.
22 Which phrase best depicts Hall’s role in history?
(1) “Boston lawyer” (line 5)
(2) “transformative figure” (line 13)
(3) “historian and archivist” (line 50)
(4) “Massachusetts legislature” (line 65)
💡 Decoder: Hall is described as a "transformative figure" because he permanently and deeply changed history.
Regents Exam in ELA — June '25 [10] Grade 4 Reader Support Guide
PART 1: QUESTIONS 23-24 (PASSAGE C) QUESTION DECODER ACTIVE
23 Which quotation best reflects a central idea of the passage?
(1) “Massachusetts abolished enslavement before the Treaty of Paris brought an end to the American Revolution, in 1783” (lines 1 and 2)
(2) “Many of us who live in Massachusetts know the basic outlines of this story and the early role the state played in standing against enslavement” (lines 11 and 12)
(3) “Hall’s work on abolition and its enforcement was just the beginning of a lifetime of advocacy” (lines 63 and 64)
(4) “Hall and his fellows had in fact probably been inducted by members of an Irish military lodge, planted in Boston with the British army” (lines 71 through 73)
💡 DECODER BOX: Central Idea
Which quote shows the main point of the whole text? The passage is mostly about how Prince Hall worked his entire life (a "lifetime of advocacy") to fight for the rights and education of Black people.
24 The author’s purpose for including several familiar, historical names throughout the text is most likely to point out that Hall
(1) became an associate of historical figures who signed the Declaration of Independence
(2) earned his place as an historical figure for being a founding member of the Freemasons
(3) deserves to be considered an historical figure for his contribution to ending slavery
(4) used his associations with historical figures to pass laws to end slavery
💡 DECODER BOX: Author's Purpose
Why does the author talk about John Adams and George Washington? The author wants to show that Prince Hall belongs in the history books and deserves to be considered a key historical figure right alongside them.
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Regents Exam in ELA — June '25 [11] Grade 4 Reader Support Guide
