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PEI ELA English study materials
PEI ELA English study resources

PEI ELA English practice questions

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Question 1Reading and Viewing

In a short story, a character's spoken words are set off by quotation marks while the narrator's description of the room uses plain prose. Which reading concept best explains the difference between these two kinds of text?

  1. Foreshadowing versus flashback
  2. Theme versus plot
  3. Rhyme versus rhythm
  4. Dialogue versus narration Correct answer.

Explanation

Quotation marks signal dialogue, the words spoken by characters, while the surrounding plain prose is narration delivered by the narrator. Recognizing this distinction helps a reader track who is speaking and how the narrator frames events.

Question 2Reading and Viewing

A reader encounters the sentence 'The wind clawed at the shutters all night.' Which technique is the writer using when describing the wind this way?

  1. Alliteration
  2. Onomatopoeia
  3. Personification Correct answer.
  4. Hyperbole

Explanation

Giving the wind the human or animal action of clawing is personification, which attributes living qualities to a non-living thing. The image makes the wind feel threatening and active rather than merely strong.

Question 3Reading and Viewing

In a poem, the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that gives the lines a beat is called which element?

  1. Tone
  2. Meter Correct answer.
  3. Stanza
  4. Imagery

Explanation

Meter is the measured arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables that creates a poem's rhythm. It is a structural sound feature, distinct from the grouping of lines or the sensory content of the poem.

Question 4Reading and Viewing

A passage presents a character's private thoughts in a flowing, unbroken stream with little punctuation. Which narrative technique is the writer using?

  1. Direct address
  2. Stream of consciousness Correct answer.
  3. Frame narrative
  4. Stage directions

Explanation

Stream of consciousness renders a character's thoughts as they flow, often without conventional punctuation or logical order. It lets readers experience the mind directly rather than through a summarizing narrator.

Question 5Reading and Viewing

Which statement best describes the role of a thesis in an analytical response to a literary text?

  1. It describes the writer's personal feelings about reading.
  2. It lists every quotation the writer might use.
  3. It states the central claim the response will support with evidence. Correct answer.
  4. It summarizes the plot from beginning to end.

Explanation

A thesis presents the arguable central claim that the rest of the response supports with textual evidence and reasoning. It guides the structure of the analysis rather than retelling events or cataloguing quotations.

Question 6Reading and Viewing

A writer wants to describe a character's nervousness without naming the emotion. Which choice best shows rather than tells?

  1. The character was anxious and uneasy.
  2. Her fingers worried the corner of the page until it tore. Correct answer.
  3. Nervousness filled her completely.
  4. She felt extremely nervous about the meeting.

Explanation

Showing conveys emotion through concrete action and detail, letting readers infer the feeling. The torn page reveals nervousness through behavior, while the other options simply name the emotion outright.

Question 7Reading and Viewing

Which element of a story refers to the time and place in which its events occur?

  1. Setting Correct answer.
  2. Resolution
  3. Conflict
  4. Climax

Explanation

Setting is the time and place of a narrative, including its physical and social environment. It shapes mood and character behavior but is separate from the story's struggle or turning points.

Question 8Reading and Viewing

A reader notices that a news article uses the phrase 'officials confirmed' repeatedly. What does this repetition most likely accomplish?

  1. It introduces a fictional narrator.
  2. It creates a comic tone through exaggeration.
  3. It signals that the article is a personal essay.
  4. It builds credibility by emphasizing authoritative sources. Correct answer.

Explanation

Repeated attribution to officials signals that claims rest on authoritative sources, which strengthens the article's credibility. In informational texts, such repetition is a persuasive and structural choice, not a fictional device.

Question 9Reading and Viewing

In a novel, a character who changes significantly over the course of the story is best described as which type?

  1. Flat
  2. Stock
  3. Static
  4. Dynamic Correct answer.

Explanation

A dynamic character undergoes meaningful internal change as events unfold, often in belief or maturity. This contrasts with characters who remain essentially the same throughout the narrative.

Question 10Reading and Viewing

A story opens with a description of a broken clock on a mantel, and later the plot hinges on a missed deadline. What literary device does the clock most likely represent?

  1. Allusion
  2. Paradox
  3. Symbolism Correct answer.
  4. Irony

Explanation

An object that carries meaning beyond its literal function, here pointing to time and missed opportunity, is a symbol. The clock's broken state reinforces the theme through concrete imagery.

Question 11Reading and Viewing

A narrator says, 'I knew my brother would never lie to me,' while the reader has just seen the brother lie. Which type of irony does this create?

  1. Cosmic irony
  2. Verbal irony
  3. Situational irony
  4. Dramatic irony Correct answer.

Explanation

Dramatic irony arises when readers know something a character does not, creating tension between the character's belief and the audience's knowledge. Here the narrator's trust conflicts with what readers have witnessed.

Question 12Reading and Viewing

An author writes a story set in a future society where citizens must pass a daily loyalty test. Which genre label best fits this text?

  1. Realistic fiction
  2. Dystopian fiction Correct answer.
  3. Pastoral poetry
  4. Historical fiction

Explanation

Dystopian fiction imagines a society with oppressive control mechanisms, such as mandatory loyalty tests, to explore political and social ideas. The imagined future setting and systemic control distinguish it from realistic or historical genres.

Question 13Reading and Viewing

A paragraph in an essay begins, 'Although the narrator claims to be reliable, several details undermine her account.' What function does this sentence serve within the argument?

  1. It defines an unfamiliar term.
  2. It summarizes the plot for the reader.
  3. It introduces a concession followed by the writer's counterclaim. Correct answer.
  4. It provides a direct quotation as evidence.

Explanation

The word 'although' concedes a point before pivoting to the writer's own claim, a common argumentative move. This structure acknowledges a counterposition while advancing the essay's interpretation.

Question 14Reading and Viewing

In a poem, a line ends without punctuation and the sentence continues onto the next line. What is this technique called?

  1. Enjambment Correct answer.
  2. Couplet
  3. Caesura
  4. Refrain

Explanation

Enjambment is the continuation of a sentence or phrase across a line break without a pause. It can speed the reading or create suspense as meaning spills into the next line.

Question 15Reading and Viewing

A reader compares two articles on the same event and notices one includes expert quotations while the other relies on anonymous social media posts. Which evaluation is most sound?

  1. The article with social media posts is more reliable because it is more current.
  2. Neither article can be evaluated without knowing the authors' ages.
  3. The article with named experts is generally more reliable because its sources can be verified. Correct answer.
  4. Both articles are equally reliable because they discuss the same event.

Explanation

Reliability depends partly on whether sources are named and can be checked, so attributable expert quotations generally strengthen credibility. Anonymous posts are harder to verify and may lack accountability.

Question 16Reading and Viewing

A text states: 'The new policy reduced waiting times by half, according to hospital records.' Which detail supports the claim in this sentence?

  1. The phrase 'according to'
  2. Hospital records showing the reduction Correct answer.
  3. The word 'policy'
  4. The topic of waiting times

Explanation

Supporting evidence is the specific information that backs a claim, here the hospital records documenting the reduction. The other elements are wording or subject matter rather than proof.

Question 17Reading and Viewing

A writer describes a character's home as having 'a roof that sagged like a tired sigh.' Which two effects does this comparison most clearly create?

  1. A cheerful mood and a sense of wealth
  2. A weary mood and a sense of neglect Correct answer.
  3. A tense mood and a sense of danger
  4. A comic mood and a sense of speed

Explanation

The simile links the sagging roof to a tired sigh, producing a mood of weariness while implying the home is poorly maintained. Both effects come from the connotation of the comparison rather than from explicit statement.

Question 18Reading and Viewing

A narrative shifts from past tense to present tense whenever the protagonist recalls a traumatic event. What is the most likely purpose of this shift?

  1. To make the memory feel immediate and intrusive Correct answer.
  2. To show that the narrator is unreliable about dates
  3. To indicate that the events never happened
  4. To mark the beginning of a new chapter

Explanation

A shift into present tense can bring a remembered scene into the reader's immediate experience, making the memory feel vivid and intrusive. The technique conveys psychological pressure rather than factual uncertainty.

Question 19Reading and Viewing

An informational text opens with a striking statistic, then explains the problem, offers solutions, and closes with a call to action. Which organizational pattern does this follow?

  1. Problem and solution Correct answer.
  2. Comparison and contrast
  3. Chronological order
  4. Cause and effect only

Explanation

The text identifies a problem, proposes solutions, and urges action, which is the problem-and-solution pattern. The hook statistic introduces the issue before the structure unfolds.

Question 20Reading and Viewing

A reader claims a poem's speaker is the poet. Which response best reflects sound reading practice?

  1. The speaker is always identical to the poet in lyric poetry.
  2. The speaker can be identified only by reading the poet's biography.
  3. The speaker is a constructed voice and may differ from the poet's own views. Correct answer.
  4. The speaker is the same as the poem's addressee.

Explanation

The speaker is the voice created for the poem and should not be assumed to equal the author's personal identity or beliefs. Distinguishing speaker from poet prevents biographical assumptions from distorting interpretation.

Question 21Reading and Viewing

Two passages describe the same forest. Passage A calls it 'a cathedral of light'; Passage B calls it 'a tangle of deadfall and thorns.' What does the contrast between these descriptions most directly reveal?

  1. Differing tones shaped by the writers' attitudes toward the setting Correct answer.
  2. A disagreement about the forest's geographic location
  3. That one passage is fiction and the other nonfiction
  4. The chronological order of events in each passage

Explanation

The contrasting imagery conveys different attitudes, producing reverent versus harsh tones toward the same place. Tone is revealed through diction and figurative language rather than through factual disagreement about location.

Question 22Reading and Viewing

A novel alternates between two narrators whose accounts of one event contradict each other, and the text never resolves the contradiction. What is the most defensible reading of this structure?

  1. It invites readers to question whether any single perspective is complete. Correct answer.
  2. It proves that one narrator is lying and the other is truthful.
  3. It shows the author made an editing error.
  4. It indicates the event occurred twice.

Explanation

Unresolved contradictory accounts foreground the limits of perspective and ask readers to weigh competing versions. Because the text withholds resolution, no single narrator can be declared definitively truthful.

Question 23Reading and Viewing

An author repeats the image of a locked gate at the start, middle, and end of a story, with its meaning shifting each time. What is the strongest analysis of this pattern?

  1. The repetition shows the author ran out of new images.
  2. The repetition is accidental and carries no interpretive weight.
  3. The recurring image tracks a change in the protagonist's understanding of confinement. Correct answer.
  4. The image proves the story is set in a prison.

Explanation

A recurring image whose meaning evolves can chart a character's developing insight, here about confinement and freedom. The pattern invites readers to compare each appearance and trace the shift.

Question 24Reading and Viewing

A satirical essay praises a wasteful policy in glowing terms, expecting readers to recognize the opposite intent. Which feature is essential for the satire to succeed?

  1. Readers must detect the gap between the praise and the writer's actual criticism. Correct answer.
  2. The essay must use no figurative language.
  3. The essay must include statistical evidence.
  4. The essay must name the target explicitly in the first sentence.

Explanation

Satire depends on readers perceiving the ironic gap between surface praise and underlying critique; without that recognition, the irony collapses. Naming the target or citing data may help but is not essential to the device.

Question 25Reading and Viewing

A character's dialogue is written in heavy dialect while the narrator uses formal standard English. What is the most careful conclusion about this contrast?

  1. The contrast shows the narrator cannot understand the character.
  2. The dialect indicates the story is set in the past.
  3. The contrast may characterize the speaker and signal class or regional difference, though dialect writing can also risk stereotyping. Correct answer.
  4. The dialect proves the character is less intelligent than the narrator.

Explanation

Dialect in dialogue often marks region, class, or background and can characterize a speaker, but readers should also consider how such writing may lean on stereotypes. The contrast alone does not establish intelligence or historical setting.

Question 26Reading and Viewing

A Grade 9 student reads a short story in which the main character's best friend suddenly stops speaking to her. The story never explains why. Which term best describes the unanswered question the reader is left with?

  1. A gap the reader is invited to fill through inference Correct answer.
  2. A symbol that stands for the character's silence
  3. A shift in narrative point of view
  4. A flaw in the author's use of chronological order

Explanation

Skilled readers of narrative texts recognize that authors often leave deliberate gaps, sometimes called indeterminacy, that invite the reader to construct meaning from surrounding clues. The silence is meaningful precisely because the text withholds an explanation and asks the reader to infer motive.

Question 27Reading and Viewing

In a magazine feature, the writer describes a rescue dog's first night in a new home by listing the sounds it makes, the places it hides, and the way it refuses food. Which reading strategy best explains why the writer chose these concrete details?

  1. They establish an authoritative, expert tone
  2. They signal that the story is fictional
  3. They let readers infer the dog's fear without stating it Correct answer.
  4. They summarize the article's central argument

Explanation

Concrete sensory details let readers construct an emotional state from evidence rather than being told directly, a technique often called showing rather than telling. Listing sounds, hiding places, and refusal of food gives readers the material to conclude the dog is frightened.

Question 28Reading and Viewing

A student is reading a graphic novel and wants to describe how the panels are arranged on the page to guide the eye. Which term from visual text analysis applies?

  1. Layout Correct answer.
  2. Caption
  3. Speech balloon
  4. Gutter

Explanation

Layout refers to the overall arrangement of panels, images, and text on a page and how that arrangement directs a reader's attention. Captions, balloons, and gutters are individual elements within that arrangement rather than the arrangement itself.

Question 29Reading and Viewing

A reader encounters the sentence 'The committee's decision was a Band-Aid, not a cure' in an opinion column. What does the figurative comparison most likely suggest about the decision?

  1. It was rejected by the committee's members
  2. It permanently resolved the underlying problem
  3. It addressed symptoms while leaving the cause untreated Correct answer.
  4. It was made hastily without any discussion

Explanation

The comparison to a Band-Aid implies a temporary, surface-level fix, while 'not a cure' explicitly denies that the root problem was solved. Readers interpret the metaphor by mapping the qualities of a bandage onto the decision.

Question 30Reading and Viewing

A news report about a school budget begins: 'Trustees voted 6–1 Tuesday to cut bus routes serving three neighbourhoods.' Which feature makes this opening effective for an informational text?

  1. It builds suspense before revealing the outcome
  2. It uses dialogue to introduce a conflict
  3. It presents the writer's personal opinion
  4. It places the most important facts in the lead Correct answer.

Explanation

Informational news writing typically front-loads the who, what, when, and how many in an opening lead so readers grasp the essential facts immediately. The vote count, date, and specific impact all appear in the first sentence.

Question 31Reading and Viewing

While reading a persuasive article, a student notices the writer uses the words 'reckless,' 'disastrous,' and 'irresponsible' to describe one proposal. Which feature of the text is the student identifying?

  1. The article's use of loaded language Correct answer.
  2. The article's use of a neutral register
  3. The article's use of direct quotation
  4. The article's use of chronological order

Explanation

Loaded language consists of words with strong emotional connotations chosen to sway a reader's judgment. 'Reckless,' 'disastrous,' and 'irresponsible' all carry negative weight and reveal the writer's stance.

Question 32Reading and Viewing

A student is comparing a poem and a newspaper editorial on the same topic. Which question would best help the student analyse how the two texts differ in purpose?

  1. Which text aims to move the reader emotionally and which aims to persuade through argument? Correct answer.
  2. Which text contains more proper nouns?
  3. Which text was published more recently?
  4. Which text is longer and uses more paragraphs?

Explanation

Analysing purpose means asking what a text is trying to accomplish and how its form serves that aim. A poem often works through imagery and emotion, while an editorial argues a position through claims and evidence.

Question 33Reading and Viewing

A reader wants to identify the theme of a short story rather than its subject. Which statement is a theme rather than a subject?

  1. A family farm in the 1930s
  2. The harvest season
  3. Loyalty can demand painful sacrifices Correct answer.
  4. A boy and his grandfather

Explanation

A theme is a statement about life or human experience that a text develops, expressed as a full idea rather than a topic. 'Loyalty can demand painful sacrifices' makes a claim the story could explore, while the other options are subjects or settings.

Question 34Reading and Viewing

A reader is analysing an advertisement and separates the claim 'This cleaner kills 99% of germs' from the image of a smiling family in a spotless kitchen. Which pair of terms best labels these two parts of the ad?

  1. The claim is the counterargument and the image is the rebuttal
  2. The claim is the thesis and the image is the citation
  3. The claim is the argument and the image is a persuasive appeal to emotion Correct answer.
  4. The claim is the visual appeal and the image is the evidence

Explanation

The statement about germs functions as an argumentative claim supported by a statistic, while the family image works on emotion and association rather than evidence. Separating these layers is central to analysing persuasive visual texts.

Question 35Reading and Viewing

In a novel, a character who has been generous throughout the story suddenly refuses to help a neighbour, and the narrator offers no comment. Which response shows the strongest analysis of this moment?

  1. The character is simply an inconsistent person
  2. The moment invites readers to reconsider what they assumed about the character's values Correct answer.
  3. The author made a mistake in the character's portrayal
  4. The scene proves the narrator cannot be trusted at all

Explanation

Strong analysis treats an unexplained change as a deliberate authorial choice that asks readers to revise earlier interpretations. The absence of narrative comment shifts interpretive responsibility onto the reader rather than signalling error.

Question 36Reading and Viewing

A student reads an online article about a diet trend and notices that the only source cited is the company selling the product. Which conclusion is best supported by this observation?

  1. The article is unreliable because its evidence comes from an interested party Correct answer.
  2. The article is fictional because it appears online
  3. The article is reliable because it includes a citation
  4. The article is unbiased because only one source is used

Explanation

Evaluating sources requires asking who provides the evidence and whether that source has a stake in the outcome. A single source that profits from the claim creates a conflict of interest that weakens credibility.

Question 37Reading and Viewing

A descriptive passage reads: 'Fog crawled over the harbour, swallowing the masts one by one.' Which technique is most prominent in this sentence?

  1. Understatement
  2. Personification of a natural force Correct answer.
  3. Direct address to the reader
  4. Hyperbole for comic effect

Explanation

Giving fog the human or animal ability to crawl and swallow is personification, which makes the scene feel active and ominous. The verbs attribute deliberate movement to a non-living thing.

Question 38Reading and Viewing

A textbook chapter on volcanoes opens with a question, defines key terms in bold, includes a labelled diagram, and ends with a summary box. Which statement best describes how these features work together?

  1. They replace the need for a main idea
  2. They organize information to support comprehension and recall Correct answer.
  3. They show that the chapter has no authorial viewpoint
  4. They indicate that the chapter is persuasive rather than informative

Explanation

Text features such as headings, bold terms, diagrams, and summaries are design choices that help readers locate, understand, and remember information. They support an informational purpose rather than replacing its content.

Question 39Reading and Viewing

A short story is told by a narrator who says 'I' but who reports only what can be observed from outside the other characters. Which point of view is this?

  1. Third-person omniscient
  2. Second-person narrator
  3. First-person narrator Correct answer.
  4. Third-person limited

Explanation

A narrator who uses 'I' and participates in or witnesses the action is a first-person narrator. The restriction to external observation describes the narrator's access to information, not the grammatical person.

Question 40Reading and Viewing

A reader notices that a poem's speaker describes a house as 'empty' in the first stanza and as 'full of everything I cannot say' in the last. Which analysis best explains this development?

  1. The repetition of a word with shifting meaning tracks the speaker's changing understanding Correct answer.
  2. The poem contradicts itself and has no coherent meaning
  3. The word 'empty' is used incorrectly in the first stanza
  4. The last stanza abandons the poem's central image

Explanation

Repeating a key word while altering its meaning is a common poetic strategy for showing emotional or conceptual change across a text. The shift from literal emptiness to emotional fullness deepens the image rather than contradicting it.

Question 41Reading and Viewing

A student is reading a memoir in which the adult narrator describes childhood events and comments on them from an older perspective. Which feature of the text is the student noticing?

  1. The distance between the experiencing self and the narrating self Correct answer.
  2. A change in the text's genre
  3. A shift between two narrators
  4. The use of second-person address

Explanation

Memoir often separates the self who lived the events from the older self who interprets them, creating a double perspective. Recognizing this distance helps readers understand why the narrator offers judgments the child could not have made.

Question 42Reading and Viewing

A student claims a story's setting is unimportant because the plot could happen anywhere. Which detail from the story would most effectively challenge that claim?

  1. The protagonist's name is unusual
  2. The conflict depends on a law that exists only in that place and time Correct answer.
  3. The story is told in the past tense
  4. The story includes several minor characters

Explanation

Setting becomes essential when the plot's conflict is produced by conditions specific to that place and time. A law unique to the setting shows that moving the story elsewhere would change what is possible.

Question 43Reading and Viewing

An opinion piece states: 'Every student who has tried the new schedule loves it.' A careful reader recognizes this as weak reasoning. Which problem best describes the statement?

  1. It presents a logical chain of causes
  2. It relies on a sweeping generalization without evidence Correct answer.
  3. It quotes an expert out of context
  4. It uses too many technical terms

Explanation

A claim about 'every' member of a group requires evidence covering that group, and the statement offers none. Sweeping generalizations are a common weakness in persuasive texts because a single exception undermines them.

Question 44Reading and Viewing

A reader is examining a photograph accompanying a news article about a protest. The photo shows only a few people, while the article reports thousands attended. Which response best reflects critical viewing?

  1. The photo proves the article's numbers are false
  2. Photographs never provide useful information about events
  3. The framing of the photo may not represent the size of the crowd, so it should be read alongside the article's evidence Correct answer.
  4. The photo was taken at a different event

Explanation

Critical viewing recognizes that a camera frames a limited view and that framing choices can distort scale. The image and the reported figures should be weighed together rather than treated as a contradiction.

Question 45Reading and Viewing

A student is reading two versions of the same folk tale and notices that one ends with the trickster punished and the other with the trickster rewarded. Which explanation best accounts for this difference?

  1. One version contains a printing error
  2. The two versions must have different authors of different ages
  3. The versions reflect different cultural values about cleverness and justice Correct answer.
  4. One version is not really a folk tale

Explanation

Folk tales carry the values of the communities that tell them, so changes in outcome often reveal differing attitudes toward cleverness, rule-breaking, or justice. Comparing endings is a way to read for cultural perspective.

Question 46Reading and Viewing

A writer describes a character as follows: 'She counted the cutlery twice, then a third time, before the guests arrived.' Which inference about the character is best supported by this detail?

  1. She dislikes the guests
  2. She is a professional caterer
  3. She is unfamiliar with setting a table
  4. She feels a need for control or order Correct answer.

Explanation

Repeated checking of a small task suggests anxiety or a strong need for order, since the action exceeds what the situation requires. Inferences should stay close to the evidence and avoid details the text does not supply.

Question 47Reading and Viewing

A student reads a satirical column that argues the city should remove all parks because grass requires mowing. Which reading best captures the writer's actual purpose?

  1. To inform readers about lawn-mowing costs
  2. To persuade readers that parks are wasteful
  3. To mock the reasoning behind a policy the writer opposes Correct answer.
  4. To describe a park the writer visited

Explanation

Satire adopts an exaggerated position to expose the flaws in a similar real argument, so the stated claim is usually the opposite of the writer's view. Recognizing the absurdity of the proposal is the cue that irony is at work.

Question 48Reading and Viewing

A reader argues that a novel's final chapter, which reveals that the narrator invented several events, makes everything earlier in the book meaningless. Which response is the strongest counterargument?

  1. The final chapter should be ignored because it comes last
  2. The revelation changes how readers understand earlier events and invites rereading them for clues Correct answer.
  3. The revelation confirms that fiction is always unreliable
  4. The earlier chapters must be discarded as errors

Explanation

A late revelation can reframe earlier material rather than erase it, giving readers a new interpretive frame and rewarding a second reading. This is a common effect of unreliable narration in contemporary fiction.

Question 49Reading and Viewing

A student compares how a news article and a personal essay each handle the same wildfire. The article uses official statements and evacuation figures; the essay describes the smell of smoke and a lost photograph. Which conclusion about the two texts' purposes is best supported?

  1. The essay is less accurate because it lacks statistics
  2. Both texts aim to persuade readers to support fire policy
  3. The article is more emotional because it includes numbers
  4. The article aims to inform through verified facts while the essay aims to convey personal experience Correct answer.

Explanation

Different genres select different kinds of evidence to serve different purposes: journalism prioritizes verifiable public information, while the personal essay explores subjective experience. Neither purpose is inherently more accurate than the other.

Question 50Reading and Viewing

A poem repeats the line 'the door stays shut' at the end of each stanza, and the surrounding lines change from pleading to acceptance. Which analysis best explains the effect of this repetition?

  1. The fixed line becomes a measure against which the speaker's changing tone is heard Correct answer.
  2. The line's meaning is identical each time it appears
  3. The repetition shows the poem has no clear structure
  4. The repetition fills space because the poet ran out of lines

Explanation

A repeated refrain provides a constant against which shifting surrounding language becomes audible, so the reader registers emotional change through contrast. The line's meaning is also altered by the new context each time.