Mixed review · Details, story and language — printable English Language Arts 9 worksheet

Mixed review · Details, story and language

English Language Arts 9 · maddyhelps.com

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Circle the best answer for each question. Use the space to note the evidence or reasoning that decided it.

Read: “‘I don't care who they pick,’ Jess said after tryouts. She said it again at supper, and again when her mom asked about her day. That night, she went to bed with her phone face-up on the pillow and the volume turned all the way up.” The best inference about Jess is that she
1. a) has truly lost interest in making the team this year
2. b) already knows that she has made the team this year
3. c) cares a lot about the result and is waiting to hear
4. d) is angry at the coach for how tryouts were run
Read: “When the bus broke down for the third time that week, Mr. Tran looked at the steaming engine and said, ‘Well, this is going great.’” Mr. Tran means that
1. a) he thinks the engine can be fixed quickly
2. b) things are going badly and he is fed up
3. c) he is glad the class will miss a test
4. d) he is surprised that the bus broke down
Read: “In 1990, the river through town was so polluted that swimming was banned. Today, kids jump off the dock every July. Herons nest in the cottonwoods again, and last summer's fish survey counted eleven species where there used to be three.” Which statement best expresses the main idea, which the writer implies but never states?
1. a) Rivers everywhere are much cleaner than they used to be.
2. b) Herons prefer to build their nests in cottonwood trees.
3. c) The town should ban swimming in the river once again.
4. d) The river has recovered a great deal since 1990.
Read: “I watched Sam read the note. His face didn't change at all. Then he folded it into a tiny square and put it in his back pocket.” What can this narrator not know for certain?
1. a) whether Sam's face changed as he read
2. b) where Sam put the note after folding it
3. c) what Sam thought about the note
4. d) whether Sam kept the note or threw it away
In a play, the audience watches Carla hide her brother's phone in the couch as a joke. In the next scene, her brother says to her, “You're the only one I trust. Help me find it before Mom gets home.” This is dramatic irony because
1. a) Carla has lied to her brother about the phone
2. b) the phone ends up somewhere nobody expected
3. c) the audience knows something the brother does not
4. d) the brother says the opposite of what he means
Read: “The trail was so treacherous that even the guide, who had walked it for thirty years, tested each rock before trusting his weight to it.” In this sentence, “treacherous” most likely means
1. a) dangerous and unpredictable underfoot
2. b) long, steep and very tiring to walk
3. c) crowded with hikers and hard to pass
4. d) beautiful, with views in every direction
Read: “In many prairie towns, the outdoor rink survives because of volunteers. They flood the ice late at night, when it freezes best. They shovel it after every snowfall and patch the boards with borrowed tools. Without them, most of these rinks would have closed years ago.” Which sentence best states the main idea of this paragraph?
1. a) Many outdoor rinks in prairie towns closed years ago.
2. b) The ice is flooded late at night, when it freezes best.
3. c) Volunteers are what keep many prairie outdoor rinks going.
4. d) Prairie towns should pay workers to look after their rinks.
Read: “My little brother is a hurricane. He blows in the door after school, flattens everything in the kitchen, and leaves a trail of wreckage — socks, crumbs, one shoe — all the way to the TV.” The extended metaphor mainly suggests that the brother
1. a) is frightened of storms and hides in front of the TV
2. b) is full of energy and leaves a mess wherever he goes
3. c) is dangerous and likely to hurt someone in the house
4. d) is moody and changes like the weather from day to day
Read: “Before the canoe trip, Dad checked the life jackets twice. ‘The river's high this year,’ he said, frowning at the brown water. ‘Faster than it looks.’” This passage most likely foreshadows that
1. a) the river will be more dangerous than it seems
2. b) the canoe trip will be calm and uneventful
3. c) the family will run short of food on the trip
4. d) Dad will have to buy new life jackets first
Read: “‘You're wearing that?’ her sister said. ‘It's a party, not a funeral.’ Mira looked down at her grey sweater. ‘I like it,’ she said, and went upstairs to change.” This exchange mainly reveals that Mira
1. a) is confident and does not care what her sister thinks
2. b) cares about her sister's opinion more than she admits
3. c) has been invited to a funeral later in the evening
4. d) thinks her sister is jealous of her grey sweater

Answer key · Mixed review · Details, story and language

English Language Arts 9 · maddyhelps.com

c) cares a lot about the result and is waiting to hear — Saying it three times, even when nobody asked about the team, shows it is on her mind, and the phone on the pillow shows she is waiting for news. Taking her words at face value is the trap: when what a character says and what she does disagree, trust what she does.
b) things are going badly and he is fed up — This is verbal irony: he says the opposite of what he means. The steaming engine shows things are not going great, and a third breakdown in one week rules out surprise.
d) The river has recovered a great deal since 1990. — Swimming, herons and more fish species are all evidence of one thing: the river has come back. The claim about rivers everywhere stretches past the passage, which is about one town's river — a main idea has to fit the text, not go beyond it.
c) what Sam thought about the note — A first-person narrator can report what they see and hear, and their own thoughts. This one saw Sam's face, the folding and the pocket, but Sam's thoughts stay hidden; anything the narrator says about them would be a guess.
c) the audience knows something the brother does not — Dramatic irony is a gap in knowledge: the audience saw Carla hide the phone, and her brother has no idea. He means exactly what he says, so it is not verbal irony, and Carla has not said a word yet; the irony comes from what the audience knows.
a) dangerous and unpredictable underfoot — The clue is the guide: even after thirty years, he tests every rock before stepping on it. That points to danger underfoot; nothing in the sentence is about how long, pretty or busy the trail is.
c) Volunteers are what keep many prairie outdoor rinks going. — Flooding, shovelling and patching are all things volunteers do, and the first and last sentences say what they add up to. The late-night flooding is true, but it is one supporting detail, not the point the whole paragraph makes.
b) is full of energy and leaves a mess wherever he goes — Each part of the storm — blowing in, flattening, wreckage — matches something the brother does. The wreckage turns out to be socks, crumbs and one shoe, which shows the exaggeration is affectionate; taking the hurricane literally leads to “dangerous.”
a) the river will be more dangerous than it seems — A warning about speed and double-checked life jackets plant the idea of danger on the water, and writers rarely include a warning like that unless it matters later. A calm, uneventful trip is the opposite of what the clues set up.
b) cares about her sister's opinion more than she admits — Mira says she likes the sweater, then goes to change out of it, so her action contradicts her words — dialogue often reveals character through a gap like that. Taking “I like it” at face value leads to the confident answer, and the funeral is only her sister's put-down.