Work out a word in a hard or older text
Grade 11 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Sentence
Mayor Ruiz opened the budget hearing with an emollient speech, thanking residents for their patience, owning up to the confusing first notice and promising a second meeting, and by the end the angriest man in the front row had unfolded his arms and asked his question in a level voice.
Ari reads a sentence from a town newsletter. What does emollient mean here?
- given at a public budget hearing
- polite but empty, promising nothing
- soothing, meant to ease anger
- harsh, meant to stir up anger
Sentence
Dr. Abara asked whether anyone would second the motion to extend the library's hours, and for a long moment no one in the room spoke.
Entry: second 1. (adjective) coming right after the first one in order. 2. (noun) one sixtieth of a minute. 3. (verb) to back a motion so that it can be discussed. 4. (verb) to move a worker to another job for a time.Bo reads a sentence from a school board agenda and the entry under it. Which sense of second fits?
- to lengthen the hours the library stays open
- to move a worker to another job for a time
- to back a motion so that it can be discussed
- coming right after the first one in order
Sentence
Though she held two degrees and had just won the college's top teaching prize, Ms. Okoye was diffident about her own work, and the magazine's writer learned of the prize only when the dean mentioned it.
Esme reads a sentence from a college magazine. What does diffident mean here?
- winner of the college's top teaching prize
- sure of herself and well qualified
- shy and unwilling to push oneself forward
- eager to talk about her own work and prizes
Sentence
The weather on the lake was fickle: a calm morning could turn to whitecaps by noon, and the water might be flat again by evening, so the club stopped trusting any forecast.
Luz reads a sentence from a sailing club newsletter. What does fickle mean here?
- found on a lake where a club sails
- steady and easy to predict
- changing suddenly and without warning
- calm and gentle on the water that morning
Sentence
Visitors flinched whenever the presses started, but Paloma, inured after ten years on the night desk, kept proofreading without a pause.
Milo reads a sentence from a newsroom profile. What does inured mean here?
- made used to something unpleasant
- worn out and made weary by it
- working on the night desk of a paper
- made newly alarmed by something
Sentence
After weeks without rain, the north field would yield barely half of last year's wheat, and the farmer rebuilt the fall budget around that.
Entry: yield 1. (verb) to give way under pressure or force. 2. (verb) to produce as a crop or a result. 3. (noun) the amount of a crop that is grown. 4. (verb) to let another go first.Noah reads a sentence from a farm report and the entry under it. Which sense of yield fits?
- to plan the fall budget around it
- the amount of a crop that is grown
- to give way under pressure or force
- to produce as a crop or a result
Sentence
After losing the semifinal by a single vote, Tomas was magnanimous, shaking his opponent's hand and offering to help her prepare for the state round.
Pia reads a sentence from a debate-league recap. What does magnanimous mean here?
- generous and forgiving toward a rival
- stubborn and unwilling to accept defeat
- defeated by one vote in a semifinal
- bitter and angry about the loss
Sentence
The contractor proved so dilatory that the porch promised for May was still a pile of lumber in August, and the owners finally planned their cookout around it.
Ren reads a sentence from a homeowners' newsletter. What does dilatory mean here?
- quick to start and quick to finish
- hired to build a porch for the owners
- widened or opened out, as an eye does
- slow to act and prone to delay
Sentence
After two hours of argument over parking rules, the council agreed to table the question until its March meeting.
Entry: table 1. (noun) a flat-topped piece of furniture. 2. (noun) facts arranged in rows and columns. 3. (verb, U.S.) to set aside to take up at a later time. 4. (verb) to write something down in a list.Tala reads a sentence from a council summary and the entry under it. Which sense of table fits?
- to set aside to take up at a later time
- facts arranged in rows and columns
- to argue for two hours about parking rules
- to write something down in a list
Sentence
Though the apartment looked as if a storm had passed through it, its owner was punctilious about one thing, the spice rack, where every jar stood in alphabetical order with its label facing out.
Zee reads a sentence from a roommate profile. What does punctilious mean here?
- very keen on arriving exactly on time
- extremely careful about small details
- messy and careless about the home
- easy to please and unbothered by details