Words that mean almost the same
Grade 8 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Writer
a hiker. Audience: friends who read the blog. Purpose: a funny, fond account of a hard day.
By noon the trail had turned into a (A) ____ climb, and my brother-in-law, who owns three pairs of boots and has used none of them, was already grumbling about the weather. Still, he never once asked to turn back. At the ridge, we shared the last orange and watched the clouds thin. It was the best afternoon of the whole trip. Writing this from the couch, I can admit that I complained too, mostly in my head, where nobody could hear.
Ari reads writing for a particular reader. Which word for blank (A) best matches the writer's point of view toward the subject?
- torturous
- brutal
- grueling
- tiresome
Writer
a hiker. Audience: friends who read the blog. Purpose: a funny, fond account of a hard day.
By noon the trail had turned into a grueling climb, and my brother-in-law, who owns three pairs of boots and has used none of them, was already (B) ____ about the weather. Still, he never once asked to turn back. At the ridge, we shared the last orange and watched the clouds thin. It was the best afternoon of the whole trip. Writing this from the couch, I can admit that I complained too, mostly in my head, where nobody could hear.
Bo checks four near-synonyms for blank (B) against the reader. Which choice names the word that is wrong here and gives the real reason? Options: grumbling, grousing, muttering, whining.
- whining: it carries contempt, which clashes with a fond tone
- grousing: it is too formal for a funny and friendly blog
- muttering: it has no feeling, so it is too weak for the joke
- whining: it is too quiet to match a loud complaint from a hiker
Writer
a student. Audience: the school board. Purpose: a serious, respectful appeal.
The lunch line at our school is (A) ____: students wait twenty minutes for a meal that takes five to eat. Some teachers call the delay a minor inconvenience, but for students who eat quickly and then rush to class, it takes away the only break of the day. We are asking the board to fund a second serving line. Our request is modest, and we hope the board will see that a few extra minutes at lunch are a fair thing to ask for.
Jun reads writing for a particular reader. Which word for blank (A) best matches the writer's point of view toward the subject?
- ridiculous
- inefficient
- slow
- unavailable
Writer
a student. Audience: the school board. Purpose: a serious, respectful appeal.
The lunch line at our school is inefficient: students wait twenty minutes for a meal that takes five to eat. Some teachers call the delay a minor (B) ____, but for students who eat quickly and then rush to class, it takes away the only break of the day. We are asking the board to fund a second serving line. Our request is modest, and we hope the board will see that a few extra minutes at lunch are a fair thing to ask for.
Kira checks four near-synonyms for blank (B) against the reader. Which choice names the word that is wrong here and gives the real reason? Options: inconvenience, nuisance, annoyance, hardship.
- nuisance: it exaggerates the delay, so it hurts the students' appeal
- inconvenience: it has no feeling, so it is too weak for an appeal
- hardship: it means serious difficulty, against the word minor
- hardship: it is too casual for a respectful appeal to the school board
Writer
a student. Audience: the school board. Purpose: a serious, respectful appeal.
The lunch line at our school is inefficient: students wait twenty minutes for a meal that takes five to eat. Some teachers call the delay a minor inconvenience, but for students who eat quickly and then rush to class, it takes away the only break of the day. We are asking the board to fund a second serving line. Our request is modest, and we hope the board will see that a few extra minutes at lunch are a fair thing to ask for.
Luz changes one word in the passage: asking becomes demanding. How does that change what the reader thinks of the person or event?
- Nothing changes, because asking and demanding both mean making a request.
- The students now want two extra serving lines in the cafeteria.
- Demanding makes the students sound confrontational.
- Demanding makes the students sound more polite than before.
Writer
a textbook author. Audience: eighth graders. Purpose: a neutral account of a town's beginning.
In 1850, fishing families settled the sheltered cove that would become Marrow Bay. The cove had been used by seasonal traders, and the families built docks and a church on its western shore. The town's first mayor, Alma Voss, (B) ____ the council to adopt a fishing calendar, which limited the spring catch. By 1900, the harbor held forty boats. Records from the period are incomplete, so historians rely on the church ledger and the harbor master's logs.
Noah checks four near-synonyms for blank (B) against the reader. Which choice names the word that is wrong here and gives the real reason? Options: persuaded, urged, convinced, coerced.
- convinced: it has no feeling, so it is too plain for a history text
- urged: it implies the mayor lost the argument
- coerced: it is too weak for a mayor's request
- coerced: it means forced by threat, which the account does not report
Writer
a textbook author. Audience: eighth graders. Purpose: a neutral account of a town's beginning.
In 1850, fishing families settled the sheltered cove that would become Marrow Bay. The cove had been used by seasonal traders, and the families built docks and a church on its western shore. The town's first mayor, Alma Voss, persuaded the council to adopt a fishing calendar, which limited the spring catch. By 1900, the harbor held forty boats. Records from the period are incomplete, so historians rely on the church ledger and the harbor master's logs.
Pia changes one word in the passage: limited becomes wrecked. How does that change what the reader thinks of the person or event?
- Nothing changes, because limited and wrecked both mean the catch was reduced.
- Wrecked makes the calendar sound helpful to the fishers.
- Wrecked suggests the calendar harmed the fishing; the facts stay the same.
- The spring catch now stops completely.
Writer
a sports reporter. Audience: local readers. Purpose: an admiring but believable profile.
At nineteen, Imani Okoro is not the fastest sprinter in the state, but she is the most (A) ____. Coaches describe her as a runner who studies each race, adjusts her start by inches, and records every rival's habits in a notebook. When she lost last spring by a hundredth of a second, she studied the video for a week and returned with a new stride. Her coach says the notebook is the reason the stride works.
Ren reads writing for a particular reader. Which word for blank (A) best matches the writer's point of view toward the subject?
- obsessive
- methodical
- calculating
- organized
Writer
a sports reporter. Audience: local readers. Purpose: an admiring but believable profile.
At nineteen, Imani Okoro is not the fastest sprinter in the state, but she is the most methodical. Coaches describe her as a runner who studies each race, adjusts her start by inches, and (B) ____ every rival's habits in a notebook. When she lost last spring by a hundredth of a second, she studied the video for a week and returned with a new stride. Her coach says the notebook is the reason the stride works.
Tala checks four near-synonyms for blank (B) against the reader. Which choice names the word that is wrong here and gives the real reason? Options: records, tracks, monitors, spies on.
- spies on: it suggests sneaking, against an admiring profile
- spies on: it is too gentle for a notebook of rivals' habits and plans
- tracks: it suggests she follows rivals around
- records: it has no feeling, so it is too weak for a sports profile
Writer
a sports reporter. Audience: local readers. Purpose: an admiring but believable profile.
At nineteen, Imani Okoro is not the fastest sprinter in the state, but she is the most methodical. Coaches describe her as a runner who studies each race, adjusts her start by inches, and records every rival's habits in a notebook. When she lost last spring by a hundredth of a second, she studied the video for a week and returned with a new stride. Her coach says the notebook is the reason the stride works.
Zee changes one word in the passage: studied becomes obsessed over. How does that change what the reader thinks of the person or event?
- Obsessed over suggests an unhealthy focus, so admiration turns to worry.
- She now watches the video for a month.
- Obsessed over makes her sound more relaxed.
- Nothing changes, because studied and obsessed over both mean watching the video.