Where does the reference come from?
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
“Winning the zoning fight cost the neighbors every dollar they had saved, a Pyrrhic victory if ever there was one.” Ari wonders where the word or phrase in this sentence comes from. Which source, and which part of it, does it point to?
- King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who beat Roman armies but lost so many soldiers that the wins nearly ruined him.
- Hannibal, who led an army and war elephants across the Alps to attack Rome from the north.
- King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who crossed the sea to Italy to aid a Greek city that had asked him for help against Rome.
- No story: “Pyrrhic” is just a fancy, old-fashioned way of saying a narrow win by a small margin.
“The two clubs’ fight over who got the better corner of the bulletin board was a Lilliputian quarrel.” Bo wonders where the word or phrase in this sentence comes from. Which source, and which part of it, does it point to?
- Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726), where Gulliver is picked up by a farmer in a land of giants and shown for money.
- No story: “Lilliputian” is just an old word for anything that is small, shy and easily overlooked.
- Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719), where a sailor makes a home alone on an island and teaches a parrot to speak.
- Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726), where the tiny people of Lilliput quarrel over which end of an egg to break.
“The school’s Draconian rule gave a week of detention for a single missed homework.” Esme wonders where the word or phrase in this sentence comes from. Which source, and which part of it, does it point to?
- The Spartans of ancient Greece, who trained children from a young age to live plainly and bear hardship.
- Draco, a lawgiver of ancient Athens (about 621 BCE), who wrote the city’s laws down so that citizens could read them.
- Draco, a lawgiver of ancient Athens (about 621 BCE), whose written laws set harsh penalties even for small crimes.
- No person: the word just describes rules that seem to breathe fire like a dragon and burn small mistakes.
“At the tasting booth, a hungry customer held out an empty cup and asked, like Oliver Twist, for more.” Jun wonders where the word or phrase in this sentence comes from. Which source, and which part of it, does it point to?
- Dickens’s Oliver Twist (1838), where Oliver runs away to London and falls in with a gang of young pickpockets.
- Dickens’s Oliver Twist (1838), where a hungry workhouse boy asks for another helping of thin gruel.
- Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (1843), where a miser begrudges his clerk even a small fire for warmth.
- No story: “asking for more” is a plain way of saying that a person is greedy and wants too much.
Read this first
Source card (written by PencilGo)
In Ernest Thayer’s poem “Casey at the Bat” (1888), the fans of Mudville wait for their star batter, Casey, to win the game. He swings and misses, and the poem ends: “there is no joy in Mudville.”
Sentence: “With two outs and the whole town cheering, our star hitter turned into Casey at the Bat.”Kira reads the source card, then the sentence. What does the allusion mean in this sentence?
- A player named Casey who plays for a team from a town called Mudville.
- A modest player who surprises the crowd by winning the game at the last moment.
- A star whose confidence is rewarded by a great hit in the last inning of the game.
- A confident star who lets a hopeful crowd down just when it matters most.
Source card (written by PencilGo)
In Eleanor H. Porter’s novel Pollyanna (1913), a girl plays “the glad game”: she finds something to be glad about in any situation, even a sad one, and slowly cheers her whole town.
Sentence: “When the picnic was rained out, Mr. Hale played Pollyanna and said the mud would be good for the lawn.”Luz reads the source card, then the sentence. What does the allusion mean in this sentence?
- Looking for something to be glad about even in bad news, said with a gentle tease.
- Feeling sad in a quiet way about the change of plans for the day, said with sympathy.
- Playing a board game named Pollyanna at the picnic table, said as a plain fact.
- Complaining about each change of plans for the day, said with real anger at the rain.
Source card (written by PencilGo)
Robin Hood, in English folk tales, lives in Sherwood Forest and takes money from rich travelers to give it to poor villagers.
Sentence: “The town’s new tax plan was Robin Hood economics: bigger bills for the largest businesses to pay for free school lunches.”Milo reads the source card, then the sentence. What does the allusion mean in this sentence?
- Taking from the wealthy to help people who have little.
- A plan that is carried out in a forest by travelers.
- Taking from people who have little to help the wealthy.
- Hiding in a forest to keep out of sight of the law.
Scene
Three clubs raised money together for a trip. The largest club kept most of it and gave each of the others a few dollars for their share of the work.
Pia reads a scene that echoes a well-known story without naming it. Which story does the scene echo, and what is the link?
- Aesop’s lion and its partners: the lion shares the prey equally with the partners who helped.
- Aesop’s town mouse and country mouse: a mouse visits a rich house and is glad to go home.
- Aesop’s fable of the dog in the manger: a dog lies on the hay and will not let the hungry ox eat any of it.
- Aesop’s lion and its partners: partners share the work, but the strongest claims nearly all the prey.
The shop owner raised prices every week until the loyal customers who made the shop famous stopped coming. Tala reads a scene that echoes a well-known story without naming it. Which story does the scene echo, and what is the link?
- Aesop’s dog in the manger: a dog lies on hay it cannot eat and snaps at the ox that wants it.
- Aesop’s fox and the crow: a fox flatters a crow into dropping the cheese from its beak to the ground.
- Aesop’s goose that laid the golden eggs: an owner waits patiently for each egg and slowly grows rich.
- Aesop’s goose of the golden eggs: a greedy owner destroys the goose for its gold and loses the eggs.
The night before the final, the team captain quietly mailed the other school the team’s plays. Zee reads a scene that echoes a well-known story without naming it. Which story does the scene echo, and what is the link?
- Paul Revere: a silversmith who rode through the night in 1775 to warn colonists of marching soldiers.
- Benedict Arnold: a general who served the British Army from the start of the war against the colonists.
- Benedict Arnold: a general of the American Revolution who plotted in 1780 to hand a fort to the British.
- George Washington: a general who crossed the Delaware by night in 1776 to surprise soldiers across the river.