Worksheet

Characters with mixed or clashing motives

Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. Read this first

    The Neighbor on Maple Street (story)

    [1] Everyone on Maple Street knew that Mr. Park, who lived in the corner house, hated noise, children, and anything that rolled down the sidewalk. [2] He scowled at the mail carrier, stacked plastic cones around his lawn, and had once confiscated a rubber ball that landed in his tulips. [3] Luz, who lived next door, had been told by everyone to stay away, and mostly did, crossing the street to avoid the corner. [4] On a Saturday in April, Luz's scooter rolled off the curb and ended up wedged under Mr. Park's hedge, and Luz stood at the gate for a long time deciding whether to knock.

    [5] The door opened before Luz decided, and Mr. Park looked at the scooter and then at Luz with an unreadable face. [6] Instead of shouting, Mr. Park knelt, pulled the scooter free, and spun the back wheel with a thumb, saying that the bearing was dry and would squeal by Tuesday. [7] Mr. Park fetched a small can of oil from a shelf in the garage, and let Luz hold the flashlight during the repair. [8] During the repair, Luz noticed shelves lined with bicycle parts, each labeled in tidy capitals, and a framed photograph of a cycling team from years ago.

    [9] Mr. Park said, without being asked, that he had coached that team for twenty years and still could not stand the sound of a squeaking wheel. [10] The next week, the cones were still around the lawn, and Mr. Park still scowled at the mail carrier, but Luz noticed that the scowl lifted a little when the scooter went by in silence. [11] On the last day of school, Mr. Park left a small can of oil on the Maple Street mailbox, with Luz's name written in the same tidy capitals. [12] Luz understood that the rules had not changed, only that one person now knew where they came from.

  2. Ari links the what-changed cell to the theme-so-far line. How does Luz's change deliver the story's theme?

    • Luz begins by avoiding Mr. Park because of the neighborhood's warnings, and ends by confirming that the neighborhood's warnings were right.
    • Luz begins by avoiding Mr. Park because of the neighborhood's warnings, and ends by knowing why Mr. Park keeps the rules that Mr. Park keeps.
    • Luz begins by avoiding Mr. Park because of the neighborhood's warnings, and ends by understanding where Mr. Park's rules come from, which delivers the theme that a reputation is not the whole person.
    • The story shows that a reputation is not the whole person, which is true of Mr. Park, who once coached a cycling team for twenty years.

  3. Bo looks for the sentence that first turns a type into a rounded character. Which sentence first shows that Mr. Park is more than the grumpy neighbor?

    • [3] Luz, who lived next door, had been told by everyone to stay away, and mostly did, crossing the street to avoid the corner.
    • [10] The next week, the cones were still around the lawn, and Mr. Park still scowled at the mail carrier, but Luz noticed that the scowl lifted a little when the scooter went by in silence.
    • [6] Instead of shouting, Mr. Park knelt, pulled the scooter free, and spun the back wheel with a thumb, saying that the bearing was dry and would squeal by Tuesday.
    • [2] He scowled at the mail carrier, stacked plastic cones around his lawn, and had once confiscated a rubber ball that landed in his tulips.

  4. The Clock Shop (story)

    [1] Every Saturday, Bo walked to Varga Clocks, where Ms. Varga, the owner, taught Bo to oil escapements and to listen to a pendulum the way a doctor listens to a heart. [2] Ms. Varga had a reputation in the neighborhood for being impossible to please, returning any repair that was a hair off and never accepting a thank-you without a correction. [3] The science fair was in two weeks, and Bo had planned a project about gears, which needed every spare minute. [4] Bo wanted to win the fair, and also wanted to keep the Saturdays at the shop, which had become the part of the week that felt most like Bo's own.

    [5] On the Saturday before the fair, Bo arrived with a half-built gear model in a box and asked whether it would be all right to leave after an hour. [6] Ms. Varga looked at the box, then at the clock above the door, and said only that the project had better be worth the hour. [7] Then Ms. Varga opened a low drawer beneath the counter, lifted out a small brass gear train that Bo had admired for months, and said that it had been waiting for someone who would use it. [8] Inside the drawer, Bo glimpsed a row of broken clocks, each tagged with a name and a date, and understood that these were repairs for customers who had never been able to pay.

    [9] Bo left after one hour, and spent the rest of the weekend fitting the brass gears into the model, which ran smoothly for the first time at midnight. [10] At the fair, the project won a ribbon, and Bo stood beside it feeling pleased, but with the sense of having left something behind on Saturday morning. [11] The following week, Bo came to the shop for the whole day and repaired two of the tagged clocks. [12] Ms. Varga corrected the second one by a hair, and Bo said thank you anyway.

  5. Jun links the what-changed cell to the theme-so-far line. How does Bo's change deliver the story's theme?

    • Bo begins by fitting the shop around the science fair, and ends by giving the shop a whole day, which delivers the theme that winning feels incomplete when it comes at the cost of those who helped.
    • The story shows that winning feels incomplete when it comes at the cost of those who helped, and Ms. Varga corrects the second clock by a hair, and Bo says thank you anyway at the end of that day in the shop.
    • Bo builds a gear model, wins a ribbon at the science fair, and returns to the shop the following week to repair two of the tagged clocks.
    • Bo begins by fitting the shop around the science fair, and ends by repairing two of the tagged clocks that had been waiting for customers.

  6. Kira looks for the sentence that first turns a type into a rounded character. Which sentence first shows that Ms. Varga is more than the owner who is impossible to please?

    • [3] The science fair was in two weeks, and Bo had planned a project about gears, which needed every spare minute.
    • [9] Bo left after one hour, and spent the rest of the weekend fitting the brass gears into the model, which ran smoothly for the first time at midnight.
    • [2] Ms. Varga had a reputation in the neighborhood for being impossible to please, returning any repair that was a hair off and never accepting a thank-you without a correction.
    • [7] Then Ms. Varga opened a low drawer beneath the counter, lifted out a small brass gear train that Bo had admired for months, and said that it had been waiting for someone who would use it.

  7. Luz fills in the cost cell for the choice in sentence 9. What does Bo give up, and what does the choice show?

    • Gives up: the brass gear train that Ms. Varga offered to Bo in the shop. Shows: that winning matters but the shop matters too.
    • Gives up: the rest of Saturday at the shop and the tagged repairs. Shows: that the choice was a quick one.
    • Gives up: the rest of Saturday at the shop and the tagged repairs. Shows: that winning matters but the shop matters too.
    • Gives up: the rest of Saturday at the shop and the tagged repairs. Shows: that Bo wants to take over the shop.

  8. The Fifth Seat (story)

    [1] Zee captained the school's quiz team, and Zee's first rule was that the four best players on the day would answer, no matter who had been on the team longest. [2] Ari, the team's star, was known for finishing other people's answers, talking over teammates, and wearing a team jacket in the summer. [3] When the regional round was announced, Zee wrote the lineup in pencil on the whiteboard and left a gap beside the last name. [4] Zee wanted the team to win the round, and also wanted to keep a promise made in September that every member would answer at least once.

    [5] The practice scores showed Ari in the first four, and Pia, a newer member who had never answered in a match, in fifth. [6] Zee spent a night on a spreadsheet comparing the two, and woke up knowing that the spreadsheet had never been the problem. [7] The next morning, Zee wrote Pia's name beside the gap and told Ari that the fifth seat was for the first round, and the fourth was for the second.

    [8] Ari looked at the whiteboard for a long time and said nothing, and then picked up a marker and wrote tips for Pia in the margin, in tiny, careful letters. [9] At the match, Pia answered three questions correctly and froze on a fourth, and Ari, from the sideline, mouthed the first word of the answer without making a sound. [10] The team lost the first round by two points. [11] Zee watched Ari help Pia stack the question cards afterward, with a patience that had never appeared in practice. [12] In the second round, Ari answered nine questions without finishing a single teammate's sentence, and the team won by four.

  9. Milo links the what-changed cell to the theme-so-far line. How does Ari's change deliver the story's theme?

    • Ari begins as a star who talks over teammates, and ends by helping Pia and answering without interrupting, which delivers the theme that real skill shows in how it makes room for others.
    • Ari begins as a star who talks over teammates, and ends as a player who helps the newer member and answers without finishing anyone's sentences.
    • Zee writes Pia's name on the whiteboard, Ari writes tips for Pia in the margin, and the team loses the first round and wins the second.
    • Ari begins as a star who talks over teammates, and ends by proving that the strongest players should be the ones who answer in a match.

  10. Noah looks for the sentence that first turns a type into a rounded character. Which sentence first shows that Ari is more than the show-off star?

    • [5] The practice scores showed Ari in the first four, and Pia, a newer member who had never answered in a match, in fifth.
    • [8] Ari looked at the whiteboard for a long time and said nothing, and then picked up a marker and wrote tips for Pia in the margin, in tiny, careful letters.
    • [10] The team lost the first round by two points.
    • [4] Zee wanted the team to win the round, and also wanted to keep a promise made in September that every member would answer at least once.

  11. Pia fills in the cost cell for the choice in sentence 7. What does Zee give up, and what does the choice show?

    • Gives up: the strongest lineup for the first round. Shows: that Zee keeps a promise even when it costs a point.
    • Gives up: nothing, because the team still wins the first round. Shows: that Zee keeps a promise even when it costs a point.
    • Gives up: the spreadsheet and the practice scores. Shows: that Zee keeps a promise even when it costs a point.
    • Gives up: the strongest lineup for the first round. Shows: that the lineup was changed.

  12. The Falling Balls (story)

    [1] Tala corrected everyone, from the substitute teacher's pronunciation of Cairo to the lunch aide's spelling of Wednesday, and enjoyed being the first hand up whenever a question went unanswered. [2] Classmates had a name for this, which they used when Tala was out of the room, and which Tala had pretended not to hear. [3] In science class, Tala insisted that the heavier of two balls would hit the floor first, and the teacher, Mr. Abebe, smiled and asked for a prediction in writing. [4] Tala wanted to be right, and also wanted to be someone that people were glad to see walking in.

    [5] The next day, Mr. Abebe dropped a heavy ball and a light one of the same size from the top of a stepladder, and the two landed together with a single thud. [6] The room was quiet for a moment, and then a few classmates turned to look at Tala, with the expressions of people waiting for an excuse. [7] Tala stood up, read the written prediction aloud, and said that the prediction had been wrong and that the experiment was better evidence than the opinion. [8] Mr. Abebe thanked Tala for reading the prediction, and the class went on to the next page without a sound.

    [9] At lunch, a younger student asked Tala how to find the main idea in a paragraph, and Tala answered slowly, using a drawing on a napkin. [10] Tala did not use the correcting voice, and the younger student did not leave until the explanation was done. [11] The classmates' name for Tala was used one more time that week, but this time as a description of someone who liked to explain, not someone who liked to win. [12] Tala learned to say that something was a question before saying that it was a fact.

  13. Tala looks for the sentence that first turns a type into a rounded character. Which sentence first shows that Tala is more than the know-it-all?

    • [2] Classmates had a name for this, which they used when Tala was out of the room, and which Tala had pretended not to hear.
    • [3] In science class, Tala insisted that the heavier of two balls would hit the floor first, and the teacher, Mr. Abebe, smiled and asked for a prediction in writing.
    • [7] Tala stood up, read the written prediction aloud, and said that the prediction had been wrong and that the experiment was better evidence than the opinion.
    • [1] Tala corrected everyone, from the substitute teacher's pronunciation of Cairo to the lunch aide's spelling of Wednesday, and enjoyed being the first hand up whenever a question went unanswered.

  14. Zee fills in the cost cell for the choice in sentence 7. What does Tala give up, and what does the choice show?

    • Gives up: the chance to look right in front of the class. Shows: that Tala can read a prediction aloud.
    • Gives up: nothing, because the experiment supports Tala's prediction. Shows: that Tala values evidence over appearing right.
    • Gives up: the chance to look right in front of the class. Shows: that Tala wants to leave the class.
    • Gives up: the chance to look right in front of the class. Shows: that Tala values evidence over appearing right.
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Characters with mixed or clashing motives

Answer Key - Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

  1. Read this first

    The Neighbor on Maple Street (story)

    [1] Everyone on Maple Street knew that Mr. Park, who lived in the corner house, hated noise, children, and anything that rolled down the sidewalk. [2] He scowled at the mail carrier, stacked plastic cones around his lawn, and had once confiscated a rubber ball that landed in his tulips. [3] Luz, who lived next door, had been told by everyone to stay away, and mostly did, crossing the street to avoid the corner. [4] On a Saturday in April, Luz's scooter rolled off the curb and ended up wedged under Mr. Park's hedge, and Luz stood at the gate for a long time deciding whether to knock.

    [5] The door opened before Luz decided, and Mr. Park looked at the scooter and then at Luz with an unreadable face. [6] Instead of shouting, Mr. Park knelt, pulled the scooter free, and spun the back wheel with a thumb, saying that the bearing was dry and would squeal by Tuesday. [7] Mr. Park fetched a small can of oil from a shelf in the garage, and let Luz hold the flashlight during the repair. [8] During the repair, Luz noticed shelves lined with bicycle parts, each labeled in tidy capitals, and a framed photograph of a cycling team from years ago.

    [9] Mr. Park said, without being asked, that he had coached that team for twenty years and still could not stand the sound of a squeaking wheel. [10] The next week, the cones were still around the lawn, and Mr. Park still scowled at the mail carrier, but Luz noticed that the scowl lifted a little when the scooter went by in silence. [11] On the last day of school, Mr. Park left a small can of oil on the Maple Street mailbox, with Luz's name written in the same tidy capitals. [12] Luz understood that the rules had not changed, only that one person now knew where they came from.

  2. Ari links the what-changed cell to the theme-so-far line. How does Luz's change deliver the story's theme?

    • Luz begins by avoiding Mr. Park because of the neighborhood's warnings, and ends by confirming that the neighborhood's warnings were right.
    • Luz begins by avoiding Mr. Park because of the neighborhood's warnings, and ends by knowing why Mr. Park keeps the rules that Mr. Park keeps.
    • Luz begins by avoiding Mr. Park because of the neighborhood's warnings, and ends by understanding where Mr. Park's rules come from, which delivers the theme that a reputation is not the whole person.
    • The story shows that a reputation is not the whole person, which is true of Mr. Park, who once coached a cycling team for twenty years.

  3. Bo looks for the sentence that first turns a type into a rounded character. Which sentence first shows that Mr. Park is more than the grumpy neighbor?

    • [3] Luz, who lived next door, had been told by everyone to stay away, and mostly did, crossing the street to avoid the corner.
    • [10] The next week, the cones were still around the lawn, and Mr. Park still scowled at the mail carrier, but Luz noticed that the scowl lifted a little when the scooter went by in silence.
    • [6] Instead of shouting, Mr. Park knelt, pulled the scooter free, and spun the back wheel with a thumb, saying that the bearing was dry and would squeal by Tuesday.
    • [2] He scowled at the mail carrier, stacked plastic cones around his lawn, and had once confiscated a rubber ball that landed in his tulips.

  4. The Clock Shop (story)

    [1] Every Saturday, Bo walked to Varga Clocks, where Ms. Varga, the owner, taught Bo to oil escapements and to listen to a pendulum the way a doctor listens to a heart. [2] Ms. Varga had a reputation in the neighborhood for being impossible to please, returning any repair that was a hair off and never accepting a thank-you without a correction. [3] The science fair was in two weeks, and Bo had planned a project about gears, which needed every spare minute. [4] Bo wanted to win the fair, and also wanted to keep the Saturdays at the shop, which had become the part of the week that felt most like Bo's own.

    [5] On the Saturday before the fair, Bo arrived with a half-built gear model in a box and asked whether it would be all right to leave after an hour. [6] Ms. Varga looked at the box, then at the clock above the door, and said only that the project had better be worth the hour. [7] Then Ms. Varga opened a low drawer beneath the counter, lifted out a small brass gear train that Bo had admired for months, and said that it had been waiting for someone who would use it. [8] Inside the drawer, Bo glimpsed a row of broken clocks, each tagged with a name and a date, and understood that these were repairs for customers who had never been able to pay.

    [9] Bo left after one hour, and spent the rest of the weekend fitting the brass gears into the model, which ran smoothly for the first time at midnight. [10] At the fair, the project won a ribbon, and Bo stood beside it feeling pleased, but with the sense of having left something behind on Saturday morning. [11] The following week, Bo came to the shop for the whole day and repaired two of the tagged clocks. [12] Ms. Varga corrected the second one by a hair, and Bo said thank you anyway.

  5. Jun links the what-changed cell to the theme-so-far line. How does Bo's change deliver the story's theme?

    • Bo begins by fitting the shop around the science fair, and ends by giving the shop a whole day, which delivers the theme that winning feels incomplete when it comes at the cost of those who helped.
    • The story shows that winning feels incomplete when it comes at the cost of those who helped, and Ms. Varga corrects the second clock by a hair, and Bo says thank you anyway at the end of that day in the shop.
    • Bo builds a gear model, wins a ribbon at the science fair, and returns to the shop the following week to repair two of the tagged clocks.
    • Bo begins by fitting the shop around the science fair, and ends by repairing two of the tagged clocks that had been waiting for customers.

  6. Kira looks for the sentence that first turns a type into a rounded character. Which sentence first shows that Ms. Varga is more than the owner who is impossible to please?

    • [3] The science fair was in two weeks, and Bo had planned a project about gears, which needed every spare minute.
    • [9] Bo left after one hour, and spent the rest of the weekend fitting the brass gears into the model, which ran smoothly for the first time at midnight.
    • [2] Ms. Varga had a reputation in the neighborhood for being impossible to please, returning any repair that was a hair off and never accepting a thank-you without a correction.
    • [7] Then Ms. Varga opened a low drawer beneath the counter, lifted out a small brass gear train that Bo had admired for months, and said that it had been waiting for someone who would use it.

  7. Luz fills in the cost cell for the choice in sentence 9. What does Bo give up, and what does the choice show?

    • Gives up: the brass gear train that Ms. Varga offered to Bo in the shop. Shows: that winning matters but the shop matters too.
    • Gives up: the rest of Saturday at the shop and the tagged repairs. Shows: that the choice was a quick one.
    • Gives up: the rest of Saturday at the shop and the tagged repairs. Shows: that winning matters but the shop matters too.
    • Gives up: the rest of Saturday at the shop and the tagged repairs. Shows: that Bo wants to take over the shop.

  8. The Fifth Seat (story)

    [1] Zee captained the school's quiz team, and Zee's first rule was that the four best players on the day would answer, no matter who had been on the team longest. [2] Ari, the team's star, was known for finishing other people's answers, talking over teammates, and wearing a team jacket in the summer. [3] When the regional round was announced, Zee wrote the lineup in pencil on the whiteboard and left a gap beside the last name. [4] Zee wanted the team to win the round, and also wanted to keep a promise made in September that every member would answer at least once.

    [5] The practice scores showed Ari in the first four, and Pia, a newer member who had never answered in a match, in fifth. [6] Zee spent a night on a spreadsheet comparing the two, and woke up knowing that the spreadsheet had never been the problem. [7] The next morning, Zee wrote Pia's name beside the gap and told Ari that the fifth seat was for the first round, and the fourth was for the second.

    [8] Ari looked at the whiteboard for a long time and said nothing, and then picked up a marker and wrote tips for Pia in the margin, in tiny, careful letters. [9] At the match, Pia answered three questions correctly and froze on a fourth, and Ari, from the sideline, mouthed the first word of the answer without making a sound. [10] The team lost the first round by two points. [11] Zee watched Ari help Pia stack the question cards afterward, with a patience that had never appeared in practice. [12] In the second round, Ari answered nine questions without finishing a single teammate's sentence, and the team won by four.

  9. Milo links the what-changed cell to the theme-so-far line. How does Ari's change deliver the story's theme?

    • Ari begins as a star who talks over teammates, and ends by helping Pia and answering without interrupting, which delivers the theme that real skill shows in how it makes room for others.
    • Ari begins as a star who talks over teammates, and ends as a player who helps the newer member and answers without finishing anyone's sentences.
    • Zee writes Pia's name on the whiteboard, Ari writes tips for Pia in the margin, and the team loses the first round and wins the second.
    • Ari begins as a star who talks over teammates, and ends by proving that the strongest players should be the ones who answer in a match.

  10. Noah looks for the sentence that first turns a type into a rounded character. Which sentence first shows that Ari is more than the show-off star?

    • [5] The practice scores showed Ari in the first four, and Pia, a newer member who had never answered in a match, in fifth.
    • [8] Ari looked at the whiteboard for a long time and said nothing, and then picked up a marker and wrote tips for Pia in the margin, in tiny, careful letters.
    • [10] The team lost the first round by two points.
    • [4] Zee wanted the team to win the round, and also wanted to keep a promise made in September that every member would answer at least once.

  11. Pia fills in the cost cell for the choice in sentence 7. What does Zee give up, and what does the choice show?

    • Gives up: the strongest lineup for the first round. Shows: that Zee keeps a promise even when it costs a point.
    • Gives up: nothing, because the team still wins the first round. Shows: that Zee keeps a promise even when it costs a point.
    • Gives up: the spreadsheet and the practice scores. Shows: that Zee keeps a promise even when it costs a point.
    • Gives up: the strongest lineup for the first round. Shows: that the lineup was changed.

  12. The Falling Balls (story)

    [1] Tala corrected everyone, from the substitute teacher's pronunciation of Cairo to the lunch aide's spelling of Wednesday, and enjoyed being the first hand up whenever a question went unanswered. [2] Classmates had a name for this, which they used when Tala was out of the room, and which Tala had pretended not to hear. [3] In science class, Tala insisted that the heavier of two balls would hit the floor first, and the teacher, Mr. Abebe, smiled and asked for a prediction in writing. [4] Tala wanted to be right, and also wanted to be someone that people were glad to see walking in.

    [5] The next day, Mr. Abebe dropped a heavy ball and a light one of the same size from the top of a stepladder, and the two landed together with a single thud. [6] The room was quiet for a moment, and then a few classmates turned to look at Tala, with the expressions of people waiting for an excuse. [7] Tala stood up, read the written prediction aloud, and said that the prediction had been wrong and that the experiment was better evidence than the opinion. [8] Mr. Abebe thanked Tala for reading the prediction, and the class went on to the next page without a sound.

    [9] At lunch, a younger student asked Tala how to find the main idea in a paragraph, and Tala answered slowly, using a drawing on a napkin. [10] Tala did not use the correcting voice, and the younger student did not leave until the explanation was done. [11] The classmates' name for Tala was used one more time that week, but this time as a description of someone who liked to explain, not someone who liked to win. [12] Tala learned to say that something was a question before saying that it was a fact.

  13. Tala looks for the sentence that first turns a type into a rounded character. Which sentence first shows that Tala is more than the know-it-all?

    • [2] Classmates had a name for this, which they used when Tala was out of the room, and which Tala had pretended not to hear.
    • [3] In science class, Tala insisted that the heavier of two balls would hit the floor first, and the teacher, Mr. Abebe, smiled and asked for a prediction in writing.
    • [7] Tala stood up, read the written prediction aloud, and said that the prediction had been wrong and that the experiment was better evidence than the opinion.
    • [1] Tala corrected everyone, from the substitute teacher's pronunciation of Cairo to the lunch aide's spelling of Wednesday, and enjoyed being the first hand up whenever a question went unanswered.

  14. Zee fills in the cost cell for the choice in sentence 7. What does Tala give up, and what does the choice show?

    • Gives up: the chance to look right in front of the class. Shows: that Tala can read a prediction aloud.
    • Gives up: nothing, because the experiment supports Tala's prediction. Shows: that Tala values evidence over appearing right.
    • Gives up: the chance to look right in front of the class. Shows: that Tala wants to leave the class.
    • Gives up: the chance to look right in front of the class. Shows: that Tala values evidence over appearing right.