Work out a word, then check it
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
The Last Ferry (local history)
[1] For forty years the ferry across Marlow Bay had run on a schedule that nobody questioned, until the harbor board proposed to retire it. [2] The ferry captain, a gruff woman named Ines Castellar, did not argue; she simply posted a notice asking passengers to sign if they wished the boat to stay. [3] Within a week the clipboard was full, and by the second week commuters were lining up to add their names beside those of schoolchildren, fishermen and the mayor. [4] The board, caught between a tight budget and an aroused public, decided to table the proposal until spring. [5] Some called the delay a rescue; Castellar, who had been through delays before, called it a pause.
Dictionary entry (written by PencilGo): table. 1. (noun) a piece of furniture with a flat top. 2. (noun) an orderly chart of facts. 3. (verb) to put aside a proposal so it can be taken up later. 4. (verb) to present a proposal for discussion.
Ari reads sentence 4 and the entry below. Which sense of “table” does the sentence use?
- an orderly chart of facts and figures
- to present a proposal for discussion
- to ask passengers to sign a notice
- to postpone a proposal until later
The Last Ferry (local history)
[1] For forty years the ferry across Marlow Bay had run on a schedule that nobody questioned, until the harbor board proposed to retire it. [2] The ferry captain, a gruff woman named Ines Castellar, did not argue; she simply posted a notice asking passengers to sign if they wished the boat to stay. [3] Within a week the clipboard was full, and by the second week commuters were lining up to add their names beside those of schoolchildren, fishermen and the mayor. [4] The board, caught between a tight budget and an aroused public, decided to table the proposal until spring. [5] Some called the delay a rescue; Castellar, who had been through delays before, called it a pause.
Bo reads the passage. What does “aroused” mean in sentence 4, and which sentence gives the best clue?
- rough and unfriendly; clue in sentence 2
- worried about money; clue in sentence 4
- stirred into action; clue in sentence 3
- just awake; clue in sentence 1
Esme reads the passage. What does “gruff” mean in sentence 2, and how does the writer seem to feel about Castellar?
- rough in manner; the writer dislikes her
- loud and angry; the writer is amused
- polite and formal; the writer admires her
- rough in manner; the writer admires her
Living With the River (science essay)
[1] Engineers once treated the river as an opponent to be defeated, building levees higher after every flood and calling each wall permanent. [2] The strategy worked well enough to be called a triumph, until the spring of 1993, when the water topped the levees along the Mississippi and spread across thousands of acres. [3] Afterward, planners began to talk less of conquering the river and more of living with it, restoring wetlands that could soak up a flood as a sponge soaks up spilled milk. [4] Skeptics warned that such measures would only mitigate damage. [5] Supporters shrugged; reducing the damage, they argued, was the most any wall had ever done.
Dictionary entry (written by PencilGo): top. 1. (noun) the highest part of something. 2. (verb) to put a finishing layer on something. 3. (verb) to rise above or go past a limit. 4. (verb) to cut off the highest part of something.
Jun reads sentence 2 and the entry below. Which sense of “topped” does the sentence use?
- put a finishing layer on something
- rose above or went past a limit
- cut off the highest part of something
- the highest part of something
Living With the River (science essay)
[1] Engineers once treated the river as an opponent to be defeated, building levees higher after every flood and calling each wall permanent. [2] The strategy worked well enough to be called a triumph, until the spring of 1993, when the water topped the levees along the Mississippi and spread across thousands of acres. [3] Afterward, planners began to talk less of conquering the river and more of living with it, restoring wetlands that could soak up a flood as a sponge soaks up spilled milk. [4] Skeptics warned that such measures would only mitigate damage. [5] Supporters shrugged; reducing the damage, they argued, was the most any wall had ever done.
Kira reads the passage. What does “mitigate” mean in sentence 4, and which sentence gives the best clue?
- to soak up water; clue in sentence 3
- to stop completely; clue in sentence 4
- to build higher; clue in sentence 1
- to make less severe; clue in sentence 5
Luz reads the passage. What does “shrugged” mean in sentence 5, and how does the writer see the supporters?
- argued angrily; the writer sees them as steady
- gave up; the writer sees them as careless
- answered calmly, unbothered; the writer sees them as careless
- answered calmly, unbothered; the writer sees them as steady
The Maker's Room (profile)
[1] The workshop was austere: a bench, a lamp, a row of chisels hung in order of size. [2] Anton Reisz had built violins there for fifty years, and the customers who climbed his stairs expected a showroom of gleaming varnish and were disappointed to find a room that looked unfurnished, though they left impressed anyway. [3] Reisz was fastidious; he would spend a week on a single scroll, discarding each attempt that fell short of what he heard in his head. [4] "A violin is not decorated," he told one visitor; "it is made, and the making is the beauty."
Dictionary entry (written by PencilGo): scroll. 1. (noun) a roll of parchment or paper with writing on it. 2. (noun) the spiral carved end of the neck of a violin. 3. (verb) to move text up or down on a screen. 4. (noun) a coiled design used as decoration.
Milo reads sentence 3 and the entry below. Which sense of “scroll” does the sentence use?
- the carved spiral end of a violin
- a coiled design used as decoration
- a roll of parchment with writing on it
- to move text up or down on a screen
The Maker's Room (profile)
[1] The workshop was austere: a bench, a lamp, a row of chisels hung in order of size. [2] Anton Reisz had built violins there for fifty years, and the customers who climbed his stairs expected a showroom of gleaming varnish and were disappointed to find a room that looked unfurnished, though they left impressed anyway. [3] Reisz was fastidious; he would spend a week on a single scroll, discarding each attempt that fell short of what he heard in his head. [4] "A violin is not decorated," he told one visitor; "it is made, and the making is the beauty."
Noah reads the passage. What does “austere” mean in sentence 1, and which sentence gives the best clue?
- bright and polished; clue in sentence 2
- expensive; clue in sentence 2
- tidy and well organized; clue in sentence 1
- plain, with no extras; clue in sentence 2
Pia reads the passage. What does “fastidious” mean in sentence 3, and how does the writer seem to feel about Reisz?
- careless; the writer finds him annoying
- very careful about details; the writer finds him annoying
- very careful about details; the writer admires him
- easily pleased; the writer admires him
Weather on the Cape (nature feature)
[1] The weather off the cape is capricious, and the fishermen say so with a mixture of pride and fatigue. [2] A morning of glassy calm can give way by noon to a wind that flattens the beach grass, and the same sky can reverse itself again by dusk. [3] Fishermen who have worked these waters for decades keep a barometer on the wall, but they trust their own knees more. [4] "It never quits being strange," said one, tapping the glass. [5] The younger forecasters, trained on satellite maps, tend to smile at such remarks, though they privately admit that the old men are right more often than the models allow.
Zee reads the passage. What does “privately admit” mean in sentence 5, and what do the forecasters feel?
- confess reluctantly; the forecasters respect them
- confess reluctantly; the forecasters look down on them
- announce proudly; the forecasters respect them
- announce proudly; the forecasters look down on them
