Where a word came from; foreign phrases in English
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
At a formal dinner, a guest called the host by the wrong name, and the whole table went quiet. Bo reads a situation in a phrase-book. Which borrowed phrase, with its origin, names it?
- mea culpa (Latin, “my fault”)
- pas de deux (French, “step of two”)
- savoir faire (French, “to know how to do”)
- faux pas (French, “false step”)
“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.” Esme reads a line written around 1600. What did “naughty” most likely mean in it?
- playfully badly behaved
- dark and dimly lit
- silly and foolish
- wicked or worthless
Read this first
Entry (written by PencilGo, after standard references)
Alcove (noun), 1600s. From French alcôve, from Spanish alcoba, from Arabic al-qubba, “the vault.” Today: a recessed space in a room.
Jun reads the entry. Which line traces the path of “alcove” from its oldest source to English?
- Arabic → Spanish → French → English
- English → French → Spanish → Arabic
- Latin → Spanish → French → English
- Arabic → French → English
After years of talks, two countries agree to keep every border and treaty exactly as it is, with no changes. Kira reads a situation in a phrase-book. Which borrowed phrase, with its origin, names it?
- avant-garde (French, “advance guard”)
- laissez-faire (French, “let them do”)
- status quo (Latin, “the state in which”)
- quid pro quo (Latin, “something for something”)
“The quality of mercy is not strain'd.” Luz reads a line written around 1600. What did “strain'd” most likely mean in it?
- weakened by overuse
- filtered through a cloth
- forced or compelled
- stretched tight or tense
Situation
For the founder, the free clinic was the reason her work mattered at all; without it she would have changed careers.
Noah reads a situation in a phrase-book. Which borrowed phrase, with its origin, names it?
- joie de vivre (French, “joy of living”)
- magnum opus (Latin, “great work”)
- pro forma (Latin, “for the sake of form”)
- raison d'être (French, “reason for being”)
Old text (Declaration of Independence, 1776)
“a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
Pia reads a line written in 1776. What did “decent” most likely mean in it?
- fairly good, but not excellent
- fitting or proper
- modest in dress and manner
- polite to those in power
Entry (written by PencilGo, after standard references)
Cipher (noun), 1300s. From Old French cifre, from Medieval Latin cifra, from Arabic sifr, “empty, zero.” Today: a secret code; also a zero.
Ren reads the entry. Which line traces the path of “cipher” from its oldest source to English?
- Arabic → Medieval Latin → Old French → English
- English → Old French → Medieval Latin → Arabic
- Arabic → Old French → English
- Greek → Medieval Latin → Old French → English
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation.” Tala reads a line written in 1863. What does “score” mean in it?
- a group of twenty
- the points earned in a game
- a debt that is still owed
- a written line of music
Tomato (noun), 1600s. From Spanish tomate, from Nahuatl tomatl. Today: a red or yellow fruit eaten as a vegetable. Zee reads the entry. Which line traces the path of “tomato” from its oldest source to English?
- Portuguese → Spanish → English
- Nahuatl → English
- Nahuatl → Spanish → English
- English → Spanish → Nahuatl