Who is telling it, and how far to trust them
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
The Bread Stall (story)
[1] Every Saturday since June, I have run the front table of Mrs. Lindgren's bread stall at the Elm Street market while she bakes and restocks from her van. [2] The trouble this month has been Mr. Oduya, the man at the honey stall beside ours, who I am fairly sure is trying to steal our customers. [3] Last Saturday he set out a tray of free honey samples on little crackers, right at the edge of our table, where nobody could reach our sourdough without passing it. [4] I counted eleven people who tasted his honey and then walked straight past our bread, and I kept a tally of them on the back of a price card. [5] When I showed Mrs. Lindgren the card, the baker laughed and said, "I have seen bigger wars than eleven people, Ren."
[6] This morning Mr. Oduya was back with the same tray, and he kept glancing over at our table every few minutes, the way someone checks a rival's score. [7] Around ten, a woman tasted his honey, and he pointed her toward our table and said something I could not hear over the noise of the market. [8] She bought two sourdough loaves and asked whether we ever baked anything with honey in it. [9] I told her no, and I am fairly sure I said it a little too loudly, so that it would carry to the next stall. [10] By noon we had sold out of sourdough for the first time all summer, which I put down to the cool weather and my taller stacks of loaves.
[11] As we packed up, Mr. Oduya came over with a jar of honey and talked with Mrs. Lindgren for a long time while I folded the tablecloth at the far end of the stall. [12] Whatever he said, it made her nod slowly and write something on the back of my price card, right under my tally. [13] I still think he is up to something, and I plan to keep counting next Saturday.
Milo labels the teller of The Bread Stall in the left margin. Which label and proof are right?
- First person: the story describes the market, the honey samples and the sourdough loaves in close detail.
- First person: Ren, whom the baker names in sentence 5, tells it as "I" from behind the bread table.
- First person: Mrs. Lindgren tells it, since the baker says "I have seen bigger wars than eleven people."
- Third person: an outside teller follows Mrs. Lindgren, the baker who owns the stall and talks with Mr. Oduya.
Noah fills the left margin with what the narrator says. What does the narrator of The Bread Stall claim about Mr. Oduya?
- That the sourdough sold out because of the cool weather and the taller stacks of loaves on the table.
- That Mr. Oduya is trying to steal the bread stall's customers and is still up to something at the end.
- That Mr. Oduya has been sending customers to the bread stall and may want to bake something with honey.
- That eleven customers walking past is too small a number to worry about, as Mrs. Lindgren tells the narrator.
Pia marks what happens out of the narrator's hearing. Which event in The Bread Stall can the narrator not report, and why?
- That Mr. Oduya offered the woman a free jar of honey, because the narrator was busy at the bread table.
- That the woman bought two sourdough loaves after tasting the honey, because the stall was so crowded.
- What Mr. Oduya told the woman at ten o'clock, because the market noise covered the words.
- That the baker has seen bigger wars than eleven people, because the van was parked too far away.
The Quiet Volunteer (story)
[1] On Thursday evenings, Kira walked dogs at the Maple Lane animal shelter, and for three weeks Kira had been paired with Mr. Haskins, a retired mail carrier who barely spoke. [2] Mr. Haskins never knelt to pet the dogs, never used their names, and clipped on each leash with the brisk speed of someone sorting envelopes. [3] By the second week, Kira had decided that the old volunteer came for something to do on a quiet weeknight and did not much care about the animals. [4] On the third Thursday, a nervous gray terrier named Pepper would not leave the back corner of its kennel, and Kira spent twenty minutes coaxing with a squeaky toy. [5] Pepper stayed pressed against the wall, trembling, until Kira gave up and went to walk the next two dogs on the list.
[6] When Kira came back half an hour later, Pepper was out of the kennel and walking calmly beside Mr. Haskins down the hallway on a slack leash. [7] Kira assumed the terrier had simply gotten tired of the corner, since dogs change their minds for no clear reason. [8] At the front desk, the shelter manager, Ms. Abara, looked up from the volunteer log and said, "I was hoping Pepper would come out today." [9] Mr. Haskins nodded, said that it had taken a while, and set a paper bag of soft dog treats on the desk without explaining it. [10] Kira had never seen treats like those in the supply closet, which held one big plastic tub of dry biscuits.
[11] On the way out, Kira glanced at the log and saw a line in neat block letters under Pepper's name: "Sat on floor, 25 min. Do not stand over this dog." [12] Kira read the line twice and hurried out, because the bus left at eight sharp. [13] All the way home, Kira wondered which of the other volunteers had such patience, and decided that it must have been someone on the morning shift.
Ren labels the teller of The Quiet Volunteer in the left margin. Which label and proof are right?
- Third person omniscient: the teller reports what Mr. Haskins and Ms. Abara do and say at the front desk.
- First person: Kira tells the story, walking the dogs and reading the volunteer log at the very end.
- Third person limited: an outside teller calls Kira by name and gives Kira's guesses, never Mr. Haskins's thoughts.
- First person: Ms. Abara tells it, since the manager says "I was hoping Pepper would come out today."
Tala fills the left margin. What does the narrator of The Quiet Volunteer report that Kira believes about Mr. Haskins?
- That Pepper might finally come out of the kennel today, as the shelter manager hopes at the front desk.
- That Mr. Haskins sat on the floor for twenty-five minutes and knows how to calm a nervous dog.
- That Mr. Haskins is the most patient volunteer at the shelter and understands the dogs better than anyone.
- That the old volunteer comes for something to do on a quiet weeknight and does not much care about the animals.
Zee marks what happens while Kira is away. Which event in The Quiet Volunteer can the narrator not show directly, and why?
- How Pepper came out of the corner, because it happened while Kira was walking two other dogs.
- That dogs change their minds for no clear reason, because Kira was thinking about the bus home.
- That Ms. Abara had hoped Pepper would come out, because the manager stayed at the front desk the whole evening.
- Pepper walking calmly down the hallway beside Mr. Haskins, because Kira was still upset about the corner.
The Snow Shovel (story)
[1] The morning after the big storm, I had a shovel, a list of nine houses on Birch Road, and a plan to earn enough by lunch for the art set in the hardware store. [2] My plan had one problem, and its name was Bo, who lives two doors down and had apparently made a list of the very same houses. [3] By eight o'clock, I could see Bo already working at the bottom of the Pruitts' driveway, the third house on my list and the longest drive on the street. [4] Everyone on Birch Road knows that the first person to knock gets the job, and Bo had clearly been up before dawn to beat me there. [5] I took the Wongs' and the Kellers' drives instead, and by ten my arms ached and I had eighteen dollars, not quite enough.
[6] When I passed the Pruitts' house again, Bo had finished the driveway and was clearing the path to the front door, which I would have charged extra for. [7] Mrs. Pruitt, who is eighty-one and walks with a cane, was standing in the doorway in a thick blue coat and calling something out that the wind carried away. [8] Bo waved, shook the snow off the shovel, and walked straight past the next three houses on the street without knocking on a single door. [9] I took those three, of course, and by noon I had twenty-seven dollars. [10] At the hardware store, the clerk said, "The art set is thirty-two dollars, but I can hold it for you until Saturday."
[11] On the walk home, I saw Bo at the Pruitts' again, this time spreading salt on the front steps from a bag that I am almost sure came from Bo's own garage. [12] I suppose Bo wanted the job done well enough to charge double. [13] Next storm, I am setting my alarm for five, and the Pruitts' house is going first on my list.
Ari labels the teller of The Snow Shovel in the left margin. Which label and proof are right?
- First person: the story names nine houses on Birch Road and the Wongs', Kellers' and Pruitts' drives.
- First person: the teller says "I took the Wongs' and the Kellers' drives instead" outside any quotation marks.
- First person: the hardware clerk tells it, since the clerk says "I can hold it for you until Saturday."
- Third person limited: an outside teller follows Bo, who shovels the Pruitts' driveway and the front path.
Esme fills the left margin. What does the narrator of The Snow Shovel claim about why Bo went back to the Pruitts'?
- That the first person to knock on a door on Birch Road gets the job, so an early start wins.
- That Bo was helping Mrs. Pruitt for free and salting the steps so an older neighbor would not slip.
- That Bo wanted the job done well enough to charge the Pruitts double.
- That the art set costs thirty-two dollars and can be held until Saturday, as the hardware clerk says.
The Seventh Game (story)
[1] Every Sunday afternoon, the park pavilion on Grove Street fills with folding tables and chess boards, and for a month Jun had played the same opponent there, a retired bus driver named Mr. Petrov. [2] Mr. Petrov played slowly, humming to himself between moves, and he had won their first six games without ever seeming to try very hard. [3] In the seventh game, Jun pushed a knight forward too early, saw the mistake a second too late, and waited for the old driver to take it. [4] Instead, Mr. Petrov studied the board for a long time, rubbed his chin, and moved a pawn on the far side of the board. [5] Jun won that game in twenty moves and felt, for about a minute, like the strongest player in the pavilion.
[6] Then the doubt arrived, because a player who had won six games in a row did not simply miss a free knight. [7] By the walk home, Jun had decided that Mr. Petrov felt sorry for the young player who kept losing and had handed over the win as a gift. [8] The next Sunday, Jun played stiffly and suspiciously, refusing to take anything that looked too easy, and lost in twelve moves. [9] Afterward, Mr. Petrov set the pieces back up, replayed the knight move from the week before, and showed Jun three ways that taking the knight would have walked into a trap. [10] Jun nodded politely, though most of it went by too fast to follow.
[11] Jun searched the old driver's face for a hint, but Mr. Petrov just hummed, folded the board, and said, "I liked that knight, but it came out too early." [12] On the bus, Jun replayed the seventh game in a notebook and stopped at the pawn, unable to see what it had been for. [13] All the way home, Jun felt sure the win had been a kindness, and a little embarrassed to have enjoyed it.
Kira fills the left margin. What does the narrator of The Seventh Game report that Jun believes about the win?
- That Jun won the seventh game fairly by finding a plan that a stronger player had failed to see.
- That Mr. Petrov felt sorry for a losing player and handed over the seventh game as a gift.
- That the knight was a good idea that came out too early, as Mr. Petrov says after the next game.
- That Jun was the strongest player in the pavilion, for about a minute after the seventh game.
Luz marks what stays outside the narrator's view. What can the narrator of The Seventh Game not tell the reader, and why?
- Why Mr. Petrov moved the pawn instead of taking the knight, because the teller stays outside the old driver's thoughts.
- That Mr. Petrov told the other players beforehand that the game would be a gift, because Jun arrived late.
- That Mr. Petrov rubbed his chin and studied the board, because the pavilion was so busy that Sunday.
- That Jun felt embarrassed to have enjoyed the win, because Jun kept the feeling from Mr. Petrov.
