How an author reshapes an older story
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
The North Wind and the Sun, and The Hallway Contest (pair: a retold fable and a new story)
Text A: The North Wind and the Sun (our retelling of a fable told by Aesop)
[1] One autumn day, the North Wind and the Sun argued about which of them was stronger, and neither one was willing to give way to the other. [2] Looking down, they saw a traveler walking along a country road in a heavy wool cloak, and they agreed to settle the argument with a test. [3] Whoever could make the traveler take off the cloak, they decided, would be called the stronger of the two. [4] The North Wind went first and blew a cold, roaring blast that bent the trees and sent the leaves spinning across the fields. [5] Yet the harder the wind blew, the more tightly the traveler pulled the cloak around both shoulders and held it closed at the throat. [6] At last the North Wind, worn out from roaring, fell silent and admitted that it could do no more. [7] Then the Sun came out from behind a cloud and simply shone, warm and steady, on the dusty road and on the traveler's back. [8] Within a few minutes the traveler loosened the cloak, and before long took it off and sat down in the shade of an oak to rest. [9] Gentle persuasion, the fable concludes, often succeeds where force fails.
Text B: The Hallway Contest
[10] At Linden High School, crowds of students lingered in the narrow east hallway every afternoon, and the late buses kept leaving with empty seats. [11] Two student council members, Zee and Kira, each claimed to have the better plan to clear the hallway, so the faculty adviser, Mr. Oyelaran, let each of them try for one afternoon. [12] On Monday, Zee stood at the end of the hallway with a megaphone and a stopwatch, ordering everyone to move along before the buses pulled away. [13] The louder the megaphone got, the more firmly the groups stayed in place, and several students turned their backs and kept talking just to make a point. [14] By four o'clock Zee's voice was hoarse, and Zee put the megaphone down and admitted to Mr. Oyelaran that the hallway was as crowded as it had been at three. [15] On Tuesday, Kira set up a table of free hot cocoa beside the bus loop, under a hand-lettered sign that invited riders to have a cup while the buses loaded. [16] Within ten minutes the hallway had emptied, and the same students who had ignored the megaphone were standing in line at the curb, warming their hands. [17] Kira never raised a voice once that afternoon, and Mr. Oyelaran noted that every bus left with its seats filled. [18] At the next council meeting, Zee asked whether the cocoa table could become a Friday tradition, and nobody argued against that plan.
Ari lines up the two texts in a chart. Which Text B sentence does the same job as Text A sentence [5], where the force only makes the other side hold on harder?
- [12] On Monday, Zee stood at the end of the hallway with a megaphone and a stopwatch, ordering everyone to move along before the buses pulled away.
- [14] By four o'clock Zee's voice was hoarse, and Zee put the megaphone down and admitted to Mr. Oyelaran that the hallway was as crowded as it had been at three.
- [13] The louder the megaphone got, the more firmly the groups stayed in place, and several students turned their backs and kept talking just to make a point.
- [17] Kira never raised a voice once that afternoon, and Mr. Oyelaran noted that every bus left with its seats filled.
Luz fills in chart rows. Kept: Text B does the same thing. Changed: Text B does that job a different way. Left out: Text B has nothing for it. Which row is labeled correctly?
- [9] the stated lesson about gentle persuasion → [18] Zee asks for a Friday cocoa table: kept
- [6] the wind gives up and admits it → [14] Zee puts the megaphone down and admits it: kept
- [3] the test is making a traveler take off a cloak → [11] the test is clearing a hallway: kept
- [5] the cloak is held tighter as the wind grows → [13] the groups stay more firmly: changed
Pia checks the chart for empty rows. Which Text A detail has nothing beside it in Text B, because the later author left it out?
- [2] the one the rivals try to move, a traveler in a heavy cloak
- [9] a closing line that states the lesson of the contest in words
- [5] the other side holding on tighter as the force grows stronger
- [18] a request to make the warm offer into a weekly tradition
Ren works backward from Text B. Which Text A sentence does the same job as Text B sentence [16], where the hallway finally empties?
- [3] Whoever could make the traveler take off the cloak, they decided, would be called the stronger of the two.
- [8] Within a few minutes the traveler loosened the cloak, and before long took it off and sat down in the shade of an oak to rest.
- [7] Then the Sun came out from behind a cloud and simply shone, warm and steady, on the dusty road and on the traveler's back.
- [9] Gentle persuasion, the fable concludes, often succeeds where force fails.
Ari looks for another empty row. Which Text A detail has nothing beside it in Text B, because the later author left it out?
- [13] a few people turning their backs just to make a point
- [7] the warm side's way of winning, by shining on the road
- [6] the force side giving up and admitting it can do no more
- [8] a rest in the shade of an oak once the cloak is off
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, and The Visit (pair: a retold fable and a new story)
Text A: The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse (our retelling of a fable told by Aesop)
[1] A mouse who lived in a quiet field once invited a cousin from the town to visit, and it set out the best food the country had to offer: barley, dried peas and a few roots. [2] The town mouse nibbled politely but soon declared that no one could be content with such plain meals, and it invited the country mouse to come and see real comfort. [3] That night the two traveled to a grand house in the town, where the remains of a feast still covered a long dining table. [4] There were cakes, cheeses, honey and fruit, more than the country mouse had ever seen, and the two began to eat. [5] They had barely started when the doors banged open, servants rushed in, and two large dogs came barking into the room. [6] The mice ran for a crack in the wall and stayed there, trembling, until the house was quiet again. [7] Then the country mouse said goodbye, explaining that a simple meal eaten in peace was better than a feast eaten in fear. [8] It set off for the field that same night and never came back to the town.
Text B: The Visit
[9] Jun had grown up in a farm town of two thousand people, so when cousin Ren invited Jun to spend a week of summer in the city, Jun packed a bag in under ten minutes. [10] Ren had planned every hour of the week: a rooftop concert, a food-truck festival, a museum that stayed open at night and a crowded street fair on the last day. [11] The food was better than anything at home, from dumplings to a mango ice that Jun bought twice in one afternoon. [12] Yet every outing ran on Ren's phone alarms, and each time Jun began to enjoy a place, an alarm would buzz and the two cousins would rush off to catch a train. [13] On the third night, the subway stalled between stations for forty minutes, packed so tightly that Jun could not reach the water bottle in a backpack. [14] By Friday, Jun's head ached from the sirens outside the apartment window, and Jun asked whether the two of them could skip the street fair and sit in the park. [15] Ren looked surprised but agreed, and the cousins spent the last afternoon on a bench under a plane tree, doing nothing at all. [16] On the last night, Jun told Ren that the city had been amazing, but that a slow supper on the porch at home beat a feast eaten on the run. [17] The next morning Jun took the train home, and a few hours later Ren sent a message asking whether the next visit could be on the farm, with no alarms.
Zee lines up the two texts in a chart. Which Text B sentence does the same job as Text A sentence [5], where the visitor's enjoyment is suddenly cut short?
- [16] On the last night, Jun told Ren that the city had been amazing, but that a slow supper on the porch at home beat a feast eaten on the run.
- [11] The food was better than anything at home, from dumplings to a mango ice that Jun bought twice in one afternoon.
- [13] On the third night, the subway stalled between stations for forty minutes, packed so tightly that Jun could not reach the water bottle in a backpack.
- [12] Yet every outing ran on Ren's phone alarms, and each time Jun began to enjoy a place, an alarm would buzz and the two cousins would rush off to catch a train.
Bo fills in chart rows. Kept: Text B does the same thing. Changed: Text B does that job a different way. Left out: Text B has nothing for it. Which row is labeled correctly?
- [8] the country cousin does not come back → [17] Ren asks to visit the farm next time: kept
- [2] the town cousin scorns the plain country meal → [10] Ren plans each hour of the week: kept
- [5] servants and dogs burst in on the feast → [12] phone alarms cut each outing short: changed
- [3] the visitor travels to the cousin's town → [9] the visitor goes to the city for a week: changed
Esme checks the chart for empty rows. Which Text A detail has nothing beside it in Text B, because the later author left it out?
- [15] a quiet last afternoon on a park bench in the city
- [4] a table covered with more rich food than the visitor has seen
- [5] the sudden noise of servants and barking dogs at the feast
- [2] the town cousin calling the plain country meals not worth having
Kira works backward from Text B. Which Text A sentence does the same job as Text B sentence [16], where Jun sums up what the visit taught?
- [8] It set off for the field that same night and never came back to the town.
- [6] The mice ran for a crack in the wall and stayed there, trembling, until the house was quiet again.
- [7] Then the country mouse said goodbye, explaining that a simple meal eaten in peace was better than a feast eaten in fear.
- [2] The town mouse nibbled politely but soon declared that no one could be content with such plain meals, and it invited the country mouse to come and see real comfort.
Luz fills in more chart rows. Kept: Text B does the same thing. Changed: Text B does that job a different way. Left out: Text B has nothing for it. Which row is labeled correctly?
- [4] more rich food than the visitor has ever seen → [11] food better than anything at home: changed
- [1] a first visit, to the country, for barley and peas → [15] an afternoon on a park bench: kept
- [7] a simple meal in peace beats a feast in fear → [16] a slow supper at home beats a feast on the run: kept
- [6] the two hide, trembling, in a crack in the wall → [13] the two are stuck on a stalled, packed train: kept
