How word choice and sentence shape set the tone
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Review
The Railroad Room (review): [1] If you have ever wanted to shrink down and ride a train through a tiny mountain town, the new Railroad Room at the Carver County Museum is where to spend a rainy Saturday. [2] I went last weekend expecting a dusty corner with a few old timetables, and I walked out two hours later grinning from ear to ear. [3] The main layout fills the whole room, and it is packed with little details: a bakery with a striped awning, a ferry dock, and a drive-in movie screen the size of a postcard. [4] Three trains loop through the town at once, and the best part is watching them cross the same bridge seconds apart without ever bumping.
[5] A volunteer named Mr. Okafor runs the control board, and he answered every question I threw at him without once checking his notes. [6] Honestly, the sign by the door is the one boring thing in the room: "Visitors are requested to refrain from touching the exhibits or leaning on the display rails." [7] You won't need to touch anything, though, because the buttons along the rail let you blow a whistle, switch on the streetlights, or start a snowstorm over the mountain. [8] My favorite button turns the town from noon to midnight in ten seconds, and when the tiny windows lit up one by one, every kid in the room cheered. [9] "We spent four winters building that mountain," Mr. Okafor told me, "and we still find spots we want to fix."
[10] The room gets crowded around two, so go early, and bring some patience, because the smallest visitors like to camp out at the snowstorm button. [11] Still, that's a tiny complaint about a room that is this much fun. [12] Five stars, and I'd give it six if the scale went that high.
Tala wants to label the register of the museum review. Which choice gives the register and a clue that shows it?
- Formal: the reviewer uses careful, official words such as "Honestly" and "I'd give it six."
- Formal: the review is about a county museum, and a museum is a serious, educational place.
- Casual: the reviewer talks straight to the reader with chatty words such as "Honestly" and "You won't."
- Formal: sentence 6 uses careful, official phrases such as "requested to refrain from touching the exhibits."
Zee asks whether this review is objective or subjective. Which choice gives the stance and the clue that shows it?
- Subjective: the reviewer judges the room, calling it "this much fun" and giving it "Five stars."
- Objective: the reviewer reports facts and holds back from judging, as in "Five stars" in sentence 12.
- Subjective: the reviewer gives a personal judgment in sentence 3, that the main layout "fills the whole room."
- Subjective: the review gives a personal view in sentence 9, that "we still find spots we want to fix."
Elm Street Water Main Work Begins Monday (news release)
[1] The City of Harlow Water Department will begin replacing the water main beneath Elm Street on Monday, March 3, and the work is scheduled to continue for approximately six weeks. [2] The current pipe, which was installed in 1958, has required emergency repairs on eleven occasions during the past five years. [3] Crews will work between 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on weekdays, and no work is planned for weekends or holidays. [4] Residents of the 200 and 300 blocks may notice reduced water pressure during working hours, and a temporary supply line will be installed along the curb before any service is interrupted. [5] Each household will receive a printed notice at least forty-eight hours before its water is shut off, and no shutoff is expected to last longer than four hours.
[6] Parking will not be permitted on the east side of the street while the work is underway, and drivers are advised to use Maple Avenue or Third Street as alternate routes. [7] The project is funded by the city's capital improvement budget, which the city council approved in November. [8] Some residents have already shared their reactions with the department. [9] "Honestly, it's going to be a mess out here for a month and a half," said Doris Whitfield, who has lived on Elm Street for thirty years. [10] Department director Samuel Ortiz said that crews would keep driveways open whenever possible and that questions could be directed to the project office.
[11] Updates on the schedule will be posted weekly on the city's website and on the bulletin board at the public library. [12] The department expects the new main to remain in service for at least seventy years.
Ari reads the city's release about the water main. Which choice names its tone and the words that set it?
- Calm and businesslike: phrases such as "is scheduled to," "may notice" and "are advised to" set it.
- Annoyed and grumbling: words such as "Honestly" and "a mess out here" set it.
- Calm and businesslike: words such as "Elm Street," "Monday" and "water main" set it.
- Alarmed and urgent: phrases such as "emergency repairs," "shut off" and "will not be permitted" set it.
Esme wonders whether the water release takes a side. Which choice gives its stance and the clue that shows it?
- Objective: the release reports dates, hours and numbers, and the one complaint is a quoted resident's.
- Subjective: sentence 12 gives the writer's own feeling that the main will last "at least seventy years."
- Subjective: road work on a busy street is a topic that makes neighbors take sides.
- Subjective: the release gives its own view in sentence 9, that the work is "going to be a mess out here."
First Light on Pine Lake (story)
[1] Aunt Rosa shook my sleeping bag at five in the morning, and I will admit that I grumbled the whole way down the path to the dock, because nobody should have to be awake before the birds are. [2] Then I saw the lake, and the grumbling drained completely out of me. [3] The water was perfectly still, and the far shore was doubled in it, each pine standing upright on the bank and upside down in the lake. [4] We slid the canoe in without a splash, and Noah climbed into the front seat slowly, testing each step before trusting it.
[5] Nobody talked, which is not something anyone could usually say about our talkative, enormous family. [6] The only sounds were the soft dip of the paddles and, once, a loon calling from somewhere we couldn't see. [7] Mist hung just above the water in thin, pale strips, and we paddled straight through it, so close that I could have run my fingers along it. [8] Halfway across, Aunt Rosa lifted her paddle and let us drift, and the canoe turned slowly in a lazy circle. [9] "This is the best part of the whole trip," Noah whispered, and for once I didn't argue.
[10] The sun came over the hills a little at a time, turning the mist gold and then burning it away. [11] By the time we got back to the dock, the other campers were clanging cooking pots and calling to each other across the crowded campground. [12] I honestly think that hour on the water was the quietest, calmest hour I have ever spent anywhere. [13] I'd get up at five again tomorrow if it meant another one.
Ren marks the tone of the canoe story. Which choice names the narrator's tone for the hour on the lake and the words that set it?
- Bored and gloomy: words such as "pale strips," "drift" and "lazy circle" set it.
- Hushed and peaceful: words such as "perfectly still," "soft dip of the paddles" and "quietest, calmest hour" set it.
- Excited and thrilled: the words "This is the best part of the whole trip" set it.
- Grumpy and sleepy: words such as "grumbled the whole way down the path" set it.
Tala labels the register of the narrator's voice in the canoe story. Which choice gives the register and a clue that shows it?
- Formal: the story must be written for a teacher to grade, so the narrator chooses careful words throughout.
- Formal: the narrator uses stiff, official words such as "I'd get up" and "I honestly think."
- Casual: the narrator talks like someone telling a friend, with phrases such as "I will admit" and "I'd."
- Casual: the story is about a family camping trip, and camping is a relaxed, outdoor activity.
Zee wants to know whether the canoe story's narrator is objective or subjective. Which choice gives the stance and the clue?
- Subjective: the story gives a personal judgment in sentence 9, that this is "the best part of the whole trip."
- Subjective: a family trip is a personal topic, so a story about one has to take a side.
- Objective: the narrator simply reports what happened, as in the "quietest, calmest hour" of sentence 12.
- Subjective: the narrator gives a personal judgment in sentence 12, calling it the "quietest, calmest hour I have ever spent anywhere."
The Last Board (story)
[1] At four o'clock the school gym was nearly empty, and one table still had a game on it, under the single row of lights that had not been switched off. [2] Kira sat on the side nearest the windows, and Jun sat across the board, with a chess clock between them that showed four minutes left for Kira and three minutes left for Jun. [3] Twenty people stood in a ring around the table, close enough to see the pieces and far enough back that no shadow fell across the board. [4] Jun moved a knight, pressed the button on the clock, and folded both hands on the edge of the table.
[5] Kira looked at the board for forty seconds without touching anything, while the numbers on the clock went on falling. [6] Someone in the ring coughed, and three people turned to stare at the person who had made the sound. [7] Kira reached toward the queen, stopped with one finger above it, and drew the hand back to the edge of the table. [8] "Come on, just go already," a voice whispered from the back, and the tournament director raised one hand without turning around. [9] Kira moved a pawn one square forward and pressed the clock.
[10] Jun leaned in, studied the pawn for a long moment, and did not lean back. [11] For the next minute neither player moved, and the only sound in the gym was the steady ticking of the clock between them. [12] Then Jun reached out, tipped the king gently onto its side, and offered a hand across the board.
Ari labels the tone of the chess story. Which choice names the tone and the words that set it?
- Tense: words such as "school gym," "chess clock" and "tournament director" set it.
- Impatient and bored: the whispered words "Come on, just go already" set it.
- Friendly and warm: the words "offered a hand across the board" set it.
- Tense: words such as "without touching anything," "stopped with one finger above it" and "steady ticking" set it.
Bo is labeling the register of the chess story's narration. Which choice gives the register and a clue that shows it?
- Formal: the story must be written for chess experts, who expect careful language.
- Casual: the narration uses chatty words such as "Come on, just go already."
- Formal: chess is a serious game played in tournaments, so a story about it is formal.
- Formal: the narration has no slang and no contractions, writing "had not been switched off" and "did not lean back."
Esme notices the chess story never says what anyone thinks. Which choice gives the narrator's stance and the clue that shows it?
- Subjective: the narrator shares Kira's private worry in sentence 7, about which piece to move.
- Subjective: a chess final is a contest, so the story must be on one player's side.
- Objective: the narrator reports actions and sounds, such as "Kira moved a pawn," and never judges them.
- Subjective: the narrator judges the scene in sentence 3, saying that twenty people "stood in a ring around the table."