A culture seen through a story from another country

Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Cleaning Time in Kyoto (story set in Japan)

   [1] On the first Monday at a junior high school in Kyoto, Pia, who was spending the school year with a host family, changed from outdoor shoes into soft indoor shoes at the entrance, as every student did. [2] Pia had expected a janitor with a cart at the end of the lunch hour, but instead the chime rang, and the students pushed their desks to the walls, took out brooms and cloths, and began to clean the classroom themselves. [3] In the hallway, groups of students swept in straight lines, and in the washrooms, a few of them scrubbed the sinks without any joking at all. [4] Pia stood holding a broom, unsure where to begin, and felt a flush of embarrassment at being the only one who had not known.

   [5] Ren, a classmate, handed Pia a damp cloth and showed how to wipe the window ledge in one direction, so that the dust gathered in a single line. [6] Pia worked for fifteen minutes beside Ren, and noticed that the work felt less like a chore than like a shared turn at something that belonged to everyone. [7] The cleaning was over before the next bell, and the students returned the brooms to the cupboard in a neat row before they took their seats again.

   [8] That evening, Pia told the host family that at home a custodian cleaned the school, and that the students did not touch the floors. [9] The host mother, Mrs. Sato, said that in Japan the children cleaning the school was meant to teach that a place stays clean only when the people who use it care for it. [10] Pia thought about this for the rest of the week, and noticed how the students walked around the wet spots on the floor without being told. [11] By the end of the month, Pia no longer waited to be shown a task, and picked up a cloth as soon as the chime rang. [12] At the farewell party in June, Pia wrote on a card for the class that the cleanest classroom in the world was the one the students had made together.

2. 1.

   Ari fills in the setting-and-culture cell. Which choice names the place and one custom the story shows?

   • Brazil: students change into indoor shoes at the school entrance.
   • Japan: students bow to the principal in the schoolyard before class.
   • Japan: students change into indoor shoes at the school entrance.
   • Japan: a country with many schools and many students.
3. 2.

   Bo fills in the setting-and-culture cell. Which choice names the place and one custom the story shows?

   • Japan: students wash the school bus on Fridays after lunch.
   • Kenya: students clean their own classroom and hallways after lunch.
   • Students clean their own classroom and hallways after lunch.
   • Japan: students clean their own classroom and hallways after lunch.
4. 3.

   Esme looks for a custom of this place, not only where the story happens. Which sentence shows a custom?

   • [6] Pia worked for fifteen minutes beside Ren, and noticed that the work felt less like a chore than like a shared turn at something that belonged to everyone.
   • [2] Pia had expected a janitor with a cart at the end of the lunch hour, but instead the chime rang, and the students pushed their desks to the walls, took out brooms and cloths, and began to clean the classroom themselves.
   • [5] Ren, a classmate, handed Pia a damp cloth and showed how to wipe the window ledge in one direction, so that the dust gathered in a single line.
   • [8] That evening, Pia told the host family that at home a custodian cleaned the school, and that the students did not touch the floors.
5. 4.

   Kira fills in the culture cell. What does students cleaning their own school show about what the community values?

   • Students are being taught to keep their own desks tidy, so that the classroom looks neat for visitors.
   • The community values shared care for shared places, so the people who use a room help keep it clean.
   • Cleaning is a job that belongs to specialists, and students should leave it to them.
   • Teachers want to save the school money on cleaners, so the students are asked to do the work.
6. 5.

   Luz fills in the culture cell. What does students returning the brooms to the cupboard in a neat row show about what the community values?

   • Students enjoy putting things away in neat rows more than they enjoy any other chore.
   • The school wants to avoid losing its brooms, so the brooms are counted at the end of the day.
   • The community expects people to leave shared things ready for the next person.
   • Students return the brooms to the cupboard in a neat row before they take their seats again.

7. Harambee at the School (story set in Kenya)

   [1] In the village where Tala lived in western Kenya, the primary school roof leaked so badly in the rainy season that the youngest class moved to the market shed every afternoon. [2] The headteacher, Mrs. Wanjiru, announced that the village would hold a harambee on Saturday, a Swahili word that means pulling together. [3] Ari, who was visiting from abroad for the month, asked what a harambee was, and Tala explained that each family gave whatever it could, and that the gifts were counted aloud in front of everyone.

   [4] On Saturday morning, the schoolyard filled with benches, kettles of tea, and neighbors carrying sacks of maize, bundles of iron sheets, and envelopes folded small. [5] A local elder, Mr. Kamau, stood on a crate and read out each gift as it was handed in, from a single hen to a bag of cement, and the crowd answered each one with a clap. [6] Ari watched a woman hand over a single coin and noticed that the coin received the same clap as the sacks of maize.

   [7] Ari whispered to Tala that it seemed unfair to clap the same for a coin as for a sack, and Tala answered that the clap was for the giving and not for the size. [8] By afternoon, the village had raised enough for iron sheets, nails, and the builder's first week of wages, and the builder promised to start on Monday.

   [9] The next week, children carried bricks from the road to the school in a line, and each adult who passed stopped to carry at least one brick. [10] Within a month, the roof was on, and the youngest class came back from the market shed to a room that did not drip. [11] Before leaving, Ari asked Tala to write down the word harambee, read it twice, and then asked whether it could be a rule at home too. [12] Tala laughed and said that it was not a rule at all, only a habit, which was the reason it worked.

8. 6.

   Noah fills in the setting-and-culture cell. Which choice names the place and one custom the story shows?

   • Each gift is read aloud and answered with a clap, whatever its size.
   • Kenya: each gift is read aloud and answered with a clap, whatever its size.
   • Peru: each gift is read aloud and answered with a clap, whatever its size.
   • Kenya: a country in East Africa with many villages and many primary schools.
9. 7.

   Pia looks for a custom of this place, not only where the story happens. Which sentence shows a custom?

   • [1] In the village where Tala lived in western Kenya, the primary school roof leaked so badly in the rainy season that the youngest class moved to the market shed every afternoon.
   • [5] A local elder, Mr. Kamau, stood on a crate and read out each gift as it was handed in, from a single hen to a bag of cement, and the crowd answered each one with a clap.
   • [10] Within a month, the roof was on, and the youngest class came back from the market shed to a room that did not drip.
   • [11] Before leaving, Ari asked Tala to write down the word harambee, read it twice, and then asked whether it could be a rule at home too.
10. 8.

    Ren looks for a custom of this place, not only where the story happens. Which sentence shows a custom?

    • [9] The next week, children carried bricks from the road to the school in a line, and each adult who passed stopped to carry at least one brick.
    • [11] Before leaving, Ari asked Tala to write down the word harambee, read it twice, and then asked whether it could be a rule at home too.
    • [1] In the village where Tala lived in western Kenya, the primary school roof leaked so badly in the rainy season that the youngest class moved to the market shed every afternoon.
    • [8] By afternoon, the village had raised enough for iron sheets, nails, and the builder's first week of wages, and the builder promised to start on Monday.
11. 9.

    Tala fills in the culture cell. What does clapping the same for every gift show about what the community values?

    • The village values the act of giving over the size of the gift, so each family is honored alike.
    • The elder, Mr. Kamau, enjoys announcing names to a crowd, and wants the whole crowd to hear his voice.
    • Gifts are read aloud one at a time, and the crowd claps for each one as it is handed in.
    • The village believes that larger gifts deserve more praise, and the loudest clap goes to the biggest sack.
12. 10.

    Zee fills in the culture cell. What does the harambee show about what the community values?

    • The village waits for the government to send workers to fix the roof, and meanwhile the class meets in the market shed.
    • The village holds a harambee on a Saturday at the school, where neighbors bring gifts and tea.
    • The village treats the problem of one school as a problem for everyone, solved by pulling together.
    • The village expects the school's own families to pay for the classroom alone, while other neighbors stay out of it.