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Homework Worksheet 9
1. The swimming coach tells Kim that she needs to work harder if she wants to
make the swim team next year. The coach says that Kim is not fast enough.
When Kim's mother picks her up, she asks Kim how things went at practice.
Fighting back tears, Kim tells her mother practice was great.
Which statement most accurately describes Kim?
a.
b.
c.

She tries to hide her feelings

She doesn't like hard work
She thinks she is a great swimmer

2. Select the sentence with correctly used commas.

a.
b.
c.

Will your dad drive us to the museum, or shall we take a bus?

Will your dad, drive us to the museum or, shall we take a bus?
Will your dad drive us to the museum or, shall we take bus?
3. Which poetry term best describes Shakespeare's use of of figurative
language in these words from Romeo and Juliet?
Without this roe, like a dried herring: O flesh, flesh, how art thou
fishified!

a.
b.
c.
d.

simile
alliteration
metaphor
imagery
4. No word must ever leak out about this military action! It has to be a
clandestine operation in order to succeed.
Which word is a synonym of "clandestine"?

a.
b.
c.
d.

family
useful
dangerous
secret
5. "The government first began recognizing the holiday through ordinances
in 1885 and 1886."

The word ORDINANCES most likely means...

a.
b.
c.
d.

a religious rite
an authoritative order
a piece of legislation enacted by a city
a regular event
6. Some of the official literature from the race contains the following
description:
"Imagine yourself in the Sahara desert with nothing but rolling sand dunes
for miles around. When you plough your feet through the sand, a fine dust
kicks up. You cant feel the sweat dripping down your face because its
evaporating in the baking heat. Your lungs feel parched. Todays temperature
is over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees centigrade). Part of your brain is
screaming at you to stop, right now, to drop out of the race, but the other
part of your brain is stronger. The other part of your brain knows that when
you complete the final stage of the Marathon des Sables, you will have run
the equivalent of five and a half marathons in five or six days, a total
distance of some 251 km 156 miles*. (*Subject to the race route)
No one can deny that finishing the MdS is an incredible accomplishment. But
more importantly, you will walk away with a new slant on life - that you can
achieve anything you set your mind to do."
This excerpt seeks to...

a.
b.
c.
d.

Glamorize the race to encourage others to run

Show the reality of the race
Describe the horrid conditions of the race
Discourage people from running the race.