At-Risk English Answer Key

PAGE 2
Rewrite the quotations:
May the force be with you.
“If you build it, they will come.
Houston, we have a problem.

Sample quote for TV Screen:

Answer will vary. Sample answer:
“Sometimes your whole life boils down to one insane move.” (Avatar)

U-Write:
Answer will vary. Sample answer:
The townspeople panic as the giant pink balls of fur come rolling into their small village
in the northeast corner of France. The fur balls create static build-up as they tumble along, setting
off sparks on cars and telephone lines as they brush up against them. No one knows where they
are coming from or what to do.
Then the mayor calls me, the lowly pet groomer, for advice. As the owner of Pretty Paws,
a pet grooming service, they think I will be the town’s expert on fur. I am. I tell the mayor I’ll be
right over to city hall to take a look at the fur sample collected from one of the fur balls that
struck the ice cream parlor and exploded, sending pink fur flying everywhere.
I decide to ride my bicycle, thinking I will be able to better maneuver around the flying
fur balls. Setting out cautiously on the street, I look around to make sure it’s clear. No fur balls. I
start pedaling faster and faster until I come to the street city hall is on. I look both ways. Nothing.
But as I begin to turn right towards city hall, I hear a tremendous rumbling behind me. I look
back and see a 20-foot-tall fur ball rolling towards me. Luckily, I’m able to dart out of the way
and duck behind a tree. I watch as the fur ball thunders by, crackling with static electricity. After
it passes, I ride quickly to city hall before another fur ball attacks.
When I get to city hall, there is a large crowd gathered in the lobby. The mayor is
standing on a podium, trying to reassure them that help is on the way. Then he sees me and
frantically waves. I walk up and he takes me aside and tells me to try and reassure the people that
I will find a solution. I stand at the podium and take a few deep breaths. Then I speak.
“Please be quiet, everyone. It’s okay. It’s just fur, after all. I am going to find out what’s
behind this. Don’t worry.” They all look at me like I’m crazy.
The mayor takes me into his office and shows me the fur sample.
I stare at it for a while.
“What do you think?” the mayor asks.
“It’s fur all right,” I say.
“What kind of fur? And why are these fur balls so large?”
 “I need more time,” I say.
The mayor leaves me to figure out a solution. As I desperately search my mind for a
reason behind the giant fur balls, I take a closer look at the sample. Why pink? I ask myself. The
color must be the key to finding the cause. Just as I am getting ready to pick up the sample again,
I figure it out.
I run out to the crowd waiting in the lobby of city hall. The mayor sees me and comes
over. “Do you know what it is?” he exclaimed. I nodded.
I stood at the podium and looked at all the people standing there, waiting for an
explanation.
“I think I know what’s going on,” I say.
“Tell us! Tell us!” the crowd shouts.
“The problem is poodles, and I have the perfect solution.” (memorable line)

PAGE 3
Rearrange the jumbled words:
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

U-Write:
Answer will vary. Sample answer:
Langston Hughes was a black writer during the 1920s. His poetry directly spoke to and
about the lower classes of people living at that time who were also racially oppressed. In
Hughes’ poem, Dreams, he is directly addressing the reader with a command: “hold fast to
dreams.” Why does Hughes think you should hold fast to dreams? Because if you give up on
your dreams, your life will become hopeless, just like a bird that can’t fly, or a barren field. This
may seem like a simple message that can be meaningful to anyone regardless of race, but
because Hughes wrote the poem when racism was prevalent, it takes on another layer of
meaning. There is real desperation for certain groups who lose hope because they’re oppressed,
and Hughes wanted to inspire them to keep dreaming. Hughes remains one of the most popular
poets today because he addressed everyday people and illustrated their lives, giving a voice to
their hopes, fears, and dreams.

Write your dreams in a letter: Personal, will vary by student.

PAGE 4
Fill in the blanks:
What you have when you sneeze…cold
A room in a jail or a type of phone…cell
When you can’t find your way…lost
Someone who sells hot dogs…vendor
One who deals in coded secrets…spy

U-Write:
Answer will vary. Sample answer:
Spinning in circles, she searched for a familiar sight. During her surveillance, she had
gotten turned around and now she didn’t know what to do. She was lost in the woods and it was
starting to get cold. She would have called her boss, but her cell phone was dead. Surely she
would be fired for this mistake. Her boss had always told her that if she made one mistake, she
would have to give up being an international spy. Instead, she would be reassigned to a much
less glamorous assignment: posing as a hot dog street vendor in order to catch jaywalkers.

Text message:
Answer will vary. Sample answer:
E1 SB LOL IMO (Everyone should be laughing out loud in my opinion.)

PAGE 5
U-Write:
Answer will vary. Sample answer:
Braille message for t-shirt: (Best Human Ever)
PAGE 6
U-Write:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
1. Annoyed quarterback tackles mascot
2. Kid spits milk through nose
3. Teen panics after losing cell phone

U-Search:
Answer will vary. Sample answer:
On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg, the largest aircraft ever built, arrived at the Naval Air
Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey. The 804-foot blimp that was carrying 61 crew members and
36 passengers had been delayed by the weather. Witnesses reported that the Hindenburg was
coming in too fast for a landing. When people on the ground moored the giant aircraft, it caught
on fire, exploded, and crashed, killing everyone aboard.

PAGE 7
Add a predicate:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
1. My mama made me take our newly dyed pink poodle for a walk.
2. Pirates still exist and are nothing like they are in the movies.
3. Sausage is extra delicious when you wrap it with bacon.
4. The subway smelled like rotten banana peels this morning.

Write a subject:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
1. My grandma never knew that household chemicals could be so dangerous!
2. You should stop forwarding junk like that! Haven’t you ever heard of snopes.com?
3. The insane clown came around the corner and almost hit me!
4. All of the members of the club are going to meet for pizza.

U-Write:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
Twitter #1: My wacky cousin came into the store where I work and accidentally knocked over a
towering display of toilet paper.
Twitter #2: The frail, old man surprised everyone at the wedding when he started doing a hip-
hop dance routine to Michael Jackson’s song “Thriller.”
Twitter #3: My best friend Lacey constantly brags about her amazing singing rats.

PAGE 8
Write simple two-word sentences:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
Balloons pop.
Clouds float.
Pasta boils.
Cars crash.
Trash stinks.
Flowers bloom.
Frisbees fly.
Computers beep.
Choirs sing.
Birds fly.
Kids squeal.
Phones ring.

U-Write: Personal, will vary by student.

PAGE 9
#1:
trumpet, guitar, ball, pillow, box of chocolates, shoes, hard hat, laptop, vase, watch

#2:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
play, strum, throw, use, roll, bounce, tempt, kick, eat, balance, spin, give, listen, buy, sell, wear,
return, practice, type, save, close, remove, break, decorate

#3: U-Write:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
1. The hard hat bounced off his head.
2. The ball rolled into the street in front of a truck.
3. The box of chocolates tempted the dieter.
 4. Mom seemed calmer when Dad left to buy her a box of chocolates.
5. I had to return the CD to the store in Timbuktu.

PAGE 10
Circle the fragments and underline the sentences:
1. Her personal diary of the road trip (circle this one)
2. No one believed her story about the road trip.
3. It was Tuesday, just before dawn.
4. Just before dawn, on Tuesday. (circle this one)

U-Write:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
1. The man in the hat likes to take his iguana for walks on the beach.
2. Did anyone see the man in the hat playing the guitar with his toes?
3. You may think this is surprising, but I have yet to meet the man in the hat.
4. Someone tell the man in the hat to stop playing the kazoo.

PAGE 11
U-Write:
Answer will vary. Sample answer:
People from all over the world gathered for the much anticipated extreme ballet boxing
championship in New York City. The highlight of the show was former wrestling star Hulk
Masterson, with his bulging muscles and long, curly red hair. When Alfredo Aguilar stepped
onstage to challenge Masterson, the crowd went wild. Millions of dollars had been invested in
the new sport of ballet boxing, and they were the first to see a match. Before the referee started
the fight, the men circled each other like hungry lions. Instead of tights, they wore tutus. After
the final leap from Masterson resulted in a stunning defeat for Alfredo, there was one more
surprise to come: Masterson actually did a pirouette. As the lights dimmed and the applause
refused to die, Masterson kept twirling.

PAGE 12
List 25 nouns:
Answer will vary. Sample answer:
stapler, pencil, carpet, shelf, lettuce, desk, school, bread, scissors, frying pan, roses, microwave,
iPod, computer, cell phone, hairbrush, hair gel, makeup, socks, shoes, car, Mom, Dad, brother,
my best friend Camilla.
U-Write: Personal, will vary by student.

PAGE 13
Add the noun “head” to ten nouns:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
1. headline
2. warhead
3. headhunter
4. headlight
5. headache
6. pinhead
7. headband
8. bubblehead
9. headset
10. headrest

U-Write:
Answer will vary. Sample answer:
My bus ride was horrible from the very beginning because I had a headache, there was a
pinhead babbling nonstop next to me, and the headrest was too high for my head to rest on.

PAGE 14
Five abstract nouns:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
1. love
2. hate
3. happiness
4. beauty
5. evil

U-Write: Personal, will vary by student.

PAGE 15
U-Write:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
#1. Excuse(s) for getting out of a speeding ticket: I was speeding because I’m a superhero on my
way to rescue the entire planet.
#2. Excuse(s) for missing school: I missed school because our pet parrot was depressed and we
all had to go to counseling with him for moral support.

#3. Excuse(s) for getting out of a party you do NOT want to go to: I can’t go to the party because
our pet goat ate my only party dress and I don’t have any money to buy another one.

PAGE 16
Two specific nouns:
Dog terrier, bulldog Shorty, Spike
Snack popcorn, candy Orville Redenbacher, Hot Tamales,
Car convertible, sports utility vehicle Ford Mustang, Jeep Wrangler
Album rock, country Elephant, Defying Gravity
Flower red, white rose, daisy

U-Write: Personal, will vary by student.

PAGE 17
Take the purple haze out of the sentences:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
1. Two girls came into the club and sang a ridiculous duet.
Two tall girls dressed like carrots came into the club and sang a duet of “Old
McDonald” in high-pitched voices while dancing the funky chicken.
2. An animal entered the building and made a mess.
A kangaroo hopped through an open door at the hotel and broke most of the displays
at the Delicate Ceramics Convention.
3. Two city officials had a food fight in the street.
The mayor and the chief of police threw pancakes at each other in front of Bertha’s
Breakfast Bonanza Café.

U-Write:
Answer will vary. Sample answer:
The slender woman with long, curly red hair sauntered onto stage in a flowing, white silk
dress, picked up her gold-plated accordion with the ruby accents, and began playing “The Flight
of the Bumblebee.”

PAGE 18
U-Write:
Answer will vary. Sample answer:
shrek glass recall, spacex, mcdonalds recall, national donut day 2010, cadmium.

U-Search:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
1. National Donut Day is the first Friday in June.
2. It was started in 1938.
3. It began as a fund-raiser for the Chicago Salvation Army.
4. Two Salvation Army volunteers came up with the idea of serving donuts to soldiers
during World War 1.
5. Some donut shops give away free donuts on National Donut Day.

PAGE 19
U-Write:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
The last available taxi sped away.
Two old guys argued.
Her old blue Cadillac died.
The last day of vacation is the worst.
The alley smelled.
Our first recording contract made us rich.
Bungee chickens are not a good idea.
The computer crashed.
Canadian bacon is delicious.

U-Search: Personal, will vary by student.

PAGE 20
Add a predicate:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
Her megaphone is so loud and annoying that it makes the neighborhood cats yowl.
Ten thousand dollars might be enough to get her to stop using that megaphone every
morning at 6:00 a.m.
My favorite guitar tumbled off the top of the junk pile in the back of the old pick-up truck
and was smashed into tiny pieces on the dirt road.
The chicken-fried steak begged me to order it.
His cell phone interrupted the meeting 12 times.
U-Write:
Answers will vary. Sample answer:
The oddest thing my neighbor Hortense does is dress in a Batman costume and stand in
her driveway for two hours with her hands on her hips, yelling at passing cars through a giant
yellow megaphone. When she is finished with this activity, she works on her UFO project in her
backyard.

PAGE 21
Write 10 short sentences:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
1. Stop!
2. Sit still.
3. Just wait.
4. Be serious.
5. Don’t go.
6. Close it.
7. Bring this.
8. Tell me.
9. Stand up.
10. Go away.

Imperative: Personal, will vary by student.

PAGE 22
Circle the action words in the sentences below:
shot
scrambled
slapped, flipped
snapped
screamed

U-Write:
Answer will vary. Sample answer:
The talent scouts whipped out their cell phones and frantically punched in the phone
numbers to their record companies. The girls with the green and purple pigtails in the front
pounded their fists on the stage and screamed. Shanae was bumped and jostled to the front.
Suddenly, Marcos reached out his hand to her. She grabbed his hand and he pulled her up on
stage. She punched her fist in the air and yelled out the words to the song Marcos was singing.
The song ended and the talent scouts shoved their way backstage. They exclaimed they had
found their new talent—not Marcos, but Shanae. Shanae giggled and started spinning in circles
right before she fainted.

U-Search:
Answer will vary. Sample answer:
The hip-hop artist known as Jimmy O was born as Jimmy Alexandre on March 9, 1974,
in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He began songwriting in 1993, mixing hip-hop creole and gangsta rap.
On January 12, 2010, Jimmy O lost his life when his vehicle was crushed in Haiti’s massive
earthquake.
Although Jimmy O lived in New York City, he often visited Haiti to perform concerts. In
2006, he held a concert in the Bel Air suburb of Port-au-Prince. The performance was part of the
USAID project, “Clean Streets.” Along with Wyclef Jean, Akon, and Matt Damon, Jimmy O
held another concert in 2007 at the largest public square in Haiti’s capital.
Jimmy O worked with Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Foundation, a nonprofit group that has
provided scholarships to needy Haitian kids. He was also signed with Jean’s record label, Sak
Pase Records, and was preparing to release his debut album, Destiny, before his tragic death.
Jimmy O leaves behind a wife and three children, as well as many fans who mourn his
loss. Critics say that Jimmy O will live on through his unique music.

PAGE 23
Add a predicate:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
1. Loretta and her seventeen assorted cats were not welcome guests at the city swimming
pool.
2. Whatever it was making all that noise in the pantry either escaped or died.
3. Professor Smyrna’s high-tech laser underwear folding machine malfunctioned because
of a faulty “stop” button.
4. The container hidden at the back of the refrigerator sprouted a fuzzy, lavender mold.
5. The vicious goldfish refused to be tamed.

U-Write: Write an essay: Personal, will vary by student.

U-Write: Write a street version of Alice in Wonderland…

Answer will vary. Sample answer:
Alice strolled down the city street on her way to meet a friend for lunch. She was in the
middle of texting her friend as she was crossing the street, when suddenly she tripped on a
pothole and found herself in a strange world. She had been on the street, but now she was in an
old subway car.
 “Where am I?” she yelled.
A voice answered her. “You are in Blunderland.”
Alice jumped at the voice and cowered in a corner of the subway car. “Who are you?”
she asked timidly.
Suddenly a giant pigeon dressed in camouflage appeared from the shadows…

PAGE 24
Write about a time when you were misunderstood: Personal, will vary by student.

U-Write:
The butterfly effect is a phrase used to describe a complex concept from the field of chaos
theory. Basically, it is a metaphor for how small changes can affect the bigger picture.

Write a report about how the butterfly effect might operate in your personal life: Personal,
will vary by student.

PAGE 25
Tell about a time when: Personal, will vary by student.

PAGE 26
Write about a time when your life seemed: Personal, will vary by student.

PAGE 27
Who are you: Personal, will vary by student.

PAGE 28
U-Write: Personal, will vary by student.

PAGE 29
What is one of your dreams: Personal, will vary by student.

U-Write:
Answers will vary. Sample answers:
 Aaron Douglas’ dream was to use his paintings to show the realities of African
Americans struggling for freedom.
The Harlem Renaissance was a period in the 1920s and 1930s when black artists and
intellectuals rose to prominence.

PAGE 30
Tell about the freedom: Personal, will vary by student.

PAGE 31
U-Write: Real-life everyday person you admire…
Personal, will vary by student.

U-Write: Who is a famous person you admire…

Personal, will vary by student.

U-Search: Personal, will vary by student.