Answer the questions according to the text below.

The Magician
Simon was really excited when he got a magic kit on his birthday. He dreamed of being a great
magician someday.

He figured he’d get his start at the school talent show. But when he opened the box, Simon wasn’t
so excited any more. All the tricks were made of plastic pieces that had to be put together. There
were lots of instructions to read. The words slithered like never ending snakes across the tiny piece 5
of paper. Simon stared at the box for a while. Then he closed it back up.

The next week, his teacher sent out a sign-up sheet for the school talent show. Simon still really
wanted to be in the show. He signed his name on the sheet: “The Amazing Simon—a magic act.”
Everyone crowded around Simon when they saw his name on the sheet.

“Can you really do magic?” his friend Megan asked.

10
“Sure,” Simon said. “I have a kit and everything.” Simon wasn’t worried. There were four weeks
until the talent show. He figured that would be plenty of time to learn some tricks.

The next night, Simon opened the box again. He picked the easiest trick. It was a thin plastic box.
You put a quarter in it and closed it. When you opened the box, the quarter was gone. Simon showed
the trick to his grandma. “That’s great, Simon!” she said. “You’re a real magician!” A real magician! 15
Simon felt thrilled. He would do just fine in the talent show, he knew it.

But the weeks went by, and Simon didn’t learn any more tricks. Everything else in the box looked
so hard. One night, Simon and his family were eating dinner. His grandma looked at the calendar
on the wall. “Tomorrow night is the talent show, Simon!” his grandma said. “I can’t wait to see you
on stage!”
20
Simon got a bad feeling in his stomach. He put down his fork. “Uh, grandma, I think I have a
problem,” he said.

1. Look at lines 1 – 5.

Why was Simon excited?

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2. He figured he’d get his start at the school talent show. But when he opened the box, Simon
wasn’t so excited any more. All the tricks were made of plastic pieces that had to be put
together. There were lots of instructions to read. The words slithered like never ending
snakes across the tiny piece of paper. Simon stared at the box for a while hoping that any of
the piece would jump out at him. Then he closed it back up.

Identify the figurative language from the sentences above.

a) Personification:

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 b) Alliteration:

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3. Tick () two true statements about Simon.

Simon is a responsible person.

Simon is very confident in himself.

Simon cares a lot about the school talent show.

Simon is very boastful.

Simon practiced hard for the talent show.

4. The author uses a simile (where something is compared to another using ‘like’ or ‘as’) to

describe something in the text.

Find one example of a simile in the text.

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5. Write one sentence from the text that suggests the classmates would look forward to Simon’s

performance.

________________________________________________________________________

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6. Which word in the text means “having a sudden feeling of excitement and pleasure”?

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7. Look at lines 10-15.

What did grandma say to suggest that she was impressed with Simon?

________________________________________________________________________

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8. Do you think that Simon was too proud?

Explain your answer using your own words.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Give a phrase from the text to support your explanation.

________________________________________________________________________

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9. The text is a realistic fiction. Complete the table of the features and grammar with examples

from the text.

Features/Grammar Examples

Characters 


Adjectives
