Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NOTE: Use Keystone D textbook and handouts the teacher used to give in class to revise.
Short Stories
Abuela Invents the Zero
1. Why does Connie walk far behind her grandmother? Why does she have such poor
opinion about her granny?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
2. What was the agreement between Connie and her father?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
3. Why does Abuela not speak with Connie on the way back home from the church? Why is
she hurt?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. How does Connie feel about the matter?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
10. Why did Mutai not win the December 2012 cross country race? Why did people criticize
Fernandez?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Vocabulary:
New word Definition
conduct the way someone behaves
reluctance unwillingness to do something
senile mentally confused or behaving strangely because of age
retrieve get something back from somewhere
cringe move back or away from something because of pain
exquisite beautiful and delicate
precious valuable and important
aflutter full of excitement
endure to continue or last for long time
imposter someone who pretends to be someone else
trespasser a person who goes onto someone else’s land without permission
coarse rough or thick
athletes a person who is proficient in sports
capability abilities to do certain things
controversial expressing opposite opinion
determined having a strong desire to succeed at something difficult
witness to see something happen especially an accident or crime
pursuer follower
repercussions consequences
slurs harsh insults
decline reject
blunder mistake
A' Takamul International School
15. When does the Song of Evil first enter Kino's head? What does this song represent?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
16. The canoe is mentioned quite often. Is it a symbol for something?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
17. To what new Song are we introduced when Kino saw the pearl?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
18. To what does Steinbeck compare the town?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
19. The news of Kino's pearl spread quickly across town. What did each person think of when he
heard it?
A' Takamul International School
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
20. What would Kino do with his riches?
______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
21. Why does the doctor come? What does he do?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
22. What bad thing happened to make Juana want to throw away the pearl?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
23. In the description of the pearl buyers, what do we find out about the market in Kino's village?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
24. What happened when Kino went to sell his pearl?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
25. Juan Tomas says to Kino, "You have defied not the pearl buyers, but the whole structure, the
whole way of life. I am afraid for you." What does he mean?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
26. Again at the end of chapter 4, Juana wants to throw away the pearl because it is evil. What
evil thing happened?
______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Vocabulary
New word Definition
ceaseless unceasing, continual
reassuring restoring to confidence; to assure anew
frantically wild with anger, pain, worry
strenuous vigorous, active, arduous
avarice greed for riches
A' Takamul International School
poultice a hot, moist mass of herbs
undulating to cause to move in waves
obscured covered over
perceptible able to be detected by the senses
incandescence shining brilliantly
judicious wise and careful
essence inward nature of anything
merged joined together
lucent shiny, glowing
residue remainder
precipitated created
prophecy prediction of something
transfigured to change the figure or outward appearance
discontentedly with dissatisfaction
dissembling concealing under a false appearance
Grammar:
1. Conditional sentences
REMEMBER The factual conditional describes the future and often uses will in the result clause.
Unreal conditionals are used to talk about present unreal conditions and their results. It uses the
simple past in the if clause and could, would, or might + the base form of a verb in the result
clause. If the verb in the if clause is be, use were for all persons
A' Takamul International School
1. First conditional: If I have enough money, I will go to Japan.
2. Have to / had to
REMEMBER To express necessity or lack of necessity, use have to + the base form of a verb.
Example: I have to do my homework. The present of have to is have to / has to. The past is had
to. Example: Yesterday, I had to do my homework. To form the negative, and express lack of
necessity, use don’t / doesn’t have to in the present and didn’t have to in the past.
I, we, you, they I have to get up early. I do not have to get up early.
he, she, it She has to get up early. She does not have to get up early.
Had to
It had to be the new baby. Did it have to be the new baby?
She had to get a car as soon as possible. Did she have to get a car as soon as possible?
A' Takamul International School
Even your parents had to come up to see you. Did your parents have to come up to see you?
A) Complete each sentence with words from the box and the verb in parentheses.
_____________________________________________________________________
_
2. Ed contributed (little) than anyone else in class.
_____________________________________________________________________
_
3. It was the (bad) winter the pioneers had experienced.
A' Takamul International School
_____________________________________________________________________
_
4. That is one of the (scary) films I’ve ever seen!
_____________________________________________________________________
__
5. Of all the talks, the last was the (interesting).
_____________________________________________________________________
__
5. Synonyms
REMEMBER Synonyms are two or more words that have similar meanings.
Examples: begin/start, find/locate, mistake/blunder
A) Rewrite the sentences using a synonym from the box below for the underlined
word.
Writing___ ______________
This section of the exam will test your writing skills. You will be given three topics to choose
one and write a narrative essay. Please, follow the format of writing an essay and use proper
techniques.
What Is a Narrative Essay?
A narrative essay tells a story. In fact, narrative is another word for story. In this unit, you will
learn how to organize and write a narrative essay. Even though the narrative essay has the same
basic form as most other academic essays, it allows the writer to be a little more creative than
academic essays usually do. Narratives can tell long stories or just a few minutes’ worth of
excitement. While the narrative essay has a particular structure, narrative ideas are often used in
different writing tasks, such as argument or compare-contrast.
The Introduction
The introduction of a narrative essay is the paragraph that begins your story. In the introduction,
you describe the setting, introduce the characters, and prepare your audience for the action to
come. Of course, the introduction should have a hook and a thesis.
The Narrative Hook
We know that the hook in an essay is the part of the introduction—usually the first few sentences
—that grabs readers’ attention. Hooks are especially important in narrative essays because they
help set the stage for the story. The hook makes readers start guessing about what will happen
next.
For instance:
I had never been more anxious in my life. I had just spent the last three endless hours trying to
get to the airport so that I could travel home.
Does this hook make you want to know what happened to the narrator?
The hook should make the reader ask wh- questions about the essay. You may have thought of
questions like these when you read the preceding hook:
A' Takamul International School
• Who is the narrator and why is he or she anxious?
• Where is the airport?
• What made the trip to the airport seem endless?
• Why is this person going home?
The Thesis
In most types of essays, the thesis states the main idea of the essay and tells what the
organization of the information will be. However, in a narrative essay, the thesis introduces the
action that begins in the first paragraph of the essay. Look at these example thesis statements:
Now, as I watched the bus driver set my luggage on the airport sidewalk, I realized that my
frustration had only just begun.
I wanted my mother to watch me race down the steep hill, so I called out her name and then
nudged my bike forward.
Because his pride would not allow him to apologize, Ken now had to fight the bully, and he was
pretty sure that he would not win.
These thesis statements do not tell the reader what happens. They only introduce the action that
will follow. The paragraphs in the body will develop the story.
The Body
The body of your narrative essay contains most of the plot—the supporting information. The
action in the plot can be organized in many different ways. One way is chronological or time
order. In this method, each paragraph gives more information about the story as it proceeds in
time—the first paragraph usually describes the first event, the second paragraph describes the
second event, and so on.
Transitional Sentences
In an essay with chronological organization, each paragraph ends with a transitional sentence.
Transitional sentences have two purposes: (1) to signal the end of the action in one paragraph,
and (2) to provide a link to the action of the next paragraph. These sentences are vital because
they give your story unity and allow the reader to follow the action easily.
2 This was my first visit to the international terminal of the airport, and nothing was familiar.
I could not make sense of any of the signs. Where was the check-in counter? Where should I take
my luggage? I had no idea where the immigration line was. I began to panic. What time was it?
Where was my plane? I had to find help because I could not be late!
3 I tried to ask a passing businessman for help, but my words all came out wrong. He just
scowled and walked away. What had happened? I had been in this country for a whole semester,
and I could not even remember how to ask for directions. This was awful! Another bus arrived at
A' Takamul International School
the terminal, and the passengers stepped off carrying all sorts of luggage. Here was my chance! I
could follow them to the right place, and I would not have to say a word.
The Conclusion
Like academic essays, narrative essays need to have concluded ideas. In the conclusion, you
finish describing the action in the essay. The final sentence can have two functions:
1. It can deliver the moral of the story by telling the reader what the character(s) learned from the
experience.
2. It can make a prediction or a revelation (disclosure of something that was not known before)
about future actions that will happen as a result of the events in the story.
Your writing will be assessed based on this rubric:
20-16 15-10 9-5 5-1
Topic sentence The topic sentence The topic The topic No topic sentence
is the first sentence sentence gives sentence gives
in the paragraph. It some clarity of little evidence of
is a clear statement the overall a relevant topic
of the paragraph connectivity of connecting to the
content. the sentences other sentences.
present.
Coherence & The sentence flow Some sentences Most sentences No coherence
Cohesion is very smooth and don’t give the give little
No connection
clear. All ideas are smooth flow of evidence of
logically arranged ideas. The clarity relevance and No relevance
and connected. is a bit lost. connection of
ideas is totally
lost.
Organization: Paragraph has good Paragraph Paragraph is Paragraph is hard
organization of contains mostly confusing to read to read, the events
body
details and well-ordered and had limited are not organized,
paragraph,
examples. The sentences. with use of transitions. and make no
details,
sentences and smooth transition The events jump sense.
examples
transitions are well of ideas. around too much.
structured.
Word choice Uses language Uses adequate Has a limited and Has a limited or
effectively by language and predictable inappropriate
offering word appropriate word vocabulary which vocabulary for the
choices that are choice for may not be intended audience
engaging and intended audience appropriate for and/or purpose.
A' Takamul International School
appropriate for and purpose. the intended
intended audience audience and/or
and purpose. purpose.
Grammar Excellent grammar, A few errors in Shows a pattern Continuous errors
spelling, syntax and grammar, of errors in
punctuation. spelling, syntax spelling,
and punctuation. grammar, syntax
and/or
punctuation.
Concluding The concluding The concluding The concluding There is no
statement statement is the last statement is the statement is the concluding
sentence of the last sentence of last sentence of statement at the
paragraph. It is a the paragraph. It the paragraph. It end of the
clear statement that is a somewhat is not a clear paragraph.
repeats key words clear statement statement and
from the topic that repeats some does not repeat
sentence. key words from key words from
the topic the topic
sentence. sentence.