Homework 4/3-4/7
Due on Friday 4/7
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his boss about his plans. He wanted
to spend more time with his wife and his family. He would miss the paycheck each
week, but they could get by. The boss was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if
he could build just one more house. The carpenter agreed.
As he worked on this last house, it was easy to see that his heart was not in his
work. He was careless and used mismatched materials. If he made a mistake, he did
not rebuild. It was an unfortunate way to end a good career.
When the carpenter finished his work, his boss came to look at the house. Then he
handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, "This is your house . . . my gift to
you."
The carpenter was shocked! What a shame! If he had only known he was building
his own house, he would have done it all differently! Now he had to live with his poor
decisions.
adapted from "Building Your House" an anonymous short story
5. The word careless means
A. full of care.
B. without care.
C. to care again.
D. to care before.
6. Which of the following words from this story means to build again?
A. rebuild
B. retire
C. prepare
D. building
7. What is the meaning of the word mismatched in this story?
A. expensive
B. alike
C. made of brick
D. not the same type
Stacy thought it would be fun to help her mom make Thanksgiving dinner. They had
to cook a turkey, vegetables, and dessert in just one day. It was harder than Stacy
thought it was going to be. First, Stacy was supposed to preheat the oven, but she
forgot. The oven was still cold when the turkey was ready to go in. Then, Stacy put an
incorrect amount of water in the cookie dough, so the cookies were too runny. Stacy
felt upset that she could not be more helpful to her mother.
8. "Then, Stacy put an incorrect amount of water in the cookie dough, so the cookies were too
runny."
What does the prefix in- do to the word correct?
A. The prefix in- changes the meaning to correct again.
B. The prefix in- changes the meaning to very correct.
C. The prefix in- changes the meaning to able to correct.
D. The prefix in- changes the meaning to not correct.
9. The word preheat means
A. heat more than once.
B. heat before.
C. without heat.
D. someone who heats.
Aisha the Bug Scientist
by Shanti Flaherty
Aisha has been my best friend since we were in kindergarten. For as long as I have known her
she has wanted to be a scientist. In fact, she knows more about science than just about anyone I
know. But her real specialty is bugs—spiders to be exact—which makes her the unofficial
arachnid expert of our neighborhood.
One day, while we were playing at the local park, one of the younger kids started yelling and
pointing at something on the ground. Aisha and I rushed over to see what all the fuss was about.
What I saw gave me chills, but Aisha just looked at the hairy little beast with fascination. Then
she announced, "There is nothing to be afraid of! Everyone, please calm down! It's just a
common Bold Jumping Spider. Now, give me some room."
The other children quieted down and began to move away. As Aisha bent down for a closer
look, the creature jumped high up in the air, then landed out of sight. Aisha gave chase, with all
of us following closely behind. Then, she stopped and pointed to a small hole near the edge of
the sandbox. We looked to where she was pointing. We saw that the jumping spider had
reappeared there, several inches from where it had been before. Before examining the spider
further, she asked the little boy who had started yelling earlier, if the spider had bitten him. He
said, "Yes, and it was painful!" Then he began to cry.
Aisha tried to calm him down by explaining that while it may not have felt very good to be
bitten by the spider, he was unhurt because Bold Jumping Spiders are not poisonous. Aisha went
on to tell us that Bold Jumping Spiders live all over the United States, and that it was actually
quite rare to be bitten by one, or even see one, because of their rapid jumping. This seemed to
make the little boy, and everyone else, feel much better about the spider.
10. Locate the word reappeared in the passage above. The root of the word reappeared is
A. eared.
B. reapp.
C. appear.
D. pear.
11. Locate the word examining in the passage above. The root of the word examining is
A. exa.
B. examine.
C. mining.
D. amine.
12. Locate the word reappeared in the passage above. The word reappeared means
A. to appear before.
B. to appear less.
C. not to appear.
D. to appear again.
13. Locate the word unofficial in the passage above. The prefix of the word unofficial is
A. office.
B. al.
C. un.
D. official.
14. Locate the word hairy in the passage above. The root of the word hairy is
A. airy.
B. iry.
C. air.
D. hair.
15. Locate the word painful in the passage above. The root of the word painful is
A. ful.
B. ain.
C. ainfu.
D. pain.
16.
We took a field trip to the candy factory and watched workers wrap chocolate bars!
If the root word fact means "to make," what does factory mean as used in the sentence above?
A. made like something else
B. where something is made
C. to make something again
D. not made correctly
17.
Janice thought her husband was foolish for spending all of their money on a new
boat.
What does the word foolish mean?
A. like a fool
B. without a fool
C. able to fool
D. belonging to a fool
18.
The children were successful in finding the buried treasure in their backyard.
What does successful mean?
A. full of success
B. without success
C. belonging to success
D. after success
19.
The teacher always has his students use washable markers so they will not stain
their clothes.
What does the word washable mean in the sentence above?
A. can be washed
B. washed the most
C. to have washed
D. washed badly
20.
Mother scowled when she saw her son's unmade bed.
What does the word unmade mean?
A. not made
B. made before
C. made again
D. twice made
21.
Amos hid behind his mom at the party because of his shyness.
What does the word shyness mean in the sentence above?
A. without being shy
B. not shy
C. able to be shy
D. the quality of being shy
22. Emma's teacher brought in a portable radio so the class could hear about the
coming snowstorm.
The word portable describes something that
A. can be plugged in.
B. can be listened to.
C. stays in one place.
D. can be carried.
23. Jason's dad tried to make a cake for the birthday party. He overcooked the cake, so
it did not taste very good.
What does overcooked mean?
A. cooked just right
B. didn't cook enough
C. cooked too much
D. cooked only on top
24. Janie rescued a cat from the porch of a burning house. So the fire department gave
her an award for being so heroic.
The word heroic means
A. the opposite of a hero.
B. brave like a hero.
C. ordinary or regular.
D. stupid or foolish.
25. Marci wanted to fly directly from Chicago to New York. She called the airline to ask about
a _______ flight.
A. stopping
B. stoppable
C. very long
D. nonstop
26. Ben's parents just got back from Hawaii. They said the volcanoes there were so
amazing, they were indescribable.
The word indescribable means
A. did not want to describe.
B. already been described.
C. easy to describe.
D. it cannot be described.
27. One of my favorite parts of going to the movies is watching the previews of the
upcoming movies.
What is the meaning of preview?
A. to view after
B. to view before
C. to view closely
D. to view again
28. Andre was not worried about the damage to his car; it was easily fixable.
What is the meaning of fixable?
A. not able to be fixed
B. already fixed
C. able to be fixed
D. difficult to fix
29. My teacher, Mrs. Willis, is a very dependable person. I can always count on her for
help.
What is the meaning of dependable?
A. not trustworthy
B. able to be depended on
C. depending on the weather
D. friendly
30. Some gas stations that are afraid of theft will require customers to prepay for their
gas.
What is the meaning of prepay?
A. pay late
B. pay more
C. pay before
D. pay after
Answers
5. B
6. A
7. D
8. D
9. B
10. C
11. B
12. D
13. C
14. D
15. D
16. B
17. A
18. A
19. A
20. A
21. D
22. D
23. C
24. B
25. D
26. D
27. B
28. C
29. B
30. C
Explanations
5. The suffix -less means "without." If the carpenter is "careless" when he builds something, then
he does not care about his project. He may do a sloppy job because he doesn't care.
6. The prefix re- means "again." The word that means to build "again" is rebuild.
7. The prefix mis- means "bad" or "badly." The materials are "mismatched" because they are bad
matches. This means that they are not all the same type.
8. The prefix in- means "not." If an amount of water is "incorrect," then it is not the correct
amount for the recipe.
9. The prefix pre- means "before." When cooks "preheat" the oven, they start to heat the oven
before the food is ready to go in.
10. The word reappeared is made up of the root word appear and the prefix re-.
11. The word examining is made up of the root word examine and the suffix -ing. When you
add -ing to a word that ends in e, you remove the e.
12. The prefix re- means again, so reappear must mean "to appear again."
13. The word unofficial is made up of the root word office, the prefix un-, and the suffix al.
14. The word hairy is made up of the root word hair and the suffix -y.
15. The word painful is made up of the root word pain and the suffix -ful.
16. The root word fact means "to make," so many words with the letters "fact" are related to
making something. For example, the word "manufacture" means "to make or produce
something." What other words can you think of?
17. The suffix -ish means "like." The word foolish means "like a fool." A fool is someone who
does not act wisely. Janice thinks her husband acted like a fool when he spent a lot of money on
a boat.
18. The suffix -ful means "full of." Adding the suffix -ful to the word success makes successful
and means "full of success."
19. Look for the root word, which is wash. The suffix -able means "to be able to" or "can be."
Washable means "can be washed."
20. The prefix un- means "not." Adding un- to the beginning of the word made makes unmade,
which means "not made."
21. The suffix -ness means "the quality of being." Shyness means "the quality of being shy."
22. The root word port means "to carry." So the word portable means "something that is able to
be carried."
23. The prefix over- means "excessive" or "too much."
24. The suffix -ic means "like," so heroic means "like a hero" or "brave."
25. The prefix non- means "not." A nonstop flight is one that does not stop until it gets to its
final destination.
26. The prefix in- means "not." Ben's parents were saying that the volcanoes were so amazing,
they could not be described.
27. Preview is made up of the word view (to see) with the prefix pre-. The prefix pre- means
"before." So to pre-view is to view before.
28. The suffix -able means "capable of" or "able to." Something you find believable is something
you are capable of believing.
29. The suffix -able means "capable of" or "able to." Someone who is depend-able is a
trustworthy person who you are able to depend upon.
30. The prefix pre- means "before." Sometimes, your parents may buy gas from a place that
wants them to prepay. This means they would have to pay for the gas before they put it into the
car.