Copyright © 2014 Edmentum - All rights reserved.
Eng IV Central Idea Blizzard Bag 2014 -2015
1.
Slowing Down the Holiday
by Tirzah Tyler
The chemical log crackled in the fireplace as I sat in front of my television and munched on
my Angus burger and fries. Since my hand was caked in grease, I acrobatically aimed the outer
part of my thumb onto my remote control to change the channels. Christmas programming felt
juvenile and stale after rushing to finish my assignments at work and then elbowing my way
through the rabid shopping crowds. When did my holidays get so jam-packed and hurried?
When did I trade my chestnuts roasting on an open fire for fancy-flame that was on sale at the
hardware store?
My cat Skye meowed at my side, unabashedly begging for a piece of my dinner. I groaned
and uttered a "no" under my breath. My remote control nearly flipped upside down and took a
nose dive off my coffee table as I changed the channel one more time. One of the local access
channels was airing a choir concert. While high-school students performed their rendition of "O
Holy Night," I was instantly transported back to my childhood of caroling, church, and Nativity
scenes. Tears took me by surprise as they squeezed out from the corners of my eyes and
trickled down my cheeks like the grease from my burger.
I sniffled, and Skye meowed anew and charmingly patted my knee with an insistent claw. I
sighed and offered him a french fry..
How does this sentence affect the story?
While high-school students performed their rendition of "O Holy Night," I was instantly
transported back to my childhood of caroling, church, and Nativity scenes.
A. It helps reveal why the speaker eats unhealthy food.
B. It shifts the story's tone from peaceful to sarcastic.
C. It helps explain why the speaker is a frugal spender.
D. It shifts the story's tone from frustrated to nostalgic.
2.
Trekking to Work
by Tirzah Tyler
"You're resilient," Grandma's words echoed in Matthew's head. "You can bounce back from
anything." That's what she had told him days before she passed away. Now, as he walked
briskly to his job, miles from the bus routes and nowhere near any friends or family who could
drive him, Matthew remembered Grandma.
She often came to Matthew's mind while his shoes rhythmically pounded on the asphalt with
the sun rising in the background. No, he had not yet saved enough money to buy a car.
However, a 30-minute walk to work every morning and another back home in the evening had
not killed him. He was probably the most physically fit that he had ever been in his life. He
decided that his transportation arrangement was going to work out no matter what.
Matthew deeply breathed in the crisp air and felt thankful to be alive and grateful that he
would get his bonus next month. He figured that perhaps after work, he could check the
newspaper and see what kind of car deals he could afford next month. Then, perhaps, he could
enjoy a five-minute morning commute in a car and spend his extra time at the gym like he used
to.
Which of the following sentences best describes a theme in this passage?
A. Determination can be rewarding.
B. Kindness can be comforting.
C. Stubbornness is foolishness.
D. Optimism is seldom realistic.
3.
Practice Delay
by Tirzah Tyler
Gregory coughed as he pulled out the bench from the piano and shuffled his music onto the
stand. It had been almost a week since he had practiced, and he needed to make sure his
fingers would be limber for his private lesson the next day. A bout with bronchitis had stolen his
practice time that week as he convalesced in bed. His teacher, Mrs. Baker, was a strict
disciplinarian. Although she kindly empathized with Gregory's illness, he still wanted to impress
her with his musical skills. He warmed up his fingers with scales and arpeggios (broken chords),
trying to focus his mind on the Chopin piece that he needed to practice next.
Suddenly, his father tapped him on the shoulder. "Do you have to practice now, son?"
"Yes, because my lesson is tomorrow," Gregory replied with a cough.Gregory's dad nervously
ran his fingers through his hair with one hand and scratched his bearded chin with the other.
"That's great that you're practicing, son, but my colleagues will be coming over in a few minutes
to go over our presentation for tomorrow. Could you please practice later?"
"No, not later," his mother inserted from the hallway. "Kendra will have her slumber party
here in the living room, remember? I don't think a group of 7-year-old girls will want to listen to
Chopin."
Gregory coughed as he got an idea. "I'll call my friend Jake and ask if I can practice at his
house. His parents just bought a piano, and he's been wanting me to come over for a while; but
I've been sick."
"There you go, and just in time," his dad said with a grin as the doorbell rang.
How does Kendra add to Gregory's problem in the story?
A. Her friends plan to meet her in the living room to study.
B. She will host a slumber party in the family's living room.
C. Her teacher will not allow Gregory to postpone his lesson.
D. She offers to let him practice on her brand new piano.
Eli was one of those kids who coasted through adolescence like it was a perfectly smooth
ride. For example, I never once saw him blush. The kind of social embarrassment most
teenagers experience was foreign to Eli. He was 18 going on 30.
It was Eli who insisted that we go backpacking in Europe because that was what
sophisticated high school graduates were supposed to do. He planned everything, including
where we would stay, which museums we would see, and what cafés we would visit in order to
write in our travel journals. I was intimidated by all this, but I played along, as if going to Europe
were the most natural thing in the world.
In the U.K., I followed him blindly, my eyes half-closed, my mind cloudy with jet lag. In
France, I returned to my former self — enough to appreciate the paintings in the Louvre that Eli
had wanted so badly to see. In Switzerland, he led me through some of the most beautiful
forests I'd ever seen. All this time, the dynamic of our relationship was undergoing a gradual
change. Somewhere along the way, he became a leader, and I his follower. Without realizing it,
I'd come to depend on him the way that a son depends on his father.
It wasn't until we were on our way down the mountain in Switzerland that this change in our
dynamic became apparent to me. It all began when Eli said he was tired of the switchbacks. He
wanted a more exciting way to get down the mountain, he said. He led me to a platform of
elevated train tracks that were lined with metal stairs on one side. I followed.
The platform itself was a good 20 feet over the ground, with no ladders connecting it to the
mountain beneath, and thus, we were committed to descending in this fashion until we
reached the base of the mountain. This was fine by us; the tracks proved a far more direct route
to the bottom than the switchbacks. However, neither Eli nor I expected the tracks to disappear
into a tunnel.
Upon first sight of the tunnel, Eli's face darkened. He turned to me and announced that the
tunnel was unsafe, and thus, we would have to jump from the stairs to a nearby ledge.
I went first. Between the stairs and the ledge was a drop of some 50 feet, but the ledge was
pretty close, and I simply told myself not to look down.
Then Eli went. I knew something was wrong the moment his feet left the ground. When he
landed, he was off-balance. For a brief moment, he teetered, waving his arms, about to fall.
By some miracle, he righted himself. And then, with our hearts thumping in our chests, we
looked into one another's eyes. It was the first time I'd seen death in someone's face.
We continued the rest of the hike in complete silence. Eli didn't acknowledge what had
happened, and neither did I. But I began to see things differently. I realized that Eli was just like
me. He was a kid. And like me, he had a lot of learning to do.
4. Which statement from the text best supports the idea that Eli is socially confident?
A. Without realizing it, I'd come to depend on him the way that a son depends on his
father.
B. This was fine by us; the tracks proved a far more direct route to the bottom than
the switchbacks.
C. The kind of social embarrassment most teenagers experience was foreign to Eli.
D. In the U.K., I followed him blindly, my eyes half-closed, my mind cloudy with jet lag.
These gray walls are sterilized. Neither plants nor real flowers can live here for much longer.
Sunlight does not enter through the door. The window only faces a jungle of concrete. People
wearing masks and green scrubs come and go. Sometimes, they remember to smile. I can hear
wheels rolling on the smooth floors in the hallway. Once in a while, someone wails in sorrow.
Mostly, everything is as quiet as a drying lake. I have only been here for a few days, but seconds
feel like decades. They do not know how painful it is for me to just lay here. Although my leg
feels heavier than a teenager’s heart after the first heartbreak, I feel I could rip the cast and
run. I could run endlessly against the waves of the ocean. I could run under the vast sky glowing
with moonlight—forever.
5. Which of these best reflects the narrator's dismay at the environment?
A. I could run endlessly against the waves of the ocean.
B. I can hear wheels rolling on the smooth floors in the hallway.
C. The window only faces a jungle of concrete.
D. People wearing masks and green scrubs come and go.
The Pursuit of Happiness
by A. Gautam
Mrs. Tang walked to my house
Covering one block in fifteen minutes
Only dragging the left foot forward
The right foot followed suit somehow
Mrs. Tang walked with a stooped back
Without a cane
Breathing heavily again and again
Her gown was like a curtain—
Drifting lazily
Mrs. Tang wore her husband's sandals—
He had passed years ago
Just after she had retired
To travel the world with him
Now she walked around the block
Wearing him
Mrs. Tang reached my front porch
Bearing a smile and a jar of cookies
For my little girl
Who she said
Reminded her of youth
And happiness
6. What is the effect of the descriptive language of this poem?
A. It acutely describes the speaker's little girl's youth and happiness.
B. It vividly portrays Mrs. Tang and helps creates a sympathetic tone.
C. It helps create a passionate tone while describing Mrs. Tang's insanity.
D. It helps the reader imagine the speaker's emotions using few words.
With a Booming Whoosh
by Tirzah Tyler
With a booming whoosh that flows
And then ebbs as quickly as it came,
You visit my window day and night
Unpredictably predictable, as a dream.
You might as well be human, you know,
For I feel as though I know your name.
American, Continental, United . . .
You carry passengers between your wings.
But when you leave, I’m here alone.
The silence gnaws at my soul again
Like a mocking, unforgiving sprite.
My mother’s advice suddenly gleams
Like a beacon brilliant in the snow,
And my mind is calm, my soul is tame,
When I gradually realize she is right.
I need to call a friend to keep me company.
7. Which word signals a turning point in the poem?
A. mocking
B. unforgiving
C. quickly
D. suddenly
In these times of ours, though concerning the exact year there is no need to be precise, a
boat of dirty and disreputable appearance, with two figures in it, floated on the Thames,
between Southwark bridge which is of iron, and London Bridge which is of stone, as an autumn
evening was closing in.
The figures in this boat were those of a strong man with ragged grizzled hair and a sunbrowned face, and a dark girl of nineteen or twenty, sufficiently like him to be recognizable as
his daughter. The girl rowed, pulling a pair of sculls very easily; the man, with the rudder-lines
slack in his hands, and his hands loose in his waistband, kept an eager look out. He had no net,
hook, or line, and he could not be a fisherman; his boat had no cushion for a sitter, no paint, no
inscription, no appliance beyond a rusty boathook and a coil of rope, and he could not be a
waterman; his boat was too crazy and too small to take in cargo for delivery, and he could not
be a lighterman or river-carrier; there was no clue to what he looked for, but he looked for
something, with a most intent and searching gaze. The tide, which had turned an hour before,
was running down, and his eyes watched every little race and eddy in its broad sweep, as the
boat made slight head-way against it, or drove stern foremost before it, according as he
directed his daughter by a movement of his head. She watched his face as earnestly as he
watched the river. But, in the intensity of her look there was a touch of dread or horror.
Allied to the bottom of the river rather than the surface, by reason of the slime and ooze
with which it was covered, and its sodden state, this boat and the two figures in it obviously
were doing something that they often did, and were seeking what they often sought. Half
savage as the man showed, with no covering on his matted head, with his brown arms bare to
between the elbow and the shoulder, with the loose knot of a looser kerchief lying low on his
bare breast in a wilderness of beard and whisker, with such dress as he wore seeming to be
made out of the mud that begrimed his boat, still there was a business-like usage in his steady
gaze. So with every lithe action of the girl, with every turn of her wrist, perhaps most of all with
her look of dread or horror; they were things of usage.
"Keep her out, Lizzie. Tide runs strong here. Keep her well afore the sweep of it."
Trusting to the girl's skill and making no use of the rudder, he eyed the coming tide with an
absorbed attention. So the girl eyed him. But, it happened now, that a slant of light from the
setting sun glanced into the bottom of the boat, and, touching a rotten stain there which bore
some resemblance to the outline of a muffled human form, coloured it as though with diluted
blood. This caught the girl's eye, and she shivered.
"What ails you?" said the man, immediately aware of it, though so intent on the advancing
waters; "I see nothing afloat."
from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
8. Based on the information in the text, the father can best be described as
A. fearful.
B. unhealthy.
C. mocking.
D. serious.
Getting the Story
Jacob had begun devising his plan to be a world-renowned journalist in his childhood, and he
recognized that without securing an internship, he would never get his foot in the door with the
most prestigious news organizations in the world. Now, near the climax of his college career,
Jacob had landed an internship with a big-city newspaper, and they immediately dropped a
bombshell on him—he would be part of a team travelling to the Middle East, and the team
would be providing coverage on a war-torn country by spending their days with an army
regiment.
Jacob's hands trembled throughout the overseas flight, and he could scarcely grip a pen
when he disembarked from the airplane in a foreign airport teeming with travelers. His fellow
reporters were far more seasoned—some of them even spoke Arabic, the local language—and
Jacob was intimidated by their experience and their easy confidence. On the first day as they
got settled in, Jacob decided to strike up a conversation with his roommate, hoping to
moderate the anxiety gripping him.
"Have you ever been overseas?" he asked, concentrating on maintaining a steady tone.
"Three times," the other reporter, Oscar, replied. "But it looks like you've never left your
hometown. Don't worry, kid; we're all in this together."
Jacob responded with a puny half-smile, but he was uncomfortable with requesting
assistance from any of his co-workers, many of who had been news writers for more than a
decade. He had always heard how cutthroat the news business could be—every reporter for
himself, and Jacob remained largely isolated in the first week. He had been assigned interviews
with two soldiers who were in the midst of their first tour of duty, much like Jacob, and he felt
some kinship with them. The soldiers discussed their initial shock at the devastation of war,
how they ultimately grew accustomed to the conditions around them and focused on their
mission, and Jacob wrote down every quote and detail dutifully, impressed by their resolve, but
unsure about his own ability to adapt.
Jacob had been procrastinating on one segment of his assignment, which was to interview at
least one local about their reaction to the soldiers encamped near their neighborhood. He sat
on his bed one morning, agonizing about how to conduct the interview when he spoke no
Arabic, when Oscar came to perch across from him.
"How's the assignment coming, cub?" he inquired, tying his shoes.
"Great!" Jacob replied, nodding his head while smiling enthusiastically.
"That's great, cub, but what about your interview with the residents?"
"I'm going to do that today, maybe."
"Well, if you need an interpreter, I'll go and assist you. Not sure if you're aware, but most of
the folks around here don't speak English."
Jacob glanced up to see Oscar half-grinning, easing his unapproachable facade a bit, and
Jacob found himself accepting Oscar's offer to act as an interpreter, which caused his stress
level diminish instantaneously.
9. How does the setting affect the plot in this passage?
A. Living overseas makes Jacob unwilling to return to the United States.
B. Being in an unfamiliar territory requires Jacob to rely on his fellow reporters.
C. Going overseas makes Jacob sensitive to the plight of other countries.
D. Being in a foreign country causes Jacob to become more competitive.
Anna's Birthday
by A. Gautam
Time has taken an unseen turn
Again
She realizes that Earth must have spun
Many, many times already, as always
But today, history is being repeated
In an instant, she transforms from a newborn
To a young woman of this universe
Her legs feel the change—
From crawls and wobbly falls to her first dance
On the wedding day
She feels her soul expand and her heart blossom
Celebrating life—
The bluest sky outside her window
And the reddest rose in her balcony
There are clouds and thorns in the world
But today, she will only rejoice in beauty
10. What is the effect of the words "transforms," "change," and "expand" in the poem?
A. They reflect the playful tone of the poem.
B. They show Anna's physical and emotional growth.
C. They describe the outer universe for Anna.
D. They reiterate that history is being repeated.
Bravery
Avery waited for the class to be over so that he could be alone with his thoughts. Today, the
voice in his heart was loud and clear. It had requested him to stop passing around that flier
about Mrs. Windem, the music teacher. Roberto had also warned him against such stupidity.
"You think you will look cool in front of the class, but you will only be acting like a fool; trust
me!" Roberto had alerted his friend. However, Avery had found it hard to resist his urges.
Often, he acted first and contemplated later. Even though he found mischief thrilling, he felt
the pleasure was getting to be too short-lived. That day, he had passed around the flier to a few
boys and then snatched them back before it reached more of his classmates. He could not
understand why he was behaving that way. Mrs. Windem, who had noticed the commotion in
the classroom, continued with the lesson despite the disturbance.
Avery was not even focusing on the class anymore. He wanted to talk to the teacher face to
face and perhaps utter some words of apology. While Mrs. Windem was still talking about
Mozart, Ted snatched one of the fliers from Avery's hands and passed it to a girl sitting next to
him.
"Are you being a chicken?" Ted hissed at Avery.
Unable to let the awful prank continue, Roberto intervened before the girl opened up the
rolled up flier. He requested the girl to return it to him and thanked her for agreeing to do so.
Avery, the biggest, toughest boy in Virtue High was beside himself that afternoon. When his
eyes met with the teacher's, he recognized the affectionate and understanding expression they
displayed. The eyes told that he was already forgiven. At the same moment, Avery felt a gentle
tap on his back. He knew what Roberto was trying to say to him without using words.
11. Avery, the central character, represents major themes in this passage. Which of these is an
important theme in the plot?
A. Honesty is not always rewarded.
B. People change over time.
C. Advice is not always helpful.
D. People tend to become alike.
Before the Journey
by A. Gautam
After somehow managing to slide down the dormitory hall’s back stairs on a mattress,
the girls were finally exhausted. Every single one of them was proud to have avoided the eagle
eyes of their resident assistant, Trish. Moreover, it was after quiet hours in the all-girls building.
Anne, Stacy, Lacy, and Mongoo laughed their hearts out as quietly as possible and gathered in
the darkest corner in the hallway. It was the night before the semester ended and the girls were
graduating from college the next day.
"Shouldn't you get some sleep to look good for the speech tomorrow?" Lacy asked Anne, her
best friend and the commencement speaker.
"I know what I am going to say very well, gals," Anne responded with her beaming smile.
"Wow! I can't believe we are graduating!"
"Finally!" Mongoo almost yelled looking at her wristwatch. "Oh, I have to pick up Mom from
the airport at six in the morning. Sorry, Stacy! My alarm will be going off at four."
"Wish this night would never end," Stacy spoke broodingly. "I'll miss you guys very much."
She was the sentimental one. And, she was going to take a year off from college to help out her
parents on the farm. Her father had been injured and needed some time to recover before
resuming farming. Stacy loved reading poetry and staring at the pond or writing away till dawn.
Her parents could not understand why the tomboyish Stacy had softened up so. She looked at
each of her friends longingly while they chatted away that night. Anne was going to law school,
Mongoo was going to join a study abroad program at Oxford, and Lacy was going to study
medicine. Stacy felt distant and different from all of her friends—even more so that fateful
night.
"Are you ever going to tell your parents how you really feel about farming?" Anne asked
Stacy the question that everyone else was thinking. "Just show them your publications and read
them your poems! I am telling you—they will understand."
"Don't you know Daddy is injured?" Stacy uttered. "How could I?"
"We are not asking you to abandon your family," Lacy voiced her advice. "Besides, your
brothers are way more interested in farming than you are."
"Can't you stay at home, send some more poems out for publication, apply for creating
writing programs, and convince your parents? I mean—you could help them out and follow
your dreams?" Mongoo expressed her serious concern for Stacy.
Stacy's eyes lit up upon hearing Mongoo's words. "Wow! You really do know me well. I
suppose I could try that," she uttered with joy and clasped Mongoo in a tight embrace.
"Our poet is back," Anne and Lacy yelled simultaneously and drowned Stacy and Mongoo in
their hugs.
12. Which of the following is developed in the story?
A. Lacy's envy of Anne, the commencement speaker
B. Mongoo's determination to help out her mother
C. Anne's confusion about her future as lawmaker
D. Stacy's feelings of optimism regarding her career
Afternoon Accident
by Tirzah Tyler
Jesse's shriek pierced the stillness of the late afternoon and sent his sister Cathy flying into
the front yard. While her running legs instinctively transported her outside, she realized that
Jesse had fallen out of the oak tree.
"Are you all right?" Cathy asked her younger brother as he rubbed his elbow and clutched his
ankle.
Jesse shook his head and screamed in reply, and tears streamed down his flushed face.
The next-door neighbor Mr. Sanders jogged over to Jesse and Cathy. "I saw that nasty fall
you took," he told Jesse. "Is anything broken?"
"My ankle hurts really badly," Jesse answered through a series of quavering sobs.
"Here, let me take you to the emergency room," Mr. Sanders said, gently scooping Jesse into
his muscular arms. "Your mom won't be home for another hour, right?"
"That's right, but let me run inside and get my purse so I can come with you," Cathy replied.
"But what about your soccer meeting?" Jesse asked with a stuffy, nasal voice as he continued
to cry. His freshly scraped elbow glistened in the sunlight as he clutched his petite arms around
Mr. Sanders' neck.
"My soccer coach will understand," Cathy shouted as she sprinted towards the house.
"You're my little brother!"
13. Which of the following is a theme in this story?
A. Sports can be a valuable part of life.
B. Neighbors should help one another.
C. Climbing trees is for grown-ups..
D. Physical fitness is important in life.
Unexpected News
by Tirzah Tyler
Dad slowly ran his fingers along the edge of his tie as it lay on the kitchen table. I guessed
that Dad must have been thinking very hard, because he normally did not take this long to
change out of his work clothes. By this time, he usually would have been in his T-shirt and jeans
doing yard work or in his workout clothes jogging in place. But today, he sat staring at his tie in
the kitchen, and he was still wearing his fancy coat and shoes.
"Did they say anything about severance pay?" Mom asked him quietly, trying to make eye
contact with him.
Dad shook his head and started gently knocking on the kitchen table, almost as if he were
communicating with a code what he was unable to say verbally. "I was with the company for
eight years, eight long years, bending over backwards for them over and over again. Then they
just said that the company was making cutbacks, and I was one of the unlucky ones," he said
quietly.
"What do the lucky ones get?" I asked, but I realized how silly a question it was as soon as I
asked it.
Dad stopped knocking and looked up at me with exhaustion in his eyes. "A job, Kevin," he
replied with a grin. "They get a paycheck and benefits and security and all that good stuff that
makes you get up early in the morning and look forward to the weekend."
Mom closed her eyes, squeezing out tears that flowed quietly down her cheek. I never liked
to see her cry. Dad looked like he wanted to cry, too, and the only thing I could think of was
that somebody needed to cheer them up.
I cleared my throat and began, "Speaking of the weekend, did you hear about the chicken
who liked to eat spaghetti?"
Raising his eyebrows, Dad shook his head to say, "No."
"Well, he crossed the road to get to the other side, to get to the spaghetti restaurant," I said,
delivering the punch line with a flourish of my hands.
Mom chuckled a little bit, wiped her eyes, and asked, "Kevin, what does that have to do with
the weekend?"
I shrugged my shoulders and replied, "I don't know, but it made you stop crying."
Mom and Dad looked at each other and erupted in laughter. Dad threw his tie at me, and he
and Mom both gave me a big hug.
14. Kevin's actions demonstrate the theme that
A. humor is inferior to sympathy.
B. children should work hard.
C. parents make good teachers.
D. laughter is good medicine.
Friday Changes
by Tirzah Tyler
Chugging loudly, Stephen's car zoomed onto the driveway immediately after school. Stephen
did not want to lose one minute this evening before his date with Rhonda. With a smile, he
leapt out of his sedan and ran to the front door of his house, where the aroma of his mother's
cooking would probably now be permeating. In his mind, he had already formulated his plan,
and all he needed to do was to efficiently follow through. First, he would change into his dressy
clothes that he had ironed that morning, and then he would splash on some cologne. Then he
would pick up Rhonda from her house, and next, they would eat dinner at the new Italian
restaurant, and finally, they would see the new Ricolas Page movie.
As soon as Stephen sped over the threshold and did not detect any pleasant aromas, he
suspected that something was wrong. The house was absolutely quiet except for subdued
sniffling. His sister Vonnie, standing in the middle of the living room and hugging herself, was
crying.
Stephen knelt down beside her and gently hugged her shoulder. "Hey, Little Bit, what's the
matter? Where's Mom?"
Vonnie emitted a tiny wail and replied with punctuated sniffles, "Mom had to work late. She
left a message on the answering machine and told me to heat up something frozen for dinner.
She will be home tonight at eight."
With a sigh, Stephen observed soothingly, "Mom will be home soon, you'll eat dinner, and I'll
go out with Rhonda. Everything will be fine."
With fresh sobs, Vonnie spewed the words, "But I forgot my homework at school. I put it in
my notebook, and I left it on my desk, and then I got on the bus and forgot all about it."
Panic stabbed Stephen's insides like a knife as he realized Vonnie's predicament. His eyes
quickly shifted to the clock on the wall, which read 5:15, and his brain rapidly calculated that he
would still have time to pick up Rhonda for their date. "Don't worry, Little Bit. The custodians
stay late on Fridays. I can drive you back to your school, and you can still get your assignment."
Vonnie hugged her brother and sniffled.
Stephen sighed and called Rhonda to tell her that he would be about fifteen minutes late to
pick her up. Unfortunately, she was neither understanding nor sympathetic about the plight of
Vonnie's fifth-grade homework. She insisted that he pick her up on time as they had been
planning all week. During their conversation, Stephen became disappointed in Rhonda's
attitude and canceled their date altogether.
He hung up the phone, took his sister by the hand, and drove her to her elementary school.
Mr. Phelps the custodian, who remembered Stephen when he was a boy, escorted them to
Vonnie's classroom, where she retrieved her assignment.
On the drive home, Stephen suggested to Vonnie, "Since my dinner plans fell through, would
you be my date this evening?" Then he humorously added, "We can follow Mom's instructions
for microwaved cuisine, and then after you finish your homework, we can enjoy a DVD of your
choice, mademoiselle."
Vonnie nodded with a smile, leaned over the gearshift, and hugged Stephen tightly.
15. What does Stephen do to resolve the problem in the story?
A. He invites Vonnie to accompany him on his big date with Rhonda.
B. He calls his mother to tell her that Vonnie forgot her assignment.
C. He calls Mr. Phelps, the custodian, and tells him Vonnie is crying.
D. He drives Vonnie to her school so she can pick up her assignment.