Name
Date
THE NOTORIOUS JUMPING FROG OF
CALAVERAS COUNTY
THE NOTORIOUS JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS COUNTY
Selection Test A
Comprehension
Read each of the following questions. Then choose the letter of the best answer. (6 points
each)
1. The narrator suspects that Leonidas W. Smiley
is
do better than any other frog?
A. Simon Wheeler’s friend
A. jump distances
B. a teller of tall tales
B. turn somersaults
C. a made–up person
C. catch flies
D. Jim Smiley’s other name
D. land upright
2. An example of hyperbole in this tall tale is
Wheeler saying that Smiley
A. will change sides in a bet
B. wins money on chicken fights
C. almost always has good luck
D. will follow a bug to Mexico
3. What does Andrew Jackson, the bull-pup, do
Copyright by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company
4. What does Wheeler say that Dan’l Webster can
5. Use the context clues to choose the best
meaning of “bannanner” in the dialect of the
following excerpt:
“Well, thish-yer Smiley had a yaller one-eyed
cow that didn’t have no tail, only just a short
stump like a bannanner . . .”
A. balloon
B. banana
to win his dog fights?
C. banner
A. shows his large teeth
D. basket
B. bites the other dog’s shoulder
C. holds the other dog’s hind leg
D. depends on Smiley’s help
Resource Manager
Unit 4
American Literature
83
THE NOTORIOUS JUMPING FROG OF
CALAVERAS COUNTY
Name
Date
SELECTION TEST A, CONTINUED
Vocabulary
Choose the answer that best explains the meaning of each underlined word. (6 points each)
6. Someone who is garrulous is
9. What does tranquil mean?
A. friendly
A. gentle
B. talkative
B. silent
C. insulting
C. boring
D. creative
D. peaceful
7. What does infamous mean?
10. Indifferent means
A. having a bad reputation
A. similar
B. having a great talent
B. modest
C. being very careful
C. distracted
D. being well-known
D. uninterested
8. Dilapidated means
A. old
B. empty
C. rundown
Written Response
Short Response Answer the following questions based on your knowledge of the story.
Write a sentence or two on a separate sheet of paper. (10 points each)
11. Describe the bet Smiley makes concerning Parson Walker’s wife.
12. How does Smiley’s mare win races?
Extended Response Answer the following question based on your knowledge of the story.
Write one or two paragraphs on a separate sheet of paper. (20 points)
13. How does Smiley’s love of betting have a negative impact on his life? Support your
answer with two details from the story.
84
Unit 4
American Literature
Resource Manager
Copyright by McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin Company
D. ordinary