1. PART A: Which of the following identifies the theme of the text?
A. Obstacles arise in life, but that doesn’t mean a person should give up on what they want.
B. When a tragedy occurs, we should allow people to grieve in different ways.
C. Overcoming life’s difficulties will always make a person stronger.
D. Children cannot succeed without the support of their family.
2. PART B: Which detail from the text best supports the answer to Part A?
A. “There were surgeries and weeks in the hospital, but the important thing was that I wasn’t going to be walking again.” (Paragraph 2)
B. “He was there. He sat in the stands and watched us go through our drills and a minigame. I was so nervous, I couldn’t do anything right.” (Paragraph 31)
C. “Okay, so most of the guys are pretty good wheeling their chairs up and down
the court. But our baseline plays looked more like a collision derby.” (Paragraph 50)
D. “Afterward, the team voted, and the Hartsdale Posse all agreed that we wanted
to play in the league.” (Paragraph 62)
3. What does Chris’ mother mean when she tells Chris that his dad is “chewing up his words to see how they taste before he lets them out”? (Paragraph 7).
A. That Chris’ dad wants to make sure he is clear.
B. That Chris’ dad is trying not to be mean.
C. That Chris’ dad is deciding what to say.
D. That Chris’ dad doesn’t like what he’s about to say.
4. How does the scene where Jim uses a wheelchair contribute to the text (Paragraph 39)?
A. He is able to better understand Chris’ experience in a wheelchair.
B. He realizes he isn’t as good of a basketball player from the wheelchair.
C. He understands Chris’ frustration playing basketball in a wheelchair.
D. He feels guilty for not working with Chris’ basketball team sooner.
1. C. Overcoming life’s difficulties will always make a person stronger.
2. C. “Okay, so most of the guys are pretty good wheeling their chairs up and down the court. But our baseline plays looked more like a collision derby.” (Paragraph 50)
3. D. That Chris’ dad doesn’t like what he’s about to say.
4. A. He is able to better understand Chris’ experience in a wheelchair.