Lydia Sanderson is homesteading in Oregon in the 1890s. Tim Whiteaker, whose marriage proposal Lydia has recently declined, pays a visit. ,end italics,
from ,begin bold,The Jump-Off Creek,end bold,
paragraph 1,On the Sunday after the Fourth of July, he came riding out of the trees at the high end of the clearing and after a moment lifted his hand stiffly. She was burying garbage in the yard. She kept on digging, only waving at him briefly, and resolutely smiling.
paragraph 2,"Mrs. Sanderson," he said when he had come up near the hole she was digging. He stayed on his gray horse and looked down at her.
paragraph 3,"Hello, Mr. Whiteaker."
paragraph 4,"I'm cooking for a crew over behind Meacham," he said, in a way that was unlike him, quick and direct. "I've got a cash allowance for groceries and I would like to buy milk off you if you have it to sell."
paragraph 5,She looked up from shoveling the garbage into its shallow hole.
paragraph 6,He ducked his chin in that characteristic way, but he kept on quickly, as if he had thought over what he meant to say. "I've been coming home on Saturday night and going back there about this time on Sunday. I would come by for it every week. I guess I would buy a gallon at a time. I would get more but I don't have any good way to haul it."
paragraph 7,She had not got over her surprise yet. She held her hand up over her eyes, shading them from the late sun, and looked at him.
paragraph 8,He nodded as if she had said something he agreed with. Then he said, "I brought a saddlebags, and some newspaper to set the jars in."
paragraph 9,Then finally she nodded too, and stuck the spade down in the garbage hole. She wiped her hands on her apron and left the spade standing up there and went down to the cairn.,superscript,1,baseline, Mr. Whiteaker brought his stiff leather sacks and followed her across the yard, letting his horse loose to crop the thin grass. He stood behind her while she lifted out four quarts.
paragraph 10,"I guess you wouldn't want to sell any of that cheese, or the butter," he said, watching her.
paragraph 11,Without looking around at him, she said, "I would." She set out some of it on the grass behind her.
paragraph 12,He squatted down with his sack and packed everything in carefully. "I'll bring the empty jars back with me next time," he said. "Does that leave you short of them?"
paragraph 13,She said, "No," though probably it would.
paragraph 14,He nodded again and stood up and carried the sacks to his horse. When he had lifted and settled the sacks across the back of his saddle, he stood beside the horse and took a handful of coins out of his pocket and looked at her.
paragraph 15,"Forty-five cents," she said. Without the time to figure her price carefully, she didn't know if it was too little, or too much.
paragraph 16,He reached the money out to her, dropping it into her open hand. He mounted and started to turn the horse and then didn't.
paragraph 17,"Meacham has got a store," he said, looking down at her. And then, unexpectedly," If you wanted anything from there, I could bring it back for you."
paragraph 18,She considered. Then she said, "If they have got a post office, I would be grateful if you would take down a few letters of mine to be posted."
paragraph 19,He nodded.
paragraph 20,She went to the house and got the several letters she had written to her mother and to her aunt. She wrapped them in a piece of newspaper tied with a string, came out again and gave him the little packet, smiling slightly. "Thank you, Mr. Whiteaker. I had thought I wouldn't have this occasion until the fall, when I must go out myself."
paragraph 21,He sat holding her letters gingerly in one hand. The little finger was crooked, not quite lying flat along the edge of the packet of letters. Probably the bone had been broken and poorly set once. Looking at it, she felt a sudden, small, inexplicable pang.
paragraph 22,"Well, we never get letters ourselves," he said in an indifferent fashion. It wasn't clear why he had said it. She could not think what might be expected, by way of a reply.
paragraph 23,She said, after the little silence, "If you have time, Mr. Whiteaker, please come in for coffee."
paragraph 24,He shook his head. "I'll be late getting there as it is." There was an irritable quality about it, and he touched the brim of his hat and turned the horse and rode away without saying anything else.
paragraph 25,After that, he came every Sunday regularly to buy milk from her and to take her letters to the post office. After the first occasion he became more nearly like himself, slow to speak and diffident, but he never would come inside the house and take coffee with her. She was not sorry for that, but bothered by a dim guilt.
paragraph 26,She sent a note with him, to have her own mail forwarded to the Meacham Station from the post office in La Grande, and finally on the second Sunday of August he brought back the letters and parcels that had been waiting.
paragraph 27,Lydia had at one time resolved to open her mail slowly when she got it—one or two each day from earliest to last, as if she had not got them all in a bundle. But that intent was lost as soon as she saw them held out in Mr. Whiteaker's hand.
paragraph 28,She began to smile foolishly. "Oh, Mr. Whiteaker, I am so grateful to you. How many letters are there, it looks like a lot? Please come in, I wish you would. I'll make coffee and we'll see what is in those packages. Are there two of them? You know I haven't been able to post a letter myself, from April to July, I rather worried I'd be forgotten."
paragraph 29,He did follow her in, watching her with a slight, soft smile. "I'll get the coffee made, ma'am, if you are wanting to open those parcels."
(Excerpt from ,begin underline,THE JUMP-OFF CREEK,end underline, by Molly Gloss. Copyright © 1989 by Molly Gloss. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.)
,begin bold,,superscript, ,baseline, ,end bold,,begin bold,,superscript,1,baseline,cairn,end bold, a pile of rocks used for cold storage in the creek
Question 1
This question has two parts. Answer Part A, and then answer Part B.
,begin emphasis,Part A,end emphasis,
Which statement ,begin emphasis,best,end emphasis, describes how Lydia and Mr. Whiteaker react to each other in paragraphs 1–3?
Question 1 Answer options with 4 options
1.
They are annoyed at each other.
2.
They are curious about each other.
3.
They feel excited to see each other.
4.
They are uncomfortable with each other.
Question 2
,begin emphasis,Part B,end emphasis,
Select ,begin emphasis,two,end emphasis, excerpts from paragraph 1 that ,begin emphasis,best,end emphasis, support the correct answer from Part A.
Question 2 Answer options with 5 options
1.
"riding out of the trees"
2.
"after a moment"
3.
"lifted his hand stiffly"
4.
"burying garbage in the yard"
5.
"only waving at him briefly"
Question 1 Answer: 4. They are uncomfortable with each other.
Question 2 Answer: 2. "after a moment" and 5. "only waving at him briefly"
Lydia Sanderson is homesteading in Oregon in the 1890s. Tim Whiteaker, whose marriage proposal Lydia has recently declined, pays a visit. ,end italics,
from ,begin bold,The Jump-Off Creek,end bold,
paragraph 1,On the Sunday after the Fourth of July, he came riding out of the trees at the high end of the clearing and after a moment lifted his hand stiffly. She was burying garbage in the yard. She kept on digging, only waving at him briefly, and resolutely smiling.
paragraph 2,"Mrs. Sanderson," he said when he had come up near the hole she was digging. He stayed on his gray horse and looked down at her.
paragraph 3,"Hello, Mr. Whiteaker."
paragraph 4,"I'm cooking for a crew over behind Meacham," he said, in a way that was unlike him, quick and direct. "I've got a cash allowance for groceries and I would like to buy milk off you if you have it to sell."
paragraph 5,She looked up from shoveling the garbage into its shallow hole.
paragraph 6,He ducked his chin in that characteristic way, but he kept on quickly, as if he had thought over what he meant to say. "I've been coming home on Saturday night and going back there about this time on Sunday. I would come by for it every week. I guess I would buy a gallon at a time. I would get more but I don't have any good way to haul it."
paragraph 7,She had not got over her surprise yet. She held her hand up over her eyes, shading them from the late sun, and looked at him.
paragraph 8,He nodded as if she had said something he agreed with. Then he said, "I brought a saddlebags, and some newspaper to set the jars in."
paragraph 9,Then finally she nodded too, and stuck the spade down in the garbage hole. She wiped her hands on her apron and left the spade standing up there and went down to the cairn.,superscript,1,baseline, Mr. Whiteaker brought his stiff leather sacks and followed her across the yard, letting his horse loose to crop the thin grass. He stood behind her while she lifted out four quarts.
paragraph 10,"I guess you wouldn't want to sell any of that cheese, or the butter," he said, watching her.
paragraph 11,Without looking around at him, she said, "I would." She set out some of it on the grass behind her.
paragraph 12,He squatted down with his sack and packed everything in carefully. "I'll bring the empty jars back with me next time," he said. "Does that leave you short of them?"
paragraph 13,She said, "No," though probably it would.
paragraph 14,He nodded again and stood up and carried the sacks to his horse. When he had lifted and settled the sacks across the back of his saddle, he stood beside the horse and took a handful of coins out of his pocket and looked at her.
paragraph 15,"Forty-five cents," she said. Without the time to figure her price carefully, she didn't know if it was too little, or too much.
paragraph 16,He reached the money out to her, dropping it into her open hand. He mounted and started to turn the horse and then didn't.
paragraph 17,"Meacham has got a store," he said, looking down at her. And then, unexpectedly," If you wanted anything from there, I could bring it back for you."
paragraph 18,She considered. Then she said, "If they have got a post office, I would be grateful if you would take down a few letters of mine to be posted."
paragraph 19,He nodded.
paragraph 20,She went to the house and got the several letters she had written to her mother and to her aunt. She wrapped them in a piece of newspaper tied with a string, came out again and gave him the little packet, smiling slightly. "Thank you, Mr. Whiteaker. I had thought I wouldn't have this occasion until the fall, when I must go out myself."
paragraph 21,He sat holding her letters gingerly in one hand. The little finger was crooked, not quite lying flat along the edge of the packet of letters. Probably the bone had been broken and poorly set once. Looking at it, she felt a sudden, small, inexplicable pang.
paragraph 22,"Well, we never get letters ourselves," he said in an indifferent fashion. It wasn't clear why he had said it. She could not think what might be expected, by way of a reply.
paragraph 23,She said, after the little silence, "If you have time, Mr. Whiteaker, please come in for coffee."
paragraph 24,He shook his head. "I'll be late getting there as it is." There was an irritable quality about it, and he touched the brim of his hat and turned the horse and rode away without saying anything else.
paragraph 25,After that, he came every Sunday regularly to buy milk from her and to take her letters to the post office. After the first occasion he became more nearly like himself, slow to speak and diffident, but he never would come inside the house and take coffee with her. She was not sorry for that, but bothered by a dim guilt.
paragraph 26,She sent a note with him, to have her own mail forwarded to the Meacham Station from the post office in La Grande, and finally on the second Sunday of August he brought back the letters and parcels that had been waiting.
paragraph 27,Lydia had at one time resolved to open her mail slowly when she got it—one or two each day from earliest to last, as if she had not got them all in a bundle. But that intent was lost as soon as she saw them held out in Mr. Whiteaker's hand.
paragraph 28,She began to smile foolishly. "Oh, Mr. Whiteaker, I am so grateful to you. How many letters are there, it looks like a lot? Please come in, I wish you would. I'll make coffee and we'll see what is in those packages. Are there two of them? You know I haven't been able to post a letter myself, from April to July, I rather worried I'd be forgotten."
paragraph 29,He did follow her in, watching her with a slight, soft smile. "I'll get the coffee made, ma'am, if you are wanting to open those parcels."
(Excerpt from ,begin underline,THE JUMP-OFF CREEK,end underline, by Molly Gloss. Copyright © 1989 by Molly Gloss. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.)
,begin bold,,superscript, ,baseline, ,end bold,,begin bold,,superscript,1,baseline,cairn,end bold, a pile of rocks used for cold storage in the creek
Question 1
This question has two parts. Answer Part A, and then answer Part B.
,begin emphasis,Part A,end emphasis,
In paragraph 24, why does Mr. Whiteaker's statement have "an irritable quality about it"?
Question 1 Answer options with 4 options
1.
Mr. Whiteaker worries that Lydia will think he is pursuing her.
2.
Mr. Whiteaker regrets that he made an agreement to buy milk.
3.
Mr. Whiteaker realizes that Lydia is asking him inside reluctantly.
4.
Mr. Whiteaker is embarrassed that he mentioned getting letters.
Question 2
,begin emphasis,Part B,end emphasis,
What happens in paragraph 25 that provides the ,begin emphasis,best,end emphasis, support for the correct answer from Part A?
Question 2 Answer options with 4 options
1.
Lydia gives Mr. Whiteaker letters to take to the post office every Sunday.
2.
Lydia sees that Mr. Whiteaker is not the same as he was on the first visit.
3.
Lydia continues to ask Mr. Whiteaker to join her inside for coffee.
4.
Lydia is not sorry that Mr. Whiteaker rejects her invitations for coffee.
Question 1 Answer: 3. Mr. Whiteaker realizes that Lydia is asking him inside reluctantly.
Question 2 Answer: 2. Lydia sees that Mr. Whiteaker is not the same as he was on the first visit.
he morning air felt refreshing, and the breeze was cool against my cheek. The sun smiled down from above as it warmed the Earth and dried the last remaining dew drops on the grass. I cast a glance at the canoe next to the house and decided it would be a good day to go for a row: the first row of the early spring.
I went back to the house and phoned my friend Jimmy (Jimmy was always ready for an adventure). I told him about my plan, and he readily agreed to participate. He said he’d ride his bike over to my house after breakfast.
Once Jimmy arrived, we lifted the canoe over our heads and carried it down to the lake. It shimmered in the sunlight about 200 yards from my house. It was a long trek to the water, but I could feel my arms strong under the weight of the canoe—much stronger than the previous year. We reached the water and set down the canoe. We slipped off our sneakers, peeled off our socks, and pushed the canoe into the water. Jimmy and I stepped into the water as quickly as we could (it was quite cold) and leapt into the boat. One push with our oars and we were off. The canoe cut into the water like a knife.
Even though I had viewed the scenery dozens of times, the beauty of the shoreline always amazed me. The rocky shoreline is rimmed with pine trees that cast their reflections in the water. Over their tops I could see the jagged line of the distant mountains. Overhead a hawk soared through the air, his wings spread wide to catch the breeze. The only sound that could be heard was the dipping of our oars into the water. I smiled to myself and was grateful that after the long winter, rowing season was here again.
Question
How does the narration affect the reader's understanding of the passage?
Answer options with 4 options
1.
allows the reader to interpret the characters' actions since no thoughts are revealed
2.
helps the reader identify with Jimmy more than with the narrator
3.
helps the reader understand the developing conflict
4.
allows the reader to understand the narrator's values
Question Answer: 4. allows the reader to understand the narrator's values
Part A: The statement that best describes how Lydia and Mr. Whiteaker react to each other in paragraphs 1-3 is that they are uncomfortable with each other.
Part B: The two excerpts from paragraph 1 that best support the correct answer from Part A are:
1. "after a moment" - This suggests a hesitation or pause before Lydia acknowledges Mr. Whiteaker's presence, indicating discomfort or awkwardness.
2. "only waving at him briefly" - Lydia's brief wave instead of engaging in conversation or welcoming him further suggests a sense of discomfort or unease between them.
Part A: The best description of how Lydia and Mr. Whiteaker react to each other in paragraphs 1-3 is that they are uncomfortable with each other.
Part B: The two excerpts from paragraph 1 that best support this answer are:
1. "She kept on digging, only waving at him briefly, and resolutely smiling." This suggests that Lydia is trying to avoid direct communication with Mr. Whiteaker and maintains a polite but distant interaction.
2. "He stayed on his gray horse and looked down at her." This implies a physical and emotional distance between them, as Mr. Whiteaker remains on his horse instead of coming closer to Lydia.