Aunt Melba
Everyone’s got at least one crazy relative, the skeleton in the closet,
the One Who Is Not To Be Emulated1. In my family, it’s Aunt Melba,
the clairvoyant2, the black sheep, and former trapeze artist. Every
Thanksgiving, when the whole family gathers at my grandmother’s
house in Indiana, Aunt Melba steals the show. This is particularly
interesting since she never actually shows up. But no one can talk
about anything else, so she might as well have a chair at the table.
She rules by remote control, from Alaska, where she’s living now on a
fishing boat that rests on dry land.
Family gatherings used to be fun when I was younger--seeing all the cousins, even if I had to pay for the privilege with pinches on the
cheeks from aunts and slaps on the back from uncles, who always
comment about how much I’ve grown. (If their enthusiasm for my
growing were matched in inches, I’d be ten feet tall.) But lately, the
cousins, who are mostly a few years older than I am, have stopped
coming, since they’ve gotten married and, for some reason, all wind
up at their other relatives’ houses for Thanksgiving.
Aunt Melba is a letter writer. Not an e-mailer, but someone who writes in long hand on the backs of store fliers. (She’s not into wasting paper, so she saves everything.) She writes not to tell us what she’s up to but, rather, to report on what we’ve been doing. “It’s good to hear that Allie is pursuing her studies in agricultural science” is on the
reverse of “Codfish Cakes! $2.99 a pound! Free Coleslaw!” I wonder
why advertisements always contain exclamation points and how she
always knows what my cousins and I are doing, since no one claims to
talk to her.
1 emulate: to try to be like
2 clairvoyant: the power of seeing or knowing about things that are not present to the senses
Name: Date:
“Aunt Melba” Questions
1. This passage is an example of
a. fantasy.
b. historical fiction.
c. an interview.
d. a personal narrative.
2. “Emulated,” in the first sentence, apparently means
a. denied.
b. disrespected.
c. imitated.
d. disowned.
3. What fact could be left out a biography about Aunt Melba?
a. Relatives comment about how much the author has grown.
b. Aunt Melba lives in Alaska on a fishing boat which is on dry land.
c. Aunt Melba writes letters on the back of store advertisements.
d. Aunt Melba was once a trapeze artist.
4. We know that the author of this passage is a person who
a. harbors bitterness about being a younger cousin.
b. enjoys the quirks of family members.
c. feels indignant about having a stingy aunt.
d. dislikes family gatherings.
5. Is this passage fiction or nonfiction? How do you know? Support your answer.
Name: Date:
Finders Keepers?
“I saw it first,” Amy said, as she ripped the old leather wallet out of Charlie’s hands. Without saying a word, as if they both understood that this was a secret they didn’t want to share with anyone, they slipped into the alleyway, where no one could see them look inside.
“There’s got to be a million dollars here!” Charlie blurted out, when they saw the pile of hundred-dollar bills. Amy, the more realistic of the two, did a quick estimate, thumbing through the wad of cash. “More like thousands,” she said, her voice shaking.
They’d found the wallet in a flowerbed on the sidewalk, when Charlie dropped his cell phone while he was trying to talk and eat a slice of pepperoni pizza at the same time. Amy stuffed the wallet into her backpack and pulled Charlie along by his elbow toward her house. As they rushed toward Viceroy Avenue, they talked about what they could do with the money--download music, get new clothes, travel to the rainforest in Costa Rica, adopt a whale. It looked like all of their dreams could come true. For the last block, they didn’t talk, each figuring that the other one was silently adding to the list of things they could buy.
They finally reached Amy’s house, but instead of going inside, they walked around the house to the back porch. Then they both started talking at once. “I wonder who lost it.” Their moods shifted, sinking from the high of being rich for fifteen minutes to worrying about what to do next. They opened the wallet and counted the money in piles of ten. The total was $2400 – more money than either of them had ever seen. In a clear plastic compartment, there was a driver’s license.
1. Another reason they may be keeping quiet is because they
a. feel guilty about not trying to return the wallet to its owner.
b. each want to keep all the money instead of sharing.
c. are wondering if they are being followed.
d. are eating candy and their mouths are full.
2. Now that there’s a chance of trying to find the owner of the wallet and money, they will probably
a. hide the license and keep the money.
b. look in the newspaper for an article about the lost money.
c. bring the wallet and money to the police.
d. use the license to rent a car.
3. Most of the story takes place
a. at a police station.
b. inside Amy’s house.
c. outside.
d. inside Charlie’s house.
4. The setting of this story is probably a suburban area because it has all of the following except a
a. fountain.
b. sidewalk.
c. flower bed.
d. back porch.
5. If Amy and Charlie return the wallet with the money, what do you think will happen next?
Icy Voyage
By Walter F. Rackley, Selwyn Elementary School, Charlotte, N.C.
Between 1928 and 1957, Admiral Richard Byrd explored Antarctica
several times. Walter interviewed his grandfather Arthur Jamison Hill,
who was aboard for Byrd's 1939 voyage1.
"Because of his competence2 as an operating technician at the United
States Navy Hospital in Washington, D.C., Arthur Jamison Hill, a
Charlotte young man, will accompany the Richard E. Byrd Expedition
to Antarctica in the near future." - The Charlotte Observer, 1939
Those words in the local paper announced my grandfather's coup3 of
an assignment--to help Admiral Byrd chart the last unexplored region
in the world.
In 1939, my grandfather, A. J. Hill, was a 23-year-old pharmacist
mate working at a Navy hospital in Washington, D.C. There he met
Undersecretary of the Navy Louis Compton, who had broken his hip.
A. J. Hill took very good care of Compton, including taking his young
bride out dancing at the secretary's request. When Compton asked if
there was anything Compton could do to return the favor, A. J. Hill
suggested a berth4 on the next Byrd expedition to Antarctica.
The next day, A. J. Hill had his assignment on the Bear, a sailing ship
built in Scotland in 1874. The U. S. Navy had converted the Bear into
an ice cutter. The North Star filled out the expedition, which sailed
from Boston.
"I was one of two medical people assigned to the Bear. Everyone on
the Bear had to learn to trim sails and rigging. It was scary. Byrd
didn't come with us out of Boston. He flew down to Panama, where we
picked him up."
Although the Bear had diesel engines, the sailors used the sails every
chance they could.
"We stopped at every port on the way down. We did it just for fun and
to get fresh food. An unusual feature was the [team of] 40 sled dogs
we took with us. They had little huts on deck and a ring on the deck
where they were chained. [When we got to Antarctica,] they pulled
sleds and hauled supplies."
Byrd sometimes wandered up to the "fo'c'sle," or forecastle, the
forward part of the upper deck of the ship, when Grandpa had the
watch. "We would talk like good friends. He was a real nice gentleman.
He never wore his uniform."
When the expedition reached Antarctica, it was summertime in the
Southern Hemisphere, but it was below freezing. The sailors charted
the entire coastline.
"We created a map, and we all got to name a feature for ourselves. I
got to name Hill's Hill."
Admiral Byrd's team stayed in Antarctica for three months. One of the
most interesting things my grandfather remembers is the king
penguin, which stands about 5 feet tall and weighs between 60 and 70
pounds.
"They weren't afraid of people. They have a stiff wing, and they'd walk
up to you and bang you with that wing. They were somewhat of a
nuisance5, and we ended up killing and feeding some of them to the
sled dogs."
After the expedition, neither my grandpa nor the Bear ever saw
Antarctica again.
1 voyage: a journey usually by water from one place or country to another
2 competence: having the necessary ability or skill
3 coup: a brilliant, sudden, and usually highly successful action
4 berth: place to sleep on a boat
Name: Date:
“Icy Voyage” Questions
1. The author’s main purpose in writing this passage was to
a. explain how his grandfather happened to go to Antarctica.
b. make Antarctica seem like a very unusual place.
c. tell about his grandfather’s experiences exploring Antarctica.
d. boast about his famous grandfather.
2. The author begins the passage with a quotation from a newspaper, because it
a. was a public announcement of Hill’s trip to Antarctica with Boyd.
b. gave a surprising reason why Hill was chosen to go on the trip.
c. happened before the actual adventure started.
d. contradicted what the author’s grandfather said.
3. From Hill’s description about Admiral Byrd, we can tell that Byrd was
a. a truly great sailor.
b. a friendly, unpretentious man.
c. very accurate about map-making.
d. a sound sleeper.
4. The details that the author chooses to describe his grandfather’s journey makes the article very
a. technical.
b. frightening.
c. personal.
d. impressive.
5. What did you learn about sled dogs? Explain.
Puppet Power!
When most people think about puppets, images from childhood come
to mind: Kermit the Frog and Elmo from Sesame Street, perhaps.
Today, however, puppets seem to be getting out of hand, popping up
in TV commercials, and on Broadway and on the Japanese stage.
In New York City, puppets are singing opera. They are reciting
Shakespeare. The stage production of The Lion King uses life-size
elephant, giraffe, and hyena puppets. The Broadway show Little Shop
of Horrors featured a life-size singing Venus’s flytrap puppet. In Japan,
bunraku, a serious form of puppet theater, is very popular.
Puppets come in all shapes, sizes, and materials. They can be simple
cardboard cutouts or elaborate foam-rubber forms. They can be
porcelain marionettes, puppets that dangle from strings. Simple
puppets can be operated by a single finger. Other puppets require a
highly skilled team of three or four people to work them. Puppets have
been around for centuries.
"Sometimes we want things that hark back1 to a more innocent
time," said one puppeteer.
1 hark
Name: Date:
“Puppet Power” Questions
1. Puppets can be found
a. in New York.
b. in Japan.
c. on Sesame Street.
d. all of the above.
2. What does it mean when the author says that puppets “pop up in TV
commercials, on Broadway, and on the Japanese stage.” ?
a. Puppeteers now use puppets by having them pop up and down.
b. There are new pop-up style puppets.
c. Puppets appear in many different places.
d. Puppets are being used to sell popcorn.
3. Puppets may be operated by a single finger, a marionetteer, or
a. a highly skilled team of three or four people.
b. mechanical engineers.
c. electricians.
d. farmers.
4. Puppets have been around for
a. a few years.
b. centuries.
c. ten years.
d. millions of years.
5. What is the main idea of this passage? Explain.
Sister Act
Tori Thompson’s favorite foods are pizza and chocolate. Taylor
Thompson craves shrimp fettuccini. Tori likes to snack on broccoli.
Taylor prefers popcorn with ranch seasoning.
Their tastes in food may differ, but the sisters from California have at
least one thing in common: musical talent. Taylor, 11, and Tori, 9,
were two of the talented stars on American Juniors, a summer 2003
hit TV show on Fox. During the show, judges picked the top five
finishers to form a singing group.
Both Taylor and Tori Thompson gave sparkling performances to earn
the first two spots in that quintet1.
Both girls are hoping to launch musical careers. Pet-loving Taylor
dreams of being a singing-and-dancing veterinarian. Tori wants to be a
singer, actress, and dancer with her own line of clothing.
1 quintet:
Name: Date:
“Sister Act” Questions
1. From their favorite food lists, it seems that
a. Taylor eats more healthy foods than Tori.
b. Tori eats more health foods than Taylor.
c. each girl likes some healthy and some not-so-healthy foods.
d. both girls like to sing while eating.
2. Although both girls would like musical careers,
a. Tori wants to be a veterinarian.
b. Taylor wants to dance and act as well as to sing.
c. neither wants to make music her primary career.
d. Tori wants also to have her own line of clothing.
3. In the contest to become part of the singing quintet,
a. the sisters were the first two picked.
b. the judges delayed picking Tori.
c. the judges picked Taylor only.
d. four contestants were picked after the sisters.
4. Which of the following is not a fact?
a. Tori likes pizza.
b. Taylor enjoys popcorn with ranch seasoning.
c. Everyone likes the singing group that Taylor and Tori are in. d. Tori would like to become a dancer.
5. Describe another pair of siblings (your own family or friends) who are very similar or very different.