Maniac Magee - Chapter 35 (Word Study)

"First, Giant John had to be convinced that Maniac was not kidnapping his brothers. Then the brothers had to do some more trembling and clinging while John finished lambasting them for running away, which apparently they did about every other week." Which of the following words let you know that McNab's brothers are scared of him?

• convinced

• trembling

• apparently

• kidnapping

"First, Giant John had to be convinced that Maniac was not kidnapping his brothers. Then the brothers had to do some more trembling and clinging while John finished lambasting them for running away, which apparently they did about every other week." What is the best synonym for lambasting?

• agreeing

• attacking

• complimenting

• calming

"Then, when the brothers found out that their pizza person was none other than the famous Maniac Magee, the very same one who had blasted their big brother's fastballs to smithereens and finished him off with a home-run frog, well, it took a good five minutes of rolling on the sidewalk to get all the laughing out of their systems. Which, of course, got Giant John more than a little steamed." What does it mean for John to be steamed?

• angered

• patient

• selfish

• compassionate

"Prompting Maniac, who didn't like seeing John disgraced before his little brothers..." What is the base word in "disgraced"?

• dis

• disgrace

• grace

• graced

"And so I said, "Well, come on, I can hit anything, pitch it to me.' And you pitched it, and I missed it by a mile, and you kept pitching it to me all day long, and I never even hit a foul ball on it." What is the purpose of the "missed it by a mile" hyperbole?

• to exaggerate the terrible pitch

• to exaggerate how the batter wasn't close to hitting the ball with his swing

• to exaggerate the quick speed of the pitched ball

• to exaggerate the slow speed of the runner is going to first

"Cans and bottles lay all over, along with crusts, peelings, cores, scraps, rinds, wrappers -- everything you would normally find in a garbage can. And everywhere there were raisins...The hole in the ceiling was so big they both could have jumped through it at once...The peeling paint came off like cornflakes." What word or phrase best describes the McNab home?

• well taken care of

• ignored and messy

• fresh and new

• ready to invite over company

"[Maniac] ran a hand along one wall. The peeling paint came off like cornflakes." What type of figurative language is used?

• simile and metaphor

• metaphor and onomatopoeia

• onomatopoeia and alliteration

• alliteration and simile

"A jar of peanut butter had crashed to the floor, someone had gotten a running start, jumped into it, and skied a brown, one-footed track to the stove." What word signals the use of onomatopoeia?

• butter

• crashed

• running

• track

"Stale body odor mingled with that of fries and burgers coming from the Burger King bag he held." What type of imagery is used with the word "odor"?

• taste

• touch

• smell

• sound

"Two floor-quaking crashes came from the dining room -- 'Geronimo!' ... Geronimo!' Russell and Piper had taken the direct route via the hole. 'Wha'd ya bring, Dad! Whoppers! Yeah -- Whoppers!'" What word is the best synonym for route?

• shake

• path

• instant

• empty