Inferences Practice

Question:

Which of the following characters undergoes a change in the passage?

Real Art

“Grrrrr.”

Anthony looked across the table at Gabe. “Are you growling?”

Gabe kept his head down, staring at his paper. Maybe growling was a strange thing to do, but it best expressed how Gabe was feeling in art class that day.

Anthony didn’t understand Gabe’s frustration.

“I can’t make this,” Gabe said, poking his paper, “look like that!” He pointed stiffly at the props in the middle of the table and continued, “Instead of flowers and an old shoe, I just have a jumble of lines!”

Anthony craned his head around to see Gabe’s paper. He opened his mouth to respond, but Ms. Alvarez drifted over. “Now, Gabe,” she said, “don’t give up. Just make sure to start with your horizon line, add in a vertical element from the flowers, and then go from there.” She drifted away to another table.

Gabe stared at her back. “She probably thinks I’m just not trying,” he said, bitterly.

“Well,” Anthony said, “you’re growling in class. Of course you’re trying.”

Gabe shook his head. “No matter how hard I try, I can’t make my drawings look real, not like yours.”

Anthony had a real talent for art, and everyone knew it. Ms. Alvarez looked like she wanted to break into song every time he turned in an assignment.

“Haven’t you ever seen anything by that famous artist Picasso?” Anthony asked. Ms. Alvarez looked up from her desk, and Anthony lowered his voice. “His stuff is all twisted and strange,” he whispered. “It doesn’t look real at all, so I don’t think you have to be good at sketching to be a good artist.”

“I’m sure sketching helps, though,” Gabe said in a gloomy voice.

Anthony was quiet for a while as he shaded the side of a flower with a thick black pencil. Then he used crosshatching, a pattern made by drawing a series of crossed lines, to add texture to the old shoe. “Hey, Gabe,” he said finally, “remember that art camp I went to last summer? Want to know which class I was horrible at?”

Gabe stared at his friend. Anthony was never horrible at anything in art. “Ummm . . . quilting?”

Anthony snorted. “No, it was a class on cartooning, drawing comic strips. Comics kind of like this.” He reached a long arm over to Gabe’s binder and tugged out a scrap of paper.

Gabe glanced at the paper; it was something he’d doodled in math after finishing the problems on the board. The drawing was of a stick figure thinking about equations so hard he didn’t see that he was about to step off a cliff. As Gabe looked at his old sketch, the corner of his mouth quirked upwards into half a smile. When he had shown it to Anthony in math class, Anthony had laughed so hard that Mr. Holman had scolded them both. Of course, after Mr. Holman had seen the doodle, he had laughed too, even though he pretended to cough. Then Mr. Holman gave Anthony and him extra math problems to do.

“Those doodles are just for fun,” Gabe said. “They’re not real art.”

“Look, real art can be fun too,” Anthony insisted, “and it’s okay if your drawing of an old shoe doesn’t look like my drawing of an old shoe. Life would be boring if everyone made the same art.”

Gabe looked at his sketch and then at the doodle. He changed the curve of the vase in the sketch to make it irregular, more like one of his doodles. It did not look like the real vase, but Gabe decided it looked fine. He borrowed one of Anthony’s special pencils and settled down to work.

• Mr. Holman

• Gabe

• Ms. Alvarez

• Anthony

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Question:

Mr. Holman most likely pretends to cough while laughing because he does NOT want

Real Art

“Grrrrr.”

Anthony looked across the table at Gabe. “Are you growling?”

Gabe kept his head down, staring at his paper. Maybe growling was a strange thing to do, but it best expressed how Gabe was feeling in art class that day.

Anthony didn’t understand Gabe’s frustration.

“I can’t make this,” Gabe said, poking his paper, “look like that!” He pointed stiffly at the props in the middle of the table and continued, “Instead of flowers and an old shoe, I just have a jumble of lines!”

Anthony craned his head around to see Gabe’s paper. He opened his mouth to respond, but Ms. Alvarez drifted over. “Now, Gabe,” she said, “don’t give up. Just make sure to start with your horizon line, add in a vertical element from the flowers, and then go from there.” She drifted away to another table.

Gabe stared at her back. “She probably thinks I’m just not trying,” he said, bitterly.

“Well,” Anthony said, “you’re growling in class. Of course you’re trying.”

Gabe shook his head. “No matter how hard I try, I can’t make my drawings look real, not like yours.”

Anthony had a real talent for art, and everyone knew it. Ms. Alvarez looked like she wanted to break into song every time he turned in an assignment.

“Haven’t you ever seen anything by that famous artist Picasso?” Anthony asked. Ms. Alvarez looked up from her desk, and Anthony lowered his voice. “His stuff is all twisted and strange,” he whispered. “It doesn’t look real at all, so I don’t think you have to be good at sketching to be a good artist.”

“I’m sure sketching helps, though,” Gabe said in a gloomy voice.

Anthony was quiet for a while as he shaded the side of a flower with a thick black pencil. Then he used crosshatching, a pattern made by drawing a series of crossed lines, to add texture to the old shoe. “Hey, Gabe,” he said finally, “remember that art camp I went to last summer? Want to know which class I was horrible at?”

Gabe stared at his friend. Anthony was never horrible at anything in art. “Ummm . . . quilting?”

Anthony snorted. “No, it was a class on cartooning, drawing comic strips. Comics kind of like this.” He reached a long arm over to Gabe’s binder and tugged out a scrap of paper.

Gabe glanced at the paper; it was something he’d doodled in math after finishing the problems on the board. The drawing was of a stick figure thinking about equations so hard he didn’t see that he was about to step off a cliff. As Gabe looked at his old sketch, the corner of his mouth quirked upwards into half a smile. When he had shown it to Anthony in math class, Anthony had laughed so hard that Mr. Holman had scolded them both. Of course, after Mr. Holman had seen the doodle, he had laughed too, even though he pretended to cough. Then Mr. Holman gave Anthony and him extra math problems to do.

“Those doodles are just for fun,” Gabe said. “They’re not real art.”

“Look, real art can be fun too,” Anthony insisted, “and it’s okay if your drawing of an old shoe doesn’t look like my drawing of an old shoe. Life would be boring if everyone made the same art.”

Gabe looked at his sketch and then at the doodle. He changed the curve of the vase in the sketch to make it irregular, more like one of his doodles. It did not look like the real vase, but Gabe decided it looked fine. He borrowed one of Anthony’s special pencils and settled down to work.

• the boys to think that he is angry

• to interrupt the other students

• the students to do more problems

• to encourage the behavior of the boys

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.1

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.8.1

Question:

WAt the beginning of the passage, Gabe can best be described as

Real Art

“Grrrrr.”

Anthony looked across the table at Gabe. “Are you growling?”

Gabe kept his head down, staring at his paper. Maybe growling was a strange thing to do, but it best expressed how Gabe was feeling in art class that day.

Anthony didn’t understand Gabe’s frustration.

“I can’t make this,” Gabe said, poking his paper, “look like that!” He pointed stiffly at the props in the middle of the table and continued, “Instead of flowers and an old shoe, I just have a jumble of lines!”

Anthony craned his head around to see Gabe’s paper. He opened his mouth to respond, but Ms. Alvarez drifted over. “Now, Gabe,” she said, “don’t give up. Just make sure to start with your horizon line, add in a vertical element from the flowers, and then go from there.” She drifted away to another table.

Gabe stared at her back. “She probably thinks I’m just not trying,” he said, bitterly.

“Well,” Anthony said, “you’re growling in class. Of course you’re trying.”

Gabe shook his head. “No matter how hard I try, I can’t make my drawings look real, not like yours.”

Anthony had a real talent for art, and everyone knew it. Ms. Alvarez looked like she wanted to break into song every time he turned in an assignment.

“Haven’t you ever seen anything by that famous artist Picasso?” Anthony asked. Ms. Alvarez looked up from her desk, and Anthony lowered his voice. “His stuff is all twisted and strange,” he whispered. “It doesn’t look real at all, so I don’t think you have to be good at sketching to be a good artist.”

“I’m sure sketching helps, though,” Gabe said in a gloomy voice.

Anthony was quiet for a while as he shaded the side of a flower with a thick black pencil. Then he used crosshatching, a pattern made by drawing a series of crossed lines, to add texture to the old shoe. “Hey, Gabe,” he said finally, “remember that art camp I went to last summer? Want to know which class I was horrible at?”

Gabe stared at his friend. Anthony was never horrible at anything in art. “Ummm . . . quilting?”

Anthony snorted. “No, it was a class on cartooning, drawing comic strips. Comics kind of like this.” He reached a long arm over to Gabe’s binder and tugged out a scrap of paper.

Gabe glanced at the paper; it was something he’d doodled in math after finishing the problems on the board. The drawing was of a stick figure thinking about equations so hard he didn’t see that he was about to step off a cliff. As Gabe looked at his old sketch, the corner of his mouth quirked upwards into half a smile. When he had shown it to Anthony in math class, Anthony had laughed so hard that Mr. Holman had scolded them both. Of course, after Mr. Holman had seen the doodle, he had laughed too, even though he pretended to cough. Then Mr. Holman gave Anthony and him extra math problems to do.

“Those doodles are just for fun,” Gabe said. “They’re not real art.”

“Look, real art can be fun too,” Anthony insisted, “and it’s okay if your drawing of an old shoe doesn’t look like my drawing of an old shoe. Life would be boring if everyone made the same art.”

Gabe looked at his sketch and then at the doodle. He changed the curve of the vase in the sketch to make it irregular, more like one of his doodles. It did not look like the real vase, but Gabe decided it looked fine. He borrowed one of Anthony’s special pencils and settled down to work.

• nervous

• discouraged

• confused

• sad

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.6.6

CCSS.RL.7.6

CCSS.RL.8.6

Question:

The quotation from Cassius Dio’s Roman History portrays Boudicca as

Boudicca

Many times, when we think of women in ancient cultures, we believe them to be weak with little or no power. Compare that image with Roman historian Cassius Dio’s description of Boudicca, the wife of the Iceni king Prasutagus.

In stature she was very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh; a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips; around her neck was a large golden necklace; . . .  She now grasped a spear to aid her in terrifying all beholders . . .(Roman History [lxii.1-2])

Who was Boudicca? Some believe she was a queen who was a military leader. Others think of her more as a mother, wife, and warrior. One thing is indisputable: Boudicca changed the history of England when she led an uprising against the invading Roman armies.

By the year 43 of the Common Era (CE), the Romans had expanded their territory from Italy across what was to become Europe and then had invaded the British Isles. One of the native tribes in Britain was the Iceni, a group of people eventually classified as Celts. Because their land was surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on two sides and by a dense forest on another, they were effectively protected from invaders for much of their history.

Still, Prasutagus, who was the king of Iceni, understood that a time would come when he would have to either make peace with the Romans or battle them. Weighing the superiority of Roman weapons, tactics, and numbers against the independence of his own people, Prasutagus had to make a difficult decision. Eventually, he met with the Romans at the town of Camulodunum to become a Roman client king. This status meant that he had to follow the rules of the Romans, but it also assured his own people of being able to keep their way of life and their customs. Thus, the Romans allowed Prasutagus to continue to rule. When he died, he left half of his land to the Roman Emperor, Nero, and the other half to his wife Boudicca and his daughters.

Iceni law granted women many rights. Royal women held not only prestigious positions but also real power. They held places in their society as leaders in politics, art, and religion. Even in those ancient days, they chose their own spouses and could own land. The Romans had different beliefs, however.  When Prasutagus died, the Romans came and took everything that belonged to him.

Believing that Prasutagus’s people were now under his control, the Roman governor, Suetonius Paulinus, turned his attention to subduing Druid tribes in Wales. With two-thirds of the Roman army in Wales, Boudicca, who was humiliated and angry, saw her chance.

Because the Romans heavily taxed the people of Iceni and had taken a great deal of their land, the Romans were unpopular with most of the tribes of Iceni. For this reason, the tribes united behind Boudicca, whom they saw as their rightful leader after the death of her husband. Soon, Boudicca had an army of more than 100,000 people.

The queen and her troops recaptured two large towns and soon marched into London, which they were able to free from Roman control. But Boudicca’s army grew hungry and tired, and the Romans had intentionally destroyed all the food they were forced to leave behind. With her troops weakened, Boudicca attacked one last time and lost.

The events of Boudicca’s rebellion were forgotten until 1360. The story would become popular again under the reign of another English queen who protected England against a threatening invasion: Queen Elizabeth I.

• an impressive queen

• a fearsome warrior

• an imposing rebel

• a vicious barbarian

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.9

CCSS.RL.8.9

Question:

What is the author’s attitude toward Boudicca?

Boudicca

Many times, when we think of women in ancient cultures, we believe them to be weak with little or no power. Compare that image with Roman historian Cassius Dio’s description of Boudicca, the wife of the Iceni king Prasutagus.

In stature she was very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh; a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips; around her neck was a large golden necklace; . . .  She now grasped a spear to aid her in terrifying all beholders . . .(Roman History [lxii.1-2])

Who was Boudicca? Some believe she was a queen who was a military leader. Others think of her more as a mother, wife, and warrior. One thing is indisputable: Boudicca changed the history of England when she led an uprising against the invading Roman armies.

By the year 43 of the Common Era (CE), the Romans had expanded their territory from Italy across what was to become Europe and then had invaded the British Isles. One of the native tribes in Britain was the Iceni, a group of people eventually classified as Celts. Because their land was surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on two sides and by a dense forest on another, they were effectively protected from invaders for much of their history.

Still, Prasutagus, who was the king of Iceni, understood that a time would come when he would have to either make peace with the Romans or battle them. Weighing the superiority of Roman weapons, tactics, and numbers against the independence of his own people, Prasutagus had to make a difficult decision. Eventually, he met with the Romans at the town of Camulodunum to become a Roman client king. This status meant that he had to follow the rules of the Romans, but it also assured his own people of being able to keep their way of life and their customs. Thus, the Romans allowed Prasutagus to continue to rule. When he died, he left half of his land to the Roman Emperor, Nero, and the other half to his wife Boudicca and his daughters.

Iceni law granted women many rights. Royal women held not only prestigious positions but also real power. They held places in their society as leaders in politics, art, and religion. Even in those ancient days, they chose their own spouses and could own land. The Romans had different beliefs, however.  When Prasutagus died, the Romans came and took everything that belonged to him.

Believing that Prasutagus’s people were now under his control, the Roman governor, Suetonius Paulinus, turned his attention to subduing Druid tribes in Wales. With two-thirds of the Roman army in Wales, Boudicca, who was humiliated and angry, saw her chance.

Because the Romans heavily taxed the people of Iceni and had taken a great deal of their land, the Romans were unpopular with most of the tribes of Iceni. For this reason, the tribes united behind Boudicca, whom they saw as their rightful leader after the death of her husband. Soon, Boudicca had an army of more than 100,000 people.

The queen and her troops recaptured two large towns and soon marched into London, which they were able to free from Roman control. But Boudicca’s army grew hungry and tired, and the Romans had intentionally destroyed all the food they were forced to leave behind. With her troops weakened, Boudicca attacked one last time and lost.

The events of Boudicca’s rebellion were forgotten until 1360. The story would become popular again under the reign of another English queen who protected England against a threatening invasion: Queen Elizabeth I.

• Admiring

• Sympathetic

• Curious

• Puzzled

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.6

CCSS.RI.8.6

CCSS.RL.6.6

CCSS.RL.7.6

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