6th Grade Round 1 Questions

What is the meaning of the word contrariness in paragraph 1?

She put the key in her pocket and walked up and down her walk. No one but herself ever seemed to come there, so she could walk slowly and look at the wall, or at the ivy growing on it. Howsoever carefully she looked, she could see nothing but thickly growing, glossy, dark green leaves. She was very much disappointed. Something of her contrariness came back to her as she paced the walk and looked over it at the tree-tops inside. It seemed so silly, she said to herself, to be near it and not be able to get in. She took the key in her pocket when she went back to the house. She made up her mind that she would always carry it with her when she went out, so that if she ever should find the hidden door, she would be ready.

• contentment

• happiness

• intelligence

• stubornness

Thick as the ivy hung, it nearly all was a loose and swinging curtain, though some had crept over wood and iron. Mary's heart began to thump, and her hands began to shake a little in her delight and excitement.

Select two ways the author uses figurative language to convey meaning in these sentences.

• The author uses a simile to emphasize that Mary is very nervous.

• The author uses an idiom to depict the familiarity of contact with nature.

• The author uses onomatopoeia to communicate the emotion Mary feels.  

• The author uses hyperbole to exaggerate how overgrown the plants are.

• The author uses personification to describe the mysterious nature of the ivy.

Read the sentence from paragraph 4.

Mary had stepped close to the robin, and suddenly the gust of wind swung aside some loose ivy trails, and more suddenly still she jumped toward it and caught it in her hand.

Which tone is conveyed through the author’s use of the words suddenly and more suddenly still?

• amusement

• excitement

• light-heartedness

• seriousness

The robin flew from his swinging spray of ivy on to the top of the wall, and he opened his beak and sang a loud, lovely trill, merely to show off.

What does spray mean as it is used in this passage?

• a decorative, flat, flower arrangement

• an arrangement of brightly-colored gems

• a thick branch or shoot with its leaves

• a jet of fine water particles blown into the air

   

She put her hands under the leaves and began to pull and push them aside. Thick as the ivy hung, it nearly all was a loose and swinging curtain, though some had crept over wood and iron. Mary's heart began to thump, and her hands began to shake a little in her delight and excitement. The robin kept singing and twittering away and tilting his head on one side, as if he were as excited as she was. What was this under her hands which was square and made of iron and which her fingers found a hole in?

Which two phrases from the paragraph help you understand the meaning of swinging curtain?

• "put her hands under the leaves"

• "pull and push them aside"

• "thick as the ivy hung"

• "crept over wood and iron"

• "singing and twittering away"