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- 1. Multiple-choice5 minutes1 pt
Which was a result of building the skunk ladder?
The narrator uses it to climb into the hole.
Eddie’s father uses it to climb into the hole.
The friends get in trouble with Eddie’s father.
The skunk uses the ladder to escape from the hole.
- 2. Multiple-choice5 minutes1 pt
How does the narrator respond to the challenge of finding the skunk in the hole?
The narrator is courageous and stubborn.
The narrator is fearful and determined.
The narrator is imaginative and cruel.
The narrator is thoughtful and kind.
- 3. Multiple-choice5 minutes1 pt
Which statement from the passage best supports your answer to question 2?
“‘Maybe it’s in the hole,’”
“‘Think of something else.’”
“‘We can’t fill in the hole with the skunk in there,’”
“‘I don’t like that idea,’”
- 4. Multiple-choice5 minutes1 pt
Which character trait does the narrator reveal in the passage?
his impatience when events do not go as planned
his willingness to follow Eddie’s lead
his confidence in telling adventure stories
D. his enthusiasm for inventing and building
- 5. Multiple-choice5 minutes1 pt
Why do Eddie and the narrator throw the door back over the hole?
They do not want Mr. Muldoon to see the hole.
They want to protect the skunk in the hole.
They are planning to leave and come back later.
They are trying to hide the smell of the sk
- 6. Multiple-choice5 minutes1 pt
The Latin prefixes “sub-” and “sus-” mean “up from under.” The Latin word “pendere” means “to hang.” Use these meanings to figure out the meaning of the word “suspended” in the last paragraph.
floated, as if tied to a string from a ceiling
slid down, as if on a long playground slide
swung around in a large circle, as if tied to a rope
vanished, as if through magic
- 7. Multiple-choice5 minutes1 pt
Which detail from the passage also helped you figure out the meaning of the word?
Mr. Muldoon disappears.
The hat remains in the air.
Mr. Muldoon falls into the hole.
The hat falls into the hole.
- 8. Multiple-choice5 minutes1 pt
Think about the meaning of the word “tedious” in the following sentence from the passage.
“Early the next morning, Eddie and I headed for the big hole, prepared to start the tedious task of undigging it.” Chose one antonym for the word.
"tedious".
boring
exciting
tiring
gazing
- 9. Multiple-choice5 minutes1 pt
Which words in this sentence offer you the best clue to the meaning of the word “plummeted”?
“He had apparently found an open space under the door, slipped in for a look around, and plummeted the eight feet or more to the bottom of the hole.”
“eight feet or more”
“bottom of the hole”
“an open space”
“a look around”
- 10. Multiple-choice5 minutes1 pt
What does the narrator mean when he says a familiar “odor” reached their nostrils?
It was a smell the boys liked
It was a smell the boys knew.
It was a smell the boys did not like.
It was a smell the boys did not know.
- 11. Multiple-choice5 minutes1 pt
Which of the following words is closest in meaning to the word “deduced” in this sentence from the selection?
“(Later, I deduced that Mr. Muldoon had stepped on the edge of the hole, beneath which the skunk had hollowed out its cavern.)”
refused
concluded
wondered
estimated
- 12. Open-ended15 minutes1 pt
Writing – Constructed Response
Based on the information in the passage from the selection The Skunk Ladder, write a paragraph about the intentions of the two friends. Apparently they decided to keep the hole and the skunk a secret from Eddie’s father. Do you think this is a good idea or a bad idea? Why?
State your opinion and support it with reasons. Use your own ideas as well as details from the passage. Conclude with a sentence that restates your opinion.
