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- 1. Multiple Choice
Read the sentence from Barrio Boy by Ernesto Galarza.
Any neighborhood courtesy—an exchange of a banana for a red pepper, or the return of a borrowed utensil—was sure to pass through our messenger system.
Which words have a connotative meaning in the sentence?
Any neighborhood
red pepper
borrowed utensil
messenger system
- 2. Multiple Choice
Read the sentence from Barrio Boy by Ernesto Galarza.
José bought us two cardboard suitcases and one for himself, and an alarm clock like the one we used to try to win in the lottery tent in Mazatlan.
Which word has a connotative meaning in the sentence?
cardboard
suitcases
alarm
tent
- 3. Multiple Choice
Read the sentence from Barrio Boy by Ernesto Galarza.
People talked to one another on the street in low tones; only drunks and muchachitos mal educados raised their voices, or the arrieros when they shouted to their donkeys.
Which words best signal that "muchachitos mal educados" has a negative connotation?
People talked
on the street
raised their voices
their donkeys
- 4. Multiple Choice
Read the sentence from Barrio Boy by Ernesto Galarza.
José then explained a remarkable thing about our money.
Which sentence supports a negative connotation for the word remarkable?
For one tostón you get one quarter.
He had already exchanged some of our Mexican currency for dollars.
Mexican centavos and tostones and pesos were good for nothing in the United States.
On the table he laid out the coins, in rows of two for one.
- 5. Multiple Choice
Which sentence from Barrio Boy gives the word mother a negative connotation?
You never knew when a compadre or comadre, of your aunt, or your uncle, or your father, or your mother was watching.
And if the offense was considered serious, the voice would say, "You will see, I am going to tell your mother."
"My mother sends greetings and says may God give you a good day, and here is an egg."
That evening at the meson, José and my mother and I reread Gustavo's letter, the last we had received in Mazatlan.
- 6. Multiple Choice
Which sentence uses the denotation of the word heart?
Her heart was in the right place.
The heart pumps blood in the body.
He knows the song's words by heart.
The main character had a heart of stone.
- 7. Multiple Choice
Which phrase from Barrio Boy contains a simile?
explore the remarkable inventions of the Americans
wait there until another pass and money could be obtained
disappearing down the drain with a deep, sonorous gargle
the wooden lid with a large hole that looked like a horse collar
- 8. Multiple Choice
Read the sentence from Barrio Boy by Ernesto Galarza.
I pushed a chair under it and after some instruction from my mother proceeded to create lightning in the room by turning the switch as fast as I could.
The author uses figurative language to:
form a picture of flashing light.
compare himself to his mother.
give human qualities to the light.
imagine what the chair looks like.
- 9. Multiple Choice
Read the sentence from Barrio Boy by Ernesto Galarza.
If you did or said something slightly irregular at the farthest end of the street from your cottage, where your legitimate bosses lived, somebody would be watching and ready to call out: "Mira, que muchachito tan malcriado."
What does the author mean by "legitimate bosses"?
friends
parents
police officers
work managers
- 10. Multiple Choice
Read the sentence from Barrio Boy by Ernesto Galarza.
"Now, Ernesto, you are the man of the family. You will take care of your mother until we are together in Sacramento.
Which statement best describes the figurative language used in these sentences?
A simile is used to compare Ernesto to a man.
A simile is used to paint a picture of family life.
A metaphor is used to compare a man and his family.
A metaphor is used to paint a picture of responsibility.
- 11. Multiple Choice
Which sentence contains both a simile and personification?
The hungry chainsaws cut through the forest of trees in no time at all.
Our family picnic ended when the heavy rain decided to pay us a visit.
We knew the place would become a dancehall as soon as my uncle arrived.
My baseball glove wrapped itself around the ball like a mother holding her child.
- 12. Multiple Choice
Based on the events in Barrio Boy what is the best inference about Ernesto's mother?
She mostly lives in the United States.
She is in poor health.
She is afraid to try new things.
She is a no-nonsense kind of person.
- 13. Multiple Choice
Read the sentence from Barrio Boy by Ernesto Galarza.
When my water party was interrupted, both the bathroom and I got a scrubbing.
Who most likely interrupted Ernesto's water party?
Jose
Gustavo
his mother
the hotel clerk
- 14. Multiple Choice
Read the sentences from Barrio Boy by Ernesto Galarza.
I grabbed the chain with both hands and pulled. A small torrent of water gushed into the bowl, swirling and disappearing down the drain with a deep, sonorous gargle. I waited a few minutes and pulled the chain again.
That night I got up several times to go to the toilet, until I was ordered to go to sleep.
Why does Ernesto go to the toilet several times?
He has an upset stomach.
He is fascinated by the invention.
He drank a lot of water with his dinner.
He is trying to get his mother's attention.
- 15. Multiple Choice
Read the sentences from Barrio Boy by Ernesto Galarza.
Suspecting something, he added: "When you are finished, don't forget to pull the chain. See. That's what the sign says." And, to be sure, there was a paper with writing tacked to the wall, next to an aluminum up-and-down pipe.
The hotel clerk most likely suspects that Ernesto and his mother
do not notice the sign on the wall.
have to go to the bathroom right away.
do not understand what the sign says.
think flushing a toilet is a waste of water.
- 16. Multiple Choice
Read the sentences from Barrio Boy by Ernesto Galarza.
I was left alone in the room for M-E-N. I examined it with great care—the smooth enamel bowl with water in the bottom, the wooden lid with a large hole that looked like a horse collar, the small brown box up near the ceiling, the chain hanging from it. Pressed for time, I finally decided it was safe enough to try.
How does Ernesto feel?
worried that he is in the wrong room
unsure about the new experience
confused about the use of the chain
troubled by the size of the hole
- 17. Multiple Choice
Which sentence from Barrio Boy states the most reasonable inference and provides a valid clue to support it?
Green is Ernesto's favorite color.
The red and the white were the same as on ours but why they liked blue better than green was just one of those peculiar things about Americans.
Ernesto does not know how long he will stay in Tucson.
My mother and I were to go to another city called Tucson and wait there until another pass and money could be obtained.
José has a good-paying job.
José bought us two cardboard suitcases and one for himself, and an alarm clock like the one we used to try to win in the lottery tent in Mazatlan.
The hotel clerk does not know the Spanish word for men.
Not knowing what they meant we asked the clerk, who explained that when the sign said M-E-N it was for me.
- 18. Multiple Choice
Read the excerpt from Barrio Boy by Ernesto Galarza.
We stayed only one day at the hotel, long enough for me to become acquainted with the bathtub, located in another closet next to the toilet. A rope of water twisted and whirled from a brass faucet, filling the tub. I sat in the cold water up to my neck and discovered that I could slide down the back of the tub and hit the bottom with a great splash. When my water party was interrupted, both the bathroom and I got a scrubbing.
Ernesto gets in trouble for his messy splashing.
Ernesto has sore muscles and needs to soak in cold water.
The hotel is expensive because it has a modern bathroom.
The bathroom is dangerous for a young and inexperienced child.
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