"Search For Safety" Chapters 1-3

In the following excerpt, what does the word weariness mean? "I knew Mom was tired. The weariness in her voice told me she’d had another long day at the daycare center. Maybe someone called out sick, or the kids were acting up again, or a parent got upset about something."

• Excitement

• Peacefulness

• Curiosity

• Tiredness

What is the main idea of the excerpt below? "We entered a small room with a cracked window that faced out onto busy Union Street. The walls were a faded blue, streaked in some places with brown water stains from leaks in the ceiling. A larger back room was empty except for a rusty attic fan mounted in the window. It made a clicking noise when I turned it on and worked only at slow speed."

• The small room faces out ont a busy street.

• The room is depressing.

• The celing leaks in the small room.

• The fan makes a clicking noise.

What is the main idea of the excerpt below? "Aunt Fay drove for about five minutes before we turned into a parking lot next to a giant brick and cinderblock school building. Bluford High School. I’d gone past it a few times, but never seen it this close. It was as big as Lincoln, but it also had a full-size outside track and its own football field surrounded by metal bleachers. There was even a sign next to the field. Welcome to Bluford High School. Home of the Buccaneers, it read."

• Bluford High is a giant brick and cinderblock building, about the same size as Lincoln.

• Bluford High has a full-size outside track and its own football field.

• Bluford High looks impressive.

• Bluford High is close to Ben's new home.

What is the main idea of the excerpt below? “I don’t know what we’re gonna do, baby,” Mom had said. I was only six years old, but I remember being hungry all the time, and the refrigerator was always empty. Then one day the power company shut off our lights. We were living in an apartment without electricity and getting our meals from a food bank when Aunt Fay finally rescued us.

• Aunt Fay rescued Ben and his mom from a bad situation.

• Ben was only six years old when the power company shut off the lights in his and Mom's apartment.

• Mom failed to provide her son with enough food.

• Aunt Fay was angry with Mom for living like that.

What can you conclude from the following excerpt? "Our neighbor Jackie knew Larry from high school. I’d overheard her telling Aunt Fay about him one night back in July. She said people used to call Larry “The Big Hurt” for all the fights he’d gotten into at school. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he did time somewhere, the things he and his friends used to do,” Jackie admitted after seeing him pick up my mom one night. “But that was fifteen long years ago, Fay. People change,” she had said. Aunt Fay just grunted. They didn’t know I was listening."

• Larry probably has changed since his high school days.

• Jackie is jealous of the fact that Ben's mom and Larry are dating.

• Ben often listens to other people's conversations.

• Aunt Fay doubts that Larry has changed since high school.

What can you conclude from the following excerpt? "That was the day we moved in for good, and it was the first time I can remember feeling safe. Now those days were gone—and Aunt Fay would be gone too. “I’m sorry I have to go, but I know you understand,” Aunt Fay said, breaking the sad silence that suddenly filled her car. “I do,” I said, nodding my head. There were no tears on my face, but inside I was crying."

• Ben fears what will happen to him without Aunt Fay around.

• Ben realizes that he will probably never see Aunt Fay again.

• Aunt Fay is secretly happy to leave Ben.

• Ben is secretly happy that Aunt Fay is leaving.

In the following excerpt, what does the word municipal  mean? "Two weeks later, she made me dress up with a shirt and tie like we were going to church. Instead, we went down to the municipal building and got in a line with a bunch of other people. Then an old judge called us into a stuffy conference room, and my mom and Larry were married."

• Capitol

• Local government

• Rundown

• Meeting

What type of figurative language is the following excerpt an example of? "His arms were solid like the black metal pipes in Aunt Fay's basement."

• Personification

• Alliteration

• Metaphor

• Simile

What type of figurative language is the following excerpt an example of? "They were like the bars of a cage."

• Simile

• Personification

• Metaphor

• Hyperbole

What type of figurative language is included in the following excerpt? "Whap! Larry cuffed me hard in the jaw with the back of his hand, snapping my head back and splitting my lip."

• Hyperbole

• Metaphor

• Onomatopeia

• Alliteration

Is the following excerpt an example of flashback or foreshadowing? "Our neighbor Jackie knew Larry from high school. I'd overheard her telling Aunt Fay about him one night back in July. She said people used to call Larry "The Big Hurt" for all the fights he'd gotten into at school. 'I wouldn't be surprised if he did time somewhere, the things he and his friends used to do,' Jackie admitted after seeing him pick up my mom one night. 'But that was fifteen long years ago, Fay. People change,' she had said. Aunt Fay just grunted. They didn't know I was listening."

Is the following excerpt an example of flashback or foreshadowing? "By the time I'd crossed the six blocks to Cat's, I'd passed groups of kids my age sitting on corners watching me pass. I'd been in the city all my life and knew how to carry myslf, but I was a stranger in this new neighborhood. A target."

Is the following excerpt an example of flashback or foreshadowing? "God put a head on your shoulders. It's your job to use it," Grandma would say all the time. "Grandma's right," Aunt Fay always hcimed in. "The reason I'm a teacher is because I got an education and made something of myself. That's what you're gonna do too, Ben."

Is the following excerpt an example of flashback or foreshadowing? "I thought you should meet each other before . . . the start of the school year." For a second Aunt Fay looked as if something was bothering her, but then it passed.

Is the following excerpt an example of flashback or foreshadowing? "During the whole time, Larry hardly said a word to me when he came to pick up my mother. A few times, he gave me a quick handshake, but only when Aunt Fay was watching."

What type of figurative language is included in the following excerpt? "I nodded. We need you to stay, I wanted to tell her, yet my mouth was suddenly frozen shut."

• Onomatopeia

• Alliteration

• Hyperbole

• Metaphor

Which of the following pairs of words best characterizes Larry?

• Angry and abusive

• Quiet and shy

• Friendly and funny

• Loud and nice

Based on what you've read so far, what can you conclude about Geneva?

• She is basically a strong woman who's just going through a rough patch.

• She will leave Larry once she sees for herself what he's doing to Ben.

• She will do anything to ensure the well-being of her child.

• She is not confident enough to save her child from an abusive spouse.

In the following excerpt, what does the word seeped mean? "She seemed so tired, not just on the outside, but on the inside too. Like it had seeped into her bones somehow."

• Flowed gradually

• Left out of

• Disappeared

• Looked

Soon after Ben and his mom move in with Larry, Larry tells Ben that he should try to get a part-time job to help the family.

• True

• False

The first time Aunt Fay helped Ben was the day that she brought Ben and his mom to live with her after their electricity was turned off.

• True

• False

When Aunt Fay asked Ben about his split lip, he said he banged into a door frame when he was moving.

• True

• False

When Ben went to the sandwich shop to pick up food for Larry, Larry said he didn't get enough chips and beat Ben up.

• True

• False

Ben gets jumped by other kids when they notice that his face is already bruised.

• True

• False