Polly Sits Tight

Which of the following best identifies a theme of the text?

• Children who are poor tend to work harder to succeed in school than their peers.
• Stress causes people to hide their talents for fear of failure.
• Parents are responsible for shaping the way their children react to the world.
• People can stop their own progress because of their fear of public opinion. 

Polly is ashamed of her worn shoes and afraid her classmates will judge her; her classmates are only focused on her brilliance and respect her.

• True
• False

In the passage, how does the incident with the horse in paragraphs 7-10 impact the resolution of the plot?

• Even though Polly's father rescued her from the horse, she knows that she needs to be brave because he is not able to rescue her anymore.
• Polly remembers her father's words and decides to raise her hand and answer the teacher's question on the board.
• When Polly remembers that she was afraid of the horse, she realized that she is a weak person.
• Polly stands up to the children in her class because she was not brave when they caused the horse to run wild. 

What is the meaning of "Sit tight, little girl, sit tight!" in paragraph 9?

• This is the literal encouragement of her father, telling Polly to try to stay on the horse until he can save her.
• Polly's father wants her to stay seated in the barn while he rescues the boy from the horse.

What is the meaning of "Sit tight, little girl, sit tight!" as used in paragraph 14?

• After her father's death, this is now Polly's motto; she uses it as an excuse to stay seated and avoid answering the question.
• After her father's death, this is now Polly's motto; she uses it as encouragement to overcome her pride in order to answer the question. 

Which detail from the text best supports the theme of swallowing false pride?

• "Polly was the star scholar in the class and although she seemed unconscious of her brilliancy, her teachers and classmates were not."
• "Polly's hand had not been raised, all the boys and qirls turned to look at her in genuine surprise."
• "She knew the solution but it meant going to the board to demonstrate. That would expose her shoes."
• "Sit tight, little girl, sit tight. That was her motto. Her dad had given it to her unconsciously and it had always come to her rescue."