Abuela Invents the Zero

What can the reader infer based on the following line of text?

But when Mami says, “Connie, please be nice to Abuela. She doesn’t have too many years left. Do you promise me, Constancia?”—when she uses my full name, I know she means business.

• Connie does not like her full name

• Connie's mother is concerned about Abuela's recent health scare

• Connie is often disrespectful and her mother knows this

• Connie is always kind to her parents so it is surprising when she is unkind to Abuela

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.3

Which of the following lines is an example of Connie's negative effect on other characters?

• I pry his fingers off the key ring. He knows that I’m late, so he makes it just a little difficult. Then he laughs.

• If I were a good Catholic, I’m sure I’d get some purgatory time taken off for my sacrifice.

• “You made me feel like a zero, like a nothing,” she says in Spanish, un cero, nada.

• I just hope that nobody I know sees us together. I’m dreaming, of course.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.3

What does the simile demonstrate in the following line?

He hands her over to my parents like she was a package sent airmail.

• that Abuela is very delicate and fragile

• that Abuela had to be carried off the plane

• that Connie views Abuela as a thing and not a person

• that Connie views Abuela as very small, like a package

Tags

CCSS.L.8.5A

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.8.4

Which of the following lines shows how Connie's actions illustrate her cruel and selfish character?

• So I say, “Sure.” Why wouldn’t I be nice? I’m not a monster, after all.

• So since she’s only four feet eleven inches tall, she walks around in my mother’s big black coat looking ridiculous.

• I’d die of a heart attack too if I had a troop like that to support.

• I ignore her when she gets up with a hundred other people to go take communion.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.3

Which of the following quotes is an allusion that supports the claim that Abuela is very religious?

• She is walking as slow as Captain Cousteau exploring the bottom of the sea, looking around, taking her sweet time.

• She’s more Catholic than the Pope.

• All I know is that my grandmother kneels the whole time with her hands over her face.

• Finally she chooses a pew, but she wants to sit in the other end.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.9

What does the word "senile" mean in the following line?

I just know that on Monday my friends, and my enemies, in the barrio will have a lot of senile -grandmother jokes to tell in front of me.

• old lady

• funny and humorous

• confusion due to old age

• strange looking

Tags

CCSS.L.8.4A

CCSS.L.8.4B

CCSS.RL.8.4

What can the reader infer based on the text below?

My mother gives me a look that makes me cringe and goes in to Abuela’s room to get her version of the story. She comes out with tears in her eyes.

• Connie's mother is disappointed in Abuela's actions

• Connie's mother feels confused by Connie's behavior

• Connie's mother is unsure about what Abuela has told her

• Connie's mother is hurt and upset by Connie's actions

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

Read the excerpt below.

“The mass in Spanish is at ten sharp tomorrow morning, entiendes?” My father is dangling the car keys in front of my nose and pulling them back when I try to reach for them. He’s really enjoying himself.

What can the reader infer about Connie's father?

• he is funny but stern

• he is anxious about her driving in the city

• he is upset with Connie's behavior in church

• he is confident that Connie will be kind to Abuela

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.3

Which piece of textual evidence supports the claim that Connie finds Abuela's appearance embarrassing?

• I realize to my horror that my grandmother is lost.

• By the time we settle in, I’m drenched in sweat.

• I have to help her climb the steps, and she stops to take a deep breath after each one, then I lead her down the aisle so that everybody can see me with my bizarre grandmother.

• Anyway, I had seen her only three or four times in my entire life, whenever we would go for somebody’s funeral.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.W.8.1B

CCSS.W.8.9A

Connie's mother gets sick with the flu. How does this incident propel the action of the story?

• it creates tension between Connie and her mother

• it forces Connie to spend time with Abuela

• it reveals Abuela's concern for her daughter

• it creates an opportunity for Abuela and Connie to get to know each other

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.3