"The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" Vocabulary Activity

Well, why don’t you go downtown and check with the police, though they’ll probably think we’re crazy or something. A little power failure and right away we get all flustered and everything

Which of the words has the same meaning as flustered?

• balanced, harmonious

• agitated, confused

• compound, multiple

• angry, indignant

Tags

CCSS.L.7.5C

CCSS.RL.7.4

Read the sentences from the text and the definition that follow. Then, answer the question.

You know what I’m guilty of? [He laughs.] Insomnia. I’m guilty of insomnia. insomnia

– n. habitual sleeplessness; inability to sleep The Latin root somnus means sleep.

What is the function of the prefix in- in the word insomnia?

• to indicate opposite of

• to change the word to a noun

• to indicate something takes place inside

• to change the time of occurrence to before

Tags

CCSS.L.7.4B

Read the sentences from the text. Then, answer the question.

Steve starts the engine. It turns over sluggishly and then just stops dead.

Which word means the opposite of sluggishly?

• lazily

• inactively

• harshly

• hurriedly

Tags

CCSS.L.7.4A

We’d better walk downtown. [Another murmur of assent at this.]

assent – n. expression of approval or agreement

Read the sentence above and consider the word meaning provided. In which sentence below is assent used the same way as in the sentence above?

• “I’ll assent,” Grandma agreed when I asked her about the field trip.

• Jerome muttered under his breath and shook his head in assent.

• Dad says he’s fine with me skipping school, so all I need now is Mom’s assent

• The pilot announced that we’d soon be beginning our assent.

Tags

CCSS.L.7.6

CCSS.RL.7.4

[He walks toward the group. He stops suddenly as behind him, inexplicably and with a noise that inserts itself into the silence, the car engine starts up all by itself. Goodman whirls around to stare toward it. The car idles roughly, smoke coming from the exhaust, the frame shaking gently. Goodman’s eyes go wide, and he runs over to his car. The people stare at the car.]

Read four definitions for the word idle below. Which meaning is used in the excerpt above?

• adj. avoiding work; lazy

• adj. without purpose or effect; pointless

• v. run slowly while out of gear

• v. take out of use or employment

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

Charlie, don’t tell me what I can afford! And stop telling me who’s dangerous and who isn’t and who’s safe and who’s a menace. And you’re with him too – all of you! You’re standing here all set to crucify – all set to find a scapegoat – all desperate to point some kind of a finger at a neighbor!

What is the meaning of the word menace as it is used in the excerpt above?

• an atmosphere that may create a hazard

• to threaten

• hostile

• a person who is likely to cause harm

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.4

CCSS.RL.7.4