Conflict Review

^{In the passage below, who or what is Sue in conflict with?}

^{A boy in a green shirt yelled, "I can't find my sister. She went underwater right there, and she never came up!"}

^{As a lifeguard, Sue knew exactly what to do. Racing into the ocean, she leaped and crashed through the waves. Sue swam to the spot where the boy had pointed. Taking a deep breath, she dove to the bottom, opened her eyes, and began searching everywhere. As she surfaced, a wave buried her and shoved her under again.}

^{When Sue finally resurfaced, she saw a crowd of people on shore. "Here she is!" they called.}

^{Sue saw a girl standing in the sand, calmly eating a sandwich. Her little brother had gone back to his sand castle.}

• Sue is in conflict with the ocean.

• Sue is in conflict with the missing girl.

• Sue is in conflict with the boy.

• Sue is in conflict with the people on the shore.

In an internal conflict, a person would be most likely to struggle against—

• another character

• fear

• a hurricane

• the government

In the passage below, Kara's internal conflict comes from her—

​​​​​​​Kara bit her lip until it hurt. She had been so excited about speaking to the class about her trip to Peru. Then Mrs. Douglass had to make a big deal out of it and invite the rest of the ninth-graders. Now Kara was faced with presenting a slideshow to nearly 100 students. Instead of standing at the head of the class, she would have to stand on stage in the auditorium. Why had she ever brought up Peru at all?

• fear that she does not know her topic

• anger at her teacher, Mrs. Douglass

• disappointment at missing an opportunity

• nervousness at speaking to a crowd

What character trait leads to the resolution of the following story?

"Forget it," said Mr. Slade. "I never learned to read in eight years of school, and I'm sure not going to learn from a kid like you."

"Let's just try," said Jen. She opened the book. "Here's a book about the place where you told me you grew up."

"Is that right?" Mr. Slade asked, leaning forward. "Why, that picture looks just like my friend Buster's old farm!"

The hour went by quickly. Twice a week, Jen met Mr. Slade at the library. Sometimes he had done his homework, and sometimes he hadn't. She didn't mind. She knew how hard this was for him. Then, one day in late May, Mr. Slade had a breakthrough. Jen had brought the book about his old home. Mr. Slade was looking at the pictures. Suddenly, he read aloud, "Family farm near Dexter, June, 1956."

"Mr. Slade, you did it!" cried Jen, clapping her hands.

• Jen's nervousness

• Jen's pride

• Mr. Slade's stubbornness

• Jen's patience

An external conflict occurs between the girls and their mother because she—

"That's it!" cried Parker. "I'm drawing a line down the middle of the room. Keep to your side, Sadie!"

Sadie stuck out her tongue at her sister. "Just because you're a year older, you think you own me," she said, holding Parker's CD in the air. "It's my room, too! It has been since I was born!"

"Mom!" Parker wailed. "Sadie's been messing with my things again!"

Their mother came to the door, still sorting the mail. "What's the problem this time?" she inquired.

Both girls started talking at once. "Quiet, quiet!" their mother insisted. "You two are always fighting. Settle this quietly," she warned, "or you're both grounded!"

• thinks the girls fight too much

• wants the girls to be neater

• wants the girls to share more

• sides with Parker against Sadie

Read the example and select the best description of the conflict.

Carroll hated running laps in gym class. She dreaded it everyday because she always finished last. Vicki, the star of the track team, often made fun of her, too.

• both internal and external conflict

• internal

• external

• neither internal or external conflict

Read the passage and determine the cause of the conflict between Andy and Joe.

"How's it going, Moe?" greeted Andy. "I just saw that ‘Summer Job' sign, so I'm here to fill out an application."

Moe frowned. "Well, you can forget about it. I'm about to turn in my application." "Doesn't sound like you've got a lock on it to me," said Andy. "I'll submit mine, too."

• Moe dislikes Andy.

• Andy wants Moe's job.

• Mo doesn't want Andy to apply for the job.

• Andy thinks Moe isn't qualified for the job.

Choose the external conflicts.

• Paula loved her sister. However, she got jealous and then felt guilty when people praised her sister's singing.

• Jeff and Rhonda had a big argument about which movie to see.

• Soon after Gwen and Avery entered the essay contest, high tension arose. The competition was on! Avery believed he was the better writer; Gwen believed she was.

• I had promised to visit Grandma, but I wanted to go jogging with Leah too.

Read the passage. Identify the source of Linda's conflict.

Linda knew her story was good—and funny. She had really captured the personality of her classmate Anita.

The story showed all of Anita's annoying qualities.

Suddenly, Linda felt a pang of guilt. What if Mr. Patterson made her read her story aloud?

How would Anita feel? Linda didn't know what to do.

• confidence in her ability to write a funny story

• guilt over the possibility of hurting Anita's feelings

• worry that Mr Patterson would not like her story

• inability to capture Anita's personality in writing

Which passage shows how the character trait of persistence helps in the resolution of the conflict?

• Angie was so nervous about performing that she dropped out of the school orchestra audition.

• Miguel loved his dad's classic car. He kept asking his dad if he could help work on it, but his dad refused. At one point, Miguel's dad even got angry at his son for constantly bugging him. Miguel refused to give up, though. Finally, his dad gave in and let Miguel help.

• Wendy was accepted at her first-choice college, but it was hundreds of miles away from home. A month before she was set to leave, she began to question her choice. Should she stay closer to home and go to the community college? After days of thinking, Wendy resolved not to let fear of being homesick sway her decision. East Coast, here I come! she thought.

• The rivalry between Chu and Jin made Chu uncomfortable. Jin talked loudly and quickly as he worked math questions. He jumped up and waved papers in the air when he was finished. Chu worked quickly but preferred to figure things out quietly and without fuss. Only one student would represent each school at the state math competition. Mrs. Dowd sent for Chu and Jin. "Are you sure that you don't want to go?" she asked Chu with a worried smile. "I'm sure," said Chu. "Jin's math skills are good, and he'll represent us well."