"The All-American Slurp"

Read this excerpt from "The All-American Slurp.

"Mrs. Gleason kept smiling. "Would you like to try some of the dip, Mrs. Lin? It’s my own recipe: sour cream and onion flakes, with a dash of Tabasco sauce.”

What story element does the author develop in this excerpt?

• plot details about the party

• character traits of Mrs. Lin

• character traits of Mrs. Gleason

• setting details about the Gleasons’ house 

Read this excerpt from "The All-American Slurp."

I pulled the strings out of my stalk. Z-z-zip, z-z-zip. My brother followed suit. Z-z-zip, z-z-zip. To my left, my parents were taking care of their own stalks. Z-z-zip, z-z-zip, z-z-zip.

Suddenly I realized that there was dead silence except for our zipping. Looking up, I saw that the eyes of everyone in the room were on our family. Mr. and Mrs. Gleason, their daughter Meg, who was my friend, and their neighbors the Badels—they were all staring at us as we busily pulled the strings of our celery.

What story element does the author develop in this excerpt?

• plot details about the party

• conflict details about the party

• character traits of the Gleasons

• setting details about the Gleasons’ house 

Read this excerpt from "The All-American Slurp.

Father, being an engineer, was always systematic. He took out a pocket French dictionary. "They told me that most of the items would be in French, so I came prepared.” He even had a pocket flashlight, the size of a marking pen. While Mother held the flashlight over the menu, he looked up the items that were in French.

What story element does the author develop in this excerpt?

• plot details about the Lins’ routines

• character traits of Mr. Lin

• conflict between characters

• setting details about the restaurant

Read this excerpt from "The All-American Slurp."

. . . [A]s I dried myself with a paper towel, I stared into the mirror. In this perfumed ladies’ room, with its pink-and-silver wallpaper and marbled sinks, I looked completely out of place. 

What story element does the author develop in this excerpt?

• plot details about the restaurant outing

• character traits of the Lins

• conflict between family members

• setting details about the restaurant

Read this excerpt from "The All-American Slurp."

Mrs. Gleason bent down and whispered to us, “This is a buffet dinner. You help yourselves to some food and eat it in the living room.”

Our family beat a retreat back to the sofa as if chased by enemy soldiers. For the rest of the evening, too mortified to go back to the dining table, I nursed a bit of potato salad on my plate.

What part of the plot is revealed in this excerpt?

• an introduction of new characters

• a conflict between the Lins and the unfamiliar culture

• a conflict between the narrator and her family

• a resolution in which the narrator becomes more comfortable

Read this excerpt from "The All-American Slurp."

All of us, our family and the Chinese guests, stopped eating to watch the activities of the Gleasons. I wanted to giggle. Then I caught my mother’s eyes on me. She frowned and shook her head slightly, and I understood the message: the Gleasons were not used to Chinese ways, and they were just coping the best they could. For some reason I thought of celery strings.

What part of the plot is revealed in this excerpt?

• an introduction of the Gleason family

• a conflict between the Gleasons and the Lins

• a resolution in which the Lins have become the hosts

• a conflict between the narrator and her culture

Read this excerpt from "The All-American Slurp."

As our family of four sat stiffly in a row, my younger brother and I stole glances at our parents for a clue as to what to do next.

What part of the plot is revealed in this excerpt?

• an introduction to the members of the Lin family

• a conflict between the narrator and her brother

• a conflict in which the Lins are treated unkindly

• a resolution in which the Lins feel comfortable

Why does the author include details about Meg drinking her milkshake in "The All-American Slurp"?

• to criticize the practice of having sweet desserts in American culture

• to reveal similarities between the cultures of Meg and the narrator

• to demonstrate the misunderstandings that take place between cultures

• to emphasize the cultural differences between Meg and the narrator

Why does the author include details about the Lins’ night out at the Lakeview restaurant in "The All-American Slurp"?

• to reveal the narrator’s rejection of American culture

• to reveal the narrator’s frustration with her parents’ rules

• to illustrate the narrator’s difficulties adapting to American culture

• to illustrate the narrator’s dislike of dining in public places

Why does the author include details about the dinner party hosted by the Lins in "The All-American Slurp"?

• to illustrate the narrator’s frustration with her parents’ customs

• to reveal the Lins’ difficulty with trying to understand their neighbors

• to highlight the narrator’s developing friendship with Meg

• to emphasize a key similarity between the Gleasons and the Lins