Inventory #1

Todd Bowman was back deep, on the fifteen yard line, awaiting the kickoff. He stood with his left foot slightly forward, his arms dangling loosely at his sides. In front of him, his blockers were arrayed in position. Todd was ________the kickoff.

• anticipating

• blocking

• missing

• describing

Picture this court. By pro basketball standards, it isn't much to look at. Although full-size, the playing surface is grass and hard-packed dirt, not cement or asphalt. The backboards are made from plywood and the rims droop slightly from the impact of countless schoolboy slam dunks. The nets, which once were new and white, now are gray with age and hang torn and shredded. The court is_______.

• crude

• famous

• small

• forbidding

Volcanoes, earthquakes, and young mountain chains are signs of a restless, changing earth, a planet that is in a sense alive. Its land is worn down and rebuilt, worn down and rebuilt. And so it remains a planet of land and sea that can support many different kinds of life. It is the only such planet in our solar system. The planet earth is __________.

• peaceful

• dynamic

• empty

• enormous

Wild horses have an amazing ability to adapt, says one horse expert. "Life is hard in the desert—the summer sun sizzles and, in the winter, temperatures get below zero. Horses might have to go for days between drinks of water, and grazing land is hard to find. A domestic horse would get weak or sick. But these mustangs thrive!" Wild horses are _______________.

• strange

• dangerous

• hardy

• valuable

A tropical Sun burns down on dry and dusty soil. Brown stalks of grass lie flat and dead across the village fields. Looking at this scene in central India, you might think that no plants could ever grow there again. But then the sky fills with dark storm clouds, and torrents of rain flood the land. The water will ________the fields.

• revive

• expand

• parch

• freeze

Lucy tried to get her mind off Nugget. She showed other dogs for adoption. She played with a cute English sheep dog. Yet the feeling wouldn't go away. She didn't quite know what it was. But she felt something was not right. Lucy __________nugget.

• missed

• found

• trained

• met