Ben and the Emancipation Proclamation

Who first taught Ben to read?

• Mrs. Bleeker

• Mr. Bleeker

• his father

• his mother

Which sentence from the selection best supports your answer for Part A?

• Ben’s father had known how to read a little—just enough to teach Ben the alphabet.

• Ben wondered how Mr. Bleeker had ever found anything before he came along.

• Mrs. Bleeker trusted him.

• First, Ben read her a passage from an old, worn Bible she had hidden in her room.

In the Emancipation Proclamation, there are some places listed. Why are they named in the document?

• They are the places where President Abraham Lincoln visited.

• They are the states that are in rebellion against the United States.

• They are the parts of the country where slaves could learn to read.

• They are the places where the Jubilee Singers performed most often.

Why did the men in the slave prison cheer so loudly for Ben?

• They expected that the war would be over any day.

• They thought they would be set free that day.

• They had never heard a black man read out loud.

• They knew that the North was winning the Civil War.

Why did the Bleekers leave the city?

• A loud noise came from the slave prison.

• They had no idea what was going to happen.

• Nobody wanted the clothes they made.

• The Union Army was getting closer to the city.

How did the woman at the Dry Goods Store treat Ben?

• She was surprised that he could read.

• She was not very nice to him.

• She wanted him to buy more things.

• She made a happy face at him.

Which two of these answers are correct?

• The first selection is an autobiography written by a former slave.

• The first selection is meant to entertain and inform readers.

• The second selection is an example of a historical document.

• The second selection was written to express an opinion.

Which word is an adjective that means worthy of being accepted?

• accepted

• acceptable

• accepting

• acceptance

Which word means able to be defended?

• defended

• defending

• defensible

• defensively

Which word contains the Latin root meaning carry?

• export

• marriage

• hardly

• carbon