BOY Amplify Assessment

Explain why the axe slipped and flew out of the Woodman’s hands into the pool.

Despair means the feeling of having lost hope that something will improve. Why was the Woodman in despair?

• He didn’t finish cutting down the tree he had started cutting down.

• He didn’t want to tell Mercury what had happened.

• He wanted the golden axe.

• He didn’t know how he would get his axe back.

Part A: How did the Woodman show honesty, or the quality of being fair and truthful? Use two examples from the text.

Part B: What could the Woodman have done that didn’t show honesty?

What good fortune did the other Woodmen in the village hope to easily win?

• getting a golden axe and a silver axe in addition to their own

• losing their own axes in the pool in the forest

• returning the next day to find their hidden axes

• showing honesty to Mercury when he asked what the trouble was

The moral of the story is “Honesty is the best policy.” What does this moral mean?

Knowing what Banneker accomplished in his life, what does the word outstanding mean in the following sentence from paragraph 5? "Benjamin Banneker’s abilities were outstanding."

• unpaid

• excellent

• poor

• average

Part A: Benjamin Banneker was curious about the world around him. Using evidence from the text, answer the following question What did Benjamin Banneker build or make?

Part B: Now that you have identified things Banneker built or made, use evidence in the text to help you determine why he built or made these things and explain.

Why might Jefferson have reacted favorably to the almanac and responded to Banneker’s comments politely?

In paragraph 5, the author states that Thomas Jefferson was aware of Banneker’s talents and requested that Banneker be made part of a group that was planning the design for the nation’s capital. Why might Thomas Jefferson have requested that Banneker be part of this important group?

In paragraph 5, what does the following sentence mean? "You have so many blood vessels in your body, they could circle the earth more than two times if they were strung together!"

• If you took all the blood vessels from your body and put them together in one long string, you could wrap that string around the earth more than two times.

• If you took all the blood from your body and put it in one place, it would wrap around the earth more than two times.

• If you took all the blood vessels from your body, each one is long enough to circle the earth on its own more than two times.

• If you took all the blood vessels from your body and put them together in one long string, you could wrap that string around the earth less than two times.