Aesop's Fables

Which way mainly does the author structure the fables?

• With a group of stories that provide similar lessons about life

• With several stories that each provide individual lessons about life

• With multiple stories that each challenge a conclusion in the previous story

• With a series of stories that include the same characters on different adventures

Answer explanation

There are several stories, each with a unique lesson about life, save for two stories that have a similar lesson, “The Swollen Fox” and “The Flies and the Honey-Pot.”

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.7.5

What is most closely the meaning of lament as it is used in the passage below (paragraph 1)?

“When he finished, he was so full that he was not able to get out, and began to groan and lament his fate. Another Fox passing by heard his cries, and coming up, inquired the cause of his complaining.”

• adjective | full or satisfied

• noun | fate or destiny

• verb | to mourn or grieve

• verb | to cause something to happen

Answer explanation

The context of the text supports “cries” as being the best meaning of “lament” from the text provided, as the text states that Fox “began to groan and lament” and then states that another fox “heard his cries.”

Tags

CCSS.L.7.4D

CCSS.RL.7.4

Which two fables provide a moral that is most similar to each other?

• “The Flies and the Honey-Pot” & “The Miser”

• “The Miser” & “The Ants and the Grasshopper”

• “The Swollen Fox” & “The Flies and the Honey-Pot”

• “The Ants and the Grasshopper” & “The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing”

Answer explanation

Both fables deal with being greedy and getting trapped by one’s own greediness.

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.7.2

What does the word service most closely mean as it is used in the story “The Miser” in paragraph 4?

A MISER sold all that he had and bought a lump of gold, which he buried in a hole in the ground by the side of an old wall and went to look at daily. One of his workmen observed his frequent visits to the spot and decided to watch his movements. He soon discovered the secret of the hidden treasure, and digging down, came to the lump of gold, and stole it. The Miser, on his next visit, found the hole empty and began to tear his hair and to make loud lamentations. A neighbor, seeing him overcome with grief and learning the cause, said, “Pray do not grieve so; but go and take a stone, and place it in the hole, and fancy that the gold is still lying there. It will do you quite the same service; for when the gold was there, you had it not, as you did not make the slightest use of it.”

• noun | the action of helping or doing something good for someone
  

• noun | a ceremony of religious worship

• noun | regular work done to maintain a certain condition (for a vehicle or machine)

• noun | the process of providing food and drinks to customers

Answer explanation

In this context, “service” refers to what the lump of gold did for the miser by simply existing in his hidden spot.

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.4

Which inference can be most likely made about the Grasshopper in “The Ants and the Grasshopper”?

• He is talented.

• He is angry.

• He is proud.

• He is lazy.

Answer explanation

While the grasshopper should have been working and saving during the summer for the winter, he spent his days singing, instead, and then complains he did not have “leisure enough.”

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.1

Which phrase from paragraph 6 most closely supports the answer to Question 5?

• “drying grain”

• “earnestly begged”

• “inquired of him”

• “‘passed the days’”

Answer explanation

This phrase from the paragraph shows the grasshopper “passed the days” or spent them in leisure, singing, rather than collecting food.

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.1

Which inference can be best made about the Woodcutter in the story “The Fox and the Woodcutter”?

• He is deceptive.

• He is creative.

• He is trustworthy.

• He is bored.

Answer explanation

Even though the Woodcutter tells the huntsman he has not seen the fox, he gestures with his finger to where the Fox is hidden, showing deception.

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.7.3

Which phrase from paragraph 5 of the excerpt most strongly supports the answer to Question 7?

• “…advised him to take shelter…”

• “…declared he had not seen him, and yet pointed…”

• “…believing his word, hastened forward…”

• “…he called to him and reproached him…”

Answer explanation

This quote shows the moment when the Woodcutter says one thing but acts differently, showing his deception.

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.1

Match the characters in the chart to the correct details:

• Gets stuck in honey while eating

• Wolf

• Works hard during the summer for food

• Flies

• Tries to fool a shepherd to get food

• Fox

• Eats food that does not belong to him

• Ants

Match the following:

• The Swollen Fox

• A character must depend on others because he does not work hard enough

• The Hen and the Golden Eggs

• A character is betrayed by another character’s actions

• The Miser

• In the process of being greedy, two characters lose what gives them security

• The Fox and The Woodcutter

• A character eats so much he becomes trapped

• The Ants and The Grasshopper

• A character is troubled when a possession he hides is taken

Tags

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.W.7.9A