WorksheetsOPEN BOOK There Will Come Soft Rains (MP-MAC)
Total questions: 15
Worksheet time: 4hrs 45mins
How does the reader learn where and when “There Will Come Soft Rains”
takes place?
EVIDENCE: In your packet record the WORDS that show this in the text.
a. The date and location are burned into the side of the house.
b. The reader must figure it out using a variety of clues throughout the story.
c. An electronic device states the time, date, and location at the beginning of
the story.
d. There is a newspaper on the kitchen table that shows the date and
location of the story.
Where are the human beings in “There Will Come Soft Rains”?
EVIDENCE: HOW do you know this? What CLUES/WORDS from the text show us this? (record in your packet)
a. They are at work or at school.
b. They have moved to a different city.
c. They have been killed by a nuclear bomb.
d. They are being held prisoner in the basement of an automated house.
Which details show what has happened to the owners of the house in “There
Will Come Soft Rains”?
EVIDENCE: Record the TEXT EVIDENCE that shows this in your packet (the quote).
a. The stove prepares a breakfast that goes uneaten.
b. Mrs. McClellan likes to listen to poetry in the evenings.
c. The house keeps itself clean and protects itself from harm.
d. The shapes of four people are burned into the side of the house.
At the beginning of “There Will Come Soft Rains,” the stove prepares eight
pieces of toast, eight eggs, sixteen slices of bacon, two coffees, and two glasses
of milk. What can you conclude is most likely to be true about the McClellan
family, based on this information and other details?
EVIDENCE: EXPLAIN HOW you inferred this.
a. The family is having guests over for breakfast.
b. Two of the family members are allergic to milk.
c. The stove usually burns the toast and undercooks the eggs.
d. There are four family members, and two of them are children.
How does the automated house “die” in “There Will Come Soft Rains”?
EVIDENCE: What TEXT EVIDENCE supports this answer?
a. It is blown up in a nuclear blast.
b. The electronic mice tear it down.
c. It catches on fire and is unable to put the fire out.
d. The owners move away, and the house stops functioning.
What is the most likely meaning of the word attending as it is used in this
sentence?
The man stayed at his daughter’s bedside while she had the flu, attending to her by
giving her water and wiping her brow when she woke throughout the night.
EVIDENCE: what CLUES in the sentence helped you choose your answer?
a. taking charge of
b. making believe that
c. helping or caring for
d. listening carefully to
If a writer manipulated words to create an advertisement, what did the writer
do?
EVIDENCE: what CLUES in the sentence or BOOK helped you choose your answer?
a. treated words badly
b. used words skillfully
c. corrected another writer’s mistakes
d. persuaded people to like her writing
Which of the following situations is most likely to make a person feel
tremulous?
EVIDENCE: what CLUES in the sentence or the BOOK helped you choose your answer?
a. performing a solo while experiencing stage fright
b. learning that an exam has been moved to a later date
c. getting a good grade on a research paper
d. hearing one’s favorite song on the radio
In “There Will Come Soft Rains,” what are the parents doing at the time of the tragedy?
EVIDENCE: In your packet, record the TEXT EVIDENCE that shows this.
a. They are downstairs in the basement.
b. They are outside working in the garden.
c. They are sitting together in the nursery.
d. They are playing bridge at the card table.
What conflict, or struggle, is presented in this scene from “There Will Come
Soft Rains”?
“Fire!” screamed a voice. The house lights flashed, water pumps shot water from
the ceilings. But the solvent spread on the linoleum, licking, eating, under the
kitchen door, while the voices took it up in chorus: “Fire, fire, fire!” …
The house gave ground as the fire in ten billion angry sparks moved with flaming
ease from room to room and then up the stairs.
EVIDENCE: In your packet, explain what clues helped you determine the conflict.
a. the conflict the house feels about whether or not to save itself from fire
b. the conflict between nature, the fire, and the human-made solvent
c. the conflict between the panicked house and the furious fire
d. the conflict the fire feels about destroying the house
Which sentence from “There Will Come Soft Rains” is an example of personification?
EVIDENCE: In your packet, explain HOW it is personification.
a. The garden sprinklers whirled up in golden founts, filling the soft
morning air with scatterings of brightness.
b. The dog ran upstairs, hysterically yelping to each door, at last realizing,
as the house realized, that only silence was here.
c. At four o’clock the tables folded like great butterflies back through the
paneled walls.
d. The wind blew. A falling tree bough crashed through the kitchen
window. Cleaning solvent, bottled, shattered over the stove.
In “There Will Come Soft Rains,” the house starts out cheerful and efficient and changes as the story progresses. Which description best explains how the house is personified during the fire?
EVIDENCE: In your packet, record one piece of TEXT EVIDENCE that supports your answer.
a.
It becomes uncaring and stops trying to work.
b.
It becomes frantic and works at an insane pace.
c.
It becomes more cheerful and denies any problem.
d.
It becomes detached and works even more efficiently.
Using your knowledge of the Latin Prefix counter-, respond to the following question using context clues.
Which of the following is the best definition for the word underlined in the sentence below:
When the teacher graded the argumentative essay, she noted that the student had done well presenting their side of the issue, but had not included a counterclaim.
EVIDENCE: In your packet, explain HOW you know that is the correct answer.
a.
unproductive
b.
other side
c.
act against
d.
against common sense
What words in this passage are an example of parallel adverbs?
Nearly everything about the house is automated, including robot maids, electric toothbrushes, and self-making beds. And yet, its owners seem perpetually busy and move through their lives hurriedly, frantically.
EVIDENCE: In your packet, EXPLAIN how you know that is the right answer.
a.
is; seem
b.
robot; electric
c.
automated; house
d.
hurriedly; frantically
Which of the FOUR short stories we read was your favorite?
All Summer in a Day
There Will Come Soft Rains
The Veldt
