Short Story Test #2- Ace

Kamala Nair

Audio by Paper2Audio.

Excerpt from The Girl in the Garden

10 year old Rakhee Singh and her mother have flown to India from Minnesota to visit her mother's childhood home for the summer.

We had to board the plane, smaller and bumpier than the last, which carried us south, along the western coast of the country. My heartbeat quickened as I peered out the window, down through the clouds at the blue waves tossing and turning below us. My first glimpse of the ocean.

“Your grandmother will be so pleased to see you, Rakhee. Do you remember her- your Muthashi?” Amma asked over the whir of the engine.

I did remember Muthashi, my grandmother. She had come to stay with us in Minnesota when I was around three or four. I could not recall the exact details of her face, but I had a vague mental picture of a slight woman draped in white who used to sit me on her knee and sing a song in Malayalam about ants.

I used to run out onto the driveway humming the ant song, and guide a string of the black insects into my palm. Weaving my fingers together and making a delicate cup with my hands, I would transport them into the house, giggling as ants tickled inside their little cage. Muthashi would always act so pleased when I proudly deposited the squirming ants into her outstretched hands, although I'm sure she would let them out the back door as soon as I wasn't looking.

“Rakhee,” continued Amma. “I haven't told you much about our family, have I?”

I shook my head.

“Well, the Varmas are the most prominent, respected family in the village. My father was a doctor, and he started a hospital across the street from our home. He died a long time ago, so now my younger brother, Vijay, is in charge. You'll also meet my big sister, Sadhana, and her three daughters.

One of them is about your age. And Vijay's wife, Nalini, who I have never met, recently had a baby boy. Everybody lives together at Ashoka-that's the name of the house where I grew up. You see, in India families stick together under one roof. It's not the same as it is in America.”

This airport was not as crowded or chaotic as the one in Bombay, and the people seemed neater and more subdued. In the bathroom Amma changed into a buttercup-yellow sari and painted a red raindrop on her forehead with a bottle that she produced from her purse. “I can't show up at home dressed as an American,” she explained.

I loved seeing that transformation, from my regular mother who took the trash out every morning with a bulky coat flung over her nightgown to the wondrous creature. From the moment she put on the sari and released her hair from its bun so that it streamed down her back in a lustrous river, she appeared younger and somehow more natural.

“How do I look?” she asked, as she ran a comb through her hair.

“You look beautiful, Amma,” I told her honestly.

A compact man with a bushy mustache and a symmetrical crescent of sweat under each arm met us outside the airport, holding a sign with “Mrs. Chitra Varma Singh and daughter” printed across it in block letters. He led us through the thick heat toward a white car and loaded all our suitcases into the trunk. Amma and I both slid into the backseat. My legs stuck to the synthetic leather.

“Are you hungry, molay?” Amma asked me. “We'll be home soon.” But she sounded absent, as if my hunger was hardly her main concern.

I stared out the window as we drove. Unlike the gray, arrow-straight highways I was accustomed to, here the roads were red and twisty. In the distance I could see groves of coconut trees, their green fonds waving against the sky like pinwheels. We passed forests of rubber trees and stretches of lime-green grassland that Amma told me were rice paddy fields. Wiry, mustachioed men with protruding rib cages spiraling down their torsos and white cloths knotted around their waists (“Those cloths are called mundus,” explained Amma) were scattered here and there in the treetops, tapping the trunks and collecting sap in metal buckets.

At one point the driver stopped the car abruptly. I leaned over the seat and was shocked to see a cow blinking her long black lashes at me. The driver honked the horn and she took her sweet time ambling out of the way.

Soon after, I heard a dull thud and a hulking elephant rounded the corner, heading toward us, the tough black ripples of its trunk swaying to a fro.

“Amma!” I cried.

But Amma only laughed. “It's normal for elephants to walk around on the street here, don't worry.”

A man wearing a faded blue turban carrying a gnarled stick was riding atop the great animal. I waited for either the turbaned man to steer his charge out of the way or for the car to slow down, but neither thing happened. The driver pushed forward with alarming speed, straight toward the elephant.

I gasped, but at the last second he swerved, and both he and the man nodded politely to one another, as if this were perfectly normal. The elephant lumbered past the car window so close that I could have reached out and brushed my fingers against its sagging hide.

1. How do paragraphs 3 and 4 contribute to the story?

1. They help show Rakhee's kindness and ease around creatures in the outdoors.

2. They help the reader understand Rakhee's concern on whether her grandmother will remember her.

3. They provide evidence for Rakhee's love of singing Indian songs as a child.

4. They gave the reader insight into Rakhee's love of memories of her grandmother.

2. Which important idea does the author develop in paragraphs 7 to 9?

1. Rakhee has lived a very exciting life.

2. Rakhee wishes she had grown up in India.

3. Rakhee has much to learn about her family's culture.

4. Rakhee's family is typical of Indian families.

3. Which statement best describes how the narrator reacts to the events in paragraphs 8 and 9?

1. She becomes more appreciative of her mother.

2. She is uneasy about the changes in her mother.

3. She becomes confused by her mother.

4. She admires the changes in her mother.

4. In paragraph 9, what is the meaning of the phrase “it streamed down her back in a lustrous river”?

1. Her long hair was flowing and shiny.

2. Her long hair was damp from being in a bun.

3. Her long hair seemed heavier than normal.

4. Her long hair moved steadily in one direction.

5. What does paragraph 9 most reveal about the narrator's mother?

1. That she is more talkative when she is in India

2. That she follows customary traditions when she is in India.

3. That she is more self-conscious when she is in India

4. That she visits many people when she is in India.

6. Which statement best states a theme of the story?

1. Families can be surprising.

2. Beauty can be found in most things.

3. Traveling to new places can be tiring.

4. New experiences can change how we see the world.

7. How does the author most develop Rakhee's point of view?

1. By comparing Rakhee's experiences to her mother's

2. By having Rakhee describe her impressions of India

3. By showing Rakhee's alarm during the scene with the elephant

4. By including Rakhee's reaction to Amma's changed appearance.

8. What quote best develops the setting in India?

1. “I used to run on the driveway, humming the ant song…”

2. “I had a vague mental picture of a slight woman…”

3. “It is normal for elephants to walk around the street here..”

4. “I stared out the window as we drove.”

9. What does the word transformation mean as used in the sentence?

“I loved seeing that transformation, from my regular mother who took the trash out every morning with a bulky coat flung over her nightgown to the wonderous creature.”

1. Chore

2. Change

3. Leaning

4. Wearing

10. What does the word prominent mean as used in the sentence?

“Well, the Varnas are the most prominent, respected family in the village.”

1. Well- known

2. Poor

3. Smart

4. Caring

“A Choice of Weapons” Poem

Sticks and stones are hard on bones.

Aimed with angry art,

Words can sting like anything,

But silence breaks the heart.

1. How does the simile “words can sting like anything” impact the meaning of the poem?

1. It shows that words are like bees that buzz around.

2. It shows that words can sting and hurt your feelings when spoken.

3. It shows that words can make you speak frequently.

4. It shows that words are spoken loudly.

2. What does the idiom “silence breaks the heart?”

1. It shows that failure to speak too much can cause major problems.

2. It shows that one should know when to not talk.

3. It shows that silence can be just as harsh as speaking rudely to someone.

4. It shows that hearts can break easily if there is a whisper.

3. What does the “sticks and stones are hard on bones” refer to in the poem?

1. It refers to objects outside on the playground.

2. It refers to the importance of how physical objects can hurt just like words.

3. It refers to building an object with sticks and then talking about it.

4. It refers to being careful not to break any bones.

4. Why would the author choose to use the personification “aimed with angry art?”

1. The author is conveying the importance that words are harmless.

2. The author is conveying that words can sting like a bee.

3. The author is conveying that sticks and stones are negative and can hurt just like words can hurt a person's feelings.

4. The author is conveying that stones are hard if you got hit with one.

5. What is the central theme of the poem?

1. Don't judge a book by its cover.

2. Don't lie.

3. Family is important.

4. Silence can hurt more than words.