Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
On Sundays my father always wore that dull gray apron - the one with the race cars all over it. The ritual began after breakfast when Dad always announced: "Go ahead everyone. I'll take care of the dishes!" With that my mother disappeared into the folds of the Sunday paper. Off came the suit coat he had worn to church that morning. Up went the shirtsleeves. On went that apron. For the next hour Dad did the dishes, singing ballads like "I Had a Hat When I Came In" and "Who Put the Chow in Mrs. Murphy's Chowder?"

I suppose it was strange for a boy's father to wear an apron - even one with race cars - but I never thought much of it until the day that Dad broke with tradition. It was the last Sunday in August. My father seemed in an expansive mood as we walked home from church together.

"Tommy," he said letting my name roll off his tongue. My mind raced ahead of his words: The birds and the bees? A new bike? A part-time job?

"There comes a time in every boy's life when he must take on responsibilities." This was important. I might even get to back the car out of the driveway.

"Responsibilities?" I asked.

"Yes. It's time you took a greater role in the household." Power tools? Boss my baby brother?

"Starting today, I want you to do the dishes on Sunday morning so your mother and I can work the crossword puzzle together."

"The dishes!?"

"Anything wrong with taking over the dishes, son?"

I started to say something about a man's job or woman's work, but I knew immediately that my protests would fall on deaf ears.

I didn't taste a bit of breakfast that morning. Dad seemed in a jovial mood as he described an exceptional Yankee game seen through the eyes of Mel Allen on the radio last night.

"Mickey Mantle drove the ball right over the center field wall," he said. "Just a straight line climb in right out of the stadium." He looked out the window as if trying to pick the ball out of the cloud formations. I tried to imagine Mickey Mantle wearing an apron.

Suddenly, everything grew quiet. My sister began to clear the table. My brother was scraping the last of the egg from his plate. And then that ancient family ritual that had filled so many Sunday mornings came to an end. My father announced: "Let's go read the paper, Hon."

"Aren't you doing the dishes?" my mother asked in puzzlement.

"Your oldest son has generously offered to fill the position."

My brother and sister stopped cold. So this was what my life had come to. A dark angel sat on my left shoulder and reminded me that I could hit a baseball farther than anyone in my class. I could bench-press my weight. I knew three declensions in Latin, the language of Caesar. Ask me to run through a rainstorm. Command me to ride the roller coaster - backward. These things I would do. But I could never do those dishes. There was nothing left but to refuse.

People often say there is a special chemistry between a father and a son. He came back into the kitchen just as I was about to storm out. He had loosened his tie and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt - ready to relax. In his right hand was the old apron.

"I want you to have this, Tommy. It'll keep your clothes from getting wet." And before I could mount a protest, he had put the thing on me. "Thanks, Son. Your mother and I appreciate this."

With that he disappeared into the Sunday paper. I looked down at the plastic. It had seen better days. I could see my dad reaching for the dishes. The dark angel flew off. Soon I was singing about Mrs. Murphy's chowder. The words came out of nowhere. And out of nowhere I knew the kind of man I wanted to be.
1. When did his father wear the apron?
2. what did it look like?
3. what did it have all over it?
4. What month did his dad break tradition?
5. what day?
6. which sunday?
7. what is the little boy's name?
8. what did his parents want to do together while he did the dishes?
9. Is Tommy the oldest?
10. who drove the ball over center field?

Numbered answers:
1. On Sundays
2. dull gray
3. race cars
4. August
5. Sunday
6. last Sunday
7. Tommy
8. singing ballads
9. no
10. Mickey Mantle

Question:
Read the text and answer the questions.
At first Kate thought the Romanian girl could not speak and understand English. Nadia would not reply to anything Kate said. Kate was in charge of showing Nadia around on her first day at Buck Minister Grade School. Kate could not figure out why the school had put Nadia in a class where she could not understand what people were saying.

"Why did they do this?" Kate wondered aloud. "I mean, you can't learn if you can't understand the teacher."

Nadia's voice was a whisper (speaking in a very low voice). "I understand English. I will learn." Nadia's English was perfect.

Kate was _ . She couldn't understand why Nadia did not like to speak. Then she realized that moving to a new country probably wasn't the easiest thing to do. There were hundreds of unfamiliar and unusual things to learn - all at the same time.

"There're a lot of new things to learn, huh?" said Kate.

Nadia nodded rapidly. In a quiet voice she replied, "Many things people say, I do not understand. I have been speaking English and Romanian all my life, but I do not know what some children are saying. For example, yesterday a boy asked if I could help him find the USB port on a thin black box he was carrying. Isn't a port a place for ships? It made no sense to me."

"Don't worry." said Kate. "You'll figure everything out in time. You see, that thin black box was a computer. A USB port is a place where you can connect other machines to a computer."

Nadia and Kate were quiet after that. They took notes while the teacher gave a maths lesson. To Kate's surprise, Nadia put up her hand and offered to answer the questions at the blackboard.

Nadia handled every question the teacher gave her. Some of the questions were really difficult, and no one understood what was going on except Nadia and the teacher. When the teacher said that Nadia answered everything correctly, the whole class clapped their hands.

Nadia was smiling when she sat back down next to Kate. "Some things," she said in a normal voice, "are the same all over the world."
1. What did Kate think about the Romanian girl at first?
2. What was the girls name?
3. What was it Kate couldn't figure out about the situation?
4. What was it Kate realized about moving to a new country?
5. What did Nadia and Kate do while the teacher gave a math lesson?
6. To Kates suprise what did Nadia do?
7. Did Nadia answer things correctly?
8. Did the class show their appreciation for this?
9. What did Nadia think a port was for?
10. What two languages had Nadia been speaking her entire life?
11. Did Nadia think somethings were the same all over the world?
Numbered answers:
1. She thought the Romanian girl could not speak or understand English
2. Nadia
3. why the school had put Nadia in a class where she could not understand what people were saying
4. That there were hundreds of unfamiliar and unusual things to learn - all at the same time
5. They took notes
6. She put up her hand and offered to answer the questions at the blackboard.
7. yes
8. yes, the whole class clapped their hands
9. ships
10. English and Romanian
11. Yes