Reading Comprehension – Short Stories
Read the story. Then answer the questions below.
Loren had been surreptitiously moving money from the accounts of
his bank’s wealthiest clients to one he created for himself in the Cayman Islands for over 8 years. He had every reason to believe that no one suspected a thing, and he knew the money would be safe in an offshore account
He had been prudent with all the money he had embezzled from Signet Bank. He wore secondhand suits to his job as a bank teller there. He rode his bike from Anacostia— the squalid, blighted neighborhood he called home— to his Dupont Circle branch each day
He rarely traveled outside of the Washington, DC area. He did nothing at all
to raise a red flag. He appeared as nothing more than an 18-dollar-an-hour bank employee in a town where many made millions
No one, he was sure, had ever scrutinized the myriad of transactions that had taken place – dozens, sometimes hundreds of small transfers that amounted to
$9,000 every other week. Otherwise, the truth would have surely come to light a long time ago
“Nine thousand dollars every other week is just a drop in the bucket to these rich folks,” Loren reasoned. This assuaged his guilt
In Loren’s mind, it was the greedy people who got caught doing these things. It was the ostentatious ones, too. It was the guys who built multi-million dollar homes with 24 rooms on a pauper’s salary
To him, the bank was fraught with idiots; no one was capable of unraveling his master plan. No – it was too late for them
Today was the day Loren would begin reaping the benefits of all his patience and cunning and begin living in blissful obscurity
After an ordinary day at work, Loren got on his bike and road over the river to National Airport
As the plane lifted off the runway for the Caribbean, Loren watched intently out the window. He had close to $2 million collecting interest in the bank and had managed to pull it off, unnoticed
As the plane landed, Loren finally allowed himself to fully dream of the carefree
life he was about to begin. He moved down the airplane steps, across the tarmac and headed toward the airport. The balmy air felt comforting to his skin
He breathed in slowly and deeply with anticipation, and then he was surprised to hear a familiar voice.
“Hey, Loren. Not so fast.”
Questions:
1- As used in paragraph 1, which is the best synonym for surreptitiously
A. easily
B. carefully
C. overtly
D. secretly
2- "He had been prudent with all the money he had embezzled from Signet Bank."
Which of the following is the best way to rewrite the above sentence from paragraph 2 while keeping its original meaning as used in the story
A. He had been showy with the funds he had taken from Signet Bank.
B. He had saved all the money he had deposited into Signet Bank.
C. He had felt guilty about all the money he had taken from Signet Bank.
D. He had been discreet with all the money he had stolen from Signet Bank.
3- What were some of the things Loren did to not raise suspicion
I. He wore secondhand suits.
II. He rode a bicycle to work.
III. He only made a certain number of transactions per week.
A. I only
B. I and II
C. I and III
D. I, II, and III
4- The expression "to raise a red flag"
(from paragraph 3) means to
A. be guilty
B. appear impoverished
C. seem very smart
D. give a warning signal
5- What made Loren feel confident his
If Loren carried out his scheme for exactly 8 years, how much money would he have stolen
A. $9000
B. $2,000,000
C. $72,000
D. $1,872,000
6- crime would go undetected
I. The stolen money was being
held in the Cayman Islands.
II. He felt no one would suspect a
bank teller of fraud.
III. He had done nothing to show
7- that he had become wealthy.
A. I only
B. I and II
C. I and III
D. I, II, and III
8- What kind of expression is "drop in the bucket" (from paragraph 5)?
As used in paragraph 4, which is the best synonym for myriad
A. demonstrative, characterized by the open expression of emotion
B. idiomatic, characterized by the use of figurative, not literal, language
C. sarcastic, characterized by the use of harsh or bitter derision, or irony
D. understatement, characterized by an expression that is weaker than the facts would bear out A. overflow
B. number
C. multitude
D. shortage
9) Which line from the passage best serves as its climax
10) Loren's attitude toward his bank colleagues was
A. “Hey, Loren. Not so fast.” (the final paragraph)
B. Otherwise, the truth would have surely come to light a long time ago. (paragraph 4)
C. Now it was too late for them. (paragraph 7)
D. After an ordinary day at work, Loren got on his bike and road over the river to National Airport. (paragraph 9) A. benevolent
B. disdainful
C. accepting
D. fearful
As used in paragraph 6, which is the best antonym for ostentatious
A. lavish
B. conspicuous
C. childish
D. modest 12) As used in paragraph 7, what does the phrase “fraught with” mean?
A. filled with
B. short on
C. lead by
D. visited by
Is Loren a bad person? If not, why? If so, what should be an appropriate punishment or consequences? Explain.
Answers and Explanations
1) D
surreptitiously (adjective): sneakily, in a stealthy manner.
At the beginning, the story says, “Loren had been surreptitiously moving money from the accounts of his bank’s wealthiest clients to one he created for himself in the Cayman Islands for over 8 years. He had every reason to believe that no one suspected a thing.” Since Loren was moving money from bank clients’ accounts to his own, we know that Loren was stealing. Loren thought no one suspected his stealing, so Loren must have been moving the money in secret. We can infer from this information that surreptitiously means in a stealthy manner. Secretly means in a hidden or concealed manner. Since doing something in a concealed way is similar to doing something in a stealthy way, secretly is a good synonym for surreptitiously. Therefore (D) is correct.
Easily means with ease. Doing something with ease is not the same as doing something stealthily, so easily is not a synonym for surreptitiously. Therefore
(A) is incorrect. Carefully means with care. Doing something with care is not the same as doing something stealthily, so carefully is not a good synonym for surreptitiously. Therefore (B) is incorrect. Overtly means openly. Doing something openly is the opposite of doing something stealthily, so overtly is the opposite of surreptitiously. Therefore (C) is incorrect.
2) D
To be discreet means to show self-restraint and prudence in your actions. Embezzle means to take something that has been entrusted to you by someone else for your own use. Since discreet is another word for prudent and embezzling is stealing, the sentence He had been discreet with all the money he had stolen from Signet Bank retains the meaning of the original sentence. Therefore (D) is correct.
Showy means flashy. Since Loren is stealing money, being flashy with the money is not prudent. This changes the meaning of the original sentence. Therefore (A) is incorrect. In the original sentence, Loren stole money from Signet Bank. This means he did not deposit money there. Therefore (B) is incorrect. To feel guilty is to feel bad about something. This is different than being prudent about something. Therefore (C) is incorrect.
3) B
In paragraph 2, the passage says, “He wore secondhand suits to his job as a bank teller there. He rode his bike from Anacostia— the squalid, blighted neighborhood he called home— to his Dupont Circle branch each day.” This information tells us Loren wore secondhand suits. This supports option (I).
This information also tells us Loren rode his bike to work. This supports
option (II). The story does not say that Loren only made a certain number of
transactions per week. This eliminates option (III). Therefore (B) is correct.
4) D
In paragraph 2, we learn that Loren wore secondhand suits and rode his bike to work. In paragraph 3, the passage says Loren, “rarely traveled outside of the Washington, DC area. He did nothing at all to raise a red flag. He appeared as nothing more than an 18-dollar-an-hour bank employee in a
town where many made millions.” Loren did not want to call attention to the fact that he was stealing money. In order to avoid sending signals that would make others suspicious, he has taken care to appear as if everything were normal. Using this information, we can infer that to raise a red flag means to give a warning signal. Therefore (D) is correct.
Being guilty is being responsible for a crime. Since no one knew of the crime, Loren was trying to avoid anyone’s notice of the crime, not the fact that he was responsible for it. Therefore (A) is incorrect. Loren did want to appear impoverished, or look poorer than he was, because he did not want to raise suspicion. Therefore (B) is incorrect. Behaving consistently with his income would not make anyone appear smart or not smart. This means (C) is incorrect.
5) C
In paragraph 1, we learn that Loren has been stealing money and putting it into an account in the Cayman Islands. The passage says Loren “knew the money would be safe in an offshore account.” We can infer from this information that Loren believed the money would be safe because it was in the Cayman Islands. This supports option (I). The passage does not suggest that Loren felt no one would suspect a bank teller of fraud. This eliminates option (II). In paragraphs 2 and 3, we learn that Loren has taken great care not to do anything that would show that he had more money than he should. This supports option (III). Therefore (C) is the correct answer.
6) D
In paragraph 4, we learn that Loren has been taking $9000 every other week. Since we know that there are 52 weeks in a year, this means he takes $9000 26 times a year for 8 years. $9000 x 26 x 8 = $1,872,000. Therefore (D) is correct.
$9000 is the amount Loren steals every other week, not the total amount. Therefore (A) is incorrect. In paragraph 10 the passage says Loren “had close to $2 million collecting interest in the bank and had managed to pull it off, unscathed.” However, the question asks how much Loren would have stolen if he had taken the money for exactly eight years. $2 million is a close
estimate but there is a more exact answer. We can multiply the amount Loren takes each week by the number of weeks he steals and get the exact number, which is not $2 million. Therefore (B) is incorrect. Loren would have stolen $72,000 if he stole $9000 once a year for 8 years. However, Loren took the money every other week for 8 years. Therefore (C) is incorrect.
7) B
In paragraph 5, Loren reasons, “Nine thousand dollars every other week is just a drop in the bucket to these rich folks.” This is an informal, conversational phrase. It does not mean literally what is says, because money is not a liquid that can be a drop in the bucket. It is a figurative, or idiomatic, expression. Therefore (B) is correct.
The passage does not provide information to support choices (A), (C) and
(D). Therefore they are incorrect.
8) C
myriad (noun): a vast, indefinite number.
In paragraph 4, the passage says, “No one, he was sure, had ever scrutinized the myriad of transactions which had taken place – dozens, sometimes hundreds of small transfers that amounted to $9,000 every other week.” Since Loren was making “dozens, sometimes hundreds” of transfers that added up to $9000, it should be understood that there were a lot of transfers and that the transfer amounts were always different. We can infer from this information that myriad is a large, indefinite number. A multitude is a very large number.
Therefore, multitude is a good synonym for myriad. Therefore (C) is correct.
An overflow is an excess beyond capacity. Since the transfers were not subject to a capacity, or limit, overflow is not a good synonym for myriad. Therefore (A) is incorrect. A number is an amount. Number is not the best synonym for myriad, because although myriad is a number, it is a large, indefinite number. A number could be small or large. Therefore (B) is incorrect. A shortage happens when there is not enough of something. There was no required number of transfers here, so shortage is not a good synonym for myriad. Therefore (D) is incorrect.
9) A
In this passage, we learn that Loren has been stealing money from bank customers for years. We learn all the things Loren has done not to get caught. Near the end of the story, Loren gets on a plane headed to Caribbean. It appears Loren has succeeded in his plan. Then, as Loren leaves the airplane, thinking he is home free, he hears someone say, “Hey, Loren, not so fast.” This line serves as the climax, because it serves as the moment in which the intensity of the story culminates and the conflict gets most complicated.
Therefore (A) is correct.
The story does not provide information to support choices (B), (C) or (D). Therefore they are incorrect.
10) B
In paragraph 7, we learn that Loren believes “the bank was fraught with idiots; no one was capable of unraveling his master plan. No – it was too late for
them.” We can infer from this information that Loren did not think his fellow bank employees were very intelligent or capable. He thought he was better
and smarter than them. Someone who has a disdainful attitude thinks that thinks he or she is better than others. Therefore (B) is correct.
A benevolent attitude is a kindly, friendly attitude. Loren thought his coworkers were idiots. This is not kindly or friendly. Therefore (A) is incorrect. If Loren’s attitude were accepting, Loren would be happy with his coworkers as they are. Loren is not happy with his coworkers. Again, he thinks they are idiots. Therefore (C) is incorrect. If Loren’s attitude were fearful, he would be afraid of his coworkers. Loren thinks his coworkers cannot possibly catch on to what he is doing. He is not afraid of them. Therefore (D) is incorrect.
11) D
In paragraph 6, the passage says, “In Loren’s mind, it was the greedy people who got caught doing these things. It was the ostentatious ones, too. It was the guys who built multi-million dollar homes with 24 rooms on a pauper’s salary.” Since ostentatious people build “multi-million dollar homes with 24 rooms,” we can infer that ostentatious means extravagant and showy. Modest means humble and unpretentious. Humble and unpretentious is the opposite of extravagant and showy, so modest is a good antonym for ostentatious.
Therefore (D) is the correct answer.
Lavish means extravagant, so lavish is a synonym for ostentatious, not an antonym. Therefore (A) is incorrect. Conspicuous means obvious. Obvious is different than extravagant and showy, but not opposite, so conspicuous is not an antonym for ostentatious. Therefore (B) is incorrect. Childish means like a child. Doing something like a child is different than being extravagant and showy, but not opposite. Therefore, childish is not an antonym for ostentatious. Therefore (C) is incorrect.
12) A
fraught (adjective): filled with.
In paragraph 7 the passage says that Loren thought “the bank was
fraught with idiots; no one was capable of unraveling his master plan.” Loren thought no one at the bank could catch him, because he thinks the other bank workers are all idiots. Since the bank is filled with bank workers, we can infer from this information that fraught means filled with. Therefore (A) is correct.
If the bank were short on idiots, there would be a lot of smart people there. If there were a lot of smart people there, Loren would be afraid of being caught. Therefore (B) is incorrect. Loren thought that “no one” could unravel his plan. This means he thought that none of the workers, not just the leaders, could catch him. Although he likely thought the leaders were idiots, he also thought everyone else was an idiot. Therefore, we know that fraught with does not mean lead by. Therefore (C) is incorrect. Loren is talking about the bank workers, not the visitors, when he thinks the bank is fraught with idiots.
Therefore, fraught with does not mean visited by. Therefore (D) is incorrect.
Read the text.
The Tale of the Three Brothers
Part 1
There were once three brothers who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure.
And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travellers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic, and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him.
So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother.
Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead.
And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.
Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way and they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had, and admiring Death’s gifts.
In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination.
J.K. Rowling, The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Match the words in bold to their synonyms.
1. wade through
2. treacherous
3. cunning
4. evade
5. fashioned
6. enable
a. tricky
b. avoid
c. to walk with effort through a substance, such as water
d. designed
e. allow
f. smart
Group work. What do you think will happen next? Where will they go? Who will they meet? How will they use their magical prizes? Write your story (90-100 words).
The first brother travelled on for a week or more, and reaching a distant village, he sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible.
That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden, upon his bed. The thief took the wand and, for good measure, slit the oldest brother’s throat.
And so Death took the first brother for his own.
Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry before her untimely death appeared at once before him.
Yet she was silent and cold, separated from him as though by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally, the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as truly to join her.
And so Death took the second brother for his own.
But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son.
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