Paola and Paul have been married nearly 8 years.
They have had many good times together.
They have traveled the world together.
They have had two little girls together.
They have started a chocolate shop together.
Lately, Paola and Paul have been fighting a lot.
Business at the chocolate shop is slow. Paul thinks it is Paola’s fault.
They are having trouble with money. Paola thinks Paul spends too much.
One evening, Paola decides to visit her mom for advice
Paola knocks on her mom’s door. Paola’s mom is happy. It is a surprise visit.
She quickly sees, however, that something is wrong.
Paola looks sad and tired. “Paola, what is the matter?” Mom asks.
Paola tells her mom all that is going on.
Mom smiles gently. She rubs Paola’s back. Then she tells Paola a story.
“Your father and I have a wonderful marriage. But we don’t always get along.
There was a time when things were very bad between us. We fought all the time.
You were just a little girl. One day we watched you playing on the floor. We knew
we wanted to make our marriage work. We loved you very much. We loved each
other very much. We knew we had to work harder on our marriage.”
“What did you do?” asks Paola.
“We agreed to talk more. We planned a special night each week for the two of
us. We went to see someone who helps people with their marriages,” Mom says.
“It was worth it. I can’t imagine not having your father in my life.”
Paola begins to feel better. “You are right,” she says. “What Paul and I have is
worth working for.”
Questions:
1) Paola wants to see her mom to
A. hear a story
B. get advice
C. make her mom happy
D. get a back rub
2) The talk takes place at
A. Paola’s mom's house
B. a restaurant
C. Paola's house
D. the chocolate shop
Questions:
3) What good times have Paola and Paul had?
I. They have had children together.
II. They have started a business together.
III. They have done extensive traveling together.
A. I only
B. I and II
C. II and III
D. I, II, and III
4) In discussing her own problems, what idea
does Mom give Paola about fixing her
problems with Paul?
I. Paola can do something special with Paul .
II. Paola can inform the children about the
problems she is having with Paul.
III. Paola can avoid talking to Paul when she is feeling upset.
A. I only
B. I and II
C. II and III
D. I, II, and III
5) How long have Paul and Paola been married?
A. 6 years
B. 7 years
C. 8 years
D. 10 years
6) At the end of the talk with her Mom, Paola
seems
A. puzzled
B. convinced
C. doubtful
D. surprised
7) Why does Mom seem to know how Paola feels?
A. She is a good guesser.
B. She has been told by Paul.
C. She and Paola have discussed this problem before.
D. She has experienced the same problem in her own marriage.
8) What kind of relationship does Paola seem to have with her Mom?
I. open
II. loving
III. tense
A. I only
B. I and II
C. II and III
D. I, II, and III.
9) What does the reader not learn in this story?
A. what Paul has to say
B. why Paola visits her mom
C. how many kids Paola and Paul have
D. what kind of business they have
10) What lesson does Paola learn?
A. Two children is too many.
B. Marriage should always be easy.
C. Eight years of marriage is too long.
D. Even a good marriage can sometimes
be hard work.
Answers and Explanations
1) B
In paragraph 3, the story says, “One evening, Paola decides to visit her mom
for advice.” We can understand from this information that the reason Paola
wants to see her mom is to get advice. Therefore (B) is correct.
After Paola tells her mom what is going on, Mom tells her about a time when
Paola’s mom and dad were having trouble in their marriage. While the story
does help Paola decide what to do, she did not go to visit her mother in order
to hear the story. Therefore (A) is incorrect. In paragraph 3, Paola’s mom is
happy to see her, but Paola did not visit her mom just to make her happy.
Therefore (C) is incorrect. In paragraph 6, Paola’s mother rubs her back in
order to show her sympathy. However, Paola did not visit her mother just to
get a back rub. Therefore (D) is incorrect.
2) A
In paragraph 3, the story says, ‘One evening, Paola decides to visit her mom
for advice. Paola knocks on her mom’s door.” After this, Paola tells her mom
what is happening and they talk about it. We can understand from this
information that Paola has gone to her mom’s house to get some advice and
they have a conversation there. Therefore (A) is correct.
The story does not contain information to support choices (B), (C) and (D).
Therefore they are incorrect.
3) D
In paragraph 1, we learn “Paola and Paul have been married nearly 8 years.
They have had many good times together.” Then, the story lists some of the
good times Paola and Paul have had together. We learn “they have had two
little girls together.” This means that Paola and Paul have a family together.
This supports option (I). We learn that “they have started a chocolate shop
together.” We can understand from this that Paola and Paul have a business
together. This supports option (II). We learn “they have traveled the world
together.” Since traveling the world is extensive travel, this supports option
(III). Therefore (D) is correct.
4) A
In the middle of the story, Paola goes to see her mom for some advice about
how to handle her problems with Paul. Mom tells Paola how she dealt with a
rough time she had in her marriage to Paola’s father. Paola asks Mom what
they did. In paragraph 9, Mom says, ““We agreed to talk more. We planned a
special night each week for the two of us. We went to see someone who
helps people with their marriages.” We can understand from this information
that Paola’s mom is encouraging Paola to take similar action to help her
marriage to Paul. This means Paola gets the idea to do something special
with Paul each week. This supports option (I). The story does not provide
information to support options (II) or (III). Therefore (A) is correct.
5) B
In paragraph one, the story says, “Paola and Paul have been married nearly
8 years.” Since they have been married nearly 8 years, they have been
married 7 years, almost 8 years. Therefore (B) is correct.
Since Paola and Paul have been married nearly 8 years, they have not been
married for 8 years yet. Therefore (C) is incorrect. The story does not provide
information to support choices (A) and (D). Therefore they are incorrect.
6) B
Near the end of the story, Paola’s mother tells her what she and Paola’s
father did to improve their relationship when they were having trouble. Then,
in the last paragraph, “Paola begins to feel better. ‘You are right,’ she says.
‘What Paul and I have is worth working for.’” Convinced means made sure
of. Since Paola thinks that her mom is right, we can understand from this
information that Paola has become convinced to do what she can to improve
her marriage. Therefore (B) is correct.
Puzzled means confused. When Paola arrives at her mom’s house, she is
troubled and possibly confused, but after talking to Mom, Paola feels better
and wants to improve her marriage. This means that Payola knows what she
should do next. She is not puzzled anymore. Therefore (A) is incorrect.
Doubtful means uncertain. Again, her talk with Mom has helped Paola be
certain about what she must do. She is not doubtful of this. Therefore (C) is
incorrect. Surprised means startled by something unexpected. Paola wants to
hear what her mom did to help her marriage, but Paola does not seem
surprised at what her mom tells her. Therefore (D) is incorrect.
7) D
In the middle of the story, Paola goes to her mom and tells her mom about
the troubles she is having with Paul. Mom tells her that there was a time
when her relationship with Paola’s dad was in trouble. Mom tells Paola what
they did to improve their relationship. Since Mom has had a similar
experience to Paola’s, Mom knows how Paola feels. Therefore (D) is correct.
The story does not contain information to support choices (A), (B) and (C).
Therefore they are incorrect.
8) B
When Paola is having trouble with her marriage, she turns to her mom for
help. Since Paola feels comfortable telling her mother about her personal
problems, they have an open relationship. This supports option (I). When
Paola tells her mother about her troubles, Mom comforts Paola by rubbing her
back. Paola’s mother also tells Payola that one of the reasons she and
Paola’s father made their marriage work was because, “We loved you very
much.” We can understand from this information that Payola and her mom
have a loving relationship. This supports option (II). There is nothing in the
story that suggests that Paola and her mom have a tense relationship. This
eliminates option (III). Therefore (B) is correct.
9) A
In the story, we learn that Paul is Paola’s husband and that they have been
having marriage troubles. However, the entire story is about Paola visiting her
mom to get advice. We do not learn anything about what Paul thinks or has to say. Therefore (A) is correct.
We know that Paola visits her mom to get advice about her marriage, so we
do learn why Paola visits Mom. Therefore (B) is incorrect. At the beginning of
the story, we learn that Paola and Paul “have two little girls together.” Since
this tells us how many children they have, (C) is incorrect. At the beginning of
the story we learn that Paola and Paul “have started a chocolate shop
together. This tells us what kind of business they have. Therefore (D) is
incorrect.
10)D
Paola is having a hard time in her marriage. When she talks to her mom, her
mom tells her about her own experience. Paola’s mom tells her that when her
marriage to Paola’s father was difficult, they worked on it and made it better.
This convinces Paola to work on her own marriage. Since Paola has realized
that she must work on her marriage, she has realized that even a good
marriage can be hard work. Therefore (D) is correct.
The story does not contain information to support choices (A), (B) and (C).
Therefore they are incorrect.