Read this excerpt from "The treasure of Lemon Brown by Walter Dean Myers
(Greg Ridley is inside an old abandoned apartment house when he meets Lemon Brown.)
1. "You ain't one of them bad boys looking for my treasure, is you?" Lemon Brown cocked his head to one side and squinted one eye. "Because I told you I got me a razor."
2. "I'm not looking for your treasure," Greg answered, smiling. "If you have one."
3. "What you mean, If I have one," Lemon Brown said. "Every man got a treasure. You don't know that, you must be a fool!"
4 "Sure," Greg said as he sat on the soda and put one the over the back. "What do you have, gold coins?"
5. "Don't worry non about what I got," Lemon Brown said. "You know who I am?"
6 "You told me your name was orange or lemon or something like that."
7 "Lemon Brown," the old man said pulling back his shoulders as he did so, they used to call me Sweet Lemon Brown."
8. "Sweet Lemon?" Greg asked
9. "Yes sir. Sweet Lemon Brown. They used to say I sung the blues so sweet that if I sang at a funeral, the dead would commence to rocking with the beat. Used to travel all of Mississippi and as far as Louisiana to Georgia. You mean you ain't ever heard of sweet Lemon Brown?"
10 "Afraid not," "What....what happened to you"
11. "Hard times, boy. Hard times after a poor man. One day I got tired, sat down to rest a spell and felt a tap on my shoulder. Hard times caught up to me.
12. “Sorry about that.”
13. “What you doing here? How come you don’t go in home when the rain come? Rain don’t bother you young folks none.”
14. “Just didn’t.” Greg looked away.
15. “I used to have a knotty-headed boy just like you.” Lemon Brown had half walked, half shuffled back to the corner and sat down against the wall. “Had them big eyes like you got. I used to call them moon eyes. Look into them moon eyes and see anything you want.”
16. “How come you gave up singing the blues?” Greg asked.
17. “Didn’t give it up,” Lemon Brown said. “You don’t give up the blues; they give you up. After a while you do good for yourself, and it ain’t nothing but foolishness singing about how hard you got it. Ain’t that right?”
18. “I guess so.”
19. “What’s that noise?” Lemon Brown asked, suddenly sitting upright.
20.Greg listened, and he heard a noise outside. He looked at Lemon Brown and saw the old man pointing toward the window.
21. Greg went to the window and saw three men, neighborhood thugs, on the stoop. One was carrying a length of pipe. Greg looked back toward Lemon Brown, who moved quietly across the room to the window. The old man looked out, then beckoned frantically for Greg to follow him. For a moment Greg couldn’t move. The he found himself following Lemon Brown into the hallway and up the darkened stairs. Greg followed as closely as he could. The reached the top of the stairs, and Greg felt Lemon Brown’s hand first lying on his shoulder, then probing down his arm until he took Greg’s hand into his own as they crouched in the darkness.
22. “They’s bad men,” Lemon Brown whispered. His breath was warm against Greg’s skin.
23. There was a footstep on the stairs, and the beam from the flashlight danced crazily along the peeling wallpaper. Greg held his breath. There was another step and a loud crashing noise as the man banged the pipe against the wooden banister. Greg could feel his temples throb as the man slowly neared them. Greg thought about the pipe, wondering what he would do when the man reached them—what he could do.
24.Then Lemon Brown released his hand and moved toward the top of the stairs. Greg looked around and saw stairs going up to the next floor. He tried waving to Lemon Brown, hoping the old man would see him in the dim light and follow him to the next floor. Maybe, Greg thought, the man wouldn’t follow them up there. Suddenly, though, Lemon Brown stood at the top of the stairs, both arms raised high above his head.
25. “There he is!” A voice cried from below.
26. “Throw down your money, old man, so I won’t have to bash your head in!”
27. Lemon Brown didn’t move. Greg felt himself near panic. The steps came closer, and still Lemon Brown didn’t move. He was an eerie sight, a bundle of rags standing at the top of the stairs, his shadow on the wall looming over him. Maybe, the thought came to Greg, the scene could be even eerier.
28. Greg wet his lips, put his hands to his mouth and tried to make a Greg wet his lips, put his hands to his mouth and tried to make a and howled as evenly as he could.
29. “What’s that?”
30.As Greg howled, the light moved away from Lemon Brown, but not before Greg saw him hurl his body down the stairs at the men who had come to take his treasure. There was a crashing noise, and then footsteps. A rush of warm air came in as the downstairs door opened, then there was only an ominous silence.
31. Greg stood on the landing. He listened, and after a while there was another sound on the staircase.
32. “Mr. Brown?” he called.
33. “Yeah, it’s me,” came the answer. “I got their flashlight.”
34. Greg exhaled in relief as Lemon Brown made his way slowly back up the stairs.
35. “You OK?”
36. “Few bumps and bruises,” Lemon Brown said.
1. Part A Paragraph 21 is most likely which part of the plot
exposition
rising action
climax***
resolution
Part B Which details in Paragraph 21 support the answer to the previous question?
The tension is building
New characters are being introduced
The conflict is being resolved
This is the story's high point***
Use the excerpt to answer the questions
2. Part A Which of the following words could be used to describe Lemon Brown based on what he says in paragraph 15?
sentimental***
angry
forgetful
brave
Part B Which details from paragraph 15 support the answer to the previous question?
Lemon Brown walks away from Greg and sits against the wall
Lemon Brown calls Greg "knotty-headed"
Lemon Brown remembers his son affectionately***
Lemon Brown expresses his love for the moon
4. Read Lemon Brown and Greg conversation in paragraphs 1-3. Which possible theme is the author developing?
You must fight to keep your treasures
Everyone treasures something***
Sharing possessions is important
People ask foolish questions
5. Which question does the adjective shimmering answer in the following sentence
Randy and I are observing the shimmering night sky with our new telescope?
Whose?
How many?
Which kind?
What kind?***
the correct answers are (in this order)
B
A
A
C
D
B
B
C
C
D
#1 part A B
part B A
#2 part A A
part B C
#3 D
#4 B
#5 B
#6 C
#7 C
#8 D
KERIA IS RIGHT!!!!
I GOT 100%
from connexus
Keria is right 100%
for connexions academy the answers are
1. b,a
2. a, c
3. d
4. b
5. b
6. c
7. c
8. d