Determine Figurative Word Meanings Practice Test
•8 QuestionsRead the passage.
(Paragraph 1) Carlos practiced his lines for the class play in the hallway. He mouthed each word, trying to keep his voice steady. Behind the curtain in the auditorium, students whispered and giggled.
(Paragraph 2) When the teacher called, “Places!” Carlos’s hands turned cold. The stage lights waited ahead, bright and serious.
(Paragraph 3) His fear was a shadow that followed him to the edge of the stage. But he remembered his sister’s advice: look at one friendly face first. Carlos spotted Keisha in the front row, smiling.
(Paragraph 4) He stepped into the light and began. The first sentence came out clear. The shadow didn’t disappear, but it grew smaller as Carlos kept going.
In paragraph 3, the author writes, “His fear was a shadow.” What does the author mean by this?
Read the passage.
(Paragraph 1) Carlos practiced his lines for the class play in the hallway. He mouthed each word, trying to keep his voice steady. Behind the curtain in the auditorium, students whispered and giggled.
(Paragraph 2) When the teacher called, “Places!” Carlos’s hands turned cold. The stage lights waited ahead, bright and serious.
(Paragraph 3) His fear was a shadow that followed him to the edge of the stage. But he remembered his sister’s advice: look at one friendly face first. Carlos spotted Keisha in the front row, smiling.
(Paragraph 4) He stepped into the light and began. The first sentence came out clear. The shadow didn’t disappear, but it grew smaller as Carlos kept going.
In paragraph 3, the author writes, “His fear was a shadow.” What does the author mean by this?