"In the Sky"

Passage from "Hans Pfaal"

 

...a vast crowd of people, for purposes not specifically mentioned, were assembled in the great square of the Exchange in the well-conditioned city of Rotterdam. The day was warm—unusually so for the season...

The multitude were in no bad humor at being now and then besprinkled with friendly showers of momentary duration, that fell from large white masses of cloud which checkered in a fitful manner the blue vault of the firmament. Nevertheless, about noon, a slight but remarkable agitation became apparent in the assembly: the clattering of ten thousand tongues succeeded; and, in an instant afterward, ten thousand faces were upturned toward the heavens, ten thousand pipes descended simultaneously from the corners of ten thousand mouths, and a shout, which could be compared to nothing but the roaring of Niagara, resounded long, loudly, and furiously...

The origin of this hubbub soon became sufficiently evident. From behind the huge bulk of one of those sharply-defined masses of cloud already mentioned, was seen slowly to emerge into an open area of blue space, a queer, heterogeneous, but apparently solid substance, so oddly shaped, so whimsically put together, as not to be in any manner comprehended, and never to be sufficiently admired...

What could it be?...

No one knew, no one could imagine...

In the meantime, however, lower and still lower toward the goodly city, came the object of so much curiosity... In a very few minutes it arrived near enough to be accurately discerned. It appeared to be—yes! it was undoubtedly a species of balloon; but surely no such balloon had ever been seen in Rotterdam before. For who, let me ask, ever heard of a balloon manufactured entirely of dirty newspapers?

 

Reading Comprehension Questions

1)     The second paragraph above begins, "The multitude were in no bad humor of being besprinkled with friendly showers of momentary duration..."  What is meant by this statement?

a.      the people were angry as they waited to take a quick shower

b.      the mob grew annoyed when a violent thunderstorm began

c.      the crowd was happy to be cooled by the occasional raindrops

d.      the group was angry at first, but everyone's spirits started to improve

 

2)     Until the end of the above passage, most of the people in the square probably imagined that they might be looking at which of the following?

a.      a ghost

b.      a spaceship

c.      a sea creature

d.      a werewolf

 

3)     The above passage is the beginning of a story.  The plot line for the rest of the story most likely focuses on which of the following?

a.      the details of how to build a balloon out of newspapers

b.      the mystery of who built the newspaper balloon and why

c.      the relief of the people after seeing the newspaper balloon

d.      the return to "life as usual" after the newspaper balloon lands

 

4)     In the second paragraph of the above passage, the words "ten thousand..." are used four different times by the author.  What is the main purpose of this repetition?

a.      to show how everyone reacted in the same way to the object

b.      to show how many different opinions there were about the object

c.      to show the number of objects that were seen in the sky

d.      to show the distance between the object and the people

 

5)     In the above passage, the author's writing style in the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs can best be described as which of the following?

a.      succinct

b.      verbose

c.      brief

d.      concise

 

6)     In the above passage, the 3rd paragraph begins "The origin of this hubbub..."  Which of the following words means the same as "hubbub" in this context?

a.      location

b.      device

c.      question

d.      commotion

 

Answer Key

1)     The second paragraph above begins, "The multitude were in no bad humor of being besprinkled with friendly showers of momentary duration..."  What is meant by this statement?

a.      the people were angry as they waited to take a quick shower

b.      the mob grew annoyed when a violent thunderstorm began

c.      the crowd was happy to be cooled by the occasional raindrops

d.      the group was angry at first, but everyone's spirits started to improve

 

2)     Until the end of the above passage, most of the people in the square probably imagined that they might be looking at which of the following?

a.      a ghost

b.     a spaceship

c.      a sea creature

d.      a werewolf

 

3)     The above passage is the beginning of a story.  The plot line for the rest of the story most likely focuses on which of the following?

a.      the details of how to build a balloon out of newspapers

b.     the mystery of who built the newspaper balloon and why

c.      the relief of the people after seeing the newspaper balloon

d.      the return to "life as usual" after the newspaper balloon lands

 

4)     In the second paragraph of the above passage, the words "ten thousand..." are used four different times by the author.  What is the main purpose of this repetition?

a.      to show how everyone reacted in the same way to the object

b.      to show how many different opinions there were about the object

c.      to show the number of objects that were seen in the sky

d.      to show the distance between the object and the people

 

5)     In the above passage, the author's writing style in the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs can best be described as which of the following?

a.      succinct

b.     verbose

c.      brief

d.      concise

 

1)     In the above passage, the 3rd paragraph begins "The origin of this hubbub..."  Which of the following words means the same as "hubbub" in this context?

a.      location

b.      device

c.      question

d.     commotion