Na m e : ___ Date: _
My name is Hillary Gordon, and my parents bought me tickets to the circus for my
12th birthday. “I’m going to the circus, going to the circus!” My brother Bill threatened
to gag me with his smelly socks if I said the word “circus” one more time.
On Saturday, my family eagerly piled into the car and headed downtown to the
Convention Center to the circus. Bill was fussing that he had to sit next to
Auntie Lupe and her old dog Snickers. Snickers suffers from incontinence—
Auntie Lupe always carries lots of towels. Bill is such a complainer.
As we entered the circus, I could smell the pungent aroma of popcorn and candy. When we
arrived at our seats, I asked my father to buy some cotton candy. Before Dad could pass it
down the aisle to me, Bill grabbed a huge handful of my pink cotton candy and shoved it
into his mouth. He then took my paper cone and kept poking poor Snickers in the back of
the head. Auntie Lupe didn’t bring enough towels to clean up the consequences of Bill’s
pestering. The people behind us changed seats.
My favorite act was the Amazing Armando Trapeze Family. They could swing and flip and
catch each other’s toes in mid-air. Bill said he could swallow fire while swinging from the
livingroom drapes and promised to prove it when we got home. I bet Bill $2 he couldn’t get
three feet off the ground without singeing his eyebrows or being walloped with Mother’s
broom. He took my bet.
Let’s say that the evening’s events topped the big top—six fire trucks responded to a
neighbor’s call of a flying torch in our living room. When it was over, Bill was hairless and
in loads of trouble.Directions: Read the story and answer the following questions.- How would you describe Hillary? Use details from the story to support your description.
- Why didn’t Bill want to sit next to Snickers? __
- Why did the people behind the Gordon family change seats? ___
- Use three adjectives, not in the story, to describe Bill. __
- What’s so amazing about the Amazing Armando Trapeze Family? ___
- Another word for “big top” is
- Do you think Hillary won the bet with Bill? Why?
- What did Hillary think was more exciting than the circus?