Literature

Meet the Author

Cindy Kauffman lives in

Green, Ohio, and writes

weekly humor articles. More

than 200 of her columns

have been published. She

is married and has four

children.

Author Search For more

about Cindy Kauffman, go to

http://www.glencoe.com.

READING WORKSHOP 1 • Paraphrasing and Summarizing

Before You Read Cyber Chitchat

Vocabulary Preview

monitor (MON ih tur) v. to watch over or check on (p. 546) The author

decided to monitor her daughter’s electronic conversation.

decipher (dih SY fur) v. to figure out the meaning of (p. 546) The daugh-

ter’s spelling was hard to decipher.

atrocious (uh TROH shus) adj. very bad; terrible; horrible (p. 547)

The mother thinks her daughter’s spelling is atrocious.

poised (poyzd) adj. in a position of being ready (p. 548) Her hands were

poised to begin typing.

Flash Cards Make a flash card for each vocabulary word. Write the word

on one side of the card and the definition on the other. When you have

finished, use your flash cards to review vocabulary with a partner.

English Language Coach

Base Words Sometimes a base word changes a little when a suffix is

added to it. For example if a word ends with -y, the y will usually change

to i when you attach a suffix. You’ll be able to recognize base words much

more easily if you don’t expect them all to look exactly like they do when

they’re standing alone.

For example, the word easily combines the base word easy and the suffix

-ly. Argument combines the base word argue and the suffix -ment.

In the list below, all the base words have been underlined.

happiness = happy + ness (the y becomes an i)

beginning = begin + ing (the last letter is doubled: an n is added)

judgment = judge + ment (the e is dropped)

funny = fun + y (the last letter is doubled: an n is added)

pianist = piano + ist (the o is dropped)

Small Group Work In the list below, all the base words are spelled

a little bit differently than they would be if they had no suffixes. Can you

figure out the base word?

batter loveliness denial inquiry inspiration

Cindy

Kauffman

544 UNIT 5 Is Progress Always Good?

Courtesy Cindy Kauffman

Objectives (pp. 544–549)

Reading Paraphrase and summarize

Literature Identify literary elements:

author’s craft

Vocabulary Identify word structure:

base words

544-545U5BYR_845477.indd 544544-545U5BYR_845477.indd 544 3/9/07 2:58:13 PM3/9/07 2:58:13 PM