Question

they went off to the air closet, where a wind sucked them like brown leaves up the flue to their slumber rooms.
george hadley walked through the singing glade and picked up something that lay in the corner near where the lions had been. he walked slowly back to his wife.
\what is that?\ she asked.
\an old wallet of mine,\ he said.
he showed it to her. the smell of hot grass was on it and the smell of a lion. there were drops of saliva on it, it had been chewed, and there were blood smears on both sides.

1. whats one simile in this section? what two things are being compared? (level 2)
2. what do peter and wendy do when their father asks them about africa and the nursery? why? (level 2)
3. what do they all see when the open the door to the nursery? (level 1)
4. how does george react to what his children have done to the nursery? how do you know? (level 2)
5. how do the children get to their bedroom? (level 1)
6. what does george hadley find in the nursery? (level 1)
7. make a prediction. what do you think will happen next? why? use evidence (level 2)

Explanation:

1. A simile uses "like" or "as" to compare two things. The text's first sentence contains this device.
2. This question refers to context outside the provided excerpt (from Ray Bradbury's The Veldt): Peter and Wendy deny the nursery shows an African veldt, lie about changing it, and get defensive. They do this because they are obsessed with the nursery and want to keep using it, as it reflects their violent, unregulated desires.
3. This question refers to context outside the provided excerpt: They see an African veldt (sun-baked savanna) with lions feeding on a carcass, along with the sounds and smells of the African wilderness.
4. This question refers to context outside the provided excerpt: George reacts with growing anger and concern. We know because he threatens to shut down the nursery permanently, as he realizes it is fostering his children's dark impulses (evidenced by the lion-chewed wallet with blood smears).
5. From the provided excerpt, the children are sucked by a wind up the flue to their slumber rooms (bedrooms) from the air closet.
6. From the provided excerpt, George Hadley finds his old wallet in the nursery. It has hot grass/lion scent, lion saliva, chew marks, and blood smears on it.
7. Based on the excerpt's clues (violent nursery imagery, children's attachment to it), a likely prediction is that the children will act on their violent impulses toward their parents. The bloodied, chewed wallet suggests the lions have already been "programmed" to harm the parents, and the children's obsession with the veldt means they will use the nursery to act out their aggression.

Answer:

1. Simile: "a wind sucked them like brown leaves up the flue to their slumber rooms". Comparison: The children (the "them" in the sentence) are being compared to brown leaves.
2. Peter and Wendy lie, deny the nursery shows Africa, and get defensive. They do this to keep using the nursery, which indulges their violent, uncontrolled urges.
3. They see an African veldt with lions feeding on a carcass, plus the associated sights, sounds, and smells of the savanna.
4. George reacts with anger and concern, and decides to shut down the nursery. We know this because he recognizes the nursery is enabling his children's dark impulses, as shown by the damaged, bloodied wallet.
5. A wind sucks them up the flue from the air closet to their bedroom.
6. George Hadley finds his old wallet, which has the smell of hot grass and lions, lion saliva, chew marks, and blood smears on both sides.
7. Prediction: The children will use the nursery's lions to harm their parents. Evidence: The bloodied, chewed wallet shows the nursery's lions are already being primed to attack the parents, and the children's intense attachment to the violent veldt suggests they will act on their aggressive impulses to keep the nursery operational.