Question

figurative language
excerpt from schools
by gordon korman
i was on my way to homeroom when mr.
kasigi, the assistant principal, flagged me
down. standing beside him was the
strangest - looking kid id ever seen. he was
tall and skinny as a rake. i swear hed never
been anywhere near a barbershop in his life.
his long blond flyaway hair stretched all the
way down to the middle of his back. his
clothes looked like pajamas - homemade
pajamas. and his shoes were something out
of a social studies project on the pioneer
days. they were sandals woven out of
cornhusks, and rustled when he moved.
kasigi introduced us. \zachary powers, meet
capricorn anderson. cap just transferred
here.\ yeah, from the planet krypton. \show
him to locker 743 and make sure he gets to
homeroom.\ he rushed off in the direction of
the office.
the simile \skinny as a rake\ shows that
the boy is -
a tall and thin
b extremely skinny
c the size of a rake
d unhealthy and sick
what does the narrator mean when he thinks \yeah,
from the planet krypton\ in the passage?
a the boy transferred from a weird place, such as
another planet.
b the boy seems to be similar to superman and must
be from krypton.
c the boy is dressed in an unusual way that looks like
alien.
d the boy is so different from everyone at school that
the seems to be from another planet.
short answer: what character traits does the narrator
possess?

Explanation:

For the first question, the simile "skinny as a rake" emphasizes extreme thinness. "Tall and thin" (A) only mentions two aspects but doesn't capture the extreme nature as well as "extremely skinny" (B). "The size of a rake" (C) is a literal mis - interpretation, and "unhealthy and sick" (D) is an over - interpretation not directly supported by the simile.
For the second question, the narrator's comment "Yeah, from the planet Krypton" is a hyperbolic way of saying the boy is very different. Option A takes it too literally. Option B's connection to Superman is not relevant. Option C focuses only on clothing, while option D captures the overall sense of the boy being so different that he seems from another planet.

Answer:

1. B. extremely skinny
2. D. The boy is so different from everyone at school that he seems to be from another planet.