Student Instructions

Name __________________________________

apostrophe-itis

Restaurants are often guilty of apostrophe-itis or quotation mark-itis. In other words, someone writing the menus or the signs for the restaurant goes a little nuts with apostrophes and/or quotation marks and uses them inappropriately.

Here are the only times apostrophes should be used:

•To show that letters have been left out, as in wouldn’t (would not with the “o” left out).

•To show that something “belongs” to someone, as in Casey’s smile or Bart’s father Homer.

Generally, there are only three times when quotation marks should be used:

•To note someone’s exact words. (Sherianne said, “I do not like green eggs and ham.”)

•To show that something doesn’t quite mean what the words say it means. For example, look at the second item about apostrophes, above. The word “belongs” is in quotation marks. That’s because of the example used. We don’t usually think of a father as “belonging” to a boy. The quotation marks show that the word is used in a special sense. Quotation marks should be used sparingly for this purpose.

•To show that a title is the name of a song, short story, or other fairly short item.

That’s it. Now, using that information, correct each of the items from restaurant signs and menus, below.

1.Special for the day: spinach omelets with “cheddar” cheese.

2.Satisfaction is “guaranteed.” We want all customer’s to leave the Phish Pharm happy.

3.Sign in the kitchen: Each waiter’s apron must be clean. Each waiter must wash hands after leaving the “rest room.” Each waiters pants must be black. Mrs. Gomez says, “Any waiter whose shirt is not sparkling white and freshly ironed will be sent home to change.”

A man

went to the doctor

with a carrot in one ear and a

banana in the other. “What’s wrong with me?” he asked.

The doctor replied, “You’re not eating properly.”

served on a bed of romaine lettuce leave’s, with our signature on the side. Waiters sing That’s Amoré while you eat.

the customer who isnt satisfied is a customer who deserves better. Palace we do our “best” to please everyone.

order is treated with the utmost in care. Our chef says, We to come back again and again.

Chef Anthonys creations are the talk of the town.

8.Weve got pie’s, cookie’s, doughnut’s, cake’s, and other goodies that will make your mouth “water.”

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Student Instructions

Name __________________________________

Daily Bread

the page, think of an appropriate word that begins with the	is done for you.
For each category listed along the side of	letter at the top of the page. The first item
				blueberry
				pie
				Desserts	Vegetables	Verbs related to cooking or eating	Six-letter food names	Things people normally use in sandwiches	Three-syllable food names	Words that might describe a food

“If you have two loaves of bread, sell one and buy a lily.”

—Chinese proverb

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Student Instructions

Name __________________________________

Jell-O Sculpture Contest

Below are some useful words to know—even the rather weird sounding ones. Using a dictionary for help, match the words on the left with the definitions on the right.

_____ 1.	magnanimous	a.	a loud burst of laughter
_____ 2.	guffaw	b.	high-minded, noble, generous
_____ 3.	mollycoddled	c.	astonished
_____ 4.	flabbergasted	d.	in a haphazard manner
_____ 5.	willy-nilly	e.	to trick or deceive by underhanded methods
_____ 6.	flippant	f.	a silly, scatterbrained person
_____ 7.	lollygagging	g.	to pamper or overprotect
_____ 8.	flibbertigibbet	h.	to waste time, dawdle
_____ 9.	inconsolable	i.	disrespectful, not serious
_____ 10.	bamboozle	j.	brokenhearted

Read the story that follows and fill in the blanks with the appropriate words (or form of the words) from the list above. One word is used twice, the rest of them only once.

Nancy raced out of her apartment and down the sidewalk, running (1) ___________________

around pedestrians as she tried to hale a cab. There would be no (2)_________________________

on this particular day. She was running late. She needed to defend her championship title at the

World Jell-O Sculpture Contest. Twenty years ago, the judges had been completely amazed when

they saw her creation: a perfect replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, all made of lemon Jell-O.

Everyone wondered how she got the Jell-O to lean over like that without falling. She never

revealed her secret.

“Vegetables are a must on a

diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.”

—Jim Davis

secrets of Jell-O sculpture, so other contestants saw her as very

, except when it came to the Leaning Tower. Every year for

a new Leaning Tower, and every year for 20 years, she had

Nancy’s cab stopped in front of the hotel, and she quickly paid the

As she walked briskly into the hotel lobby, a judge looked at her

. “It is only one minute until contest time,” he chided. “You

are almost late.”

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Student Instructions

Name __________________________________

Jell-O Sculpture Contest, Continued

“So what? You can’t start without me. I’m the champion. I’m the best! So get out of my way!” The judge’s mouth fell open. He was (4) _________________________ at Nancy’s

(5)_________________________ response. “Maybe we have let her get away with too much over the years,” he thought. “We have chosen her for newspaper interviews, put her up in the best hotel rooms, and treated her to meals at four-star restaurants, just because she is the champion. Maybe we have (6)______________________ her too much.” He frowned as Nancy brushed past him and went to her stove and refrigerator. She began boiling water and opening 27 packets of Jell-O.

Meanwhile, another contestant, Betsy Billings, was wandering here and there around the contest area. She talked to other contestants, sat down to do a Sudoku puzzle, jumped up and opened a packet of Jell-O, sliced some bananas, and then went over to make a few calls on her cell phone. She giggled a lot. She wandered around a lot. She talked a lot. Nancy rolled her eyes and thought, “What a (7)_________________________ . She’s certainly not going to be any competition.”

Calmly, Nancy created her twenty-first Leaning Tower of Pisa. Next to her, Clyde Culpepper was laboring intensely on his replica of a quarter horse. It was pathetic looking. Nancy pointed at it and (8)_________________________ . Nancy really wasn’t a very nice person.

When the time limit was up, the judges began making their rounds. A crowd gathered around Betsy Billings’ table. She had created a model of the Empire State Building, complete with King Kong on top and crowds of people on the streets below.

The judges didn’t hesitate. Betsy won the grand championship.

“No one told me I could make people,” cried Nancy. “I’ve been (9)_____________________ .” She burst into tears and was (10) ____________________________________.

Betsy Billings just smiled. She wasn’t such a (11)_______________________ after all.

Bonus. Write your own story using all 10 of the vocabulary words.

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