Making Nice by Matt Sumell

Author:Matt Sumell [Sumell, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Henry Holt
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

2. The author suggests that traditional views of human morality are flawed because they

A) do not allow for differences in age and gender.

B) do not account for change in an individual.

C) fail to arrive at definitive answers.

D) are depressing.

3. With which of the following statements would the author be most likely to agree?

A) Women are great.

B) Women’s feet are great.

C) Women are often proud of things they shouldn’t be proud of.

D) Politeness is a part of good behavior.

E) It depends.

II

There was a traveling animal show in the middle of the Sun Vet Mall. One part was a chicken-wire petting zoo with goats and piglets and hay—I liked the piglets—another was a pony ride, which, according to the black marker written on a white paper plate and scotch-taped to the fence, cost five tickets. The man standing at the gate verified that: “Five tickets.” My mother poked around in her coat pockets and pulled out a used tea bag from the one on the right—my brother and myself and the man didn’t know what to make of that—then put it back in her pocket and pulled her lady wallet out of the left one. She snapped it open and took out a five-dollar bill, then four singles, the three of us watching her pushing coins and cards and receipts around with her index finger, digging now, and then Wah-lah! she said, pulling out another single. I looked at my brother and nodded.

She stood there tidying the six bills, the fiver either on the very bottom or the very top, uncrinkling them with a game of tug-of-war that her right hand always lost. Then, like it had only just occurred to her, which it might have but I don’t think so, she asked the man if she could skip the ticket thing and just pay him the ten dollars in cash. He said no, he needed the tickets. I was nervous then about what my mother’s reaction would be, but she said OK, and we walked over to the ticket table, a tiny square with a tiny lady sitting behind it. My mother smiled and handed her the ten dollars cash, and the little lady sitting behind it tore ten tickets off the red roll, all of them still connected like paper sausages. My mother took them and said thank-you, counted and tore, handed my brother and me each a string of five. As we walked back toward the gate and the man beside it, I looked at my half of the red tickets, and each of them had TICKET printed on it and a number. I was excited.

My brother went first, and he sat on the pony while it walked. And then it was my turn, and I sat on the pony while it walked. Afterward, we agreed that it was the best thing we’d ever done, and my mom said, Woo! and clapped as we headed in the direction of a small crowd.

Curious what they were crowding around, we squeezed

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