VOCABULARY ASSIGNMENT 9 The Kite Runner
Part I: Using Prior Knowledge and Contextual Clues
Below are the sentences in which the vocabulary words appear in the text. Read the sentence.
Use any clues you can find in the sentence combined with your prior knowledge, and write what
you think the underlined words mean on the lines provided.
1.
You had a right to know. So did Hassan. I know it doesn't absolve anyone of
anything, but the Kabul we lived in in those days was a strange world, one in which
some things mattered more than truth.
2.
_________________________________________________________________
So he took it out on you instead--Amir, the socially legitimate half, the half that
represented the riches he had inherited and the sin-with-impunity privileges that
came with them.
3.
_________________________________________________________________
Sometimes, I think everything he did, feeding the poor on the streets, building the
orphanage, giving money to friends in need, it was all his way of redeeming himself.
And that, I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good.
4.
_________________________________________________________________
"My boys are young, but they are very shrewd. They know how to take care of their
mothers and sisters."
5.
_________________________________________________________________
Now, as the boy's pain soaked through my shirt, I saw that a kinship had taken root
between us too. What had happened in that room with Assef had irrevocably bound
us.
6.
_________________________________________________________________
I had found the boy in squalid conditions, wasting away in an orphanage.
7.
_________________________________________________________________
In truth, I didn't remember the last time I had laid my forehead to the ground in
prayer. Then I did remember: the day Dr. Armani gave Baba his prognosis.
8.
_________________________________________________________________
"I'm familiar with the version of the situation you gave Mr. Andrews," he said. His
cheeks dimpled with a coy smile. He turned to Sohrab. "This must be the young
man who's causing all the trouble," he said in Farsi.
9.
_________________________________________________________________
"Well, it's like this. In the aftermath of a disaster, whether it be natural or man-made-and the Taliban are a disaster, Amir, believe me--it's always difficult to ascertain
that a child is an orphan."
_________________________________________________________________
Copyright 2008 Teacher's Pet Publications, Inc. 81
10.
"Finally, adoption agencies routinely send staff members to evaluate the child's
milieu, and no reasonable agency is going to send an agent to Afghanistan."
_________________________________________________________________
82 Copyright 2008 Teacher's Pet Publications, Inc.
The Kite Runner Vocabulary Worksheet Assignment 9 Continued
Part II: Determining the Meaning -- Match the vocabulary words to their dictionary definitions.
____ 1.
ABSOLVE
A. Freed from guilt or blame
____ 2.
IMPUNITY
B. Affectedly modest or shy especially in a playful or provocative
way
____ 3.
REDEMPTION
C. An environment or a setting; surroundings
____ 4.
SHREWD
D. Foul and repulsive, as from lack of care or cleanliness;
neglected and filthy
____ 5.
IRREVOCABLY
E. A prediction of the probable course and outcome of a disease
____ 6.
SQUALID
F. To make up for; make amends for
____ 7.
PROGNOSIS
G. To find out for certain
____ 8.
COY
H. Characterized by keen awareness, sharp intelligence, and often
a sense of the practical
____ 9.
ASCERTAIN
I. Not to be revoked or recalled; unable to be repealed or
annulled; unalterable
____ 10.
MILIEU
J. Exemption from punishment, penalty, or harm
Copyright 2008 Teacher's Pet Publications, Inc. 83