Name_________________________________________________ Date____________________
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London
Vocabulary Builder
Using the Latin Root -pendThe Latin root -pend- means “to hang or extend” and appears in many English words.
A. DIRECTIONS: Read the list of prefixes and their meanings. Then read each sentence and
explain how the prefix and the root -pend- influence the meaning of the underlined word.
de- = “down”
ap- = “near; toward”
sus- = “below; under”
1. Whether we head up to the cabin depends upon the weather.
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2. The definition of the new terms can be found in the appendix at the back of the book.
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3. Let’s suspend the bird feeder from that branch.
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Using the Word List
appendage
conflagration
conjectural
peremptorily
unwonted
B. DIRECTIONS: Each question consists of a related pair of words in CAPITAL LETTERS,
followed by four lettered pairs of words. Choose the lettered pair that best expresses a
relationship similar to that expressed in the numbered pair and circle the letter of your choice.
1. CAMPFIRE : CONFLAGRATION::
A. car : truck
B. spark : match
C. flurry : blizzard
D. sun : desert
2. CONJECTURAL : CERTAIN ::
A. guess : fact
B. generous : charitable
C. delicious : tasty
D. shifting : fixed
3. COMMANDS : PEREMPTORILY::
A. awakes : retires
B. sings : ballads
C. moves : forward
D. dances : gracefully
4. UNWONTED : SURPRISING ::
A. undesired : hating
B. cruel : frightening
C. sparse : meager
D. routine : unusual
5. APPENDAGE : LEG ::
A. lost : found
B. tree : branch
C. fruit : apple
D. result : cause
Grade 11, Unit 3
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ANSWERS
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London
Vocabulary Builder
A. Sample Answers
1. Depend means to hang down or from something else. Going to the cabin hangs upon the
weather.
2. Appendix is a section of a book that extends from the end of the book. Special words are often
put in the appendix at the end.
3. To suspend something is to hang something from something else. You might suspend, or hang,
a bird feeder from a branch.
B. 1. C; 2. D; 3. D; 4. C 5. C
Grade 11, Unit 3
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