Excerpt from "I Am Malala"
1 My mother and the women would gather on our veranda at the back of the house and cook and laugh and talk about new clothes, jewelry, and other ladies in the neighborhood, while my father and the men would sit in the men's guest room and drink tea and talk politics.
2 I would often wander away from the children's games, tip-toe through the women's quarters, and join the men. That, it seemed to me, was where something exciting and important was happening. I didn't know what it was, exactly, and I certainly didn't understand the politics, but I felt a pull to the weighty world of the men. I would sit at my father's feet and drink in the conversation. I loved to hear the men debate politics. But mostly I loved sitting among them, hypnotized by this talk of the big world beyond our valley.
3 Eventually I'd leave the room and linger awhile among the women. The sights and sounds in their world were different. There were gentle, confiding whispers. Tinkling laughter sometimes. Raucous, uproarious laughter sometimes. But most stunning of all: The women's headscarves and veils were gone. Their long dark hair and pretty faces—made up with lipstick and henna—were lovely to see.
4 I had seen these women nearly every day of my life observing the code of purdah, where they cover themselves in public. Some, like my mother, simply draped scarves over their faces; this is called niqab. But others wore burqas, long, flowing black robes that covered the head and face, so people could not even see their eyes. Some went so far as to wear black gloves and socks so that not a bit of skin was showing. I'd seen the wives be required to walk a few paces behind their husbands. I'd seen the women be forced to lower their gaze when they encountered a man. And I'd seen the older girls who'd been our playmates disappear behind veils as soon as they became teenagers.
5 But to see these women chatting casually—their faces radiant with freedom—was to see a whole new world. Living under wraps seemed so unfair—and uncomfortable.
6 From an early age, I told my parents that no matter what other girls did, I would never cover my face like that. My face was my identity. My mother, who is quite devout and traditional, was shocked. Our relatives thought I was very bold. (Some said rude.) But my father said I could do as I wished. "Malala will live as free as a bird," he told everyone.
From Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick, I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World, Young Readers Edition. Copyright 2014 by Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick
Part A: What is the main idea of paragraph 1?
Part B: Which detail best supports the answer to Part A?
Part A: What is the main idea of paragraph 2?
Part B: Which detail best supports the answer to Part A?
Part A: What is the main idea of paragraph 3?
Part B: Which detail best supports the answer to Part A?
Part A: What is the main idea of paragraph 4?
Part B: Which detail best supports the answer to Part A?
Part A: What is the main idea of paragraph 5?
Part B: Which detail best supports the answer to Part A?
Part A: What is the main idea of paragraph 6?
Part B: Which detail best supports the answer to Part A?
What is the main idea of the passage?
Which statement best summarizes paragraphs 1 through 3?
Which statement best summarizes paragraphs 4 through 6?
Which detail would be the least important to include in a summary of the passage?
Which of the following choices is the best summary for "I Am Malala"?
Read a student’s paraphrase of paragraph 2.
Malala is interested in the men’s conversations and wants to be part of them.
Which sentence best completes the paraphrase?
Which sentence best paraphrases:
“I would often wander away from the children's games…”
Which sentence best paraphrases:
“I felt a pull to the weighty world of the men.”
Read a student’s paraphrase of paragraph 3.
The women act differently when they are not in public.
Which sentence best completes the paraphrase?
Which detail would be the least important to include in a paraphrase of paragraph 4?
Which sentence best paraphrases:
“The women’s headscarves and veils were gone.”
Read a student’s paraphrase of paragraph 6.
Malala chooses not to follow the tradition of covering her face.
Which sentence best completes the paraphrase?
Which sentence best paraphrases:
“I’d seen the women be forced to lower their gaze…”
Which detail would be the least important to include in a paraphrase of paragraph 5?
Which sentence best paraphrases:
“Living under wraps seemed so unfair—and uncomfortable.”