Second Grade
Worksheets
Ken's Resolution
"Grandpa," said Ken, "I have a problem."
"A problem, eh? Perhaps I can help," said Grandpa. He put down the newspaper he was reading.
"It is about a big word," said Ken slowly. "I think it is rev- revolution. What does it mean?"
"Wow," said Grandpa. "That is a five dollar word."
"But what does it mean?" asked Ken a second time.
A revolution is like a war," said Grandpa. "It is when some people in a country want to change who runs it. A few people will try to make a new government without an election. Why do you want to know?"
"I heard a man talking on TV. He was talking about New Year's Revolutions," said Ken.
Grandpa raised the newspaper again. He could not stifle his laughs very well. His hands and body shook with quiet laughter. It made the paper rattle.
Ken pulled the paper aside to talk to his grandfather. "Why are you laughing, Grandpa?" he asked. "Did I say something funny?"
Grandpa nodded with a smile. "You misheard the word," he said at last. "It was not a New Year's Revolution. It's a New Year's Resolution."
"They sound almost the same to me," said Ken.
"They do sound almost the same," said Grandpa. "They have very different meanings, though." Grandpa folded up the newspaper. Then he placed it in a rack next to his chair.
"The main part of the word resolution means to resolve. That is, to make up your mind," said Grandpa.
"What do we have to make up our minds about for New Year's?" asked Ken.
