Page 107-110
Story
Page 107 – 110
Page 107
Bradley lay on his bed, on his stomach. He chewed the end of his pencil as he looked hopelessly at the arithmetic book, opened in front of him.
Next to the book was a piece of paper. In the upper right-hand corner he had written:
Bradley Chalkers
Homework
Arithmetic
Page 43
Red Hill School
Room 12
Mrs. Ebbel’s class
Last seat, last row
Black eye
His handwriting, which was messy anyhow, was made worse by the fact that he wrote with a dull pencil on top of a soft bed.
He had stayed in Mrs. Ebbel’s class as long as he could after the bell rang.
“Bradley, it’s time to go home,” Mrs. Ebbel finally said to him.
He looked outside, unsure if Jeff and his gang of bullies were waiting for him. “Um, I have a question,” he said.
Page 108
Mrs. Ebbel eyed him suspiciously. “What kind of question?”
He tried to figure out what kind of question he had. “An asking question.”
“I see,” said Mrs. Ebbel.
“May I ask it?” he asked.
“O-kay,” she said reluctantly.
He asked his question. “What page is the homework on?”
“The homework? Page forty-three.”
He wrote “43” on the top of his sneaker so he wouldn’t forget, then took his arithmetic book and stepped outside. Jeff and his friends were playing basketball. He ran home.
Now he looked hopelessly at Page 3, shook his head, and sighed.
Question 1.
What is three-fourths of two-thirds?
It was the most impossible question he’d ever seen. His mind wandered.
“Hey, Bradley, what are you doing?” asked Ronnie.
“Homework.”
“What’s homework?” she asked.
“It’s work you do at home.”
“Is that supposed to be funny?” she asked.
“No, really. That’s what they do at school. They give you work to do at home and they call it homework.”
“You’ve never done it before,” said Ronnie.
“I’m doing it for Carla. Now leave me alone so I can concentrate.”
Page 109
Question 1. What is three-fourths of two-thirds?
“Why are you doing it for Carla?” Ronnie asked.
He sighed. “Okay, I’ll tell you, but you can’t tell anyone.”
Ronnie promised not to tell.
“We’re in love.”
“Really?” exclaimed Ronnie. “How do you know?”
“She kissed me.”
“Oooh, that means she loves you!” said Ronnie. “Are you going to marry her?”
“Maybe, when I’m older. First, I have to do my homework.”
“I’m going to marry Bartholomew,” said Ronnie.
“I know,” said Bradley. “Now let me do my homework.”
Question 1. What is three-fourths of two-thirds?
“Hey, Bradley, what’s going on?” asked Bartholomew.
“Leave him alone,” said Ronnie. “He’s trying to do his homework. He can’t concentrate when you’re talking to him.”
“Maybe I can help,” said Bartholomew. “What’s the problem?”
“What is three-fourths of two-thirds?” Bradley asked.
“Three-fourths of two-thirds,” Bartholomew repeated.
“That’s a tough problem all right. Three-fourths of two-thirds. Let’s see. You divide four into – no, you multiply two times, no…”
“Of means divide,” said the donkey. “Like if you…”
Page 110
“…take half of something it means you divide by two. You divide three by two and four by three.”
Bradley started to write that down.
“No, of means times,” said the lion. “You have to multiply everything.”
“First you have to reverse the nominators,” said the fox.
“You don’t reverse, you inverse,” corrected the mother cocker spaniel.
“I think you have to find a common denumerator,” said the elephant.
“Not for multiplication,” said the hippopotamus. “That’s only for addition.”
“Multiplication is the same as addition,” said the fox,
“only faster.”
“You cancel out the threes,” said the kangaroo. “You always cancel out threes.”
“You multiply the threes,” said the lion.
Pg107-110 for lesson ends here
The End
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