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Action Verbs and Verbs of Being
With Pirates...

Reading Level 3

Directions: Read each of the following sentences. Determine which word is functioning as a verb. Circle your answer.

1. 	Captain Pete boldly adjusted the curved brim of his tricorn hat.	

a)	curved	b)	brim	
c)	adjusted	d)	boldly	

2. 	Rex the Red was exhausted after a long day of forcing treacherous dogs to walk the plank at the point of his cutlass.	

a)	was	b)	treacherous	
c)	exhausted	d)	long	

3. 	Captain Carly called the pirate in the purple shirt a "beardless yeller belly," whereupon he ran away in tears.	

a)	tears	b)	purple	
c)	in	d)	called	

4. 	Mary May Moonshot never missed a target with her silver barreled flintlock musket.	

a)	Moonshot	b)	target	
c)	missed	d)	never	

5. 	First Mate Murphy left his spare hook in the crow's nest of his pirate ship, The Rotten Barnacle.	

a)	hook	b)	left	
c)	spare	d)	nest	

6. 	The onion and liverwurst soup tasted watery and bitter to the pirate with the peg leg.	

a)	tasted	b)	to	
c)	peg leg	d)	bitter	

7. 	First Mate Murphy was ashamed when Captain Carly learned that he didn't know the steps to the popular pirate dance.	

a)	ashamed	b)	was	
c)	dance	d)	steps	

8. 	Rex the Red and the pirate with the purple shirt were lonesome and weepy during the slow dances at Captain Carly's party.	

a)	dances	b)	lonesome	
c)	weepy	d)	were	

9. 	Mary May Moonshot takes leadership classes at the community college.	

a)	leadership	b)	at	
c)	takes	d)	college	

10. 	First Mate Murphy heard the Captain's orders, but he felt that opening the dance floor with a slow song would subdue the men's jovial spirits.	

a)	orders	b)	heard	
c)	dance	d)	jovial	

11. 	Rex the Red is the scourge of the Seven Seas and the mere mention of his name saturates pantaloons of men and children alike.	

a)	is	b)	of	
c)	scourge	d)	alike	

12. 	Captain Carly loves the taste of fresh ham and root beer from a filthy stein.	

a)	taste	b)	from	
c)	loves	d)	fresh	

13. 	Rex the Red had bits of food in the twists of his beard and Mary May Moonshot found it appetizing.	

a)	had	b)	twists	
c)	in	d)	bits	

14. 	First Mate Murphy was weary of Captain Carly's tiresomerants about the slovenly demeanor of the men.	

a)	rants	b)	about	
c)	weary	d)	was	

15. 	The pirate with the purple shirt saw Captain Carly's signal from the abandoned lighthouse.	

a)	signal	b)	saw	
c)	lighthouse	d)	from	

16. 	The violent sea almost tossed the wobbly First Mate Murphy overboard in the midst of the storm.	

a)	wobbly	b)	storm	
c)	tossed	d)	violent	

17. 	I am upset about missing the sensational sword fight between Captain Carly and the pirate with the red shirt.	

a)	between	b)	am	
c)	fight	d)	upset	

18. 	The pirate with the peg leg foolishly gave Captain Carly a whip for her birthday, much to the chagrin of the other pirates.	

a)	for	b)	whip	
c)	birthday	d)	gave	

19. 	The smell of fresh ham tempted Captain Carly to board the cruise liner as it passed her own vessel.	

a)	smell	b)	tempted	
c)	cruise	d)	fresh	

20. 	Mary May Moonshot thought that the lyrics to the pirate shanty were too explicit to sing at a party where men with childlike minds were present.	

a)	present	b)	shanty	
c)	thought	d)	too	

21. 	The pirate in the purple shirt swung from the sail of the cruise liner with reckless abandon and a knife in his teeth.	

a)	sail	b)	reckless 	
c)	cruise	d)	swung	

22. 	First Mate Murphy used his hook to hang Christmas decorations along the ship's hull while singing "Jingle Bell Rock."	

a)	used	b)	hook	
c)	decorations	d)	to	

23. 	First Mate Murphy and Mary May Moonshot were bloated with ham and pineapple from Captain Carly's party.	

a)	were	b)	bloated	
c)	party	d)	with	

24. 	Captain Carly ordered the scurvy dogs to polish her boots before she ran them through with her cutlass.	

a)	before	b)	scurvy	
c)	ordered	d)	cutlass	

25. 	According to the legend, Captain Carly lost her parrot in the belly of a whale, but some suspect that the parrot may have ended up in Captain Carly's belly.	

a)	parrot	b)	lost	
c)	belly	d)	in	

26. 	It was hilarious when First Mate Murphy slipped on the ship's deck and landed with his back on the ship's wheel.	

a)	deck	b)	hilarious	
c)	was	d)	when	

27. 	The crew seemed uncomfortable when Captain Carly brought up the subject of bathing.	

a)	crew	b)	uncomfortable	
c)	subject	d)	seemed	

28. 	Pete the Pale and Rex the Red are stranded on a tiny deserted island with nothing to eat but one another.	

a)	another	b)	on	
c)	deserted	d)	are	

29. 	Some say that Captain Carly is the best dressed pirate in the Caribbean, and those who say otherwise reside in Davy Jones' locker.	

a)	dressed	b)	is	
c)	best	d)	in	

30. 	Early in the morning, First Mate Murphy fishes off the side of the boat with a special hook designed for him by the ship's tinker.	

a)	fishes	b)	special	
c)	hook	d)	off