Ba-room, ba-room, ba-room, baripity, baripity,
baripity, baripity. Good. His dad had the pickup going. He
could get up now. Jess slid out of bed and into his overalls.
He didn't worry about a shirt because once he began
running he would be hot as popping grease even if the
morning air was chill, or shoes because the bottoms of his
feet were by now as tough as his worn-out sneakers.
"Where you going, Jess?" May Belle lifted herself
up sleepily from the double bed where she and Joyce Ann
slept.
"Sh." He warned. The walls were thin. Momma
would he mad as flies in a fruit jar if they woke her up this
time of day.
He patted May Belle's hair and yanked the
twisted sheet up to her small chin. "Just over the cow field,"
he whispered. May Belle smiled and snuggled down under
the sheet.
"Gonna run?"
"Maybe."
Of course he was going to run. He had gotten up
early every day all summer to run. He figured if he worked
at it – and Lord, had he worked – he could be the fastest
runner in the fifth grade when school opened up. He had to
be the fastest – not one of the fastest or next to the fastest,
but the fastest. The very best.
(Excerpt from Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson. Available on
https://www.e-reading.club/bookreader.php/135126/Patterson_-
_Bridge_to_Terabithia.pdf)
“Not one of the fastest, but the fastest.” The word
THE is pronounced differently depending on the
context. Choose the option that shows the right
pronunciation of each underlined word.