The whole fifth grade was engaged in silent reading. The students were reading their books while Mrs. Wessex, the teacher, sat at her desk in the front of the room, reading hers. Her book was a huge one titled Crime and Punishment. Fifteen minutes into the period, a large spitball landed on the middle of the page Mrs. Wessex was reading. She gasped — audibly. As the class looked up, the teacher peered down at the page to see what had landed. When she lifted her face, it was the color of chalk.

An uneasy murmur fluttered through the room.

Life in the fifth grade was never good when Mrs. Wessex was angry. Lately, her anger seemed to erupt daily. A tall, big-boned woman with large hands, she had graying, curly hair and wrinkles on her face. That day she was wearing a baggy blue dress that was also wrinkled.

“Nasty,” was the way one student described her. No one disagreed.

She contemplated the class like a surgeon deciding where to cut. “Gregory Martinez!” she called. “Come here this instant!” Which of the following describes how students feel about Mrs. Wessex?

They think she is mean and easily upset.

They think she is angry because she doesn’t like to teach.

They think she is sad, which makes her easily upset.

They think she is mean because she doesn’t sleep enough.