Choose the most appropriate meaning/phrasal verb/word/verb for the sentence.

The teacher read the riot act to the noisy class.

"Read the riot act" is an idiom meaning to give someone a very stern warning or to scold them seriously so they stop misbehaving.

Picture this: a teacher standing in front of a noisy class, raising her voice, and saying, "If you don't stop talking right now, there will be serious consequences!" — that's exactly what "reading the riot act" looks like!

This directly matches Option 3: Scolded them firmly ✅

Why not the others?

• Option 1: Giving extra homework is a punishment, but that's not what this idiom means.
• Option 2: The class was noisy — praising them makes no sense here.
• Option 4: Singing a poem has nothing to do with dealing with a noisy class.

Fun Fact: This phrase comes from a real law in England called the Riot Act (1714), which was read aloud to crowds warning them to leave or face punishment. Today, we simply use it to mean scolding someone firmly.