INSTITUTO . READING EXAM LATINOAMERICANO COMPROMETIDOS CON LA EDUCACION 15" GRADE TRIMESTER I School year: 2020- 2021 Date: Name: Section: List number: I. Read the story carefully. Grandpa‘s Horse Grandpa lives on a farm. He has many ~~, animals on his farm, but he likes his horse the best. His horse is brown with strong legs and a long tail. Grandpa likes to ride on his horse every morning. Then he combs his horse on the back and gives him a hug. II. Choose the correct answer 1. N w ww es n A How many sentences can you find? a) 10 b)7 os . What is the title of the story? a) The Horse and The Farm b) Grandpa’sHorse cc) The Brown Horse . What animal likes grandpa the best? a) horse b) cow c) duck Describe the horse: a) black and short tail b) strong legs and long tail c) strong legs and big teeth . Grandpa likes to ride on his horse... a) every morning b) every afternoon —__c) every night Where does grandpa live? a) ona garden b) on a farm c) on a house Setting of the story: a) a lake b) a house c) afarm Characters in the story: a) farm and grandpa b) grandpa and horse c) horse and farmSkill- Reading Comprehension Name, What Kind of Weather is That? Story By: Andrew Frinkle The sky is blue. The sun is hot. There are no clouds. What kind of weather is that? It’s sunny. The sky is blue. There are lots of clouds. What kind of weather is that? SSE It’s cloudy. The sky is grey. It is windy. Water is falling. What kind of weather is that? It’s rainy. The sky is dark. There is lightning. There is rain. What kind of weather is that? It’s stormy. The sky is cloudy. Small, cold flakes are falling. What kind of weather is that? It’s snowy. The air is moving fast. My hair is blowing. What kind of weather is that? It’s windy. a © [Link]Oyo The Weber Cyle Fill in the blanks below with words from this box: ‘evaporation sunny precipitate condenses evaporates clouds vapor atmosphere heating heavy oceans lakes droplets plants hail glaciers runoff snow cycle crystals rain rivers streams Evaporation On a warm, _sunny. day, water in a glass of water seems to slowly disappear. This is because the energy from the sun is _heating. the water up and turning the liquid water into water __vapor. This process is called _evaporation, . When the water _evaporates___, it becomes an invisible gas in the _atmosphere. Evaporation takes places all over the earth, but especially in the _oceans, and __lakes, where there is lots of water Condensation As the water vapor rises, it cools of f and _condenses. into water —droplets, . If the water vapor becomes extremely cold, it will form ice crystals. instead of water droplets. As the water droplets or ice crystals grow bigger and more numerous, they form __clouds. Precipitation If water droplets or ice crystals become too _heavy. , they can't stay in the They __precipitate____. Water droplets precipitate as _rain and ice crystals precipitate as _snow. . Sometimes, the rain freezes before it hits the earth and precipitates as __hail, Runoff This precipitation gathers into _streams, and —rivers, that flow down to the lakes and oceans. This is called __runoff, . Not all of the water makes it back to the oceans and lakes right away. Some of it is used by animals and __plants. ‘Some is frozen into glaciers Eventually, the animals and plants breathe the water out and the glaciers melt, releasing the water back into the water _cycle. © 2006 [Link]!.comThe Clown Come and see Pat's father inthe circus. Pat's dad is a funny clown. Sometimes he rides a car. Sometimes a seal rides with him. Children laugh and clap. 1. Whom will you come to see? 2. Where will you see Pat's father? 3. What does Pat's father do? 4. What does he ride? 5. What rides with Pat's father sometimes? 6. What will the children do?b AWELLUses ee ome Reading Comprehension lal Bh barat Fe dai at a a para 2. owe Chadd get the bag cupechan? () Ma ie gets fine DtHe cupnoie, Yes. He gets the big cupcohe. CO. Bie ie ges een enaecduies ener, Seve cetoingorouericey TL! esName: Reading Comprehension - Main Idea and Details “Let's Go to The Moon" A. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS - Choose the letter next to the correct answer. 1, What is a Main Idea? a, The main idea tells how things are alike and different. b. The main idea is to put story events in order. c. The main idea is the most important idea about a topic. 2. What is the main idea of the section called, “The Flight"? a. the trip to the moon b. how to walk on the moon c. taking of f ina rocket to the moon 3. What is the main idea of the section called, “Moon Rocks"? a. riding on the moon b. collecting moon rocks c. showing moon rocks to people on Earth 4. What is “Let's Go to The Moon" all about? a. the moon is far away from Earth b. taking a trip to the moon c. the moon is a strange and fun place SaLIVEWORKSHEETSName: Date: Grade 2 Reading Comprehension Worksheet Cobweb By Morion Rego Read the story below. In our garage, a spider makes a cobweb. It goes in and out, around and around. Every morning, the cobweb is there. In the morning, we run to the car. “Come ‘on, Mum!” We say. “We are late!” Mum comes out and runs into the web. “Oh! Not again!” She says. “The cobweb is there every morning,” we say. “Now the spider has to make another one.” “That spider has to learn to make a cobweb in another place,” says Mum, In the morning, Mum runs into the new cobweb. “That spider has to learn,” she says. “She's done it again!” We say. “Mum has to learn, too!” Answer each question. 1, Where does spider make a cobweb? 2. What does happen with Mum? 3. “The cobweb is there every a a. morning —b. afternoon 4, What do they say about the Mum?Name: Date: Grade 2 Reading Comprehension Worksheet What If....? Read the story below. Nandi sat on the blue steps of her house. She was wondering. beans made you jump really high? You could get to school in one big leap! What if houses were rocket ships? Your family could go holidays to the moon! What if the . € 2 pictures in books flew around your head when Dad oe yr ¢ read to you? What if my pink gumboots were magical? | could run faster than my big brother! “Nandi, what are you doing?”Asked Nandi’s big brother. Nandi sat back on the step with a big smile on her face. “Just wondering,” she said. Answer each question. 1. What Nandi was wondering about the jelly beans? XN . What do you wonder when Dad read to you? . Why did Nandi think that her pink gumboots were magical? » B . “Nandi what are you doing?” Who said that? a. Mum b. Big brother . Dad " ». What if the flowers could talk? What would they say? Copyright [Link]Name: Date: Grade 2 Reading Comprehension Worksheet Sindi and the Moon By Zanele Dlamini Read the story below. Sindi was a very lively little girl who loves to sing and dance. She lived with her parents and her Gogo. One evening Sindi’s mother said, “Sindi,” “After the Christmas holidays, you are going to school.” She was happy that she would get to learn how to read and write. Sindi started to wonder what school would really be like. The night was very hot. She tiptoed out- side. The moon was big and bright. Sindi spoke to the moon.”Dear moon,” she said, “I’m going to school tomorrow, what will it be like?” “Will they let me sing and dance?” A gentle voice spoke to her. “Dear little Sindi, school is a wonderful place. You will learn many things: to read and write, to sing and dance and to make many friends.” The time came for school. Mama held Sindi’s hand as they approached the school. By lunch time, Sindi loved everything about school. Answer each question. 1. When will Sindi go to school? 2. Why was Sindi so happy? 3. What did Sindi ask the moon? 4, What did the moon tell her about the school? 5, By lunch time, Sindi loved everything about school. a. True b. False Copyright [Link]Leng Distance Communication People have clways needed to communicate with eoch other, Tf people are close enough to see and hear each other, they con talk. If they are for apart it is more difficult. The way we communicate over distance is changing all the time, someone far away you had to send a letter. It could take Two hundred years ago, if you wanted to communicate with < months. One hundred years age, you could talk te someone hundreds of miles away by telephone, Alexander Graham ry Bell was a teacher of deaf children. He worked out how electricity could carry the human voice, In 1876, Bell * " invented the telephone, People could now talk directly to © each other, even if they were some distance apart. Ss Today, we can communicate with people all over the world in lots af different ways. We con talk on mobile phones, send & a faxes, read text messages and send emails, As well os using words, we can send moving pictures, sounds, and music. Questions: 1, How did people communicate in the past? 2. Wha was Alexander Graham Bell? 3. What did he discover? 4. How did the invention of the telephone change hew people could communicate? 5. What ways of communicating do we have teday? 6. In what woys are today's methods of communication better than these in the past? 7. What do you think communication means?Skill- Reading Comprehension Name. Mannerless Marty Story By: Andrew Frinkle Marty had no manners. He acted like a pig. He was rude, loud, and gross. Marty was trouble, and he thought it was funny. At the table, he burped after each bite. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He sneezed on the tablecloth. He chewed with his mouth open. He slurped his soup. In school, he interrupted constantly. He took people’s stuff without asking, ruined it, and then returned it. He tore pages in books and picked his teeth with them. He made rude comments without apologizing. On the bus he wiped his nose on the seats, He rubbed dirty hands on his neighbors. He snored loudly, even if he wasn’t really asleep. He took his shoes off and put them up on the next seat. At home, he hogged the bathroom, but wouldn’t flush. He drank "Qe? DD out of the milk jug. He didn’t wipe his feet before he came in, soheleft 0 9’ mud everywhere. He tore out all the good parts of the newspaper. ‘ Marty didn’t get invited to birthday parties. He had to clean up his room on weekends instead of playing. No one wanted to sit near him on the bus, He made people uncomfortable. He missed out on a lot of chances. Even his grandmother didn’t want him to visit! Mannerless Marty got tired of being alone. He decided to clean up his act. Eventually, he made a few friends and a few good habits. Always remember your manners! (© [Link]Reading Comprehension Test Name: 3rd Grade Date: April » 2021 Teacher: Miss Miryam Jacobi Read the text and answer the questions below Community Workers - Text This is my neighbor Richard. He’s a firefighter. He works in the fire station and stops fires in the community. He likes to drive the red fire truCk in emergencies. In his free time, Richard is a clown. He likes to wear a Colorful wig and long shoes. He makes people be happy because it’s exciting. 1. Who is Richard? 3. Where does he work? a. a neighbor a. in the fire b. a fire b. in the fire truck Cc. a Circus C. in the fire station 2. What does he do? 4. In his free time, a. He wears a wig. Richard Isa... b. He stops fires a. firefighter c. He works at school. beclown c. happy Answer the question. Do you like texe? Why? SaLIVEWORKSHEETSSkill- Reading Comprehension Name. Table Manners Story By: Andrew Frinkle Thomas burped loudly at the table. Father chuckled. Grandma shook her head disapprovingly. “Thomas!” His mother growled, eying her husband grumpily as well. She'd quite had enough of this behavior, and decided to finally fix it. He burped again, and then he wiped his mouth on the table cloth. “Man, | am so charming!” He chuckled. “Thomas, unless you want to do the laundry AND you want to start eating out of a dog bowl, | suggest you find some manners.” “Like what?” Thomas groaned, leaning on the table with both elbows. “Elbows off the table.” Thomas lifted his elbows and fidgeted with his napkin. “The napkin goes on your lap,” Mother ordered, “and no eating with your fingers.” Thomas sighed and did those two things, too. Peeking out of the corner of his eye at his mom, he grabbed his spoon and started shoveling food into his mouth with his face about two inches off the plate. Speed-eating was fun. He liked to see how much he could get into his mouth at once. “Whoa, there! | had no idea this was a feeding trough.” Mother laughed. “Try using a fork, sitting up, and closing your mouth when you chew. If you can’t get the fork to your mouth without spilling the food on your lap, you are overloading it.” “Then it takes forever to eat, and | want to go watch TV.” Thomas whined. “You will eat properly, and you will stay and have a discussion with us until we are all done with our meals. This is not a drive-through. Eat slowly and neatly, and then help me clear the dishes.” “But...” Thomas began to protest. “Dog bowl?” Mother offered. “No, thank you.” Thomas said softly, which made Grandma smile. Mother smiled as Thomas lifted a carefully-loaded fork of food to his lips and chewed with his mouth closed. “Excellent. You might still make someone a good husband.” Father cleared his throat and ate neatly, too. He didn’t get a compliment, though. © [Link]Skill- Reading Comprehension Name. Where can | see Wedges? Story By: Andrew Frinkle Jane was hunting for shapes yet again! This time, she was looking for wedges. She had to find wedges all around her. Where were they hiding? Could she find a lot of them or just a few? She understood that a wedge was like a triangle. It had a pointy end and two flat sides, but the last side was curved. She’d seen this shape many of times in foods... Pizza looked like a triangle, but the crust was rounded. Slices of pies and cakes were the same way. When she had a snack at home, her mother cut the oranges into wedges. These were wedges, but where else could she find wedges? She sat looking at the clock and thought about wedges. Then, she realized that she saw a wedge on the clock. The second and the minute hands made the sides. The edge of the clock was the rounded part. Later, when she was getting on her bike, she found another one! The spokes going out from the center of the wheel made the sides. The rounded part was the wheel. There were really dozens of wedges on a bike tire if you thought about it. Wedges weren't the easiest thing to find, but you could find some if you knew where to look. (© [Link]Skill Reading Comprehension Name. Staying Cool Story By: Andrew Frinkle Sa It was so hot out, and the AC was broken. How could Bob 5 and his friends stay cool? They thought for awhile and came up S SNC ‘SS with some ideas. Nathan sat in front of the fan. He sang into the fan and his voice sounded funny. He was a little cooler, but the fan only worked for one person, because it was small. Richard drank ice water. He felt a tiny bit cooler, and he had to go to the bathroom. It wasn’t the best way, and it was hard to watch a movie or play games. Tommy put his feet in ice water in a bucket. He was a cold. His feet were numb and blue. Then they ran out of ice, and that plan didn’t work anymore. & SS Gary drank hot tea. It made him sweat a lot and it cooled him off some, but he felt sticky. After a couple glasses, he was. soaked. It was uncomfortable, and he went home early. Howard sat in front of the freezer with the door open. He ate a Popsicle and found a frozen pizza while he was in there. Now at least they had lunch, but after cooking a hot pizza, everyone was warmer. That left Bob. He went outside and ran through the sprinkler to cool off, but it wasn't very fun all alone. Also, he was still hot, but he was just wet. Bob’s sister, Janice, came home and turned the AC back wi ce 24, y . on. She’d turned it off just to be mean, and he didn’t know how = ee ee e to work it. Bob and all his friends felt pretty silly afterward, but Janice thought it was hilarious. [Link]Skill Reading Comprehension Name. Welcome to the Oasis Story By: Andrew Frinkle The camel was very thirsty. He had been walking for days, and his last drink had been weeks ago. His wide toes spread out © > upon the hot sand as he dragged his feet forward one more time. J It was so hard to go on When would he reach water? He was normally good at holding out for water for weeks, but this was really stretching his ability to wait. The sun beat down on him like a hot hammer, and I. he was reaching the end of his reserves of energy. If he didn’t find water and food soon, he knew he would perish. He staggered along, dragging his weary limbs a few more steps toward the ridge of another dune. It was easier to walk along the top of a hill, rather than along the bottom. Either way, with the sun overhead, there was no shade. Oh, how that would feel, to be in the shade, cooling his mouth witha sip of water. At the top of the dune, he thought he caught a glimpse of something distant and green. Was it a mirage, a trick of the heat and light? Was there really something green? Plants needed water, and water made things green. There could be some grasses to chew, with juices and water inside them. Maybe there was even more to eat and drink? He picked up his pace and moved at a trot. It was all he could do, though he wanted to run. That distant green resolved itself into leaves and grasses and the brown trunks of a couple trees. Sweet-smelling grasses swayed in the winds, shaded by the tall trees. With a few last stumbling steps, the camel arrived at the ds OY, P oasis. He clambered up to a small spring, no bigger than a step oT ds across, and slurped until he could drink no more. Then, he stood in the shade and cropped the grasses around him y He was saved! With a little rest, he could soon move on to —~—~ his destination. [Link]Reading Comprehension Amazing Facts ‘CGx Amazing Facts Nee Read. A type of jelly fish, known as an ‘immortal jellyfish’ can live forever! Scientists have observed its ability to, when in danger, start growing new cells. That means that these tiny creatures, 4 millimeters to 5 millimeters long, can have infinite lives. Did you know that octopuses have three hearts? Two of the hearts work just to move blood beyond the animal's gills, while the third heart keeps the blood flowing for the other organs. The heart stops beating when the octopus swims, explaining why the creature likes crawling rather than swimming, which exhausts them. Butterflies can change colour to adapt to their environment. This is known as camouflage and the colour of a butterfly can protect the butterfly we from being killed. The big spots on an owl butterfly look like the eyes of a much larger animal, so a predator, like a bird may think twice about attacking. Other butterflies are brightly coloured to warn others that they are poisonous. Bens wacoSkill - Reading Comprehension Name, Jason Helps Out Story By: Judie Eberhardt “Mom, I'm bored,” said Jason. “There is nothing to do.” “You can clean your room,” said Mom. “That's not fun.” It was only the second week of summer vacation. It was still too chilly to go to the pool, and Jason was tired of watching T.V. His, friends were away on vacation, and even his dog, Riley, was being lazy. Mom was getting ready to go downtown to the food kitchen to help out. She volunteered three times a week serving lunch to people that weren't as lucky as Jason. “Why don’t you come with me to the food kitchen and help out?” Mom asked. “I don’t know anything about working at a food kitchen,” said Jason. “You just watch me, and then you will see how to serve the food,” said Mom. It was time to go, and Jason was excited to try working in the food kitchen. He watched his Mom put some turkey on a plate and some mashed potatoes. She then passed the plate to the next lady, and she put some green beans and bread on the plate. / can do that, thought Jason. One of the volunteers left early, so Jason took over her spot in the serving line. He was in charge of putting salad on the plates. He served twenty-five people that day. After the kitchen closed, Jason and his Mom stayed to clean up. “That was great!” said Jason. Jason was so excited and really enjoyed his day at the food kitchen. He couldn’t wait to get home and tell his Dad about how much fun he had. “Not only did it give me something to do, but | felt so good doing it,” Jason told his Dad. “Jason, that was a nice thing you did today.” “You helped many people who aren’t as lucky as you to have a hot meal.” Mom said, “Iam so proud of you Jason!” “You worked very hard.” Jason went to bed that night thinking about the food kitchen. | am going to help out agcin, he thought. Jason made some new friends, and he didn’t even know they lived so close to him in town! The best part was how good Jason felt inside. © [Link]Skill Reading Comprehension Name. Charlie Horse Story By: Andrew Frinkle Yaneth was having a great dream. She was chasing a giant pink marshmallow with a large fork. It was alive, so it was giggling and running away. Every few steps she got close enough to get a mouthful of it on her fork. It tasted like cotton candy. It was such a great dream, at least until it ended abruptly. Yaneth sat upright, jogged out of her dream. She looked around and saw it was still dark, but her leg ached horribly. She twisted and grabbed at her leg, which felt like someone had grabbed it ina vise. What was going on? Her toes felt like someone was forcing them to cross each other and her calf ached terribly. It was agonizing, and she didn’t know what to do. She tried to hold her foot with both hands and pull them the opposite way they kept going. It wasn’t working. She whimpered and bit her lip. It hurt so badly! She rolled over, falling onto the rug beside her bed. It was hard, but she tried to get up to walk. When she put weight on it, it helped, but the muscles were still tight. She stood on her tiptoes and the muscles were forced to relax. She stood there for a moment, but when she relaxed, it came back! She grabbed for the bedpost and remained on her tiptoes for a count of twenty. Then, she relaxed and let her feet go flat. The cramp was gone. That was bad! She’d never had such a horrible cramp, so bad it woke her out of a deep sleep and a great dream. Warily, she crawled back into bed and got under the covers, worried the cramp would come back if she relaxed her foot and calf muscles too much. After a few minutes, it did not, so she slid back into an uneasy slumber. This time, she was being chased by the marshmallow in her dream. It was a cruel turn of fate that her campfire food had turned into her enemy. In the morning, she asked her mother about the cramp in her foot. Mom just smiled and gave her a banana. “Eat more potassium.” She suggested. Supposedly, a lot of people got them now and then, or didn’t if they were lucky. She'd had her first “Charlie Horse,” but Yaneth hoped it would be her last, even if she had to eat a banana every day for the rest of her life! [Link]Skil- Reading Comprehension Name, Golf Time! Story By: Andrew Frinkle Bob played golf, It was his favorite sport. He knew it wasn’t the most exciting sport, with people crashing into each other or running fast, but it was a game of concentration and finesse. He loved how he could play against himself or against other people. It was a great game. Golf can be cheap with starter equipment, but anyone who plays very long ends up spending a LOT of money on clubs and equipment. The thing is, golf is a situational sport, so you need a lot of clubs for different situations. Otherwise, you really just need shoes, clothes, a hat, and maybe some golfing gloves. Golf comes in increments of 9 holes. A full round was 18 holes, usually called the front 9 and the back 9, because there were two halves. In tournaments, you might play 18 holes per day on several different days. The end scores are compared to see who did the best. Each hole has a par. Par is how many tries it is supposed to take you to get the ball in the hole. There are many different golf terms for par and how well you do on a hole. If you do 1 shot better than par, it’s a birdie. If you do 2 strokes under par, it’s an eagle. 1 extra shot, which is worse than par, is a bogie. Take 2 extra shots and it’s a double-bogie. The whole aim of golf is to finish the holes you're playing close to or under par, meaning you kind of beat the course. To play golf, you start by teeing off and hitting the ball on a small raise peg called a tee. You hit it with a large club, usually a driver or a wood. These hit the ball farther than the other clubs. Be careful to hit it right, or the ball will slice, or curve one way or another from where you are aiming. The idea is simple, but getting the ball to go right where you want is surprisingly hard. After teeing off, you will use woods and most likely irons to get the ball to the green. Irons are clubs with varying degrees of pitch to them that help you either hit far and low or short and high. The green is the end of the hole, usually 200-400 yards from the start position. On the green there is a hole anda flag in it. This is your goal. Once you use your irons and woods to get you on the green, where the grass is very short and smooth, you switch toa putter. A putter is for making gentle, carefully-aimed shots to put the egg-sided ball ina cup in the ground not much bigger than a coffee cup. It’s NOT easy. © [Link]Skill- Reading Comprehension Name, What’s for Lunch? Story By: Andrew Frinkle “What's for lunch?” The question came up every day, but Janet had no idea today. She always got something ready for her children, but it was a challenge. Kids got bored with some things, resisted trying new things, and occasionally just demanded to eat junk food. It was a daily challenge. Some days, she had little or no time, so she just prepared something frozen. This might be chicken patty sandwiches on toasted rolls. A salad or yogurt was a good side for that. Frozen pizza and corn dogs were always a hit with the kids. Chicken nuggets and frozen French fries went down easily, too. Still, they were full of salt and fat, and had very little in the way of vitamins and minerals. Sandwiches with a soup were pretty easy. She could sneak vegetables between the bread and some into the soup as well. Canned soups were horribly salty, though. She made some on her own, but that could be time-consuming. Grilled ham-and-cheese with tomato soup was always a hit. Again, it was lacking in vegetables. She made giant chef salads with lots of veggies, and the kids at them well enough. She would put bacon bits, hard- boiled eggs, cheese, sunflower seeds, olives, and all kinds of goodies in them to make them a more well-rounded meal. Unfortunately, they liked too much dressing on their salads, ruining a healthy meal with lots of unnecessary fat. Another option was a baked potato bar. She would make the potatoes, and they would load up on broccoli, cheese, bacon bits, butter, gerlic, chives, and just about anything they wanted to go on top. She could get away with this now and then, but they got bored with them unless they were drenched in ranch dressing. Janet sighed as she stared at the cabinets and fridge again, trying to figure out what today’s meal would be. She walked off into the den and made up a dart game instead. Kids would throw rubber darts at a poster with options, and she would make whatever target they hit. Unhealthy options were much smaller targets. She would also start portioning out the sauces to limit their usage. She smiled to herself, wondering why she didn’t come up with this earlier. Now, finally, she wouldn’t have to worry about making lunches! © [Link]Skill Reading Comprehension Name. Reading a Book Story By: Andrew Frinkle Jocelyn didn’t have many friends, but she had lots of books. Books were better than friends sometimes. Books didn’t get angry at you or argue with you. Books didn’t feel sad when you didn’t come see them for a while. Jocelyn liked fantasy books. They had lots of adventures. She felt like she was in them. She could be a princess or an adventurer. She could save the day. She could see lots of monsters and amazing places. There were mysteries to solve and battles to win. It was great to read about fantasy. Sometimes she liked history books, too. It was interesting to see how people used to live. It was strange to imagine how things used to be before all of the inventions we have today. She tried to imagine how hard life was a long time ago, and how nice it would have been to invent new things and discover new places. That was exciting! Jocelyn also liked science books. She liked books about animals and faraway places 4 especially. There were so many different animals in the world. They came in every shape, size, and color. There were so many things that weren’t even at the zoo. It was hard to think about how many different animals there were. It made her want to be a zoologist, so she could travel and see new animals living in strange places. She liked those kinds of books, but not girly romance books. She didn’t care about drama and silly stuff. She was into the serious stuff. The best thing about books though, was that you could share them. Jocelyn didn’t have many friends, but the ones she did have liked books too. They could talk about them and share their ideas and thoughts. Books were great, but they were better with friends to talk to about them! [Link]Skill - Reading Comprehension Name. First Train Ride Story By: Judie Eberhardt Twins, Laura and Lilly, were ten years old. Their mom had passed away last year, and dad was left to raise the girls alone. Some days being both mom and dad were a breeze, but there were days when dad would say to himself, how do | handle this? Then, the unthinkable happened. Dad lost his job at the factory. He didn’t know what he was going to do, and he didn’t know what to tell the twins. Dad called his older sister who lived out of state. “What am | going to do with the girls being home all summer from school?” he asked his sister. “I can’t leave them alone, and | need to spend all my time trying to get work.” His sister said, “Why don’t you send the girls to my house for the summer?” “I can spend time with them, and you can spend time finding a job.” “Gee, | don’t know,” said dad. “The whole summer away from Laura and Lilly will be tough.” “Let me ask the girls, and I'll call you back.” That night, Dad told the twins about his job, and that Aunt Nancy invited them to spend the summer at her house in Michigan. “Wow,” said Lilly. “At least it will be warm there this time of year.” “We will miss you dad,” said Laura. “I will miss you both too,” said dad. “I can’t leave you alone, and daddy needs to find work in order to take care of you both.” “We understand,” said the girls. That night the girls spoke to Aunt Nancy on the phone, and it was all settled. They would spend the summer with her. There was one thing exciting for them. They were going to take their first train ride. Two days later, dad took the girls to the train station and spoke to the people in charge of the train ride to Michigan. They said they would take good care of the girls on the trip. When they arrived, Aunt Nancy was there to pick them up. They called dad that night to let him know they were okay. “We miss you!” said the girls. One month passed, and dad called Aunt Nancy with fantastic news. He had found a job and would be starting in two weeks. “I think I'll come and visit since | have two weeks until the new job,” said dad. They were finally all together before it was time to return home. “What a wonderful summer it turned out to be!” said dad. “It sure is,” said the girls hugging dad. © [Link]Skill- Reading Comprehension Name. Ravenous Story By: Andrew Frinkle Three hungry boys stood beside their mother and stared at the fast food menu. “I’m so hungry, that | could eat a horse!” Rob said. “V’m so hungry, that | could eat a whale!” Steve said. “vm so hungry, that | could eat the Empire State Building.” Tim said. The three brothers were whining about how hungry they were to their mother, who looked worriedly at her wallet. It was lunch time, and she was afraid that she wouldn't have enough money to feed her boys, who were always hungry. They were like wolves, she liked to say. They could eat her out of house and home. Even when they finally got full, it never lasted long. “Boys, | only have twenty dollars. That’s not much, so we'll get what we can, but it might not be much. It will have to last until we get home for dinner.” Rob groaned. “That’s it?” Tim sighed, but Steve had a plan. “Guys, let’s look at the menu and figure out the cheapest things that give us the most food!” “That's a great idea.” Mom smiled. Her boys would find a way to fill their bellies as much as possible with the money they had. “\can do without a drink. There’s water in the car.” Rob said. Steve nodded. He liked that idea. Less drinks and more food. “I could wait, too.” “VII get one and you guys can sip off it if you need to.” Tim suggested. “Onion rings and curly fries are more expensive than regular fries.” Rob realized, reading the menu prices. “If we share a couple large fries, it's a better deal than each getting our own, too.” “The hamburgers are cheaper than cheeseburgers. Cheese tastes good, but it’s an extra 30 cents on each!” Steve pointed out. “But | love cheese.” Tim whined. “Check the dollar menu stuff. | think we can get four chicken sandwiches, four burgers, two large fries, and one drink with the money we have.” “| need my 2-for-1 apple pies!” Mom called out. © [Link]Skill Reading Comprehension Name. I’m So Frustrated and Angry! Story By: Andrew Frinkle Mary was upset. She was beyond upset. She was livid. She was wretchedly, terribly angry. What made it worse was that she could do nothing about it. It was out of her hands, and that was frustrating. You see, her best friend had invited her to go on a trip with her family. They were going to go on a beach trip down to Florida, and she had been looking forward to it for several months. Then, suddenly, someone got sick, and the trip was being changed to a different date. That different date just happened to be when Mary's own family had their trip toa boring old campground they visited every year. So, now she was going to be stuck sitting around swatting mosquitoes next to her brother, and the highlight would likely be eating marshmallows on a stick. Not to mention that her brother's idea of 2 good time happened to be eating a whole can of baked beans and tooting the night away in his tent. That was far cry from a beachside resort in sunny Florida with her BFF. This being said, Mary was horribly angry at the world. She stormed around her house for days, making everyone miserable. She snapped at everyone until they avoided conversation with her entirely, and the general cloud of discontent that followed her around was enough to dampen the mood of whatever room she happened to be in. It was getting mighty U-G-L-Y. It became such an issue that her mother called a family meeting. Dad pretended he hadn’t noticed her moods, and her brother, the fart machine, made armpit noises while they tried to call the meeting to order. From there the family meeting descended into chaos, which her mood brought about. “Why don’t we just let her go where she wants to?” Her brother asked. “She's not even pleasant to be around.” Mary's eyes and mood suddenly brightened. “Yeah! Why don’t we?” “it’s not a family trip without everyone.” Mother protested, determined to be the lone holdout. Dad, for once, agreed with his kids. “I don’t want sourpuss in the car with me for hours, and I'm tired of camping. Let’s do something different and fun, just the three of us.” Everyone looked to mom, who finally caved. “Fine, but only if we do some other trip together as a family this yea There were a few groans and moans, but everyone accepted. After that, Mary was back to her old self. Sure, she felt alittle bratty, but once-in-a-lifetime trips didn’t come along often, did they? © [Link]