Lektion-Se 11046 Reading Comprehension

Prepared by Jolanta Maria Eriksson Source www.abcteach.
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Reading Comprehension: Jack and the Giant Pepper (middle school) Name: _____________________________________________________ Jack and the Giant Pepper Once there was a boy named Jack. He lived in the forest with his mother and their pet panda bear, Archibald. They were happy, but they were very poor. One day, Mom said, "Dearest Jack, our cash flow is seriously plugged. You'll have to sell Archibald at the market. Buy food and seeds. This is all we have, so don't buy any nonsense!" Jack liked his panda, but he was nearly starved. So he hiked with Archibald through the forest to the market. Suddenly, a little purple man in a shiny silver tweed suit jumped onto the path. His face was a wrinkly old potato, but his eyes were sharp and bright as knifepoints. "Gushing grape juice!" he croaked. "That's the finest panda in the county! How'd you like to trade it for something magical?" Magical. Jack's scalp tingled. "Actually, I'm shopping for food and seeds." "Seeds! How about a real seed?" The man opened his fist, and on his palm a seed sparkled like a ruby. "This seed'll grow into the biggest pepper in the world." "A giant pepper plant!" Jack said. "I could climb up the vine to the cloud lands where the giant lives! I could steal his treasures and never work again! Wow! It's a deal, grape man!" Jack traded the panda and ran home with the magic seed. "One seed?" Mom said. "What are we supposed to eat while it grows?" "Oops," Jack said. As usual, his belly chose the wrong moment to growl. "Now we really will starve," Mom said. There was nothing to do but plant the seed. The next morning, the magic plant had already grown! But it wasnt a giant vine, it was a giant pepper. The plant was normal. The pepper was the size of a house. "Oh, that's great," Jack said. "I cant climb a big pepper to the giant." "Sell it," Mom said. "It won't fetch as much as the panda, but anything's better than three months of pepper casserole. I trust you know what to buy this time, son." So Jack rolled the pepper to market. It was ridiculously heavy, and of course he had to roll it up a big hill. Suddenly, up came the old man. He was riding Archibald. "That pepper for sale?" asked the man. "Not to you," Jack said. "Not even for a magic toothbrush?" The old man smiled. His teeth shone like the moon. "How would you
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Prepared by Jolanta Maria Eriksson Source www.abcteach.com
like to never brush your teeth again?" Jack hesitated. He did hate brushing his teeth. Then he said, "Sorry, I have this thing about getting humiliated twice by the same purple guy." The man's dark eyes narrowed and gleamed. "Young man, I want that pepper." "Don't we all," Jack said. He put his shoulder to the massive pepper. "Give it here!" the man screamed. He leapt from the panda, his fingers gnarled claws tearing at Jack. Jack dodged. The man crashed into the pepper and it rolled away with him down the hill. So Jack rode the panda home. He'd never thought to ride him before. "Not another panda!" Mom said. But Jack explained everything. "Well, I'm happy to see Archibald," Mom said, "but we still need cash. You'll have to sell him. Again." "I've been thinking," Jack said. "Its not everyone that has a riding panda. Why don't we give lessons?" And so they did. All the neighbouring villagers cheerfully shelled out big bucks to learn how to ride a panda. From then on, Jack had plenty of money. And he never saw the purple old man again. Exercise A: Detail Check Before we get into the Deeper Meanings of our tale, let's do a little detail hunting to make sure everyone's awake. Your answers don't have to be in complete sentences. 1. How long did it take the magic pepper to grow? _____________________________________________________________________ 2. The magic seed sparkled like which gem? _____________________________________________________________________ 3. Describe the old man's appearance. _____________________________________________________________________ 4. What did Jack's mother want him to buy? _____________________________________________________________________ 5. How much time goes by from the first thing Mom says to the last thing Jack says? Give your answer in time units (e.g., days). _____________________________________________________________________
6. What problem did Mom point out with Jack's plan to buy the magic seed, grow a huge plant, and climb it to raid the giant's house? _____________________________________________________________________ 7. Did Mom instantly recognize Archibald when Jack brought him back? Explain how you know. _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 8. How did the old man exit Jack's life? _____________________________________________________________________ Exercise B: Rousing Understanding Okay, good, we're awake. Now let's look at the story on a slightly more meaningful level. (Were not at the Deeper Meanings stage yet.) 1. Metaphor. A metaphor is a comparison that doesn't bother with "like" or "as". If you say, "That guy's a werewolf," we presume you're being metaphorical and you mean "he's vicious" (rather than "he's a superhuman monster"). Each word below appears in the story as a metaphor. Write what the metaphor refers to, then explain how the ideas of the metaphor connect. a. potato ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ b. claws ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 2. Simile. A simile is a comparison that does use "like" or "as". "Red as a rose", "in like a lion", and "fat as a," er, "corporate bonus" are all similes. Write three similes from the story. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 3. Why doesn't Jack trade in the pepper for the magic toothbrush? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 4. Why could you think that Jack's mother plans ahead? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Exercise C: Imagine For these questions, the only rule is that you have to use complete sentences. You can finish a question on the back of the page if you need the space. 1. Who would you rather spend the afternoon with, Jack or Mom? Explain. _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 2. What if you needed someone to care for your pet for two weeks? Who would you rather leave it with, Jack or Mom? Explain. _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 3. Make up a quick story for what happened to the old man when the pepper finally stopped rolling. _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________ 4. Imagine that Jack's fairy godmother appears and offers him a magic pennyseed that will grow into a magnificent tree that will never stop sprouting nickels, dimes, and DVD players. In exchange, Jack must give up Archibald. What does Jack answer? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Exercise D: Deeper Meanings At last, we're ready to tackle the Great Truths enshrined in this profound tale. Again, please use complete sentences and feel free to use the back of the page. Explain each answer with at least one example from the story unless otherwise noted. 1. Do you think Jack and his mother really were happy together? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 2. Stories often (or always, depending on your definition) have a central conflict. For instance, you could sum up the conflict of that ingenious classic, The Three Little Pigs, as: "Three pigs crave safety, but a wolf threatens to eat them." How might you sum up the conflict of this story, Jack and the Giant Pepper? (no example needed) _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________
3. Heroes often have a main defect they struggle with throughout the story. What is Jack's main defect, and does he beat it? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 4. What do you think is the theme (Deep Meaning) of this story? _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________
Jack and the Giant Pepper (middle school) Answer Key: Exercise A 1. one night 2. ruby 3. a little purple man in a shiny silver tweed suit 4. food and seeds 5. 2 days 6. They had nothing to eat while the plant grew. 7. No, because she said, "Not another panda!" 8. He rolled away in the giant pepper. Exercise B 1. a. old man's face. Both old potatoes and his face are wrinkled. ["His face was a wrinkly old potato..."] b. the mans hands. Both animals and the old man have sharp and dangerous fingers 2. his eyes were sharp and bright as knifepoints a seed sparkled like a ruby pepper was as big as a house 3. He doesn't want to be fooled again. Or He's determined to buy food and seeds. Or any other sensible answer. 4. She wanted seeds to grow food for later. Exercise C All answers vary. Exercise D 1. Answers vary. 2. Answers vary, but we suggest, "Jack will soon starve, but an old man tries to trick him out of his one chance to get money." 3. Answers vary. Some students may think his main defect is wanting to use magic to solve his problems, and he beats this by rejecting the magic toothbrush. Others (probably fewer) may think he wants an easy way out of hard work, and it's not entirely clear he conquers this tendency by deciding to teach panda riding for a living.
4. Answers vary.
Reading Comprehension Name ____________________________________________ Date ____________ A BAD DAY AT MAGIC LAND Many people like to go to amusement parks to have fun, but I dont! Last year, a group of my friends decided to spend the whole day at Magic Land, an amusement park in my city. I thought I would have a very good time, but I was wrong. I had the worst time ever. We went on too many roller coasters. At first, they were all very exciting and I screamed until my lungs hurt on all of them. My friends wanted to ride more of them, and so for three hours we didnt stop to rest. We went on the Head Knocker, the Crazy Coaster, and the Monster Masher before I started feeling really sick. I finally threw up on the Tooth Rattler roller coaster. I was very embarrassed. That was when my friends decided that we needed a lunch break if they wanted me to survive the whole day. My stomach was still feeling awful, but they insisted that I needed to eat if I was going to have enough energy for the rest of the day. When I went to one of the food stands, however, I saw that the prices were outrageous. I spent six dollars on a large order of fries. I picked up the saltshaker, and to my surprise the top fell off, spilling a pile of salt on my food. My fries were ruined! By now I was really upset and my face was red, so my friends suggested we go on a water ride so I could cool down. I thought it was a good idea, but when we rode it, I forgot to take my glasses off. At one point, they fell off and into the water. I watched helplessly as they sank to the bottom while we kept rushing forward in our raft. I had to go through the rest of the day practically blind. I have decided that I will never go to Magic Land again, even if someone offered me a million dollars to do it! Answer the following questions about A Bad Day at Magic Land 1. Which roller coaster did the narrator and her friends not go on? a) Head Knocker
b) Monster Masher c) Tooth Rattler d) Thunder Thrill 2. True or False: The narrator ordered many different foods. a) True b) False 3. The narrator and her friends rode roller coasters for ________ hours before she started feeling sick. a) two b) four c) three d) five 4. What happened to the narrators glasses? a) they broke into pieces b) they were stolen by bullies c) they got lost in a store d) they fell into water 5. The narrators friends made her eat lunch because a) they wanted her to have enough energy for the whole day b) she said she was hungry c) she forgot to eat breakfast d) she was not going to eat dinner
Answers toA Bad Day at Magic Land 1. d 2. b 3. c 4. d 5. a
NAME______________________________ DATE___________________ THE PIANIST My name is Mia Lynne Lindstrom. I am a pianist. I began studying the piano when I was three years old. I am ten years old now. I play the piano in the junior orchestra at the community college. We give a concert twice a year. I am always practicing new music for the next concert. During the school year, I take four piano lessons every week from my piano teacher, Mrs. Taylor. Mrs. Taylor teaches piano lessons at the college. In the summer, I take two lessons every week. I practice playing the piano about ten hours every week. I practice very hard because I want to learn everything about playing the piano. The piano is a very interesting instrument to play. I like reading the notes, moving my fingers on the keys, and hearing the beautiful music. It is sometimes difficult, but I always practice until I can play the music perfectly. I am not sure what I want to be when I grow up. I do know that playing the piano will always be a major part of my life. It is very special to me. ANSWER THE QUESTIONS. 1. Where does Mia take her piano lessons every week? a. at her elementary school b. at home c. at the community college d. none of these 2. How long has Mia been taking piano lessons? a. five years b. ten years c. eight years d. seven years 3. How many hours a week does Mia practice the piano? a. two hours
b. five hours c. ten hours d. twelve hours 4. Mia practices the piano because ______. a. her parents require her to practice b. Mia wants to learn everything about the piano c. Mrs. Taylor requires her to practice d. she wants to be a piano teacher one day 5. The music Mia practices for the orchestra concerts____. a. is probably difficult b. is very easy to learn c. is not interesting to Mia d. is boring 6. Mia feels that the piano _____________. a. is an interesting instrument to play b. will always be a part of her life c. requires hours of regular practice d. all of the above ANSWERS TO THE PIANIST 1. c 2. d 3. c 4. b 5. a 6. d
Comprehension and Understanding: The Travelers Name _________________________________________ Date ____________________ The Travelers The travelers, real travelers, came in late summer to hawk their wares. They wore exotic wrap dresses with bright colors that caught the sun and held it. They wore fabrics of deep red, green, orange, and other colors that blended together and became one enchanting color of magic. The travelers were enchanted, we were sure. They were evanescent, like the summer, arriving and departing like a gust of wind. They had large caravans with pots, pans, tapestries, scarves, linens, cloths, perfumes, and exotic blends of meats and spices. The children ran wild, their skin darker than ours, their bare feet toughened from the sun and earth. Their hair was dark and scattered, and they were tough. These children could survive on just a scrap of life, and we knew it. We played marbles with them, crosslegged on the hot pavement. They always won. In the distance, we could hear the calls: A dollar, a dollar, just a dollar. Bracelets, bangles, baubles, beads. A dollar, a dollar, just a dollar. Sometimes we played dress-up, wrapping the scarves around our heads and waists, wobbling down the streets in satin heels. We were women of the world, going to market in strange cities, selecting goods for the trip home to London or Paris or even India. The women gave us scraps of cloth and jewelry for sewing. We held the stones to the light and caught the reflections of ourselves in ruby and emerald, the same, but somehow changed. We always expected the travelers to come in late July, and they always did, in rickety caravans draped with shimmering textures of other lands and lives we would never know. Stay away from the travelers, the women of our town warned. Theyre not like us. Theyre not our kind. Nothing but trouble if you ask me. The travelers were different, but they never gave us any trouble. They stayed up late, when the fevered earth began to cool, and they played banjos and guitars, the tunes wafting through open windows with the smell of lilacs and red wine. We dreamed of hopping onto the caravan one night and leaving for another world under the stars, but we saw our parents, heard the soft chirruping of crickets in the garden, and knew we couldnt leave. The
travelers did leave, though. One summer the caravan never came. No rough talking little vagabond children, no tapestries, no reds, oranges, and greens woven into magic. No banjos or dancing or hawking: A dollar, a dollar, just a dollar. No transients were allowed, they said. Instead, the streets were quiet, the pavement hot and bare. We all wore the same skirts, dresses, and shoes. We lived in the same row houses and everyone knew everyone in town. The sad-faced McCoy sisters went to church but liked their gin on the sly. Old Mr. Cory was rumored to have $5,000 dollars stashed under his mattress, and in the summer, there was nothing to talk about but the heat. Even the air stood still. We stopped dreaming. Was it better this way? My sisters and I had to wonder. Vocabulary from The Travelers 1. The narrator uses the phrase to hawk their wares. What does this mean? Use the context to help you decide. Write down your answer. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 2. Define exotic. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ What does evanescent mean? Look at the words following evanescent to help you. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 3. What are the baubles referred to in the first paragraph? Write down a guess based on the other items listed, and then check your guess with a dictionary. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
4. In the second paragraph, the narrator uses the word wafting. Use context clues to determine its meaning. Write down your guess. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 5. In the last paragraph, the author refers to vagabond children. What does this mean? Draw a picture representing the meaning of the word. Questions from The Travelers First, discuss how authors sometimes directly state things. For example, the adults in the story have definite words to say about the travelers: Theyre not like usTheyre not our kind. Sometimes, authors give readers clues and expect their readers to use the clues to infer, or figure out something. For example, the travelers are off during the summer, and the narrator is playing marbles with the travelers, sitting cross-legged on the pavement. This would suggest the narrator is a child, since children are usually off during the summer and would sit on hot pavement playing marbles. Also, adults are referred to as the adults, as if adults are separate. Directions: Pick any two questions and write a thoughtful, well-reasoned paragraph about them. Well pass around the paragraph you would like to share, a classmate will read it silently, make comments or suggestions, and then well all discuss our responses. 1. The author never states how old she is or her gender. If you had to guess, how old do you think the author was when the travelers came? How do you know? 2. Do you think the author is a child or an adult now? Please support your answer with evidence from the story. 3. How did the author feel about the travelers? How do you know? 4. What time period do you think the author is writing about? 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s,
or modern day? Even though the author never states the time period directly, what are some clues? 5. What would you think about these kinds of travelers in your community? Are we better off as communities to have people more like us or people of all different kinds? Please support your answer. 6. If you had to describe the narrator, how would you describe her? For example, is she tough and active, or is she more thoughtful? Why? What clues does the author give you? 7. How would you describe the travelers? What are the advantages of their lifestyle? The disadvantages? 8. When the travelers come, they come in the summer and seem magical to the narrator. When they dont come one summer, the magic disappears. Compare this to the beginning and ending of childhood. In what ways do you think children know more than adults? Why might adults be more cautious? 9. The adults almost seem afraid of the travelers. Why might they be afraid? Additional Independent Writing Assignments 1. Write about a time when a person or an experience greatly influenced your life. How did it influence your life? 2. Write about someone you dislike and why. Are you a little bit afraid of the person? How do you think this makes you dislike the person? 3. Do you think getting to know someone better whom you dislike might change your opinion of that person? Why or why not? 4. Write about what has made you who you are today. 5. How do you think the narrator might have changed if she had run off with the travelers? Would they have accepted her? Why or why not? 6. Describe a magical time or experience in your life. 7. Write a description of an event so that the reader will feel as if he/she is really there. Be sure to include touch, taste, sound, sight, and smell.
8. Write about someone or something that changed you and made you different from who you would have been. For example, do you think the travelers changed the narrators life? How would her life have been different if the travelers had never come? Follow-Up Assignments: Choose One 1. Correspond with an on-line pen pal in another country. Ask about local customs and traditions. How are people in your country viewed? How is this different from the way things really are? How do you view your pen pals country? Write this down. Compare your view at the beginning to your view after you have been corresponding for several weeks. 2. Ask your grandparents or an older person what they think of young people today. Are their views accurate? Write down what you think of older people. Visit a nursing home or a senior center. Are your views different after you have more experience with these people? Vocabulary from The Travelers 1. to sell their goods 2. Strange, unusual, foreign 3. transitory, fleeting. 4. trinkets. 5. the aroma of something carried aloft. 6. beggars, tramps. Questions from The Travelers 1. Please see above. The author sees the travelers as magical, and she plays marbles. Usually elementary-age children play marbles. Maybe six, seven, or eight years old. 2. Shes an adult now. Shes looking back on her experiences. The narrative is written in the past tense, and the travelers left.
3. She had mixed feelings. She saw them as magical and refers to them as enchanted. She states in the last paragraph that shes not sure that things were better when the travelers left. Nevertheless, she refers to the children as wild, vagabond, and tough, suggesting the children intimidated her despite her awe of the travelers. 4. Early 1950s. Clues include the roving caravan, people calling out low prices for goods in neighborhoods, open windows though it is very hot, suggesting no air-conditioning for the whole neighborhood. People still knew everybody in the neighborhood, suggesting a time before 1960 when people were becoming more mobile. 5. This is a question with no right or wrong answer. A thoughtful, well-reasoned response is expected. 6. Shes observant, since she pays much attention to colors, people, smells, and what people have to say. Shes thoughtful. She seems to be taking everything in and thinking about it. Shes imaginative. She imagines going away with the travelers and pretends shes a traveler. Shes sheltered, since she thinks of London and Paris as strange lands. Shes a little afraid, or timid, thinking of the children as wild and as vagabonds, but shes curious too. She does approach the travelers. 7. The travelers are independent and live a nomadic lifestyle, going from place to place. This is an advantage, because they are not obligated to anyone and can do as they please. Its a disadvantage, because they have no roots or connections with other people. They might feel lonely. The women seem kind, giving the neighborhood children cloth and beads for sewing. 8. The travelers stay is short and magical. Childhood is short and is often viewed as a magical time of life. In the beginning, the narrator dreams of travel and of visiting different places like Paris, London, or India. In the end, she stops dreaming and seems almost resigned to her way of life, resigned to the idea that adulthood will hold no magic, that its not a time of dreams. Perhaps the adults have given her this belief by not tolerating the different, or the magical. It is implied that the travelers were driven out of town. In some ways, children know more than adults in that they see people as people.
They are more accepting. Adults might be more cautious, because they know more about the world and about bad things that can happen. They are trying to protect their children, but in protecting them, they sometimes suppress the magical. 9. The travelers are different. Theyre loud; they dont stay in one place, theyre not known, and they dont fit into the community. The adults might be afraid because of their lack of experience with other ways of life.
Reading Comprehension- History Alexander the Great Name ____________________________________________ Date _______________________ PERSIAN WARRIORS DEFEATED Questions to ask before reading the story: What is a counter offensive move? How is it different from a defensive move? What is the meaning of the statement The surest defense is a strong offense? What does it mean to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? Alexander the Great stood with his army on the western shore of the Tigris River. He and his men had marched north from Tyre, crossing acres and acres of blackened land. Darius III had had his Immortals burn to the ground the long wheat grass that had been growing there. He had hoped to slow the advance of Alexander and his mighty fighting force. Darius strategy had done little to delay the progress of the Greek forces. They prepared now to ford the Tigris, and to continue onward toward the village of Mosul. They knew that Darius III and the Persian warriors were camped nearby on the plain of Gaugamela. They remained unaware of Darius newest tactic. When Alexander and his men reached the plain of Gaugamela, they found that the ground had been made level. The Persian chariots stood in formation, ready to attack across that flat surface. Darius expected his scythed chariots to propel themselves forcefully into the Greek forces, with their curved blades ripping at the flesh of both horses and men. The chariots began their rapid drive toward the army of Alexander the Great. The Greek general, having made a quick assessment of the situation, ordered the ranks of the Greek fighters to split apart. This maneuver left the Persians moving forward, without having anyone to mow down. Because they traveled at great speed, the Persians could not get turned around. Caught between enemy lines, many Persian chariot drivers fell victim to the spears and arrows of their Greek opponents. Still, Darius was not ready to surrender. He spotted places where his men could outflank the Greeks, sneaking around behind the enemy ranks. Some
enemy units met the fate that Darius had intended, that of being run over by the Persian chariots. None of this, however, seemed to faze Alexander the Great. The Greek general ordered the Companions, the cavalry, to form a wedge. The point of the wedge charged directly at Darius. The Persian King fled, leading to a collapse of whatever resistance he had managed to muster. Alexander the Great again emerged as the victor. Alexanders first impulse was to direct his men on a chase after the fleeing Darius. He chose, instead, to go south to Babylon, where he allowed his men to have one month of rest. From there Alexander headed his army east, toward the treasures that lay in central Persia. ************************************************************************ ****** assessment-act of estimating the worth or quality or likelihood of something faze- to disconcert, to fluster ford- to cross a body of water by wading, riding or driving through formation-a particular arrangement or order impulse-a sudden inclination to act, without thought for consequences muster-to cause to assemble; to summon ranks-lines of people or things Review Questions 1. Where did Alexander the Great and Darius III have their second meeting? ____________ ________________________________________________________________________ 2. What pointed object did the flanks of the Greek Companions resemble when they charged at the Persians? ____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________ 3. Who won the battle on the plain of Gaugamela? _________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 4. Darius III hoped to beat Alexander by using scythed _____________________________. 5. After defeating Darius III, Alexander the Great took his men to Babylon, where they rested for their journey to central ____________________________________________. 6. In order to have their second meeting with Darius III, Alexander and his men crossed the _________River. 7. Did Darius give up when he found his chariots surrounded? _______________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 8. What do you think? Was Alexander a better general than Darius? Why or why not? ___ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Multiple Choice: 1. Alexander the Great marched northeast from Tyre, taking his men to: a. the Euphrates River b. the Tigris River c. central Persia d. a charred plain 2. Which of the following tactics did Darius III not use? a. burning wheat grass above Tyre b. having scythed chariots c. outflanking the Greeks on the Gaugamela plain
d. none of the above 3. Which of the following helped to insure the victory of Alexander the Great? a. having scythed chariots b. having the Greek warriors part ranks c. formation of a wedge d. b and c Matching Tigris River site of second meeting between Alexander and Darius Plain of Gaugamela where Alexander the Great headed after he had defeated Darius III Central Persia crossed by Alexander and his men PERSEPOLIS GOES UP IN FLAMES Questions to ask before reading the story: Have you ever been to an art museum? Did it have any statues or stone engravings? Do you know anyone who has lost property or possessions due to a fire? If someone does something that harms you, should you seek revenge? Alexander the Great had placed himself before the relief at Persepolis, the richest city in all Persia. He had just come through rooms in which beautiful tapestries covered the walls. Earlier he had seen, in one of the several palatial residences, caskets made from Lebanon cedar, their wooden sides engraved, and decorated with gold and silver. He had admired the high ceilings, supported by fluted columns that held aloft carvings of bulls and griffins. Now he carefully studied the figures that had been chiselled into the outer stone walls. The dress on some of the figures represented the attire in lands that Alexander had already claimed for himself. The costumes on yet other carved figures represented people in lands that were still part of the vast Persian Empire. These were lands that Alexander planned to conquer. The people shown taking tributes to the Persian
King were people whom Alexander intended to subjugate. Alexander the Great was eager to move on to these distant lands, but his colleagues, who had downed large amounts of wine, stumbled around in a drunken stupor. Their inebriated minds stirred up within them a desire for revenge. They wanted to make the Persians pay for the damage a former Persian king, Xerxes, had done after invading Athens, more than 150 years earlier. Goaded by these drunken men and beguiled by members of his harem, Alexander the Great ordered the burning of Persepolis. Men and women, holding aloft flaming torches, raced up and down the terraces of Persepolis. Flames ignited the wooden beams of the palaces once built by Xerxes. Looters fought off the heat of the inferno in order to drag out gold vessels, and to tear silver rings from heavy draperies. When the fires had died out, all that remained were the tall stone columns and the exquisite stone carvings on the outer walls. Alexander the Great had left, for discovery by future visitors, the Persian soldiers who were untouched by the leaping flames. These Immortals still march today in precise formation across the chiselled stone remains of Persepolis. ************************************************************************ beguiled-tricked chiseled-cut and shaped into wood or stone exquisite-having special beauty fluted-having ornamental grooves goaded-stimulated to activity griffin- a mythological creature with the head of an eagle and wings on a lions body. inferno- a place resembling hell; somewhere intensely hot, a raging fire relief-a method of carving or molding in which the design projects from the surface. Review Questions 1. What Persian city did Alexander the Great set afire? _____________________________ 2. What Persian king had set Athens afire? _______________________________________
3. Why did Alexander the Great put a torch to Persepolis? ___________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 4. The Persians brought cedar from _____________________ to Persepolis. 5. The Persians decorated the tall columns of Persepolis with bulls and ________________. 6. The burning of Persepolis was intended as revenge for the burning of ____________. 7. Is the griffin a creature from Greek mythology? ________ 8. What do you think? Are the ruins of Persepolis something you would like to see? ____ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Multiple Choice: 1. Which of the following did Alexander the Great not find at Persepolis? a) tapestries hanging on walls c) relief showing Persians on march b) fluted columns d) none of the above 2. Which of the following did Alexanders men take from Persepolis? a) gold vessels c) a and b b) silver rings d) none of the above 3. Alexander the Great set fire to Persepolis because Xerxes put a torch to: a) Athens c) Rome b) Alexandria d) Tyre Matching 1. Persepolis torched by Xerxes torched by Alexander the Great 2. Athens in central Persia
in Greece Answers to review questions for Persian Warriors 1. on the plain of Gaugamela 2. a wedge 3. Alexander the Great 4. Chariots 5. Persia 6. Tigris 7. No 8. Answers will vary Multiple choice: 1. b 2. d 3. d Matching Aexander crossed the Tigris. Alexander met Darius III on the plain of Gaugamela. After winning the battle with Darius, Alexander went to central Persia. Answers to questions for Persepolis 1. Persepolis 2. Xerxes 3. His colleagues wanted to get revenge. 4. Lebanon 5. Griffins 6. Athens 7. no 8. answers will vary Multiple choices:
1) d 2) c 3) a Matching: Persepolis was in central Persia. It was set afire by Alexander the Great. Athens was in Greece. It was set afire by Xerxes.
EASTER Easter is a Christian holiday. It celebrates the Resurrection, or return to life, of Jesus Christ. Easter is celebrated on the Sunday after the fourth full moon following Christmas, which is also the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Easter is the end of a season in the church called Lent. Lent is the season after Carnival. During Lent, it is a tradition to give up eating meat and other animal fats. The word carnival comes from this tradition (carne = meat). Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday and is the last day of Carnival. The Lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday, many Christians (especially Catholics) go to church. The priest rubs ashes on their foreheads in the shape of a cross. Lent is a time to be penitent, or sorry for bad things in the past. This penitence starts on Ash Wednesday, and the ashes are a sign of it. Although not many people today give up all meat and animal products, people do often try to give up a vice, or bad habit, for Lent. They might try to be kinder to strangers, or stop biting their nails. Lent lasts forty days (the Sundays of Lent are not counted). The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday. According to the Gospels, the books of the Bible that tell the story of Christ and his teaching, Jesus Christ went to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Many people were very happy to see him and laid palm fronds at his feet. Jesus Christ had told people that he was the son of God, but some of them didnt believe him, and some even felt that his ideas were dangerous. Thus, while many people were happy to see his arrival in Jerusalem, others were not pleased and wanted him arrested. The Thursday after Palm Sunday (Holy Thursday), Jesus and his disciples, or followers, ate supper together. This is called the Last Supper. Jesus declared that one of his disciples would betray him. His disciple Judas told the Kings soldiers where to find Jesus Christ, and he was put into jail. Pontius Pilate, who was the Kings official, arrested Christ. Christ was teased and beaten. He was crucified, or killed on a cross, the next day, on a hill called Calvary (the hill is also called Golgotha). The day of the crucifixion is now observed as Good Friday. After Jesus Christ died, his followers were very sad about his death, and some of them went to the place where he had been buried to mourn him. When they got there, he was not in the tomb. According to the Gospels, Christ had risen from the dead three days after he was
buried. He then ascended, or rose, into heaven, to be with God, his father. Christians believe that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world through his crucifixion, and that his resurrection proves that he was the son of God. This resurrection is celebrated on Easter. PUT IN ORDER, ACCORDING TO THE ARTICLE Ash Wednesday _______ Christmas _______ Easter Sunday _______ Good Friday _______ Last Supper _______ Lent _______ Mardi Gras _______ Palm Sunday _______ MARK THE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE ACCORDING TO THE ARTICLE. IF THE STATEMENT IS FALSE, WRITE THE CORRECTION UNDER THE STATEMENT. 1. Easter is a Christian holiday. _______________________________________________________________ 2. Easter primarily celebrates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ. _______________________________________________________________ 3. The Lenten season is one of celebration, with dances and parades. _______________________________________________________________ 4. Its called Palm Sunday because the people climbed palm trees. _______________________________________________________________ 5. Jesus Christ was killed by being put on a cross. _______________________________________________________________
COMPLETE THE SENTENCES USING VOCABULARY WORDS FROM THE TEXT 1. My only ________________ is talking on the phone too long. 2. The criminal was truly ________________ for what he had done. 3. Gandhi taught nonviolent resistance. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed his ideas, and was one of his many ________________ 4. People all over the world ________________ the deaths of the earthquake victims. 5. I asked you to keep a secret, but you didnt. You ________________ me. 6. His proposal was rejected, but after some time, he decided to try again. He made some changes, and the ________________ version of his proposal was accepted.
ANSWERS: ORDER: 1. Christmas 2. Mardi Gras 3. Ash Wednesday 4. Lent 5. Palm Sunday 6. Last Supper 7. Good Friday 8. Easter Sunday TRUE/ FALSE: 1. True 2. False: Easter primarily celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 3. False: The Lenten season is one of penitence. 4. False: Its called Palm Sunday because the people laid palm fronds at his feet. 5. True VOCABULARY: 1. vice 2. penitent 3. disciples 4. mourned 5. betrayed 6. resurrected
MOTHERS DAY A special day for the celebration of mothers can be traced to the times of ancient Greece when tribute was paid to Rhea, the mother of many of the Greek gods. Early Christians also paid tribute to Mary, the mother of God, during Lent. This tribute evolved into Mothering Sunday in England. Mothering Sunday is a celebration of all mothers, and is observed on the fourth Sunday of Lent. In 1872, in America, Julia Ward Howe, the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", suggested the idea of Mother's Day. However, Anna Jarvis is credited with creating Mother's Day in 1905. Anna Jarvis campaigned for Mothers Day as a tribute to her mother, who had tried to establish Mother's Friendship Day to help heal the scars of the Civil War in America. In 1910, West Virginia became the first state to adopt a formal holiday to recognize mothers. A year later, nearly every state officially marked the day of celebration. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother's Day as a national holiday, to be held on the second Sunday of May. Today, Mother's Day is celebrated in many countries throughout the world, although the celebrations do not fall on the same day in every country. Mothers Day is celebrated in various ways, depending on the country, the family, and the mother. Many families honour mothers by dining out, giving flowers, sending cards, giving gifts, and visits. Additionally, Mothers Day is reported to be one of the busiest days of the year for telephone calls. Mother's Day should be every day. Mothers nurture us, teach us, protect us, and make us feel special. Mothers are the people in our lives who are most responsible for the way we grow and mature. Answer each of the following questions about Mothers Day: 1. Who was the mother of the many gods in ancient Greece? a. Anna b. Julia Ward Howe c. Virginia d. Rhea
2. When is Mothers Day celebrated in the United States? a. 5th Sunday in March b. third Sunday in June c. first of July d. second Sunday in May 3. Who is responsible for making Mothers Day a national U.S. holiday? a. President Lincoln b. Anna Jarvis c. Julia Ward Howe d. President Wilson 4. Which of the following is NOT true? a. Mothers Day is celebrated on the same day all over the world. b. Mothers play a special part in our lives. c. England celebrates Mothering Sunday 5. What is the purpose of this writing? a. to entertain b. to persuade c. to inform d. none of these 6. Anna Jarvis lived in ________. a. England b. Philadelphia c. Greece d. Florida 7. Mothers are honoured by their families on Mothers Day by ___. a. dining out b. cards c. flowers d. all of these
Reading Comprehension/Animals Name: __________________________________ Date: ______________________ Poisonous Spiders! Over 35,000 different species of spiders live almost everywhere in the world. The only places you cant find spiders are on the tops of mountains, in the ocean and at the poles. Spiders are carnivorous. That means that they eat only meat. They eat insects and sometimes other spiders. Some spiders eat other animals such as small fish, lizards, frogs, baby birds and mice. Most spiders use poison to kill or paralyze their prey. All spiders have poison, and to a small insect all spiders are very dangerous, but only a few spiders have poison strong enough to hurt people. Spiders that bite and cause pain to humans are called medically significant spiders. This means that they have enough venom (poison) to cause a serious bite that will need to be looked at by a doctor. Some of the poisonous spiders found in North America include the black widow, the brown recluse, the hobo spider, and the yellow sac spider. There are about 6 different species of black widow spiders. Three of these species are found in the warm southern United States. Black widow spiders build webs, and they live wherever they can build one. They rarely live in houses and other buildings, but if the weather gets very cold, they can move inside. Black widow spiders eat insects, and stay in their webs to catch them. Only the female black widow spider is dangerous. She is considered to be the most venomous spider in the United States! Females are shiny black, with a red hourglass shaped mark on the bottom of their abdomens. Although they are dangerous, black widow spiders are not usually deadly because they only inject a very small amount of poison. The brown recluse spider (often called a violin spider because of the marking on its back) lives mainly in the Midwestern United States. The brown recluse spider also spins webs, and can be found in dark, undisturbed areas. Unlike the black widow, the brown recluse leaves its web at night and goes in search of insects to eat. Both the male and female brown recluse spiders are poisonous. The brown recluse spider is also not usually deadly. In fact, fatal bites almost
never occur. However, the bite of a brown recluse spider is very painful and takes a long time to heal because the poison damages the cells near the bite. The hobo spider is not native to the United States. It was originally introduced from Europe, and now lives in the northwestern United States and into southern British Columbia in Canada. Like the black widow and the brown recluse spiders, the hobo spider also builds webs, but its webs are funnel webs and almost never above the ground. Female hobo spiders never leave their webs, and so the male spiders must search for them. Because of this, most bites from hobo spiders come from males. Hobo spider bites arent deadly, but they are painful. The yellow sac spider is commonly found in homes and gardens throughout the United States. The sac spider also makes a type of web; it makes a sac out of silk. The spider sits in this sac when it is not out hunting. Sac spider bites are the least medically significant. This means that out of the black widow, brown recluse, hobo spider and sac spider, the sac spiders bite causes the least amount of damage. Although these four spiders are poisonous to people, they dont attack humans. Spiders are more scared of people that we are of them! Spiders only bite if they are trapped close to the skin, or cannot escape. If you do get bitten by a spider, clean the bite and then go to see a doctor. Answer the following questions about poisonous spiders. 1. Are all spiders poisonous? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ 2. What does medically significant mean? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ 3. What are four medically significant spiders that live in the United States? a) _________________________________ b) _________________________________ c) _________________________________ d) _________________________________
4. Which one of the four spiders is not native to North America? Where does it originally come from? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ 5. Which of the poisonous spiders are you most likely to see? Why? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ 6. Are bites from the black widow spider fatal (deadly)? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ 7. When are you most likely to get bitten by the brown recluse spider? (When is the brown recluse spider active?) ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ 8. Which spider is the most poisonous spider in the United States? Which of the medically significant spiders is the least poisonous? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ 9. Why do spiders bite people? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ 10. If you get bitten by a spider, what should you do? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________
Answers to poisonous spiders. 1. All spiders have poison, but not all spiders are dangerous to humans. 2. Medically significant means that if a spider bites a person it will result in a serious bite that will need to be looked at by a doctor. 3. a) Black widow spider b) Brown recluse spider c) Hobo spider d) Yellow sac spider 4. The hobo spider is not native to the United States. It originally came from Europe. 5. You are most likely to see the yellow sac spider as it is common in homes and gardens throughout the United States. 6. Bites from the black widow spider are rarely fatal because she injects only a little bit of poison. 7. You are most likely to get bitten by the brown recluse spider at night when it is out hunting. 8. The black widow spider is the most poisonous spider and the yellow sac spider is the least poisonous of the medically significant spiders. 9. Spiders bite people if they are trapped next to a persons skin, or cannot escape. 10. If you are bitten by a spider you should clean the bite and then go to see a doctor.
Reading Comprehension- History: Sutters Mill GOLD FOUND IN CALIFORNIA Questions to ask before reading the story: 1) If you won the California lottery, what would you do with the winnings? 2) How well can you keep a secret? 3) If you found a gold-colored rock, how would you test it to see if it is gold? Every morning, James Marshall, who lived and built saw mills in the Mexican territory known as California, walked along the millrace and studied the wheel of the sawmill he had constructed. He wanted to be able to tell the mills owner, John Sutter, when the water in the race was deep and swift enough to turn the mills wheel. On the morning of January 24, 1848, Marshall noticed something unusual in one of the deep pools along the bank. Under the clear water lay a yellow lump: a gold-colored, chewed-up piece of rock, sitting on top of a smooth and flat rock. He reached into the cold water and snatched up the strange rock. Then he stood by the bank, pondering what his next step should be. Was it really gold? James Marshall knew several tests for gold, but only one such test could be conducted there by the riverbank. Marshall decided to perform this one simple test. He laid the stone on a smooth rock, and then he picked up another rock that he felt would make a good hammer. He hammered at the gold-colored lump. He noticed that it did not break, but careful inspection showed that it had changed shape. He put the lump in his pocket and took it to the mill. There the mill crew conducted another test. They placed the lump on an anvil and beat it with a hammer. When the lump flattened but did not become fragmented, the mill crew knew that the lump was not iron pyrite, also known as fools gold. Three more tests were used in order to ascertain the exact composition of that gold lump. The mill cook threw it into a kettle of lye, where it was boiled for a day. The prolonged boiling did not change the lumps color: it remained the color of gold. John Sutter, the mills owner, was shown the lump on January 28, 1848, five days before his
land became part of the United States. He performed two different tests on the gold colored lump. After the first test, John Sutter observed that nitric acid did not damage the lumps appearance. Then he placed the lump on a scale. Its weight showed that it was much denser than silver. John Sutter and James Marshall were then sure that they had in their possession a gold nugget. They decided to keep the find a secret, and they told the mill crew to keep quiet about the news. However, one mill hand wrote to his friends about his own efforts at gold mining. A storeowner overheard another mill hand bragging about a piece of gold he kept in a small buckskin bag. When a deliveryman got a look at a handful of gold dust, shown to him by a small boy at the mill, the arrival of a California Gold Rush was almost unavoidable. Its occurrence was made a certainty with the publication of a San Francisco news headline reading GOLD MINE FOUND. Over ninety percent of the people in San Francisco took off in the direction of Sutters Mill. ************************************************************************ ascertain-to find out or learn for a certainty buckskin-made from the skin of a buck ( a male deer) certainty-something that is fixed or settled composition-manner of being composed, as to style or elements denser- having its parts more massed or more crowded together; more compact fragmented- broke into small detached fragments millrace-the canal in which water goes to a mill wheel pondering-weighing in the mind; deliberating possession-act or state of being the owner or holder Review questions 1. Where was Sutters Mill located? ____________________________________________ 2. In what year was gold first found in the territories west of the United States? __________
3. In what city was the discovery of gold first made public? _________________________ 4. What is one test for gold that requires little extra equipment? ______________________ 5. The first gold nugget found in California was lying in a __________________________. 6. John Sutter tested the nugget with nitric _______________ and with a ______________. 7. A news headline in _________ ___________________ announced the discovery of gold. 8. News of the discovery had leaked from comments made by the work crew at Sutters ________. 9. Gold is more dense than __________________. 10. What do you think? What changes took place in California after the discovery of gold leaked out? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Multiple Choice: 1. Which of the following is a test for gold? a) weigh object on a scale c)drop nitric acid on it b) hit it with a hammer d) all of the above 2. Which of the following would not break apart if hit hard with a hammer? a) Iron pyrite c) gold b) glass d) fools gold 3. Which of the following did not help spread word of the discovery of gold? a) letter to a friend c) secrets shared with a deliveryman
b) bragging in a store d) none of the above ANSWERS 1. California 2. 1848 3. San Francisco 4. hammering it 5. pool 6. acid, scale 7. San Francisco 8. Mill 9. silver 10. answers will vary 1. d 2. c 3. d
Reading Comprehension- History- Science Name _______________________________ Date _____________________ LEAP YEAR As February 29, 2008 approaches, some people may notice something unusual about the date. Last year, there was no February 29th. In fact, there has not been a February 29th since 2004. Why does February 29th occur only once in four years? To understand this confusing arrangement, it is necessary to understand the calendar that is currently used in the United States. Nearly all modern societies use some kind of calendar to decide on the dates and times of everything, from religious holidays to business meetings. The kind of calendar used determines what makes up a week, a month, or a year. Some societies use lunar calendars, which are based on the revolution of the moon around Earth, and others use solar calendars, which are based on the revolution of Earth around the sun. The United States, like much of the rest of the world, uses a solar calendar. The solar calendar used by most of the world today is known as the Gregorian calendar. Named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in 1582, this modern calendar is the end result of hundreds of years of fine-tuning. It was developed from the Julian calendar, which was created in 46 BC by Julius Caesar. The Julian calendar was also a solar calendar, based on the time it takes for Earth to travel one complete loop around the sun. In Julius Caesars time, although astronomers believed that the sun revolved around Earth, they still managed to make fairly accurate measurements of the length of a complete cycle. A solar year, they calculated, was about 365.25 days long. Julius Caesar, deciding that it would be difficult to add of a day onto each year, ordered one extra day to be added every four years to the month of February, creating what would be called leap years. This calendar was used by the western world for over a thousand years. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the Julian calendar. When Julius Caesar ordered a leap year every four years, he was putting in too many extra days. A solar year is not 365.25 days long, but in fact 365.24219 days. The difference between the actual length of the solar year and the
approximated value is very small, but over several hundred years it began to add up. By the 1500s, spring holidays were starting to happen in the summer. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII came up with an idea of how to fix the problem. He realized that there were too many leap years in the Julian calendar, so he reorganized it into a more complicated system. In the new calendar, there is still a leap year almost every four years, but there is also a new rule. If the year ends in 00, it is only a leap year if the years number can be divided by 400. For this reason, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, but 2000 was. The new calendar was so accurate that over the next several hundred years, it was adopted by almost every country in the world. Over 400 years after its introduction, the Gregorian calendar is currently in use world-wide. Reading Comprehension- History- Science ANSWER THE QUESTIONS ABOUT LEAP YEAR 1. Which is the name of the calendar currently used in the United States? a. the Gregorian calendar b. the Julian calendar c. the Lunar calendar d. the Popes calendar 2. How many days are there in a solar year? a. 365 b. 365.25 c. 366 d. 365.24219 3. When were leap years first used? a. 46 BC b. 1592 c. 1700 d. 1582
4. Which best describes the kind of calendar used today in the United States? a. a solar calendar, based on the revolution of the moon around Earth b. a lunar calendar, based on the revolution of the moon around Earth c. a solar calendar, based on the revolution of Earth around the sun d. a lunar calendar, based on the revolution of the moon around the sun 5. By our modern calendar, which of the following years WILL be a leap year? a. 2100 b. 2500 c. 2200 d. 2800 6. Which of the following best describes the reason for creating leap years? a. The Earth revolves around the sun. b. The solar year does not divide into an even number of days, and it would be difficult to add of a day onto each year. c. Astronomers calculated the approximate length of a solar year. d. Pope Gregory XIII saw the problem with the Julian calendar. 7. Which statement best describes the problem with the Julian calendar? a. Pope Gregory XIII did not like the Julian calendar. b. The actual solar year was slightly shorter than the year calculated for the Julian calendar, so there were too many leap years. c. The actual solar year was slightly longer than the year calculated for the Julian calendar, so there were not enough leap years. d. The Julian calendar did not have leap years.
ANSWERS TO LEAP YEAR 1. a 2. d 3. a 4. c 5. d 6. b 7. b
Newspapers Name __________________________________________ Date_________________________ What Is a Newspaper? A newspaper is a publication that is issued daily or weekly and includes local and international news stories, advertisements, announcements, opinions, cartoons, sports news and television listings. It is an important method of letting the public know everything that is happening in their local area and around the world. Even with the advancements in computer technology, newspapers continue to be an important aspect of everyday life. It is important to know the sections of the newspaper and what information each one contains. The front page has the most important stories of the day. Each story has its own "headline" and a "by-line" giving the name of the reporter who wrote the story. Every newspaper story has to answer the following questions: 5Ws Who? - who is the story about? What? - what is the story about? Where? - where does the story take place? When? - when does the story take place? Why? - why is this happening? (This is not always possible to answer) H How? - how this story happened. Although every news story cannot fit into a formula, there is a certain structure that is fairly common of all news stories. 1. The first paragraph gives the answers to the most important of the 5 W's and H. The second paragraph tells the rest of the 5 Ws if they were not included in the lead. 2. The rest of the paragraphs elaborates on the information given in the opening and gives more information and details.
3. Background information is included if it is giving new information to a story that had been printed previously in the newspaper. Sometimes it gives information which is necessary to understand the story. 4. A quotation or a statement about the news story is often included in order to explain the importance of the story. 5. Details are provided about the story and are organized into paragraphs. Each paragraph provides one aspect of the story and the details are arranged in order of importance. Answer each of the following questions: 1. Why are newspapers still important to people? __________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 2. What sections are included in a newspaper? ____________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 3. What are the main questions a news story must answer? __________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Read the following news story and answer the questions. Nowhere to Go but Up By Walt Walton The Paper Waters men's basketball coach Audrey Hatfield will have a good idea of what she is up against this season after the first two road games that kick off the Tens' 2008-09 schedule this weekend in Mars, Atlantis. Hatfield faces the daunting task of turning around a team that has finished in last place for the past four seasons. Its best player is still struggling to
make a comeback from knee surgery. The Tens take on the Venus Nines today in Mars before heading to Jupiter to play the Rings on Sunday. The Nines began the season by defeating the Moons 80 -68 last weekend. Although it is still early in the season, Hatfield says the games are important because they are against two winning teams. "These games will give us a good idea as to where we stand," said Hatfield. Playing two different teams back-to-back also means a little more work for the coaches and players in regards to preparation. "It's obviously tougher because you've got two sets of videotapes to watch and two different teams to prepare for. You want to know what they do on offence and you want the players to know. You want to be able to run what you expect to see from them. The Nines, for example, play a complete half-court, man-to-man. The Rings are going to press us, run some zone against us and some man," explained Hatfield. As far as star forward Matty Molloy is concerned. Hatfield said the Mars native and former scoring champ is going on the road, but he's not sure how many minutes he'll get. "Right now, he's working on making the starting lineup," said Hatfield. 1. Who is this story about? ____________________________________________________ 2. What is the story about? ____________________________________________________ 3. Where does this story take place? ___________________________________________ 4. When does this story take place? _____________________________________________ 5. Why is this story taking place? _____________________________________________ 6. How did this story come about? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 7. What section of the newspaper would this story be found in? ______________________ 8. Who do you think would be interested in reading this story? Why?
________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 9. What background knowledge would the reader need to understand this story? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ The classified section of a newspaper is where ads are placed. People who want to apply for a job, buy a house, or make any other similar transaction are very interested in this section. Anyone who has articles to sell or a position they wish to advertise can purchase space in this section. The cost of placing an ad in the newspaper is usually determined by the number of words in the ad. Big companies can purchase whole pages or part of a page for a price. This is one of the ways newspapers make money. Read the following ad and explain what is being sold. Fashionable Fabrics 555 -1555 Hairpin Drive, Mountainview We are pleased to offer the best selection competitive pricing and a friendly and knowledgeable staff. Offering great deals on quilting cottons, Christmas prints, bridal fabrics, drapery upholstery, polar fleece, and cross stitch supplies. Check out our weekly in store specials We ship anywhere by ground mail. 1. What is being sold? _______________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 2. Is there any information not included in this ad that you think should be there? What is it? ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 3. Suppose the cost of advertising in the newspaper was: $10.00 for the first 10 words and 9 a word for every word after, how much would it have cost to place this ad in the newspaper? ______________________________________________________________ 4. Write a newspaper ad in which you would like to sell: 10 novels at $2.00 each. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 5. At the rate given in #2, how much would it cost you to place your ad in the newspaper? _____________________________________________________________ The following is an advertisement for a job placed in the newspaper. Read the ad and answer the questions which follow: Crane Supply Warehouse Counter Sales Clerk Applications are being accepted for the position of WAREHOUSE COUNTER SALES CLERK with a national company specializing in the distribution of plumbing, heating, and industrial products. The position is based in Hawaii and offers the successful candidate a career environment with an established growth oriented company. Applications are encouraged from high school and community college graduates with a mechanical aptitude and/or tradespeople with 1-2 years experience in plumbing, heating, or industrial work. A full benefits program is available. Only selected candidates will be contacted.
Submit resume in confidence to: Box 100 c/o The Paper 200 Mountain Road Wiltshire, CT. 00700 1. What position is being advertised? ________________________________________________________________________ 2. What kind of work would be expected in this position? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 3. What qualifications would one need to apply for this position? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 4. Would you like to apply for this job? Why or why not? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 5. Why do you think the ad states "only candidates selected will be contacted"? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 6. Why do you think the address of the company is not given? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
7. Is there any information you feel is missing from this ad? What is it? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
Answers: What Is a Newspaper? 1. They can get the local and international news as well as sports and TV listings without having to connect to the Internet or watch commercials. 2. The newspaper includes local and international news, advertisements, announcements, opinions, cartoons, sports news and television listings. 3. The main questions are Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How? Nowhere to Go but Up 1. This story is about the Tens team, their coach and star player. 2. The story is about how the team has two tough games coming up. 3. This story takes place in a school gymnasium. 4. The story takes place this weekend. 5. The reporter wants the people to know that the team has a new coach and what she plans to do. 6. The coach hopes to get the team to win more games. 7. It is from the sports section. 8. People who like basketball and those who are fans of the team would be interested. 9. People would have to know about the losses of the team, that the old coach was no longer there and that the star player had knee surgery. Ads 1. This ad is selling material which can be used to make quilts, clothes or any other crafts. 2. It doesn't give any idea of how much the material costs or any examples of their in store specials. 3. $10.00 for the first 10 words and 9 cents a word for 33 words =$10.00 + 2.97 = $ 12.97 4. & 5. will vary Crane Supply 1. The position being advertised is for a warehouse counter sales clerk. 2. The person would have to serve customers who come to the warehouse to pick up supplies.
3. The person has to have graduated from high school or community college. He/She also has to know the different parts required for plumbing a heating repairs and installation. 4. Answers will vary. 5. This is to let people know that if they don't hear from the company they haven't been selected. 6. This is to prevent people interested in the position from dropping by or phoning the company to know if they have been selected. 7. The salary is not given nor a time frame for the selection process. All texts come from http://www.abcteach.com

Lektion-Se 11046 Reading Comprehension

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Prepared by Jolanta Maria Eriksson Source www.abcteach.

Prepared by Jolanta Maria Eriksson Source www.abcteach.com

2 Jolanta Eriksson, Kinnarpsskolan, Kinnarp www.lektion.se

Prepared by Jolanta Maria Eriksson Source www.abcteach.com

Prepared by Jolanta Maria Eriksson Source www.abcteach.com

Prepared by Jolanta Maria Eriksson Source www.abcteach.com

5 Jolanta Eriksson, Kinnarpsskolan, Kinnarp www.lektion.se

Prepared by Jolanta Maria Eriksson Source www.abcteach.com

6 Jolanta Eriksson, Kinnarpsskolan, Kinnarp www.lektion.se

Prepared by Jolanta Maria Eriksson Source www.abcteach.com

Prepared by Jolanta Maria Eriksson Source www.abcteach.com

8 Jolanta Eriksson, Kinnarpsskolan, Kinnarp www.lektion.se

Prepared by Jolanta Maria Eriksson Source www.abcteach.com

Prepared by Jolanta Maria Eriksson Source www.abcteach.com

10 Jolanta Eriksson, Kinnarpsskolan, Kinnarp www.lektion.se

Prepared by Jolanta Maria Eriksson Source www.abcteach.com

Answers toA Bad Day at Magic Land 1. d 2. b 3. c 4. d 5. a

11 Jolanta Eriksson, Kinnarpsskolan, Kinnarp www.lektion.se

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