4th Grade Reading Basic Set 7

Read the passage.
The zoo is a very exciting place to visit. You can see lots of amazing animals. You can learn interesting facts about them. You will never be bored at the zoo.
From this passage, you can tell that:

Read the story.
Jane was in a hurry to get to soccer practice. Her friends were waiting for her on the corner. “Come on Jane. We are going to be late,” they called. As Jane ran towards her friends, she saw the widow who lived in the house across the street. She was carrying a bag of groceries. The widow looked tired. Jane knew she should stop and help. Jane looked at her friends who were waiting for her and turned around to go back and help the widow with her groceries.
What is the main idea of the story?

Read the story.
Sue and Al went everywhere together. They went to the park to play. They went swimming at the pool. They ate lunch together and even had dinner at each other’s house.
We can tell that Sue and Al were ________.

Read the story.
Mike and Chris ran down the sidewalk to school. Today was the big day! They were going to have a class party with popcorn, candy and movie in the afternoon!
From this story you can tell that Mike and Chris are ________.

Read the passage.
Bats are nocturnal animals. Bats come in many sizes and shapes. Bats hunt for food at night. Bats usually live in caves.
What kind of writing is this?

Read the following.
Mary had a little lamb
Whose fleece was white as snow,
And everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.
What kind of writing is this?

Read the poem.
One, Two
Buckle my shoe.
Three, Four
Open the door.
Five, Six
Pick up sticks.
Seven, Eight
Lay them straight.
Nine, Ten
A big, fat hen.
Which words rhyme?

Read the story.
Perry ran down the stairs. He hurried into the kitchen. His mother had forgotten to leave his lunch on the table. He looked in the fridge. Oh no, he thought. Mother forgot to make lunch for me. He ran out the door and started towards the waiting school bus.
What is Perry’s problem in the story?

Read the story.
Vicki was walking home from school. She was walking behind Mr. Jones, who had his hands full of groceries. She saw something fall from Mr. Jones’ pocket. Vicki looked down and saw a ten-dollar bill.
What should Vicki do next?

Read the passage.
Jan and Todd were riding horses along the canal road, when suddenly, Jan’s horse got spooked. Her horse started jumping and bucking, and Jan could barely hold on. She started to scream for help, and Todd was frozen. He had no idea what to do to help Jan out. She fell off the horse and broke her right leg. The horse ran off down the road, and Todd started to cry.
How are Jan and Todd alike?

Read the story.
For nearly a year, I sopped around the house, the Store, the school, and the church, like an old biscuit, dirty and inedible. Then I met, or rather got to know, the lady who threw me my first lifeline. Mrs. Bertha Flowers was the aristocrat of Black Stamps. She had the grace of control to appear warm in the coldest weather, and on the Arkansas summer days it seemed she had a private breeze which swirled around, cooling her. She was thin without the taut look of wiry people, and her printed voile dresses and flowered hats were as right for her as denim overalls for a farmer. She was our side’s answer to the richest white woman in town.
How does Maya let us know the importance of Mrs. Flowers in her life?

Read the fable.
A fox one day spied a beautiful bunch of ripe grapes hanging from a vine trained along the branches of a tree. The grapes seemed ready to burst with juice, and the Fox’s mouth watered as he gazed longingly at them.
The bunch hung from a high branch, and the Fox had to jump for it. The first time he jumped he missed it by a long way. So he walked off a short distance and took a running leap at it, only to fall short once more. Again and again he tried, but in vain. Now he sat down and looked at the grapes in disgust. “What a fool I am,” he said. “Here I am wearing myself out to get a bunch of sour grapes that are not worth gaping for.” And off he walked very, very scornfully.
Which inference can be made after reading the fable?

Read the paragraph.
“Until I was eleven years old I attended an English school. I felt very American and often thought I had to speak up for my country. At recess, for instance. The English children would sometimes tease me by making fun of America. I never let that pass even if it meant a fight.
What is the person who wrote the paragraph trying to say?

Read the passage.
I got up and walked to the curb to see what the commotion was. About a block away I saw a crowd of little kids yelling, with the dogs yipping and growling around someone who was walking down the middle of the street.
I watched the group as it slowly came closer and saw that in the center of the strange procession was a man wearing a tall black hat. He’s pause now and then to peer at something in his hand and then at the houses on either side of the street. I felt cold and hot at the same time as I recognized the man. “Oh, no!” I whispered. “It’s Grandpa!”
Who is the narrator?

Read the poem.
The Runaway
Once when the snow of the year was beginning to fall,
We stopped by a mountain pasture to say, “Whose colt?”
A little Morgan had one forefoot on the wall,
The other curled at this breast. He dipped his head
And snorted at us. And then he had to bolt.
We heard the miniature thunder where he fled,
And we saw him, or thought we saw him, dim and gray,
Like a shadow against the curtain of falling flakes.
“I think the little fellow’s afraid of the snow.
He isn’t winter-broken. It isn’t play
With the little fellow at all. He’s running away.
I doubt if even his mother could tell him, ‘Sakes,
It’s only weather.’ He’d think she didn’t know!
Where is his mother? He can’t be out alone.”
And now he comes again with clatter of stone,
And mounts the wall again with whited eyes
And all his tail that isn’t hair up straight.
He shudders his coat as if to throw off flies.
“Whoever it is that leaves him out so late,
When other creatures have gone to stall and bin,
Ought to be told to come and take him in.”
Why is the horse afraid?

Read the riddle.
What is black and white and read all over? A newspaper.
What is the purpose of this riddle?

Read the story.
Maria opened her locker to get her books for class. It was empty! What happened to her things? Was this a joke?
Whose experience is shared in this passage?

Read the passage.
Each day after school, Debbie’s friend tried to get her to go to the mall. But, Debbie knew she had to get home to do her homework and start dinner before her mother got home from work.
Whose thoughts do we know from this passage?

Read the story.
I don’t have much work to do around the house like some girls. My mother does that. And I don’t have to earn my pocket money by hustling; George runs errands for the big boys and sells Christmas cards. And anything else that’s got to get done, my father does. All I have to do in life is mind my brother Raymond, which is enough. Sometimes I slip and say my little brother Raymond. But as any fool can see he’s much bigger and he’s older too. But a lot of people call him my little brother cause he needs looking after cause he’s not quite right. And a lot of smart mouths got lots to say about that too, especially when George was minding him. But now, if anybody has anything to say to Raymond, anything
to say about his big head, they have to come by me. And I don’t play the dozens or believe in standing around with somebody in my face doing a lot of talking. I much rather just knock you down and take my chances even if I am a little girl with skinny arms and a squeaky voice, which is how I go the name Squeaky. And if things get too rough, I run. And as anybody can tell you,
I’m the fastest thing on two feet.
Which of these is not true of the main character in this passage?

Read the paragraph.
    “Here, you hold this.” Lemon Brown gave Greg the flashlight. He sat on the floor near Greg and carefully untied the strings that held the rags on his right leg. When he took the rags away, Greg saw a piece of plastic. The old man carefully took off the plastic and unfolded it. He revealed some yellowed newspaper clippings and a battered harmonica.
‘There it be,” he said, nodding his head. “There it be.”
Greg looked at the old man, saw the distant look in his eye, then turned to the clippings. They told of Sweet Lemon Brown, a blues singer and harmonica player who was appearing at different theaters in the South. One of the clippings said he had been the hit of the show,
although not the headliner. All of the clippings were reviews of shows Lemon Brown had been in more than fifty years ago. Greg looked at the harmonica. It was dented badly on one side,
with the reed holes on one end nearly closed.
How do we know Lemon Brown is proud of his past?