Why an author wrote it and how the writing shows it
Grade 6 Reading Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Restaurant Review
The Lantern Noodle House (review): [1] The Lantern Noodle House opened last month on Cedar Avenue with a line out the door and a menu full of big promises. [2] After two visits, I still cannot find many of those promises in the bowls that arrive at the table.
[3] The broth in my first bowl was lukewarm, and it tasted mostly of salt. [4] The noodles, which the menu calls “hand-pulled,” came out limp and clumped together like wet string.
[5] The service deserves credit, because our server was friendly and refilled our water without being asked. [6] The dining room is also bright and clean, with paper lanterns that hang over every table.
[7] Still, a pleasant room cannot make up for a bowl that costs fourteen dollars and arrives half cold. [8] Cedar Avenue already has two dependable noodle shops, and I would send hungry friends to either of them first.
Ari reads the noodle shop review. Why does the writer include sentences [5] and [6], which praise the service and the room?
- To describe the dining room so readers can picture where the meal took place
- To show the writer is being fair, so the complaint about the food is easier to believe
- To soften the review so that the shop's owner will not feel insulted by the writer
- To show the writer liked the restaurant overall but was just unlucky with one dish on the menu
Bo swaps limp and clumped together like wet string in sentence [4] for soft and stuck together. What changes?
- The noodles would sound less unpleasant and the writer's disappointment would be harder to see
- The sentence would show that the writer was pleasantly surprised, and ended up liking the noodles
- The sentence would describe the same noodles, because soft and limp mean the same thing
- The sentence would stop telling readers that the menu calls the noodles hand-pulled
Esme looks at sentence [1]. Why does the writer begin with the line out the door and the big promises?
- To warn readers that the owners are lying about what the shop serves
- To raise high hopes that the bowls in the review will let down
- To tell readers exactly when and where the noodle house opened
- To show the shop is popular, so readers will want to visit it quickly
Pelican Grove Butterfly Count (report)
[1] Each November, volunteers at Pelican Grove count the monarch butterflies that cluster on the eucalyptus branches for the winter. [2] This year's total was 3,100, down from 12,400 in the count taken eight years ago.
[3] Monarch caterpillars feed on milkweed, and the county's roadsides have lost nearly half of their milkweed since the first count. [4] Mowing crews now cut those roadsides in midsummer, when many caterpillars are still growing.
[5] Volunteers also recorded a drop in the number of clusters, which fell from forty-one to nine. [6] The smaller clusters were quiet and scattered, and some branches that once glowed orange held only a few insects.
[7] This report does not claim that mowing alone explains the decline, since weather and winter habitat matter too. [8] Even so, it lists three roadside changes that the county could make before the next count, and each one is inexpensive.
Jun looks at sentence [2]. Why does the report give the counts 3,100 and 12,400 right at the start?
- To show that the monarch count at Pelican Grove is falling, and will keep falling in the years ahead
- To prepare readers for a list of ways to attract more butterflies
- To show the size of the drop with numbers that readers can compare for themselves
- To praise the volunteers for counting such a large number of butterflies
Kira reads sentence [6]. Why does the writer say branches that once glowed orange now hold only a few insects?
- To help readers see the loss for themselves so the numbers carry feeling too
- To show that the volunteers were upset with the county's mowing crews
- To describe the bright color of monarch wings for readers who have not seen one
- To give one more number, proving the clusters fell from forty-one to nine
Luz asks how the writer shows concern about the butterflies. Which choice describes it best?
- By urging readers to write to the county and demand the three changes
- By suggesting that the county's mowing crews are mainly to blame for the drop in the count
- By describing how the volunteers felt as they counted each cluster of butterflies in the grove
- By using plain numbers and words like drop and lost, while staying careful about causes
Camping Diary
Night One (diary): [1] I should have known our camping trip was in trouble when the tent instructions arrived in eleven languages and none of them made sense. [2] Dad and I spent forty minutes building something that leaned to the left like a very tired circus tent.
[3] Dinner was supposed to be roasted corn, but I held it over the fire for so long that it became a charcoal baton. [4] A chipmunk stared at the baton, politely declined it, and walked away.
[5] At bedtime, a steady tapping began on the tent roof and kept going until midnight. [6] In the morning we found the culprit, which was one very determined acorn bouncing down the sagging roof.
[7] I have decided that I am not an outdoorsy person and that the stars look better from a comfortable bed. [8] Still, I have already asked whether we can go back next month, because I refuse to let that tent win.
Milo reads sentence [4]. Why does the writer include the chipmunk that stares at the baton and walks away?
- To tell readers what kinds of animals live near the campground
- To explain why the writer's family could not cook another dinner
- To add a joke that shows just how badly the corn was burned
- To show that the writer was frightened by wildlife at the campsite
Noah swaps charcoal baton in sentence [3] for burned piece of corn. What changes?
- The sentence would sound angrier, as if the writer were upset about dinner
- The sentence would show the writer blaming Dad for ruining the dinner
- The meaning stays the same, since both phrases tell readers the corn was burned
- The sentence would lose a silly picture so the diary would sound less playful
Science Page
Why Do Your Ears Pop? (science page): [1] If you have ever ridden up a mountain road or taken off in an airplane, you have probably felt your ears pop. [2] The feeling seems odd, but it is really a sign that a small and clever part of your body is doing its job.
[3] Behind each eardrum is a little pocket of air, and a narrow channel called the Eustachian tube links that pocket to the back of your throat. [4] When you climb higher, the air pressure outside your ear drops, so the air inside pushes gently on the eardrum.
[5] Swallowing or yawning opens the channel for a moment and lets that extra air escape. [6] The pop you hear is the sound of the pressure on both sides of the eardrum becoming equal again.
[7] Chewing gum or sipping water on a plane can help, because both make you swallow more often. [8] So the next time your ears crackle, remember that nothing is wrong, and a quick yawn will take care of it.
Ren swaps the word clever in sentence [2] for ordinary. What changes?
- The sentence would suggest the ear can think, since clever means quick at thinking
- The sentence would show the author thinks the ear is faulty
- The author would sound less impressed with the ear, so the sentence would feel less warm
- The sentence would stop telling readers that the ear is a small part of the body
Tala asks how the author keeps readers calm about popping ears. Which choice describes it best?
- By explaining the cause in plain steps and calling the pop a sign of a working ear
- By describing mountain roads in detail and how quickly airplanes climb into the sky
- By promising readers that chewing gum will stop the popping, before it ever starts
- By listing the parts of the ear in the order that sound travels through them
