How an article builds one person, event or idea

Grade 6 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   The Trail Builder of Raven Ridge (article)

   [1] Last spring, a hiker named Dev followed a faint path up Raven Ridge and ended up in a dry creek bed with no trail in sight. [2] Rafael Ortiz, a trail builder for the county, heard the story at a meeting and decided the fault lay with the trail, not the hiker. [3] The old path had washed out in two places and had no markers at all.

   [4] Rafael began by walking the whole route with a notebook, because he believed a builder should understand a hillside before changing it. [5] He noticed that rain ran straight down the old path, which dug it deeper with every storm. [6] So he built the new trail in long, gentle zigzags called switchbacks, and he slanted each step slightly outward so water would drain off the edge.

   [7] Volunteers stacked rocks into small piles called cairns to mark each turn. [8] After the first heavy rain, Rafael returned and found the surface firm, with hardly any soil washed away. [9] Dev hiked the finished trail in June and reached the summit in under three hours.

   [10] Rafael says the work is never really finished. [11] Every autumn he walks the route again to clear fallen branches and to fix any cairn that has toppled. [12] He hopes other counties will study the design, because a trail that stays in place also protects the hillside around it.

2. 1.

   Ari wants to know how the article first introduces Rafael Ortiz's work. Which choice describes it?

   • It opens with Rafael walking the whole route with a notebook, which shows how he studies a hillside first.
   • It opens by saying in general terms that safe trails matter, and it names no person until later.
   • It opens with a hiker who lost the trail, and that story shows the problem Rafael sets out to fix.
   • It opens with a county meeting where Rafael decided the hiker was to blame for getting lost.
3. 2.

   The first paragraph says the old path had no markers. Bo looks for the later detail that shows Rafael's answer to that problem. Which choice is it?

   • He built the new trail in long, gentle zigzags called switchbacks so the path would hold.
   • Volunteers stacked rocks into small piles called cairns to mark each turn.
   • Each autumn he walks the route again to fix any cairn that has toppled over the past year.
   • Dev drew a map of the new route and posted it at the start of the trail.
4. 3.

   Esme asks why the author tells about Dev's June hike in sentence 9. What does that detail do for the article?

   • It returns to the hiker from the opening and shows the new trail solving the problem.
   • It repeats that Rafael walked the route with a notebook before he built anything new.
   • It introduces a second hiker whose work competes with Rafael's plan for the ridge.
   • It shows that the trail will last for years without any repair or care from the county.

5. The Lantern Walk of Harrow Bay (article)

   [1] On the longest night of the year, hundreds of people in Harrow Bay carry glowing paper lanterns down to the harbor. [2] The Lantern Walk looks like a celebration, but it began as a practical answer to a problem. [3] Eleven winters ago, a storm knocked out the town's power for three days.

   [4] Neighbors gathered at the harbor because it was the only place with enough open space and a working fire pit. [5] A retired teacher named Ines Moreau handed out candles in paper cups so that no one had to stumble home in the dark. [6] By the second evening, children were decorating the cups with drawings, and the line of glowing cups stretched along the whole seawall.

   [7] When the power returned, people asked for the walk to continue. [8] The next December the town council set aside a night, and the school art room began making lanterns from tissue paper and wire. [9] Visitors from nearby towns now arrive by bus to join the walk.

   [10] The council keeps one rule: every lantern must use a battery light, because the seawall is wooden. [11] Ines still lights the first lantern each year. [12] She says the walk reminds the town that a hard few days can leave something worth keeping.

6. 4.

   Kira wants to know how paragraph 1 introduces the Lantern Walk. Which choice describes it?

   • It explains the council's battery-light rule for the wooden seawall before it shows what the walk looks like.
   • It shows the walk as it looks today, then hints in sentence 2 that it began as a practical answer.
   • It starts in the past with the storm and the dark harbor, then describes the lanterns the town carries now.
   • It names Ines Moreau as the founder and describes the first candle she lit.
7. 5.

   Luz reads sentence 2, which says the walk began as a practical answer to a problem. Which later detail shows a need the first candles met?

   • Ines handed out candles in paper cups so that no one had to stumble home in the dark.
   • The next December the town council set aside a night for the walk each year.
   • Fishing boats used the candles on the seawall to find their way into the harbor.
   • Neighbors gathered at the harbor because it had open space and a working fire pit.
8. 6.

   Milo asks why the author includes sentence 6, about children decorating the cups. What does that detail do?

   • It shows how the walk spread to nearby towns that sent visitors by bus.
   • It explains why the council later made a rule about battery lights on the wooden seawall.
   • It shows that the children were in charge of lighting the very first candles on the seawall.
   • It shows a practical response starting to become something the town enjoyed and wanted to keep.
9. 7.

   Noah notices that paragraph 4 ends with Ines's view of the walk. What does the author gain by ending with it?

   • It repeats that Ines still lights the first lantern each year before the others are lit.
   • It shows that Ines wishes the storm had not taken the town's power for three days.
   • It argues that towns should hold a lantern walk after a storm to bring neighbors together.
   • It states the lesson of the story: a hard few days can leave something worth keeping.

10. Why Trees Cool a Street (article)

    [1] On a hot summer afternoon, a paved street can be many degrees warmer than a park only a block away. [2] Scientists call this the urban heat island effect, and shade trees are one of the simplest ways to reduce it. [3] The idea is that cities hold heat, but plants can help release it.

    [4] Dark pavement and rooftops soak up sunlight all day and give the heat back slowly after sunset. [5] A tree works differently, because its leaves block the sun and its roots pull up water that then evaporates from the leaves. [6] Evaporation uses heat energy, which is why standing under a tree feels cooler than standing under a tarp.

    [7] In the town of Alder Creek, volunteers planted maples along Fifth Street, a block with no shade. [8] Seven years later, a resident checked the sidewalk with a simple thermometer at three o'clock on a sunny day. [9] It read nine degrees cooler than the sidewalk on the bare block next door.

    [10] Trees are not a cure for every hot city, since young trees need years to grow and water to survive. [11] Planners therefore plant them along with other changes, such as light-colored roofs. [12] Even so, the Alder Creek block shows how one choice can change how a street feels.

11. 8.

    Pia wants to know how paragraph 1 introduces the heat island idea. Which choice describes it?

    • It starts with the Alder Creek maple planting on Fifth Street and then names the effect for readers.
    • It starts with a street-and-park comparison, then names the effect and states the idea behind it.
    • It lists the scientists who first measured the effect and the years in which they did their work.
    • It states the effect in general words and gives readers no comparison to picture.
12. 9.

    Ren reads sentence 5, which says a tree works differently from pavement. Which later detail shows what that difference feels like?

    • Dark pavement and rooftops soak up sunlight through the day and give the heat back slowly.
    • A sidewalk on the bare block read nine degrees warmer than the sidewalk beside the new maples.
    • Tree roots send cold air up through the trunk and out into the street on hot afternoons.
    • Standing under a tree feels cooler than standing under a tarp, because evaporation uses heat.
13. 10.

    Zee asks what sentence 1 does before the article names the effect. Which choice is right?

    • It gives a familiar picture of a hot street so readers feel the effect before it has a name.
    • It argues that parks should replace paved streets in hot cities and along busy highways.
    • It introduces the Alder Creek volunteers who planted the maples along Fifth Street.
    • It defines the effect in scientific words before readers see any example.