Make an inference and support it
Grade 6 Reading Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Dario's Signature (story)
[1] When Ms. Aldana, the substitute, wrote four rules on the board, several students groaned. [2] The first rule said that each assignment must be signed with a full name. [3] Dario slid down in his chair and signed his paper with a single scribbled letter. [4] Ms. Aldana did not scold him; she placed a sticky note beside the signature that read, “Looking forward to the full version.”
[5] On Wednesday, Dario's paper again carried only the letter D. [6] This time the sticky note said, “I hear your name has a story.” [7] Dario stared at the note for a long moment and then looked toward the window.
[8] On Thursday afternoon he stayed behind while the others filed out. [9] “It's Dariusz,” he said without looking up. [10] “Everyone at my old school said it wrong, so I stopped writing it.” [11] Ms. Aldana repeated the name slowly, getting the sound nearly right on her second try. [12] On Friday, the top of Dario's paper held all seven letters, written carefully in ink.
Ari reads sentences 1 to 7 only and thinks Dario is uneasy about his name, not just lazy. Which two details together support that best?
- Sentence 5, another paper signed with a lone D, and sentence 8, Dario staying behind after class on Thursday.
- Sentence 3, Dario signs with a single letter, and sentence 7, he stares at the note about his name and looks away.
- Sentence 4, Ms. Aldana's first sticky note, and sentence 6, her second note about his name and its story.
- Sentence 1, several students groaning at the four new rules, and sentence 2, the rule about signing a full name.
Bo reads sentences 1 to 7 only. Reader A says Dario is protesting Ms. Aldana's rules. Reader B says he is uneasy about his name. Which reading do the details support better?
- Reader A, because he slid down in his chair as soon as the rules went up on the board.
- Neither reading is supported, because the story gives no reason for his one-letter signature.
- Reader B, because the sticky notes show that Ms. Aldana is unkind to him.
- Reader B, because the second note mentions his name and he stares at it and looks away.
Jun wants to show that Ms. Aldana answered Dario with patience. Which two details together show it best?
- Sentence 1, Ms. Aldana writing four rules on the board, and sentence 12, Dario's full name written in ink.
- Sentence 8, Dario staying behind after the others left, and sentence 9, Dario saying his name out loud to her.
- Sentence 4, a sticky note instead of a scolding, and sentence 11, a slow second try at his name.
- Sentence 2, the rule about signing a full name, and sentence 3, Dario signing his first paper with a single D.
The New Kite (story)
[1] Mei's kite had been lying in pieces since the windy afternoon it tangled in the branches of the oak tree behind their house. [2] She asked her brother Jin to help repair it, but he said he had a science project due on Monday and disappeared into his room. [3] For the next week, Jin came to dinner with paper dust on his sleeves and a tape measure poking out of his pocket, and he answered every question about his day with a single word. [4] Twice Mei heard the tiny scrape of sandpaper from behind his door, and once she smelled glue drifting down the hall.
[5] When she knocked, the sound stopped at once, and Jin called out that he was busy. [6] On Friday he walked past her room carrying something long wrapped in a bedsheet, and he turned it so that she could not see what was inside. [7] “Is that your project?” she asked, trying to sound casual. [8] “Sort of,” he answered, smiling at the floor.
[9] On Saturday morning, the wind picked up and rattled the branches of the oak tree, as if it had been waiting all week. [10] Jin knocked on her door holding the bundle, now unwrapped, and handed her a new kite with a tail of red cloth. [11] Her old broken kite hung from a hook on his wall, its bent frame carefully traced onto the new paper. [12] Mei grabbed her coat before he had finished asking whether she was ready.
Luz reads sentences 1 to 8. Reader A says Jin is annoyed that Mei broke her kite. Reader B says Jin is hiding something he is making for her. Which reading is better supported?
- Reader A, because Jin kept his bundle turned so that Mei could not see inside.
- Neither reading is supported, because Jin does not say what he is working on.
- Reader B, because the clues point to building something and he smiles when she asks.
- Reader A, because Jin would not help fix the kite and went into his room to be alone.
Milo reads sentence 11. The broken kite hangs on Jin's wall, and its frame is traced onto the new paper. What does this suggest?
- The old kite hangs on a hook on Jin's wall, and the new kite has a tail of red cloth on it.
- Jin planned to hang both kites on his wall as decorations once the old one was repaired.
- Jin wanted Mei to forget her old kite and to love a very different design from the old one.
- Jin used the broken kite as a pattern so that the new one would match the kite Mei loved.
Noah reads sentence 12. Mei grabs her coat before Jin finishes asking if she is ready. What does this suggest about Mei?
- She understood the gift at once and was eager to go and fly the kite.
- She was glad about the wind and cared more about the weather than the kite.
- She was unsure about the kite and wanted to leave before she had to decide.
- She was angry that Jin had waited so long to fix her kite.
The Shrinking Pond (article)
[1] Every summer for twelve years, Dr. Lena Ruiz measured the water level of Cattail Pond, using a marked pole that she pushed into the mud near the shore. [2] By the end, the pond had lost about a foot of depth, but the loss had not come evenly from one year to the next. [3] Some neighbors blamed a dry decade, yet rainfall in the county had stayed close to average for as long as records existed.
[4] Dr. Ruiz went back through her notes to look for a pattern that the yearly numbers might be hiding. [5] In the first five years, the level had risen and fallen by less than half an inch from one summer to the next. [6] In year six, a farm upstream began pumping water from the stream that fed the pond. [7] The pond's steady drop began that same summer.
[8] After year six, the decline never reversed, even in the two wettest summers of the whole study. [9] Dr. Ruiz did not claim that the pumping was the only cause, since a single pond cannot answer every question. [10] She said the timing and the lack of recovery made it the first explanation worth testing carefully.
[11] The farm agreed to measure how much water it pumped each week, and the county began tracking the stream as well. [12] Two years later, the measurements showed that the farm took about as much water as the pond was losing.
Pia reads sentences 3 to 8. Reader A says a dry decade made the pond shrink. Reader B says the farm's pumping is the better explanation to test. Which reading do the details support better?
- Reader B, because farms take too much water from the streams that feed ponds in a county.
- Reader B, because Dr. Ruiz showed that the farm was the sole cause of the drop in the pond.
- Reader A, because a pond that loses water must have been getting less rain over the same years.
- Reader B, because rainfall stayed near average and the drop began the summer the pumping began.
Ren wants evidence from paragraphs 1 to 3 that the pond's drop is linked to the pumping. Which two details together support that best?
- Sentence 9, she did not claim a single cause, and sentence 10, pumping as the first cause to test.
- Sentence 1, twelve summers of careful measuring, and sentence 2, the pond losing about a foot of depth.
- Sentence 6, the farm began pumping in year six, and sentence 7, the steady drop began that same summer.
- Sentence 2, the pond lost about a foot of depth, and sentence 3, rainfall stayed near average.
Tala reads sentences 9 and 10. Why does Dr. Ruiz call pumping “the first explanation worth testing” instead of the proven cause?
- She doubts the pumping matters, so she is only being polite to the farm upstream of the pond.
- She is sure the pumping is the cause but says “first” to avoid upsetting the neighbors.
- She is unsure the pond lost any water, so she wants to measure the depth of it again first.
- She sees strong clues but knows timing alone cannot prove a cause, so she wants measurements.
Zee reads sentence 12. Reader A says matching amounts settle the question. Reader B says they are strong evidence but cannot rule out other causes. Which reading is better supported?
- Reader B, because matching amounts are strong evidence, though other causes could add.
- Reader B, because the last two summers were wetter than the summers that came before them.
- Neither reader, because a measurement taken by the farm itself cannot count as evidence.
- Reader A, because once the amounts match, no other cause could matter to the pond again.