Read between the lines and prove it

Grade 7 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   The Spelling Bee

   [1] I told everyone that the regional spelling bee was no big deal. [2] "It's only a Saturday," I said to Zee on the bus, and I laughed a little too loudly. [3] That night I borrowed the school's word list from Ms. Park and copied all four hundred words into a notebook. [4] I told my parents I was doing ordinary homework, and I kept the notebook hidden under my history textbook. [5] On Friday, Zee asked whether I wanted to bike to the lake after class. [6] "Can't," I said. "Dentist." [7] The truth was that I spent that entire afternoon reading the list aloud to the bathroom mirror, spelling each difficult word slowly and carefully. [8] At the bee, I stood at the microphone and heard my own voice crack on the first word, which made the audience go quiet. [9] I spelled it correctly anyway, and so I did the next eight words in a row. [10] When I finally missed "chrysanthemum," I sat down, and Zee was already clapping. [11] "Nobody told me you were that good," Zee said afterward. [12] I shrugged and said it was nothing, but I carried that notebook in my backpack for the rest of the school year.

2. 1.

   Pia asks how the narrator's words differ from the narrator's actions. Which choice gives the best-supported inference and proof?

   • The narrator is too nervous to compete well in front of a crowd. Proof: [8] and [10].
   • The narrator is ashamed of Zee and does not want to be seen together. Proof: [5] and [6].
   • The narrator copied four hundred words from the school's list into a notebook. Proof: [3] and [4].
   • The narrator says the bee is unimportant but secretly prepares hard. Proof: [3] and [7].
3. 2.

   Bo asks why the narrator says “Dentist” in [6]. Which choice has the best-supported inference and proof?

   • The narrator wanted to practice in private and avoid explaining why. Proof: [6] and [7].
   • The narrator wants to avoid Zee entirely and has stopped being friends. Proof: [5] and [6].
   • The narrator dislikes biking with Zee and wants an excuse to say no. Proof: [2] and [5].
   • The narrator has a real dentist appointment that afternoon. Proof: [4] and [6].
4. 3.

   Luz asks what [12] suggests about how the narrator felt about the bee afterward. Which choice is best supported?

   • The narrator was relieved that the bee was over. Proof: [10] and [12].
   • The narrator valued the effort more than the shrug admits. Proof: [1] and [2].
   • The narrator valued the effort more than the shrug admits. Proof: [11] and [12].
   • The narrator plans to quit spelling bees. Proof: [10] and [12].
5. 4.

   Tala asks what the clues can support about why the narrator hid the studying. Which choice makes the strongest claim the sentences fully prove?

   • The narrator hid the notebook so that Zee would not decide to enter the bee. Proof: [2] and [5].
   • The narrator told the parents that the notebook was just homework. Proof: [3] and [4].
   • The narrator hid the effort, probably to avoid seeming to care too much. Proof: [1] and [4].
   • The narrator's parents would have punished any extra studying at night. Proof: [4] and [7].

6. Where Did the Frogs Go?

   [1] For ten years, volunteers have listened for spring peeper frogs at six ponds near the town of Alder Creek. [2] Each April, they record the number of frogs calling during a ten-minute count. [3] At five of the ponds, the counts stayed steady. [4] At Pond 6, which lies beside a new highway, the count fell from about 120 calls to fewer than 20. [5] A biologist named Dr. Imani suggested three possible causes: traffic noise, road salt washing into the water, and a cold, late spring. [6] Cold weather would likely have affected all six ponds, not just one, since the ponds are within a few miles of each other. [7] When the team tested the water, Pond 6 had far more salt than the others, although the team has not yet shown that this amount of salt harms the tadpoles. [8] The team also placed recorders at Pond 6 and found that traffic noise was loud at the edge of the pond during the hours when the frogs usually call. [9] Female frogs choose mates by their calls, so noise might make it harder for them to find males. [10] Dr. Imani says that salt and noise may both be involved, and that the team will keep recording through next spring before drawing a conclusion.

7. 5.

   Ren asks how traffic noise might lower the number of frogs. Which choice has the best-supported inference and proof?

   • Noise may hide the males' calls, so females may have trouble finding mates. Proof: [1] and [2].
   • Noise may hide the males' calls, so females may have trouble finding mates. Proof: [8] and [9].
   • Noise has driven the female frogs away from Pond 6. Proof: [8] and [9].
   • Female frogs choose mates by their calls. Proof: [9] and [10].
8. 6.

   Zee asks why Dr. Imani will keep recording before drawing a conclusion. Which choice gives the best-supported inference and proof?

   • Dr. Imani doubts the volunteers can count frogs correctly. Proof: [2] and [10].
   • Dr. Imani and the team will keep recording through next spring. Proof: [9] and [10].
   • Salt and noise both occur at Pond 6, so more recordings are needed. Proof: [8] and [10].
   • Dr. Imani has already decided it is salt and is waiting for more tests. Proof: [7] and [10].

9. Reading Tree Rings

   [1] Each year, a tree adds a new layer of wood under its bark, which forms a ring that can be counted in a cut trunk. [2] Scientists can also take a thin core from a living tree without cutting it down. [3] In a year with plenty of water and warmth, a tree usually grows a wide ring. [4] In a year of drought or extreme cold, the ring is often narrow. [5] A single tree can be misleading, because a ring may be narrow for reasons that affect only that tree, such as crowding by its neighbors or damage from insects. [6] So researchers compare the pattern of wide and narrow rings across many trees in the same region. [7] When the same sequence of narrow rings appears in dozens of trees, it likely reflects a regional event such as drought. [8] By matching patterns between living trees and old timber from buildings, researchers can build a record that stretches back many centuries. [9] Tree rings can show that a dry or cold period happened, and roughly when. [10] They cannot show by themselves whether the cause was drought, cold, or both.

10. 7.

    Kira asks why researchers compare many trees instead of relying on one. Which choice has the best-supported inference?

    • A pattern shared by many trees points to the climate, not to one tree's problems. Proof: [5] and [7].
    • A single tree's rings are more accurate than any comparison among trees. Proof: [2] and [5].
    • Researchers compare the ring patterns of many trees in one region. Proof: [6] and [8].
    • A single tree does not record anything useful about the climate. Proof: [3] and [5].
11. 8.

    Ari asks: “A core from one pine shows six narrow rings in a row. What can the reader conclude?” Which choice makes the strongest claim the sentences prove?

    • Narrow rings often mean a year of drought or extreme cold. Proof: [3] and [4].
    • A six-year drought struck the whole region where the pine grew, and other trees show it too. Proof: [4] and [7].
    • Something slowed this tree's growth, but one tree cannot show a regional drought. Proof: [4] and [5].
    • The tree had plenty of water and warmth for those six years. Proof: [3] and [4].
12. 9.

    Noah asks how old timber from buildings lets researchers extend the record in [8]. Which choice has the best-supported inference?

    • Old timber can overlap with living trees' patterns, linking recent years to older ones. Proof: [6] and [8].
    • Old timber has more rings than living trees, so researchers can just count them. Proof: [1] and [8].
    • Old timber is useful just for trees that were cut during a drought. Proof: [4] and [8].
    • Old timber shows the exact age of each building in the region. Proof: [8] and [9].
13. 10.

    Esme hears a claim that narrow rings prove there was low rainfall. Which response is best supported?

    • The claim is supported, since narrow rings come from drought in dozens of trees. Proof: [4] and [7].
    • Tree rings can show roughly when a dry or cold period happened. Proof: [9] and [10].
    • Narrow rings show that a dry or cold period happened, not which one caused it. Proof: [9] and [10].
    • Narrow rings show that low rainfall alone caused the narrow growth in the tree. Proof: [3] and [4].