How a line of dialogue or an event moves the story
Grade 8 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
A Page Is a Promise (story)
[1] On the night before the school paper went to the printer, Kira, the editor, pushed the final layout across the table and told Milo that the cafeteria article had to lose two hundred words. [2] The clock above the door read a quarter past nine, and the printer closed its files at ten. [3] “Fine,” Milo said, folding both arms, “cut it, and cut the whole thing while you're at it, because nobody reads this paper anyway.” [4] Ms. Hale, the adviser, looked up from a stack of proofs and said in an even voice, “A page is a promise about what matters, so decide what you're promising.”
[5] Kira said nothing for a while, turned the layout around, and stared at the large sports box that took up a third of the back page. [6] Then Kira pulled the box down by half, moved the scores to a single line, and slid the cafeteria article into the freed space. [7] “There's still a gap,” Kira said, “and I don't know which paragraph to trim.”
[8] Milo unfolded both arms and leaned over the table. [9] “Could I show you which part is the weakest?” Milo asked, circling the paragraph that repeated the numbers, “because I'd rather lose that than the part about the lunch line.” [10] Kira handed over the pencil, and Milo drew a neat line through the repeated numbers.
[11] At ten the file went to the printer with the cafeteria article on the back page and the trimmed sports box beside it.
Luz follows the chain. Which chain shows what pushes what, from Milo's snapped answer to Kira's change to the sports box?
- Milo's snapped answer [3] pushes Ms. Hale's line [4], which provokes Kira's change [6].
- Kira's change [6] pushes Ms. Hale's line [4], which provokes Milo's snapped answer [3].
- Ms. Hale's line [4] pushes Kira's silence [5], which provokes Milo's offer to trim [9].
- Milo's snapped answer [3] provokes Kira's change [6] directly; Ms. Hale's line [4] adds nothing.
Noah compares two lines. How does Milo's line in sentence 3 differ from Milo's line in sentence 9, and what does it show?
- It changes from an offer to a snapped refusal, which shows Milo has grown more stubborn.
- It stays angry and defensive in both lines, which shows that Milo still resents the cut and has no wish to help change the page.
- It changes from refusal to offer, which shows Milo now agrees the whole article was weak.
- It changes from a snapped refusal to an offer to help, which shows Milo can accept a cut once Milo has a part in it.
Pia imagines a cut. If Ms. Hale's line in sentence 4 were cut, what would the story lose?
- Kira's reason to rethink the page, so the shrinking of the sports box would have no cause.
- Milo's snapped answer and the two hundred words, because they happen because of Ms. Hale's line.
- The whole story, because everything in it depends on Ms. Hale's line.
- A small piece of advice, because Kira would still shrink the sports box.
Nine Moves Back (story)
[1] In the final round of the school chess tournament, Noah lost to Pia after leaving a bishop where a pawn could capture it, and the room went quiet in the way rooms do when someone has lost badly. [2] The tournament clock beside the board still showed four minutes for Noah and one for Pia. [3] “I knew I should have moved it,” Noah snapped, sweeping the pieces into the box, “so don't bother telling me what I did wrong.” [4] Pia watched the pieces rattle and said, “I wasn't going to, because I'm not sure I understood how it happened either.”
[5] Pia took the box from Noah, reset the board, and replayed the opening, one move at a time. [6] “Here,” Pia said at the ninth move, tapping the square, “you looked at the knight for a full minute and never looked at the bishop.” [7] Coach Vance, who had been collecting score sheets, stopped beside them and said, “Every player I know has a game like that, and the good ones are the ones who replay it.”
[8] Noah did not answer for a while, then slid the bishop back to its square and asked, in a much smaller voice, “Could we go back to move six?” [9] They went back to move six, and then to move four, and the board filled with pieces that were not there in the real game. [10] By the time the janitor turned off the hall lights, Noah had filled a page of the score sheet with notes in the margin.
[11] On the way out, Noah asked whether Pia would play a practice game on Monday, and added, almost shyly, “I'll bring the notes.”
Ren follows the chain. Which chain shows what pushes what, from Pia's calm reply to Noah's request to go back to move six?
- Noah's request [8] pushes Pia's replay [5], which provokes Pia's calm reply [4].
- Pia's calm reply [4] provokes Noah's request [8] directly; Pia's replay [5] adds nothing.
- Pia's calm reply [4] pushes the coach's remark [7], which provokes the practice-game question [11].
- Pia's calm reply [4] pushes Pia's replay [5], which provokes Noah's request [8].
Tala compares two lines. How does Noah's line in sentence 3 differ from Noah's line in sentence 8, and what does it show?
- It changes from a snapped warning to a quiet request, which shows Noah has stopped defending the loss and started learning from it.
- It changes from a quiet request to a snapped warning, which shows Noah has grown angrier.
- It stays defensive in both lines, which shows Noah still blames Pia for the loss and has not learned anything from the game.
- It changes from a snapped warning to a request, which shows Noah expects to win the rematch.
Zee imagines a cut. If Pia's line in sentence 6 were cut, what would the story lose?
- The whole story, because everything in it depends on Pia's line.
- The lost bishop and Noah's snap, because they happen because of Pia's line.
- A small detail about the knight, because Noah would still ask to go back.
- The moment Noah sees the missed bishop, so the quiet request to go back would have no cause.
Folds and Freehand (story)
[1] For the lantern festival, Ari had folded forty paper lanterns with edges so exact that a ruler could have rested on them, and Esme had shaped six more by hand, with curves that leaned a little to one side. [2] Zee's own lanterns, plain squares of paper with no folds at all, stood in a stack in the corner and were not mentioned. [3] “They look uneven,” Ari said, holding one of Esme's lanterns up to the window, “and the judges notice uneven.” [4] Esme set down the scissors and answered, “They look like they were made by someone.”
[5] Zee, who was gluing handles at the next table, looked from one lantern to the other without taking sides. [6] “Light them and we'll see,” Zee suggested, and switched off the room lamp while Ari dropped a small bulb into each of two lanterns, one precise and one curved. [7] The precise lantern glowed evenly, like a lamp in a shop window, while the curved one threw a slow, wavering shadow across the wall.
[8] Ari watched the shadow for a long moment and said, almost to the table, “I don't know how to make that one.” [9] Esme pushed a sheet of paper and the scissors across the table and said, “Start with one cut that you don't plan.” [10] Ari cut a single wobbling curve down the side of the paper, frowned at it, and then started a second.
[11] At the festival the judges stopped at the table where straight lanterns stood beside leaning ones, and asked who had made which.
Luz follows the chain. Which chain shows what pushes what, from Zee's suggestion to Ari's admission?
- Zee's suggestion [6] pushes Esme's offer to teach [9], which provokes the judges' question [11].
- Zee's suggestion [6] pushes the glowing comparison [7], which provokes Ari's admission [8].
- Zee's suggestion [6] provokes Ari's admission [8] directly; the glowing comparison [7] adds nothing.
- Ari's admission [8] pushes the glowing comparison [7], which provokes Zee's suggestion [6].
Milo compares two lines. How does Ari's line in sentence 3 differ from Ari's line in sentence 8, and what does it show?
- It changes from an admission to a confident judgment, which shows Ari has grown more sure.
- It changes from a confident judgment to an admission, which shows Ari now values what Esme can do.
- It changes from judgment to admission, which shows Ari has decided to stop folding lanterns.
- It stays a confident judgment in both lines, which shows Ari still prefers folding and thinks Esme's lanterns are uneven.
The Missing Marker (story)
[1] Halfway up the ridge trail, Ren stopped at a fork where the painted blue markers on the trees had given out, and the guidebook showed only a single unlabeled line of ink running between two possible directions. [2] Somewhere above them, a hawk circled the ridge in the thin afternoon light. [3] “It's the left path,” Ren said, already stepping onto it, “because the right one seems to bend back toward the lake, and we are supposed to be climbing away from it.” [4] Tala, who had been watching the sun slide behind the ridge, answered, “It might be, but we haven't passed a marker in ten minutes.”
[5] They followed the left path for another quarter hour, and the trees grew steadily thicker until the trail narrowed to the width of a single boot. [6] Ren stopped, looked at the guidebook, and said nothing at all. [7] The afternoon was warm, and neither of them had brought much water. [8] “You can say it,” Ren said finally, “that I was wrong.”
[9] “I can say it,” Tala replied, “but I'd rather say that we can still fix it, because the fork is only fifteen minutes behind us and the sun hasn't set.” [10] Tala took out a pencil, marked the fork on the map, and drew a small x where they now stood. [11] Ren turned around without arguing, and for the first time on the trip walked behind Tala instead of ahead.
[12] They reached the fork before the light turned orange, and Tala found the faded blue marker on a trunk that had fallen across the right-hand path.
Kira compares two lines. How does Ren's line in sentence 3 differ from Ren's line in sentence 8, and what does it show?
- It stays certain in both lines, which shows Ren does not doubt a choice and keeps leading the group up the ridge.
- It changes from certain to uncertain, which shows Ren has decided not to lead again.
- It changes from certain to uncertain, which shows Ren has learned to doubt a first guess.
- It changes from uncertain to certain, which shows Ren has grown more confident.
Luz imagines a cut. If Tala's line in sentence 9 were cut, what would the story lose?
- Ren's guess at the fork and the narrow trail, because they happen because of Tala's line.
- The whole story, because everything in it depends on Tala's line.
- A small bit of advice, because Ren would still turn around.
- Tala's reason that the mistake can be fixed, so Ren would have no reason to turn around without arguing.