Read between the lines and prove it

Grade 8 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   The Lit Window (story)

   [1] Before leaving for two weeks, Mr. Brandt, who lived across the street, handed Luz a key and a list: water the ferns on Tuesday and Friday, bring in the mail, and never turn on a light. [2] On Tuesday, Luz found the porch swept, the mailbox nearly empty and the ferns already damp. [3] Luz decided that the soil must have been moistened by a morning shower, though the sidewalk outside was completely dry. [4] That evening a gray sedan with out-of-state plates sat in Mr. Brandt's driveway, and by morning it was gone. [5] On Wednesday night, Luz noticed a yellow glow in the kitchen window, steady for exactly two hours before it went dark. [6] Luz mentioned it to Ren, who suggested a timer, since Mr. Brandt was the sort of person who read manuals for fun. [7] But when Luz went inside on Friday, a single plate with crumbs and a mug sat in the sink, and a handwritten note on the refrigerator read, "Back Sunday. Don't worry about the dog. D." [8] As far as Luz knew, Mr. Brandt did not own a dog. [9] The ferns, by Friday, were greener than Luz had ever seen them, and the mail was stacked in a tidy pile on the hall table beside a coat that Luz did not recognize. [10] On Saturday morning, a rattle sounded at the back gate. [11] Luz hurried across the street with the key clutched tight, uncertain whether to knock at the front door or to telephone a neighbor.

2. 1.

   Ari weighs every clue in the passage together. Which inference does the evidence support best?

   • The kitchen light is on a timer, and Mr. Brandt left the plate before leaving.
   • Mr. Brandt came back early and is hiding inside the house to test Luz on purpose.
   • A burglar is using the house while Mr. Brandt is away, coming and going at night.
   • A guest of Mr. Brandt, probably the D who signed the note, is staying in the house.
3. 2.

   A tempting inference is that a burglar is in the house. Which statement best explains why it fails when all the evidence is weighed?

   • A burglar would not be doing what the clues show together, so the inference about a burglar fails.
   • A plate and a mug in the sink show someone ate there, which a burglar might also do while hiding.
   • Ren suggested a timer, and Ren knows Mr. Brandt well, so it cannot be a burglar.
   • A burglar would not water the ferns, tidy the porch, stack the mail and leave a friendly note.

4. The Empty Chair (story)

   [1] On Monday, Tala told the robotics team that quitting was the only sensible choice because of a crowded schedule. [2] Ms. Delgado, the coach, asked no questions. [3] Tala handed back the team shirt, folded it neatly and set it on the workbench beside the half-built arm. [4] "Dance rehearsals start at four every day now," Tala explained, in the careful voice of someone who had practiced the sentence. [5] Zee noticed that Tala had not mentioned dance before, not once, in the four months the two had worked together. [6] On Tuesday, Tala skipped the lunch table where the team always met and sat alone by the window with a sketchbook. [7] Zee, passing by, saw the page: a detailed drawing of a gripper claw, with arrows and measurements in the margin, and one line crossed out in heavy pencil that read, "Ari's design is better." [8] On Wednesday, Ari, who had joined the team in January and had led the new design, was asked by Ms. Delgado to explain it to the judges. [9] Tala stayed after school, standing outside the lab door with a backpack on one shoulder, until the meeting ended. [10] Then Tala left a spare sensor, wrapped in a paper towel, on the empty chair at the workbench, and walked home without a word. [11] The next morning, Ari found the sensor, held it up to the light and recognized the missing part that had stalled the arm for three weeks. [12] Ari looked toward the door, but the hallway was empty.

5. 3.

   Jun weighs every clue in the passage together. Which inference does the evidence support best?

   • Tala planned from the start to make Ari look foolish in front of the judges and to win back the team's praise.
   • Tala left because dance rehearsals now fill the afternoons and leave no time for the team.
   • Tala left for reasons other than dance: Tala still cares about the project and feels outshone.
   • Tala left out of jealousy and hopes Ari's design fails in front of the judges.
6. 4.

   Luz reads sentences [4] to [6]. Tala gives a schedule reason, but Zee notes that dance was never mentioned. Why does Tala most likely give that reason?

   • To make time for a new activity that Tala has begun this month.
   • To get a better spot on a dance team that holds tryouts this week.
   • To leave without admitting the hurt that is the real reason.
   • To make Ms. Delgado ask questions and offer to change the schedule.

7. What Ended the Dodo (article)

   [1] When Dutch sailors reached the island of Mauritius in 1598, they found a flightless bird the size of a large turkey that showed little fear of humans. [2] Sailors gave it several names, including dodo, and within a century it had vanished; the last reliable sighting dates from about 1662. [3] The simplest explanation, repeated in many books, is that sailors caught and ate the dodo until none were left. [4] Early travelers described the meat as tough and unpleasant, and one Dutch name for the bird can be translated as "disgusting bird." [5] Ships stopped on Mauritius only for brief visits, and the number of sailors who landed was small compared with the size of the island's forests. [6] The ships, however, brought other passengers: rats, pigs, macaques and goats, many of which escaped onto the island. [7] The dodo nested on the ground, laid a single egg and had no history of defending it from mammals. [8] Pigs and macaques rooted through nests, and rats ate eggs and chicks. [9] At the same time, settlers cleared forest for fields, and the clearing shrank the places where dodos could nest and feed. [10] Researchers cannot say how much each factor mattered, because no one counted the birds before they disappeared. [11] Some historians point out that sailors did catch dodos for food when other meat was scarce, and that a bird with no fear is easy to catch. [12] Most scientists now think that introduced animals and lost habitat probably did the greatest damage, while catching for food played a smaller part.

8. 5.

   Milo weighs every clue in the passage together. Which inference does the evidence support best?

   • Clearing forest for fields was the main cause, and the introduced animals played no part in it.
   • Introduced animals and lost habitat probably did the most harm; catching for food did less.
   • Rats caused the extinction, and pigs and macaques made no difference to the dodo.
   • Sailors caught and ate the dodo until the species was gone from the island, as many books say.
9. 6.

   A tempting inference is that sailors caught the dodo for food until none were left. Which statement best explains why it fails when the evidence is weighed?

   • Researchers cannot count the birds, so no claim about catching dodos for food can be made about any cause.
   • Catching for food did not end the dodo by itself, so the inference about sailors must fail, whatever other causes there were.
   • The meat was unpleasant, few sailors landed briefly, and the bird lasted decades, which does not fit catching it to extinction.
   • Sailors did visit Mauritius after 1598 and may have caught some dodos, so some catching must have happened.
10. 7.

    Pia reads the article. Which claim goes beyond what the clues show?

    • The Dutch sailors' visits to Mauritius were brief, and few sailors landed.
    • Settlers cleared forest for fields, which shrank the places dodos could nest.
    • Dodos were abundant on Mauritius when the Dutch arrived.
    • Dodos nested on the ground, laid a single egg and did not defend it.

11. The Island Without Trees (article)

    [1] When Dutch explorers reached Easter Island on Easter Sunday in 1722, they found a treeless landscape dotted with giant stone statues called moai. [2] Pollen samples and charcoal show that the island had once been covered by a forest of tall palm trees. [3] The first Polynesian settlers arrived by canoe around the year 1200, and the forest declined over the following centuries. [4] Popular accounts say that the islanders cut down the trees to build rollers and sledges for moving the heavy statues, and that the loss of the forest caused famine and collapse. [5] Some researchers doubt this story. [6] Experiments show that a statue can be walked upright using only a few ropes and a small crew, with no logs at all. [7] The settlers also brought Polynesian rats, which multiply quickly, and excavators have found palm nuts that were gnawed by rats. [8] A palm seed that is eaten cannot grow, and a forest cannot replace itself if its seeds are eaten faster than they fall. [9] Islanders certainly cleared some land for farming and burned wood for fires. [10] Yet some evidence suggests that the island's population remained healthy until European ships arrived, bringing disease and slave raids. [11] Archaeologists agree that the forest disappeared, but they still debate how much of the loss was due to people and how much to rats. [12] The question matters because it changes the lesson: was the island a warning about human greed, or about the damage one small animal can do?

12. 8.

    Ren weighs every clue in the passage together. Which inference does the evidence support best?

    • A war over statues between island groups caused the collapse.
    • Rats destroyed the forest, and people had no part in clearing it, burning wood or farming.
    • Several causes, including rats, probably cleared the forest; the statue story is weaker than claimed.
    • Islanders cut the forest to move the statues, and the loss of trees caused famine and collapse on the island.
13. 9.

    A tempting inference is that islanders cut down the forest to move the statues. Which statement best explains why it fails?

    • Statues can be moved with ropes, rat-gnawed nuts show eaten seeds, and the population stayed healthy until Europeans came.
    • The moai are made of stone, so they could not have had any effect on the forest of palm trees.
    • The statues did not cause the loss of the forest, so the statue explanation must be wrong.
    • Islanders did clear some land for farming and burn wood for fires, so they must have cut the whole forest down for the statues.
14. 10.

    Zee reads the article. Which claim has no support in the clues?

    • European ships brought disease and slave raids to the island.
    • Palm seeds that are eaten by rats cannot grow into new trees.
    • Rats were the only reason the island's population declined.
    • A statue can be walked upright by a small crew using ropes alone.