How a theme grows from characters, setting and plot

Grade 8 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   The Sticky Gate (story)

   [1] The gate of the community garden stuck at the bottom corner, so every visitor had to lift it and push at the same time. [2] Luz arrived first each Saturday, lifted the gate, and propped it open with a brick before anyone else came. [3] Nobody mentioned it; the gate was simply open when the others arrived, like the weather.

   [4] One Saturday, Tala came early and found Luz wrestling with the gate while carrying two heavy bags of compost. [5] Tala stood still instead of helping, because Luz had never asked for help and seemed to be fine alone. [6] A bag slipped, the compost spilled across the path, and the gate swung shut with a hard clank.

   [7] Luz stared at the brown pile and said quietly that doing everything alone was getting tiresome. [8] Tala crouched and began scooping with both hands, and the two refilled the bag in silence. [9] The next Saturday, Luz arrived to find Tala already waiting at the gate with the brick in one hand. [10] Tala lifted the corner while Luz pushed, and the gate swung wide without a sound.

2. 1.

   Jun lists two themes the story builds. Which pair is supported by lines in the story?

   • Quiet work can go unnoticed; offering help unasked turns a lonely job into a shared one.
   • Quiet work can go unnoticed; broken gates should be repaired by the town.
   • Community gardens need compost; gates can stick at the bottom corner.
   • Offering help unasked turns a job shared; people should step in before being asked.
3. 2.

   Ren compares sentence 1 with sentence 10. What does the change in how the gate is opened show?

   • A job that two people once shared is now done by one person.
   • The gate is still opened by one person, so nothing about the job has changed.
   • The gate has been repaired, so no visitor needs to lift it.
   • A job that one person once did alone is now shared by two.

4. The Wind Log (story)

   [1] On the roof of the school, a small weather station recorded temperature, rain and wind speed for the science club's logbook. [2] Bo, who kept the logbook, trusted numbers more than opinions and wrote every reading in ink. [3] For five days the wind gauge showed a calm zero, and Bo wrote Wind: 0 in the book each afternoon.

   [4] Meanwhile the flag on the roof snapped straight out, and the tall maples along the fence leaned and rattled. [5] On Friday, Pia glanced up at the flag, then at the gauge, and asked whether a zero could be right. [6] Bo answered that the gauge had been tested in September and that a feeling was not a measurement.

   [7] Pia said nothing more but held the ladder, and Bo, a little annoyed, climbed up to check. [8] A twig of maple seeds was jammed in the gauge's tiny cups, and nothing had turned for days. [9] Bo cleared the twig, watched the cups spin, and wrote Wind: gauge jammed, five earlier readings unreliable. [10] By Monday the log showed a wind of twelve miles an hour, and the flag agreed.

5. 3.

   Kira tests the theme: check a tool against what you can see. Which choice names the sentence that tests it and how the ending answers?

   • Test: [6]. The ending answers: Bo checks the gauge, finds the jam and notes the bad readings.
   • Test: [6]. The ending answers: the gauge turns out to be right, and the flag was misleading.
   • Test: [3]. The ending answers: Bo checks the gauge, finds the jam and notes the bad readings.
   • Test: [6]. The ending answers: Bo replaces the gauge with a new one and starts a fresh log.
6. 4.

   Tala compares the log entry in sentence 3 with the entry in sentence 9. What does the change in the entries show?

   • Both entries record a measured wind speed, so the log has not really changed.
   • Bo now believes that no instrument can be trusted.
   • An honest note about the error now stands beside the clean-looking zeros.
   • The first entry admits an error, and the second entry hides one.

7. The Pond Sign (story)

   [1] Every winter, the town pond froze hard enough for skating, and a wooden sign by the shore told everyone when the ice was ready. [2] In the first cold week of December, the sign read Ice Not Ready in red letters, and a rope hung across the path to the water. [3] Milo had waited all fall to try new skates and walked to the pond each afternoon to check the ice.

   [4] The surface looked solid and gleamed under the gray sky, and a few dry leaves lay frozen on it like dark stamps. [5] On Thursday, Milo stood at the rope with the new skates over a shoulder and said the sign was just being careful and the ice looked fine. [6] Kira, who had come along to watch, asked how thick the ice was, and Milo had no answer.

   [7] Later the park worker measured four inches at the edge and less than two near the middle. [8] Milo hung the skates on a fence post by the shore and walked home to wait another week. [9] The next Thursday, the sign read Ice Ready, the rope was gone, and the pond rang with the scrape of a dozen blades. [10] Milo laced the new skates on the same fence post, and the gray sky seemed brighter than it had all month.

8. 5.

   Bo tests the theme: looks can mislead, so measure before you trust. Which choice names the sentence that tests it and how the ending answers?

   • Test: [5]. The ending answers: Milo skates anyway and the ice holds, so the sign was wrong.
   • Test: [5]. The ending answers: the measurement shows thin ice, and Milo waits for the sign to change.
   • Test: [3]. The ending answers: the measurement shows thin ice, and Milo waits for the sign to change.
   • Test: [5]. The ending answers: the sign changes first, so the measurement turns out not to matter.
9. 6.

   Pia lists two themes the story builds. Which pair is supported by lines in the story?

   • Looks can mislead; a surface that seems solid may not be.
   • Looks can mislead, so measure before trusting; towns should post bigger signs at the pond.
   • Ice forms on ponds in winter; skates are used on frozen water.
   • Looks can mislead, so measure before trusting; waiting can be part of getting what you want.
10. 7.

    Tala compares sentences 8 and 10. What does it show that Milo laces the skates on the same fence post where they hung while waiting?

    • The post that marked Milo's waiting now marks the wait paying off.
    • The fence post shows that Milo has become a careful person who follows signs.
    • The post that marked a happy start now marks a disappointing wait.
    • The fence post is just a place to put things, and its meaning has not changed.

11. The Knotted Tail (story)

    [1] The kite contest began at noon on the hill behind the school, and the only wind was a weak breeze that barely moved the flags. [2] Jun's kite was a tall diamond of red paper, built over three weekends, with a tail of knotted ribbon. [3] Jun ran up the hill, let out the line, and watched the kite flop onto the grass like a tired bird.

    [4] Jun ran again, harder, and then again, and each time the kite lifted a few feet and slumped. [5] Noah, whose small kite had also failed, sat on the grass and studied Jun's tail of knotted ribbon. [6] Noah said the tail was heavy for such a light breeze and offered to cut two knots from it.

    [7] Jun gripped the spool and said that running harder was the only thing that had ever worked. [8] After the sixth failed run, with the sun high and the breeze still weak, Jun let the line go slack and sat down. [9] Then Jun took Noah's scissors, cut off the two knots, and climbed the hill once more with the kite held high. [10] The lighter kite rose in a slow arc, and Jun let out the line until it hung steady above the field.

12. 8.

    Esme tests the theme: hard work needs a change of plan when the plan is failing. Which choice names the sentence that tests it and how the ending answers?

    • Test: [7]. The ending answers: Jun runs harder on the seventh try, and the kite finally lifts.
    • Test: [2]. The ending answers: Jun cuts the knots, and the lighter kite rises and holds steady.
    • Test: [7]. The ending answers: Jun keeps the tail, and Noah's lighter kite is the one that rises.
    • Test: [7]. The ending answers: Jun cuts the knots, and the lighter kite rises and holds steady.
13. 9.

    Luz lists two themes the story builds. Which pair is supported by lines in the story?

    • Effort works best with a change of plan; paper kites fly better than cloth kites.
    • Effort needs a new plan; trying harder works only when the plan changes.
    • Kites need wind to fly; ribbons can be used as tails.
    • Effort works best with a change of plan; advice from others can be worth accepting.
14. 10.

    Pia compares sentence 2 with sentence 9. What does cutting the knots from the tail show about Jun?

    • The knotted tail matters just as much to Jun in sentence 9 as it did in sentence 2.
    • Jun is willing to give up part of the hard work to make the whole kite work.
    • Jun now believes that handmade kites fly better when they have no tail.
    • Jun is giving up on the kite after the weekends spent building it.