BOOK CLUB - Reading Comprehension - for the 6th grade (Charlotte's Web)

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"When Mr. Arable returned to the house half an hour later, he carried a carton under his arm. Fern was upstairs changing her sneakers. The kitchen table was set for breakfast, and the room smelled of coffee, bacon, damp plaster, and wood smoke from the stove.

"Put it on her chair!" said Mrs. Arable. Mr. Arable set the carton down at Fern's place. Then he walked to the sink and washed his hands and dried them on the roller towel.

Fern came slowly down the stairs. Her eyes were red from crying. As she approached her chair, the carton wobbled, and there was a scratching noise. Fern looked at her father. Then she lifted the lid of the carton. There, inside, looking up at her, was the newborn pig. It was a white one. The morning light shone through its ears, turning them pink.

"He's yours,' said Mr. Arable. "Saved from an untimely death. And may the good Lord forgive me for

this foolishness."

Fern couldn't take her eyes off the tiny pig. "Oh," she whispered. "Oh, look at him! He's absolutely perfect." She closed the carton carefully. First she kissed herfather, then she kissed her mother. Then she opened the lid again, lifted the pig out, and held it against her cheek. At this moment her brother Avery came into the room. Avery was ten. He was heavily armed —an air rifle in one hand, a wooden dagger in the other.

"What's that?" he demanded. "What's Fern got?"

"She's got a guest for breakfast," said Mrs. Arable.

"Wash your hands and face, Avery!"

"Let's see it!" said Avery, setting his gun down. "You call that miserable thing a pig? That's a fine specimen of a pig—it's no bigger than a white rat."

"Wash up and eat your breakfast, Avery! " said his mother. "The school bus will be along in half an hour."

"Can I have a pig, too, Pop?" asked Avery.

"No, I only distribute pigs to early risers," said Mr. Arable. "Fern was up at daylight, trying to rid the

world of injustice. As a result, she now has a pig. A small one, to be sure, but nevertheless a pig. It just shows what can happen if a person gets out of bed promptly. Let's eat!" "

                                                                                                            (E.B. White, Charlotte's Web)

I. Pick the right answer:

1) What did Fern get? a) a brother; b) an empty box; c) a little pig.

2) What was Fern's mother cooking? a) sausages; b) bacon; c) steak.

3) When does the action take place? a) in the morning; b) in the afternoon; c) in the evening.

4) What was Fern's brother called? a) Aron; b) Ratty; c) Avery.

II. Correct the following sentences according to the text:

a) Fern's brother was twelve.

b) Avery thinks the pig is no bigger than a white bug.

c) Mr. Arable carried the pig in a sack.

d) Fern was downstairs, changing her sneakers, when her father came back.

BOOK CLUB - Reading Comprehension - for the 6th grade (Fantastic Mr Fox)

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"Down in the valley there were three farms. The owners of these farms (...) were rich men. They were also nasty men. All three of them were about as nasty and mean as any men you could meet. Their names were Farmer Boggis, Farmer Bunce and Farmer Bean.

Boggis was a chicken farmer. He kept thousands of chickens. He was enormously fat. This was because he ate three boiled chickens smothered with dumplings every day for breakfast, lunch and supper. Bunce was a duck-and-goose farmer. He kept thousands and ducks and geese. He was a kind of pot-bellied dwarf. He was so short his chin would have been under water in the shallow end of any swimming-pool in the world. His food was doughnuts and goose livers. He mashed the livers into a disgusting paste and then stuffed the paste into the doughnuts. This diet gave him tummy-aches and a beastly temper. Bean was a turkey-and-apple farmer. He kept thousands of turkeys in an orchard full of apple trees. He never ate any food at all. Instead, he drank gallons of strong cider which he made from the apples in his orchard. He was as thin as a pencil and the cleverest of them all."

                                                                                              (Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr. Fox)

I. Pick the right answer:

1) The third farmer ate: a) apples; b) turkey; c) nothing.

2) Bean was very: a) fat; b) slim; c) short.

3) Bean was a: a) man; b) vegetable; c) fox.

4) The second farmer kept: a) geese; b) turkeys; c) chickens.

II. Correct the following sentences, according to the text:

a) Down in the river there were three farms.

b) The farmers were poor.

c) Boggis ate three roast chickens every day.

d) Bunce kept thousands of turkeys in an apple orchard. 

BOOK CLUB - Reading Comprehension - for the 6th grade (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea)

(Source: www.julesverne.ca)

Read the following fragment, fill in the required form, then do the exercises below.

"It was about eleven o'clock when Ned Land drew my attention to a formidable swarming moving through the large expanses of seaweed.

'Well,' I said, 'these are real squids' caves, and I would not be surprised to see a few monsters here!'

'What?' said Conseil. 'Calamar, mere calamar of the class of cephalopods?'

'No,' I said, 'giant squid. But friend Land is undoubtedly mistaken, for I can't see anything.'

'What a shame,' replied Conseil. 'I long to come face to face with one of those squid I have heard about so often, which can drag ships down to the bottom of the seas. Those beasts are called Krak . . .'

'Crackpots . . .' the Canadian interjected.

'Krakens,' continued Conseil, without paying attention to his companion's joke.

'I will never be able to believe', said Land, 'in the existence of such animals.'

'Why ever not? We ended up believing in monsieur's narwhal.'

'We were wrong, Conseil.'

'Undoubtedly, but others still believe in it.'

'Probably, Conseil, but for my part I have resolved to admit the existence of such monsters only after I have dissected them with my own hand.'

'So', Conseil asked, 'monsieur does not believe in giant squid?'

'Hey, who the hell has ever believed in them?' exclaimed the Canadian.

'Many people, friend Ned.'

'Not fishermen. Scientists perhaps!'

'With respect, Ned: fishermen and scientists.'

'But as I stand here,' said Conseil in the most serious tone, 'I can perfectly remember seeing a large ship being dragged under the waves by the arms of a cephalopod.'

'You have seen that?' asked the Canadian.

'Yes, Ned.'

'With your own eyes?'

'With my own eyes.'

'Where, please?'

'At Saint-Malo,' Conseil replied imperturbably.

'In the port?' Ned asked sarcastically.

'No, in a church.'

'In a church!'

'Yes friend Ned. It was a painting of the said squid!'

'So!' said Ned Land, bursting out laughing. 'Mr Conseil has been leading me on!'

'Actually, he is right,' I said. 'I have heard of the painting, but the subject of the picture is taken from legend, and you know what should be thought of legends in natural history! When people start talking about monsters, their imaginations easily go off at a tangent. Not only has it been claimed that these squid can drag down ships, but a certain Olaus Magnus speaks of a mile-long cephalopod, which seemed more like an island than an animal. It is also said that one day the Bishop of Nidaros erected an altar on an immense rock. Once his mass was over, the rock started moving and returned to the sea. The rock was a squid.'

'And that's all?' asked the Canadian.

'No,' I replied. 'Another bishop, Pontoppidan of Bergen  also speaks of a squid on which a whole regiment of cavalry could manoeuvre!'

'They didn't mess around, those bishops of olden days!' Ned remarked.

'Finally, the naturalists of antiquity cite monsters whose jaws resembled bays, and which were too big to get through the Strait of Gibraltar!'

'You don't say!'

'But what truth is there in all those tales?' asked Conseil.

'None, my friends, at least none amongst the parts which go beyond the limits of plausibility and become fable or legend. However, if no cause is needed for the imagination of storytellers, some sort of pretext is. It cannot be denied that there are very big squid and calamar, even if they are smaller than whales. Aristotle observed the dimensions of a squid five cubits long, that is 3.10 metres. Our fishermen frequently see ones longer than 1.8 metres. The museums of Trieste and Montpellier contain skeletons of squid that are two metres long. What is more, the naturalists have calculated that an animal only six feet in length would have tentacles of twenty-seven feet, which is more than enough to make a formidable monster.'

'And are they still caught nowadays?' asked the Canadian.

'If they are not caught, at least sailors still see them. One of my friends, Captain Paul Bos of Le Havre, has often told me that he encountered one such colossal monster in the Indian Ocean. And the most astonishing thing happened a few years ago, in 1861, which no longer allows the existence of these gigantic animals to be denied.'

'Go on,' said Ned Land.

'Thank you. In 1861, north-east of Tenerife, at the approximate latitude where we are now, the crew of the sloop Alecton sighted an enormous squid swimming in its wake. Captain Bouyer closed on the animal and attacked it with harpoons and guns, but without great success, for bullets and harpoons passed through the soft flesh like unset jelly. After several unsuccessful attempts, the crew managed to put a slip knot round the mollusc's body. The knot slid as far as the tail-fins and stopped there. They then tried to haul the monster on board, but it was so heavy that the rope pulled the tail off, and deprived of this adornment, it disappeared under the water.'

'Finally we have a fact.'

'An indisputable fact, my good Ned. That was why it was proposed to call it "Bouyer's squid".'

'And how long was it?' he asked.

'Did it not measure about six metres?' said Conseil, standing at the window and examining the holes in the cliff.

'Precisely,' I replied.

'Was its head not crowned with eight tentacles, which waved in the water like a nest of serpents?'

'Absolutely.' "                                           (Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea)

I. Pick the right answer:

1) How many tentacles did 'Buoyer's squid' have? a) nine; b) eight; c) six.

2) Where was Captain Paul Bos from? a) Marseille; b) Nice; c) Le Havre.

3) What was Pontoppidan of Bergen? a) a vicar; b) a pope; c) a bishop.

4) Where had Conseil seen a large ship being dragged under the waves by the arms of a cephalopod? a) in a church; b) in a port; c) in a museum.

II. Correct the following sentences according to the text:

a) The crew of the sloop Alecton sighted a tiny squid swimming in its wake.

b) Olaus Magnus speaks of a mile-long cephalopod which seemed more like a ship than an animal.

c) The museums of Trieste and Montpellier contain skeletons of squid that are twenty metres long.

d) Ned Land drew my attention to a formidable swarming moving through the large seagull nests.