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Na m e : ___ Date: _
Directions: Read the story. List the information that could be considered factual and that which
is fantasy on the lines below. If you need more space, use the back of this page.Reading Comprehension • Saddleback Educational Publishing ©2002 3 Watson, Irvine, CA 92618•Phone (888)SDL-BACK•www.sdlback.com
Rudd Flynn is thirteen years old. Rudd lives in the tiny village of Trundle. Rudd is quite unlike
other children his age, because Rudd is a junior-apprentice sorcerer, first class. A junior-apprentice
sorcerer, first class has been through two years of intense magical training and has the knowledge
and the authorization to cast spells, tame monsters, and alter the weather. Sorcerers seem to
stumble upon adventures the way mortals stumble upon uneven stones and bricks in the road.
This was the case recently when Rudd found himself face-to-face with a gerbilgoff.
Gerbilgoffs, for those of you who are not familiar, are fanciful creatures that resemble gerbils
except for the fact that they grow to be over 7’ tall and are fierce aggressors if their nests are
disturbed. Gerbilgoffs fear lightning. So when Rudd accidentally disturbed a nest of grunts (the
term used to describe baby gerbilgoffs) and their mother lunged in ominous retaliation, Rudd was
left with no other option but to produce a bolt of lightning from the tip of his wand. It scared the
gerbilgoff, but it also triggered the biggest electrical storm Trundle has seen in decades.
Electrical storms can be quite dangerous. Rudd had to ensure the safety of the townspeople, so he
materialized warning signs and magically hung them in every shop window. They read: During
an electrical storm, please—- Get inside a building, if possible.
- Keep away from windows and open doors.
- Don’t use electrical appliances or the telephone. Lightning
can follow the wires into your home. - Stay out of the shower or bathtub. Lightning can travel
through the pipes too. - Avoid trees, poles, and other tall objects.
- Also avoid large metal objects. These things are targets for lightning.
- Go to low ground and crouch down low if you’re caught outdoors.
- If you’re in the water, get out as quickly as possible.
That way everyone in Trundle was safe from the storm.
Factual: _____________________________________________________________________________
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_____________________________________________________________________________________Fantasy:_____________________________________________________________________________
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