Na m e : ___ Date: _
Directions: As you read the story below, think about the events, their causes and effects.
Then answer the questions.It was test day in Mr. Koch’s class. Everyone was busy reading and filling in answers on
their test papers. Suddenly Richard gasped. He had seen something move, no scurry,
across the classroom floor from the corner of his eye. Or had he? He thought perhaps he
just imagined it, and went back to concentrating on his test. Then, a moment later, there
it went again, this time in the other direction, toward the door. He still wasn’t sure what
he’d seen, but he was sure he had seen something. He considered telling Mr. Koch, but
thought better than to disturb the group during a test.
He tried to keep his mind focused on identifying the parts of
speech in the passage he was reading, but it kept returning to
the “thing” he saw. “What if it was rat?” he thought with
distaste and concern. Unlikely he decided...but not impossible.
He found himself scanning the floor every few seconds in
hopes of catching another glimpse of it and settling his
imagination down into reality.
It did not reappear the rest of the period. At lunch he told his friends about the mystery
sighting and his fears that it could have been a rat, or a mouse at the very least. The
school could be infested! At that suggestion, a few of them automatically raised their feet
and looked down. Marj just sat there with a wide grin. She let them speculate for awhile,
then told them how one of the hamsters kept in Miss Moore’s room had gotten loose that
morning, but came back to the room shortly after his adventure.- What caused Richard to gasp? ____
- Why did Richard doubt that he really saw something? ___
____________________________________________________________________________________- What event caused Richard to be sure he had seen something? ___
____________________________________________________________________________________- What thought caused Richard concern? ____
- Why did Richard decide to not alert Mr. Koch? __
- What suggestion caused Richard’s friends to react by raising their feet? _____
____________________________________________________________________________________- Why did Marj react with a smile instead? ___
- What was the mystery? ___