Reading Comprehension

Watching Penguins

Story By: Andrew Frinkle

It was night time, and that meant something special for Alisa. It meant penguins! At night, when it was time for bed, her family turned on the computer. On the computer, her dad went to a website and turned on a webcam. Alisa and her family would get together on the floor with pillows and blankets and watch the screen before bedtime.

The webcam was from a zoo, and it was in the penguin habitat. There were many penguins in the exhibit, and they all walked around and acted silly. The penguins were surrounded by rocks and snow, and there was even a place where they could jump in the water to go for a swim. Together, her family laughed at the silly little baby penguins that liked to run around with their flipper arms out. They smiled when two penguins started flapping their wings at each other and called out at each other. That was how they argued.

There were several kinds of penguins they could see. Some were tall, with orange spots on their necks. Others looked like they had yellow fuzzy stripes on their heads. Other ones were black and white with grey eyes, and they were much smaller than the others. Alisa liked those the most, because they ran fast. The biggest ones, the Emperor penguins, were fun to look at, too. They puffed out their chests and sat very still.

Sometimes the people at the zoo would come out in winter clothes, because it was cold there, and they would feed the penguins. That was Alisa’s favorite time to watch. The woman would trudge back and forth with big boots on, carrying a shiny silver pail. The little penguins gathered around first, snapping up snacks and tidbits from her gloved hands. Then the big ones would get their food, which was usually a big frozen fish. They’d gulp it down in one shot.

After half an hour of watching the penguins, Alisa’s eyes would get heavy, and she’d start to doze off. When she woke up the next day, she was in bed. Her father or mother must have carried her there. It was fun to watch the penguins at night. She learned so much, and she got to spend time with her family.

Use the information in the story to answer the questions below.

1. What does Alisa’s family watch at bedtime?

A. TV

B. movies

C. cartoons

D. a webcam

2. What does the webcam show?

A. lions

B. penguins

C. polar bears

D. fish

3. What kind of penguin does Alisa like the most?

A. The biggest ones

B. The little black and white fast ones that ran around

C. The ones with fuzzy stripes on their heads

D. She likes all of them the same.

4. When does Alisa enjoy watching the penguins the most?

A. feeding time

B. when the penguins are playing

C. when the penguins call to each other

D. when the penguins chase each other

5. What are the two reasons Alisa likes watching the penguins?

A. She learns a lot, and it’s fun.

B. She spends time with her family, and she sleeps.

C. She learns a lot, and she spends time with her friends.

D. She learns a lot, and she spends time with her family.

The Fourth Tail

Story By: Andrew Frinkle

I am a three-tailed fox, a Gumiho. I didn’t always have three tails. I was born without any tail whatsoever, but with each lesson I’ve learned, I’ve grown a new tail.

The first lesson was to be a fox. That allowed me to grow a tail that made me better than other foxes in all respects. The second lesson was to outsmart a human. This made me smarter, cleverer than before. My third lesson was to go among humans and learn that they are not that much different than foxes. I wasn’t sure what this had gained me, not yet anyway, but I knew it had changed me somehow. I also knew that I had to learn more!

I was minding my business one day, watching the humans, hunting, and going about my day. A wagon was rolling down the road, with a farmer in it, and he had a nice big dog with a sharp nose, the kind that foxes aren’t terribly fond of. The dog happened to see me though, and this was a problem, because he leapt down from the wagon and started chasing me, despite his master’s frantic calls.

That dog was definitely a farm dog, and was not meant for the forest. He smashed through bushes and underbrush like you would not believe. I darted, wove, and dodged as best I could, but that dog was ON my trail. He sniffed and smelled and nothing I could do seemed to throw him off.

In that moment, I really wished I was not a fox. It was the first time I ever thought that. I mean, being a fox was great. I could go where I wanted, do what I wanted, and generally live a free life. I loved to hunt, play, and explore the woods. I’d never before thought about what it would mean to be something different, and when I did, something odd occurred: the dog suddenly stopped.

One moment he had been chasing me like his life depended upon it and the next he was frozen in place, sniffing the air and trying to catch my scent. Now I never really worried about him catching me, because I could go places he could not, but he had been surprisingly good at chasing me, and he was making me work. That kind of made me feel ashamed, because he was just a farm dog, and I was the fastest, smartest, and best of the foxes in the whole forest!

Now, though, he suddenly could not detect me. It was as if his nose had betrayed him, but I knew that could not be so. So what had changed? I realized that I had changed, and not the dog. I had learned to mask my scent and become invisible to animals that might otherwise hunt me. I learned the importance of scents, and I knew then that if I ever wanted to go among humans, my scent would betray me if I did not learn to hide it well.

The farmer eventually collected his poor, confused dog, but the dog had done me a great favor. I had learned a new, valuable lesson, and the full moon brought me my fourth tail. It hurt, as always, but I was growing stronger. I was becoming more than I had been, but I still couldn’t see what I was meant to be.

Where would I end up? What would I need to learn next? Where was all of this going? Only the ninth tail would tell, so I would have to keep looking for more lessons to learn.

Use the information in the story to answer the questions below.

1. Which of these was NOT a lesson that the fox had learned at the beginning of the story?

A. Foxes are better than dogs.

B. How to be a fox.

C. How to outsmart a human.

D. How foxes and people are similar.

2. What does the fox come across one day that chases it?

A. a puma

B. a dog

C. an eagle

D. a wolf

3. What does the fox realize it needed to do to hide from the dog?

A. climb a tree

B. hide in a hole

C. hide its scent

D. run in circles

4. TRUE OR FALSE:

The Gumiho fox was very worried that the dog might actually catch it.

A. True

B. False

5. TRUE OR FALSE: The farmer took his dog back at the end of the story

A. True

B. False