7th Grade Reading NC CheckIns

NC CHECK-IN S 2.0

READING GRADE 7 A

Excerpt from Stories of the Vikings:

“The Discoveries of the Vikings”

by Mary Macgregor

The love of adventure drove many Vikings across the sea in search, not only of treasures of gold and silver, but in search of new lands. Iceland was thus discovered by a Viking named Naddod in 861. He called the island Snowland,

because the mountains were covered with snow. When he went back to Norway and told people of the land he had discovered, a Viking named Gardar thought he, too, would go in search of Snowland. When he found it, he was much pleased with the great forests which stretched from the mountains to

the shore. For one winter Gardar dwelt in Snowland, then he went back to Norway, and as the people listened to his tales of the new country, they began to call it Gardar’s island.

Six years later Floki, another Viking, reached the island. Floki climbed the peak of a mountain, and

whichever way he looked he saw large blocks of drifting ice, and it was then that he called Gardar’s

Isle Iceland, by which name it has ever since been known.

None of these men, Naddod, Gardar, or Floki, settled in this new country. It was three years later, in

870, that Ingolf and Leif, two foster-brothers, fled from Norway, where Harald Fairhair was then ruling,

and settled in Iceland. The brothers were soon followed by other Vikings who had taken refuge from

Harald’s tyranny in the British Isles, but had been hunted out of their refuges there by the Norse king.

About one hundred years later the descendants of these Iceland settlers set out in search of yet other

countries.
Thorvald and his son Eirik the Red were the first Norsemen to discover Greenland. Being banished

from Iceland, Thorvald sailed westward until he found a new land, where he settled with his men. For

two years he stayed there, journeying across the island and giving names to many mountains and

fiords. The country itself Thorvald called Greenland, for he thought that if it had so pleasant a name,

many men would wish to visit it.

At the end of two years Thorvald went back to Iceland and told Red Eirik, his son, about the country

he had discovered. The following summer Eirik got ready his ship, and when it was well manned he

set sail for Greenland, and dwelt there ever after.

Others, when they heard that Red Eirik had settled in Greenland, also prepared to follow him to this

new country. But though thirty-five ships set out at different times on the perilous voyage between

Iceland and Greenland, only fourteen ever reached the new country. Some of the ships were driven

back by storm and wind to Iceland; others foundered in the heavy seas and were seen no more.

And now listen to the greatest discovery of these bold sea-roving Vikings. You have been told that

Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492, but long years before, in 986, the Vikings had

found this great continent.

A band of sea-roving Vikings, on their way to Greenland, were driven out of their way by a great

storm, and sighted strange lands. They did not stay to explore these countries, but when, some years

later, they were in Norway, they told the people that they had seen them.

Then Leif, a son of Red Eirik, manned a vessel and said that he would sail to these strange lands.

Among his crew was a man named Tyrker, who had come from the south.

One morning, when the sea was calm, Leif and his men came to an island lying north of a large tract

of land. As they sailed up a channel toward the mainland their vessel ran aground, for it was ebb-tide.

Leif and his crew were too eager to go ashore to wait till the tide had turned and floated their ship, so

they leaped out on to the beach. Here a river flowed out of a lake into the sea. When their ship was

once more floating with the tide, the men towed it up the river into this lake. There, by the side of the

lake, the Vikings built booths in which they might dwell until they had built larger houses. There was

no need to build barns, for the climate was so warm, and the land so fruitful, that the cattle were able

to live and also to find food in the forests and plains.

To the Icelanders it seemed strange that during the winter months there was no frost to nip the grass

or trees, which were almost as green then as in summer. Day and night, too, were divided more

equally in this country than in Greenland or Iceland.

In the lake and the river Leif found salmon larger than any he had seen before, and these they caught

and used for food.

When at length their houses were built, Leif divided his men into two parties, one to explore the

country, the other to guard the houses.

One evening when the explorers came home, Tyrker, the man from the south, was missing. Leif at

once set out with twelve men to seek for his lost comrade. They had gone but a short way, however,

when they saw him coming toward them. “I have news for you!” he cried. “I have found a vine and

grapes. I know them well, for I was born where grapes were never lacking.”

From that day Leif and his men began to load their ship with grapes and timber, and when this was

done, they sailed back to Greenland. Leif named the country Vinland, because of the vines which

grew there. Now Vinland was really North America.

Multiple Choice

Which statement provides an objective summary of the text?

• Vikings loved travel and adventure. Vikings named the places they discovered.

• Vikings loved travel and adventure. A Viking named Naddod discovered Iceland in 861.

• Vikings loved travel and adventure. Vikings found grapes and vines in Vinland.

• Vikings loved travel and adventure. People believe that Christopher Columbus

  discovered America in 1492.

Multiple Choice

What is the meaning of tyranny in the sentence below from paragraph 4?

“The brothers were soon followed by other Vikings who had taken refuge from Harald’s tyranny

in the British Isles, but had been hunted out of their refuges there by the Norse king.”

• restrictions

• compassion

• attention

• harshness

Multiple Choice

Which quote supports the idea that Iceland’s settlement was influenced by the combative

nature of the Vikings?

• “When he went back to Norway and told people of the land he had discovered, a Viking

  named Gardar thought he, too, would go in search of Snowland.”

• “The brothers were soon followed by other Vikings who had taken refuge from Harald’s

  tyranny in the British Isles, but had been hunted out of their refuges there by the Norse

  king.”

• “At the end of two years Thorvald went back to Iceland and told Red Eirik, his son,

  about the country he had discovered.”

• “A band of sea-roving Vikings, on their way to Greenland, were driven out of their way

  by a great storm, and sighted strange lands.”

Multiple Choice

Which quote provides evidence supporting the argument that exploration was dangerous for Vikings?

• “For two years he stayed there, journeying across the island and giving names to many

  mountains and fiords.”

• “The following summer Eirik got ready his ship, and when it was well manned he set sail

  for Greenland, and dwelt there ever after.”

• “Some of the ships were driven back by storm and wind to Iceland; others foundered in

  the heavy seas and were seen no more.”

• “From that day Leif and his men began to load their ship with grapes and timber, and

  when this was done, they sailed back to Greenland.”

Multiple Choice

How does the phrase “bold sea-roving Vikings” from paragraph 9 affect the tone of the text?

• It establishes a shocked tone.

• It creates an amused tone.

• It establishes an adventurous tone.

• It creates a sincere tone.

Multiple Choice

What is the author’s purpose for paragraph 9?

• to explain that the Vikings visited America in 986

• to establish that the Vikings enjoyed many adventures at sea

• to establish that Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492

• to explain that America was a great discovery

Multiple Choice

Which quote suggests that the Vikings’ enthusiasm influenced their exploration?

• “None of these men, Naddod, Gardar, or Floki, settled in this new country.”

• “For two years he stayed there, journeying across the island and giving names to many

  mountains and fiords.”

• “The following summer Eirik got ready his ship, and when it was well manned he set sail

  for Greenland, and dwelt there ever after.”

• “Leif and his crew were too eager to go ashore to wait till the tide had turned and floated

  their ship, so they leaped out on to the beach.”

Multiple Choice

How does the structure of the text contribute to the idea of the discovery of North America?

• It uses comparisons and contrasts to show that Vinland is more like North America than

  any other land the Vikings had ever discovered.

• It uses chronological order to relate the discoveries of the Vikings over many decades,

  including their greatest discovery, Vinland, or North America.

• It establishes the problem that many believe that Columbus discovered North America,

  when indeed the Vikings discovered the continent in 986.

• It provides a description of the many lands and treasures the Vikings discovered on

  their travels.

Delos

by James Baldwin

Long before you or I or anybody else can remember, there lived with the Mighty Folk on the

mountaintop a fair and gentle lady named Leto. So fair and gentle was she that Jupiter loved her and

made her his wife. But when Juno, the queen of earth and sky, heard of this, she was very angry; and

she drove Leto down from the mountain and bade all things great and small refuse to help her. So

Leto fled like a wild deer from land to land and could find no place in which to rest. She could not

stop, for then the ground would quake under her feet, and the stones would cry out, “Go on! go on!”

and birds and beasts and trees and men would join in the cry; and no one in all the wide land took

pity on her.

One day she came to the sea, and as she fled along the beach she lifted up her hands and called

aloud to great Neptune to help her. Neptune, the king of the sea, heard her and was kind to her. He

sent a huge animal, called a dolphin, to bear her away from the cruel land; and the dolphin, with Leto

sitting on his broad back, swam through the waves to Delos, a little island which lay floating on top of

the water like a boat. There the gentle lady found rest and a home; for the place belonged to

Neptune, and the words of cruel Juno were not obeyed there. Neptune put four marble pillars under

the island so that it should rest firm upon them; and then he chained it fast, with great chains which

reached to the bottom of the sea, so that the waves might never move it.

By and by twin babes were born to Leto in Delos. One was a boy whom she called Apollo, the other a

girl whom she named Artemis, or Diana. When the news of their birth was carried to Jupiter and the

Mighty Folk on the mountaintop, all the world was glad. The sun danced on the waters, and singing

swans flew seven times round the island of Delos. The moon stooped to kiss the babes in their

cradle; and Juno forgot her anger, and bade all things on the earth and in the sky be kind to Leto.

The two children grew very fast. Apollo became tall and strong and graceful; his face was as bright as

the sunbeams; and he carried joy and gladness with him wherever he went. Jupiter gave him a pair of

swans and a golden chariot, which bore him over sea and land wherever he wanted to go; and he

gave him a lyre on which he played the sweetest music that was ever heard, and a silver bow with

sharp arrows which never missed the mark. When Apollo went out into the world, and men came to

know about him, he was called by some the Bringer of Light, by others the Master of Song, and by

still others the Lord of the Silver Bow.

Diana was tall and graceful, too, and very handsome. She liked to wander in the woods with her

maids, who were called nymphs; she took kind care of the timid deer and the helpless creatures

which live among the trees; and she delighted in hunting wolves and bears and other savage beasts.

She was loved and feared in every land, and Jupiter made her the queen of the green woods and the

chase.

Multiple Choice

Which event from the selection develops the theme of helping those in need?

• Juno spoke to all of the animals.

• Jupiter gave Apollo swans and a chariot.

• Neptune sent a dolphin to Leto.

• Jupiter made Diana queen of the woods.

Multiple Choice

What can be inferred from paragraph 1?

• Juno is envious of the happiness of others.

• Juno is depressed because Jupiter fathered children.

• Juno is furious that the animals defied her.

• Juno is regretful that she had separated Jupiter and Leto.

Multiple Choice

STEM

Instruction: Select (click) one answer to the question below.

What does abde mean in the paragraph below?

Delos

James Baldwin

"Long before you or I or anybody else can remember, there lived with the mighty Folk on the mountaintop a fair and gentle lady named Leto. So fair and gentle was she that Jupiter loved her and made her his wife. But when Juno, the queen of earth and sky, heard of this, she was very angry; and she drove Leto down from the mountain and bade all things great and small refuse to help her. So Leto fled like a wild deer from land to land and could find no place in which to rest. She could not stop, for then the ground would quake under her feet, and the stones and the stones would cry out 'Go on! go on!' and birds and beasts and trees and men would join in the cry; and no one in all the wide land took pity on her."

• gave a direct order

• helped find an island

• became irrationally angry

• fought with someone

Multiple Choice

What is the significance of the descriptions and events in paragraph 2?

• The dolphin that transports Leto through the water represents the ease with which Leto

  had found peace.

• Neptune’s decision to give Leto an island contrasts with her desire to be with him.

• The dolphin that carries Leto on its back represents the strength that Leto had in her

  fight with Juno.

• Neptune’s effort to make the island stable and solid contrasts with the chaos of Leto’s

  life.

Multiple Choice

What is the effect of the personification “The moon stooped to kiss the babes in their cradle” in paragraph 3?

• It conveys that the moon was following Leto’s orders to pay respects to the twins.

• It implies that the moon is also celebrating and has a great amount of love and respect

  for the twins.

• It suggests that the moon can transform into a being that thinks, acts, and feels like a

  human.

• It reveals that the moon follows the Mighty Folk’s orders like the rest of the people and

  animals on the mountaintop.

Multiple Choice

How does Leto’s life change after the birth of her twins?

• Juno ends her vengeance against Leto and revokes her angry decree.

• Juno accepts the marriage of Jupiter and Leto, but she still dislikes her.

• The Mighty Folk beg Leto to leave Delos and return to the mountaintop.

• The Mighty Folk name Leto as an important citizen of the mountaintop.

Multiple Choice

How does the birth of Apollo and Diana affect Jupiter?

• He goes from living on the mountaintop to living on Delos with the children.

• He goes from being angry at Juno to being sympathetic to Leto.

• He goes from being married to Juno to being married to Leto.

• He goes from ignoring Leto’s struggle to being involved with his children.

Multiple Choice

STEM

Which traits are implied about Apollo by the phrase "bright as the sunbeams" in the paragraphs below?

Delos

by James Baldwin

"The two children grew very fast. Apollo became very tall and strong and graceful; his face was as bright as the sunbeams; and he carried joy and gladness with him wherever he went. Jupiter gave him a pair of swans and a golden chariot, which bore him over sea and land wherever he wanted to go; and he gave him a lyre on which he played the sweetest music that was ever heard, and a silver bow with sharp arrows which never missed the mark. When Apollo went out into the world, and men came to know about him, he was called by some the Bringer of Light, by others the Master of Songs, and by still others the Lord of the Silver Bow. "

• romantic, friendly and misunderstood

• attractive, friendly and well liked

• funny, sarcastic and well liked

• funny, protective and disliked

Multiple Choice

How does Juno’s character change over the course of the selection?

• Her anger increases with Neptune’s defiance.

• Her amusement at Jupiter turns to resentment.

• Her anger vanishes after the birth of Leto’s twins.

• Her fondness for the twins turns into jealousy.

What Is the Brightest Star?

by Dr. Marc Rayman

Our friends at the North Museum Planetarium in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, wonder, “What is the

brightest star?”

Of course, the star that appears the brightest to all of us on Earth is the sun. Although it is a rather

typical star, not all that different from many of the ones you see at night, we live so close to it that it

outshines everything else. Even the next closest star is more than a quarter of a million times farther

from Earth, so it is not surprising that the light from the sun overwhelms that from other stars.

It might be more fun to think about how bright the stars are themselves, without regard to how they

look from Earth. After all, as much as we cherish Earth, our planet is not in a special place in the

universe, so it isn’t really fair to rank the sun as the brightest only because it is nearest Earth.

Suppose we could put all stars at the same distance from us. Then which one would be the brightest?

Imagine you are in a boat on the ocean at night, and you see a light. How would you know how bright

the light really is? Is it a weak light on a nearby boat or a brilliant one on a distant island? If you know

how far it is, then you have an idea of how bright it really is. But now suppose the night is foggy. In

that case, it is much harder to judge the true brightness of the light, because you don’t know how

much of the light is blocked by the fog.

To find out the true brightness of a star, scientists need to know how far away it is. Although there are

some very clever ways of gauging the distances to stars, they generally work well only for stars that

are in the sun’s neighborhood of the Milky Way galaxy. The more distant stars are just so fantastically

far from us, that measuring their distances accurately is too difficult. Making it still harder to know how

bright a star really is, there is a kind of patchy fog between the stars—space is not truly empty.

Although it is not exactly the same as the fog on Earth, gas and dust in space can dim the light of

stars. Without a good way to know how much of this interstellar fog is blocking the light, there is no

reliable way to discover the true brightness of a star.

Although we don’t know which star truly is the brightest, we know some are remarkably bright. You

can see one of them any clear night this summer. Deneb is the northeastern of the three stars that

form a large and easily seen grouping called the Summer Triangle. While Deneb shines the brightest

in the constellation Cygnus, 17 other stars glow brighter in our night skies. But Deneb is much farther

from Earth than most of the other stars you see, and this giant is around 100,000 times brighter than

the sun. If Deneb were the same distance from Earth as Vega, another star in the Summer Triangle,

not only would it outshine all the stars and planets visible at night, but it would even be bright enough

to see in the daytime!

Deneb pays a precious price for shining so brilliantly. It is using up its stellar fuel at a furious rate, and

it will burn itself out after a relatively brief appearance as a star of our galaxy. While the sun (and

Earth) are more than 4.5 billion years old, Deneb is a youngster at only a few million years. And it will

last only a few million years more before it dies a spectacular death. In the meantime, less showy but

more typical stars like the sun will continue their more tranquil lives, ultimately shining for perhaps

1,000 times as long as a powerhouse like Deneb.

Remember in the winter, when you are gazing at the constellation Orion, to think about the two

brightest stars there: reddish Betelgeuse and white Rigel. Like Deneb, they could outshine the sun

like a searchlight next to a match.

Multiple Choice

Which statement provides an objective summary of the text?

• The sun appears to be the brightest star because of its location relative to Earth. People

  use boats in the ocean at night to determine the brightness of a star.

• The sun appears to be the brightest star because of its closeness to Earth. It is difficult

  to determine the brightness of other stars because their distance is too difficult to

  measure. Although the brightest star is unknown, many are easily seen.

• The sun appears to be less bright because of its distance from Earth. Distant stars are

  easily measured by scientists with current technology.

• The sun appears to be dimmer than most stars because of its location relative to Earth.

  It is difficult to determine the brightness of other stars because their distance is too

  difficult to measure. The brightest star in the galaxy is Deneb.

Multiple Choice

Which quote shows the author’s belief that stars should be evaluated individually, no matter their location?

• “It might be more fun to think about how bright the stars are themselves, without regard

  to how they look from Earth.”

• “Is it a weak light on a nearby boat or a brilliant one on a distant island?”

• “Although it is not exactly the same as the fog on Earth, gas and dust in space can dim

  the light of stars.”

• “Although we don’t know which star truly is the brightest, we know some are remarkably

  bright.”

Multiple Choice

How does the author reveal the relationship between a star’s distance and its brightness in the text?

• by explaining that it is impossible to determine the true brightness of a star

• by explaining that it is possible to know the brightness of any star, without knowing

  exactly how far away it is

• by explaining that because the sun is a less visible star, it will continue to shine for a

  long time

• by explaining that in order to know the true brightness of a star, scientists need to know

  exactly how far away the star is

Multiple Choice

Which quote supports the claim that a star’s brightness could be miscalculated?

• “Of course, the star that appears the brightest to all of us on Earth is the sun.”

• “There is a kind of patchy fog between the stars—space is not truly empty.”

• “While Deneb shines the brightest in the constellation Cygnus, 17 other stars glow

  brighter in our night skies.”

• “It is using up its stellar fuel at a furious rate, and it will burn itself out after a relatively

  brief appearance as a star of our galaxy.”

Multiple Choice

How does the word tranquil affect the meaning of paragraph 7?

• It suggests that the sun uses up its stellar fuel at a furious rate.

• It suggests that the sun will burn itself out after a brief appearance as a star.

• It suggests that the sun will die because of the way it shines.

• It suggests that the sun will last a long time because it is not a showy star.

Multiple Choice

STEM

Which quote provides evidence relevant to the author's claim below?

What is the Brightest Star?

by Dr. Marc Rayman

"Deneb pays a precious price for shining so brilliantly."

• "Deneb is the northeastern of the three stars that form a large and easily seen grouping called The Summer Triangle."

• "While Deneb shines the brightest in the constellation Cygnus, 17 other stars glow bright in our night skies."

• "It is using up its stellar fuel at furious rate, and it will burn itself out after a relatively brief appearance as a star of our galaxy."

• "While the sun (and Earth) are more than 4.5 billion years old, Deneb is a youngster at only a few million years."

Multiple Choice

What is the meaning of the phrase “outshine the sun like a searchlight next to a match” in paragraph 8?

• The sun shines brightly, but Deneb shines brighter.

• It is impossible to tell which star is the brightest.

• Deneb shines brightly, but the sun is brighter.

• Deneb and the sun are equally bright.