Reading Passage Questions

What is the town in the passage famous for? [The Circus Comes to Town]

-Right There Question

• tightrope walkers

• jugglers

• bowling pins

• circus elephants

What main problem does Mayor Arnold face? [The Circus Comes to Town]

-Inference Question

• People are complaining about the jugglers, and she doesn’t know what to do.

• Donald Seastrunk is hit in the head by a juggler’s stray bowling pin.

• She holds imaginary conversations with the golden cat statue in her office.

• The jugglers might sue the city if they were fined for disturbing the peace.

While many people are happy to live in a famous town, not everyone is happy about the jugglers. What evidence from the passage supports this conclusion? [The Circus Comes to Town]

-Inference Question

• The biggest newspaper in the state capital writes an article about the jugglers.

• Excited crowds gather around the skilled jugglers outside the movie theater.

• Donald Seastrunk leads a crowd in an anti-juggler protest.

• Donald Seastrunk is hit in the head by a bowling pin.

Read the following sentences:

“The mayor chewed her pen. She tapped her foot furiously. She sighed so strongly that important documents blew off her desk, and this made her sigh again.”

Based on this description, how is Mayor Arnold most likely feeling?

[The Circus Comes to Town]

-Inference Question

• inspired

• upbeat

• lonely

• frustrated

What is the story The Circus Comes to Town mostly about?

• how Mayor Arnold makes decisions

• problems caused by jugglers in a town

• the dangers of increased numbers of copycat jugglers

• the routines performed by skilled jugglers

Read the following sentence:

“Winking and smiling, the jugglers performed astonishing feats: dozens of balls in the air at once; nifty, behind-the-back and through-the-legs tricks; even juggling blindfolded.”

What does the word “astonishing” mean as used in this sentence?

-Inference/Context Clue question

• unsurprising

• realistic

• colorful

• amazing

Why does Donald Seastrunk send an email to the mayor’s office? [The Circus Comes to Town]

-Right There Question

• to complain about the jugglers

• to support the jugglers

• to find a new circus for the town

• to take the mayor's position away from him

Why can’t the mayor order the police to fine the jugglers for disturbing the peace? [The Circus Comes to Town]

-Right There Question

• because the jugglers would steal the money and run

• because that would mean the mayor is too powerful

• because the jugglers might sue the city. If they did, the case would go to court and the city could lose a lot of money.

• because the police do not want to make the jugglers pay a fine

Which of these is the best explanation as to why the issue of the jugglers is so hard for the Mayor. [The Circus Comes to Town]

-Inference Question

• The jugglers dislike the mayor.

• There is no clear solution to the problem of the jugglers.

• The Mayor despises (hates) the circus.

• The people of the town are doing little to help the problem.

What "debates if it will go" across a barn or through a rut? [Beclouded]

-Right There question

• a cloud

• a flake of snow

• a narrow wind

• a diadem