Reading Inventory: Difficult

As her high school days came to a close, Martha enjoyed the benefits of all her efforts. She graduated as one of the top ten students in her class. She also received a Rotary Club scholarship as a reward for high grades and leadership.

Martha had been a(n) ________ student.

• athletic

• excellent

• borderline

• comical

Tags

CCSS.L.8.4A

Arriving in Orlando with her mom, Kristi was the center of the media's attention. When reporters asked Kristin about her years of training and dedication, she was quick to thank her mom and dad. "My parents have worked hard and made a lot of sacrifices," she said.

She was ____________.

• grateful

• dismayed

• bitter

• ignored

Tags

CCSS.L.8.4A

CCSS.L.8.5C

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.4

Some animals have a repertoire of ferocious-looking warnings but no real ability to back them up. Hognose snakes are not fighters, but they have an elaborate display of defensive postures. When first threatened, a hognose snake will coil and hiss like any other snake. If the danger continues, the snake pretends to be ferocious. It spreads its neck like a cobra does.

This is how it ____________ itself.

• protects

• balances

• feeds

• propels

Tags

CCSS.L.8.4A

CCSS.RI.8.4

A bag of dirt, Keith says, "can tell us more about the web of life in this region than can one single dinosaur bone. We can find out what else lived here, what grew here, what animals ate them. And it's faster than crawling around sniffing dirt."

The dirt can be ____________.

• misleading

• revealing

• shallow

• unimportant

Tags

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

The older adults did not know how to read, and the younger ones mouthed each syllable like children; nobody wrote with any confidence... I received a letter from the Dukas a year after I had been to stay with them. It was a piece of card covered with their autographs, which were elderly and tremulous, or else childishly deliberate. Below, there were a few lines which were not in any language at all, but which gave the graphic sense of a letter, and that was the point.

They want to _________.

• frolic

• travel

• communicate

• boast

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

Speed skaters lean forward at the waist for their entire race. That way, the air will pass over their backs the same way air passes over the top of an airplane. The skaters keep their backs straight and their heads up, eyes looking forward. In the 500 meters, they swing their arms vigorously from side to side for the entire race to increase their speed. In longer races, the skaters sometimes put one arm flat against their back to conserve their energy. Speed skating is hard work, but Bonnie makes it look natural.

The skater's _____________ is important.

• technique

• equipment

• coach

• warm-up

Tags

CCSS.W.8.2D

Every summer since he could remember, Glen had wanted to gather wild rice. As the harvest approached each year, the people in his town were busy preparing their boats, knockers, and poles. In his own family wild rice was the main topic of conversation during many meals. His parents talked about where the rice was growing best that season and planned which beds they would harvest. Several times Glen had waited at the boat landing for his parents to come back from the rice bed, eager to help them pull their boatload of rice onshore. Now he would be taking part in the harvest himself.

Gathering rice was _____________.

• important

• comical

• tedious

• dangerous

Tags

CCSS.L.8.4A

CCSS.RL.8.4

If you're interested in playing hockey, it may be a long time before you actually join a team. You need time to learn how to skate, practice the basics, get in shape, and figure out what your skills are and what position you want to play. Each position in hockey gives equally to the success of the team.

You need to ____________.

• travel

• explain

• prepare

• explore

Tags

CCSS.L.8.4A

Susie was the youngest in her family. She had warm brown eyes, a sunny smile, heavy long black hair, and big ideas. She followed her sisters as they helped their mother. She swept the wooden floor clean, down to the cracks, with a stick broom that was as tall as she was. She learned how to plant corn and beans and melons, and how to harvest them when the honking geese swept southward across the sky. She learned how to mix pemmican, a food made of meat and fat, and she stood on tiptoe to taste the sweet golden pies her mother made out of squash.

Susie was. ______________.

• industrious

• deplorable

• annoying

• dishonest

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.3

If a driver is using a manual transmission and shifting hundreds or even thousands of times during a race, there is added strain. All of this is happening as the cockpit temperature rises to 140 degrees. Then there is the emotional pressure of trying to go faster than many other fast cars. Race car drivers must be well conditioned, especially if they are really planning to win.

Racing cars is ____________.

• unpopular

• exhausting

• filthy

• pleasing

Tags

CCSS.L.8.4A

CCSS.RI.8.4

CCSS.W.8.2D