Reading Inventory Practice #4

The next day there was no wind. But there was a bitter chill in the air. Smith shivered at the top of the hill. He stood by his bike and watched Helen jog away from her house.

Smith was _____ .

• cold

• lost

• happy

• funny

The book advised: Let your thoughts flow through you like a river running toward the sea. But she could see the pile of papers on the dining room table, waiting to be read and graded. She closed her eyes.

She was trying to feel _____ .

• nervous

• calm

• pretty

• excited

Devyn Evans became a student trainer with Assistance Dogs of the West. The Santa Fe, New Mexico, group trains dogs to help people with disabilities. The dogs can turn lights on. They can pull a wheelchair. They can even push elevator buttons with their noses.

These dogs _____ people.

• greet

• ignore

• aid (help)

• unite

"Robbie!" both Cochrans screamed when Shane came out of the trees with the boy. Robbie ran to them, his words tumbling over one another. "I almost got eaten by a lion, but Shane scared him away. Shane just looked that old lion in the eye and made him go away.

Shane had _____ Robbie.

• saved

• missed

• chosen

• angered

The party at the St. Croix house was part of the winter season in Charleston. Pig, Mark, and I went to the party together, and all of us were nervous about being the only cadets among the two hundred invited guests. None of us was comfortable around the St. Croix's friends.

We were _____ .

• curious

• happy

• uneasy

• dependable

Cacao pods grow straight out of a tree's trunk and branches. It is hard to imagine these seeds as a chocolate bar! Inside the pods are seeds. Those are the cacao beans. They give chocolate its taste. Cacao pods grow to the size of footballs. About 20 to 50 seeds grow inside each pod. Farmers cut the pods from the trees. They remove the beans. A worker spreads the beans out to dry in the sun.

The pods come from _____ .

• vacation

• plants

• rivers

• villages

You probably think of popcorn as a snack for the movies. But did you know U.S. colonists ate popcorn for breakfast? They ate the popped kernels in a bowl of milk as cereal.

Today, the breakfast seems _____ .

• fancy

• revolutionary

• peculiar

• fancy

You never know what you might find in a pack of baseball cards. Recently, the Topps Company created three cards featuring America's first President, George Washington. The front of each card has a picture of Washington. The back tells about America's first President. In the center of the pack is a strand of Washington's hair. Topps bought the strands from a man who collects hair of important people from the past.

These packs had some _____ .

• shields

• directions

• mistakes

• curiosities

"Hi, guys," Ms. Rubio said as she entered the classroom. "You know, I'm about to do a job I really hate. But first I want to tell you that you'd both make fine assistant editors. You're both winners, actually, but only one can be assistant editor."

Ms. Rubio is going to _____ .

• read

• choose

• dance

• rest

Good team members know how their team helps the employer. They understand the team's goals. For example, nurses take care of sick people. They understand how their work helps others. They know their work makes their employer successful. They work to reach their goal so everyone succeeds.

A good team member tries to be _____ .

• useful

• early

• slow

• friendly