"The Run" ReadWorks

What news do Dennis and Mac hear on the radio while at the ranch?

• There is a cattle farm that hires young men to work over the summer.

• Thousands of people are running as fast as they can across the country.

• There is a bad disease spreading among people.

• Food is getting moldy on dinner plates because people are not staying at home.

What is the sequence of events at the beginning of this story?

• The story begins after the disease has struck and then takes the reader back in time to a point before the disease.

• The story begins before the disease has struck and then takes the reader forward in time to a point after the disease has ended.

• The story begins as the disease is striking and then takes the reader back in time to a point before the disease.

• The story begins as the disease is striking and then takes the reader two years into the future.

The Muskrat says that the disease is “real bad.”What evidence in the story supports his statement?

• T.J. wants to go into town even though The Muskrat has advised people to stay in their homes.

• After The Muskrat warns people about the disease, an old Earl Scruggs song comes on the radio.

• The Greersons tell the boys not to worry, saying that the disease will end soon.

• The disease is very contagious, and doctors have not been able to figure out a cure.

Why do Dennis and Mac decide to drive to the nearest big city?

• They want to find a person.

• They are running out of food and need more.

• They see thousands of people running.

• They both like being outdoors.

What is this story mainly about?

• a married couple who own a ranch, the young men they hire to work for them one summer, and the music they listen to together

• two young men, a mysterious disease, and what happens when they go out to explore after the disease hits

• a radio DJ, the music he likes to play, and the effect that his song choices have on the people who listen to them

• a long line of people running through a flat piece of pastureland and what happens when two young men see them

Read the following sentence: “More and more people were getting sick. The symptoms were strange. People would become violently ill, then fall into a long, deep sleep.”

What does the word symptoms mean?

• fears of getting sick

• signs of a disease

• serious injuries

• suggestions that doctors give to patients

Dennis and Mac are frightened after leaving the ranch ________ the towns and cities they visit have no people in them.

• although

• as a result

• because

• however

What happens to people when they get sick with the disease described in the story?

What are the people Dennis and Mac see at the end of the story doing?

Do you think there is a connection between the disease and the people Dennis and Mac see at the end of the story? Explain why or why not.