GRADE 6 CLICNCHER

I said that you could get better scores in math by learning chess. When I was getting facts together to talk to you about starting a club, I did a lot of research on the library computer. I found many, many pages on the Internet telling how this game is so much more than just a way to pass the time. Chess requires problem solving. Educators and researchers have done studies with students just like you and me. These studies prove that chess teaches how to think ahead, how to plan, and how to be systematic in an approach to problem solving. If we know better how to use these skills, it figures we can use these same techniques to solve math problems. I read that one junior high school teacher in California said that he saw improvement in his math students’ scores after they had been playing chess for only three weeks. Is there any one of us who couldn’t improve his or her math skills?

Question

What does the narrator mean by, “Is there any one of us who couldn’t improve his or her math skills?”

• A. No one needs to practice math.

• B. Everyone could use practice with math

• C. Math skills are easy to learn.

• D. Only students need to practice math skills.

The black sand is called magnetite because of its magnetic properties. By using a magnet, the sand can be picked up and moved out of the pan. What gold panners hope to see left behind are flakes of gold. These can be tiny specks or larger flakes the size and shape of breakfast cereal. But people can be tricked by the matter that twinkles like a crystal. This is probably “fool’s gold.” The gold they want is yellow with a sheen to it.

Question

According to the passage, what is “fool’s gold”?

• A. gold discovered by special miners

• B. foolish people who pan for gold

• C. bits that twinkle like a crystal but are not gold

• D. gravel and gold mixed together

Brian and Nancy sometimes go to the zoo. They go about twice a year. They sometimes have a picnic but not always. They usually play soccer but they sometimes fly their kites. They never go camping because they don’t have a tent.

Question

How often do they go to the zoo?

• A. sometimes

• B. usually

• C. twice a year

• D. twice a week

In the summer holiday, Peter’s family go to the beach for three or four days. They always go to the beach. They usually stay in a hotel but sometimes they stay in a small house near the sea.

Every morning, they go to the beach. Peter goes swimming but his sister never swims. She plays volleyball on the beach. Volleyball is her favorite sports. They usually have sandwiches for lunch or sometimes they go to a small restaurant. In the afternoons, they walk. In the evenings, they often go to the cinema or the theater.

Question

Where do they usually stay?

• A. no information

• B. in a hotel

• C. in a small house near the sea

• D. at a friend’s house

My name is Billy. I am a grade 9 student. And I love my father. My father’s name is Bill. He is 45 years old. He works in a big school in the country. He teaches English at grade 8. He goes to work by motorbike because the school is far from home. He often plays soccer with other teachers in the afternoon. He usually goes home at 4:30pm.

Question

What grade is Billy’s father teaching?

• A. grade 7

• B. grade 8

• C. grade 9

• D. grade 10

There are four seasons in my country: spring, summer, fall and winter. In the spring, the weather is very good. It is usually warm and there are many beautiful flowers. We often go for a picnic in the spring. In the summer, it is usually hot. Sometimes we go swimming in the river or the sea. In the fall, the weather is cool. It usually rains a lot in the fall. In the winter, it is often very cold in our country. So we often stay at home and read books or watch tv.

Question

In what season is it often cool in the writer’s country?

• A. fall

• B. winter

• C. spring

• D. summer

Lisa is a grade 6 student. She lives in the city with her father, mother and her brother. Her house is beautiful and big. There is a small yard in front of her house. There is a lovely flower garden behind the house. To the left of the house, there is a supermarket. To the right of the house, there is a bookstore. She loves her house very much.

Question

What is there behind Lisa’s house?

• A. a flower garden

• B. a small yard

• C. a bookstore

• D. a supermarket

Mary is living in a beautiful house in the country with her grandparents. There are seven rooms in their house. The living room is very large. There is a big table in the room and eight vases of flowers. There is a picture of our family on the wall. Near their house there is a small lake. The water in the lake is clean. In front of the house there is a garden with beautiful flowers. Her grandparents have many chickens, two cats and five dogs. They love them very much.

Question

There are how many rooms in their house?

• A. five

• B. six

• C. seven

• D. eight

Rita Libby is from Canada, but she lives in New York. Her parents live in Ohio while her grandparents in Pennsylvania.

She works in a hospital. She likes her job but she likes weekend, too. On Saturdays, she plays tennis or goes swimming. She sometimes goes jogging, too. On Sunday evenings, she always eats in a restaurant with her friends.

Question

Where does Rita live?

• A. Canada

• B. Ohio

• C. Pennsylvania

• D. New York

Her name is Lisa and her husband’s name is Henry. They both work in offices in London. They have breakfast at half past seven. They don’t have a big breakfast. They usually have bread, coffee and orange juice. They start preparing for work at eight, will leave house at half past eight and starts working at nine. For lunch, they usually have a salad or soup. That is at 11:30. They go home at 5:00. They usually have dinner at half past seven in the evening. It is a big meal of the day and they have meat or fish with vegetables and potatoes or rice. They have orange with a milk. On Saturdays, they go to a restaurant for dinner at about eight o’clock.

Question

What time do Lisa and Henry start working?

• A. half past seven

• B. eight o’clock

• C. half past eight

• D. nine o’clock