Free printable Hunter practice test for Grade 6

Reading Comprehension

Circle the letter of the best answer. About 14 minutes.

1. The Missing Step

   The recipe card was soft from years of use. It had a grease spot in one corner and a red smear near the bottom. Across the top, in my grandmother's neat handwriting, it said "Mandu," which is the Korean word for dumplings.

   I had copied the card in Halmeoni's kitchen the last time we visited her in Los Angeles. Now our school was having Family Food Day, and every sixth grader had to bring a dish that meant something to their family. My friend Ruby was bringing her dad's corn bread. Marcus was bringing his aunt's rice and peas. I was bringing mandu, and I was going to make them all by myself.

   "Are you sure you don't want help?" Mom asked on Saturday morning.

   "I'm sure," I said. "It's all right here on the card."

   I lined everything up on the counter: ground pork, a block of tofu, a head of cabbage, green onions, garlic, and a stack of round wrappers. I chopped the cabbage into tiny pieces. I crumbled the tofu into a bowl. I mixed in the pork, the onions, and the garlic, just the way the card said.

   Then I picked up the first wrapper, put a spoonful of filling in the middle, and folded it in half. I pinched the edges, the way I had watched Halmeoni do a hundred times.

   The wrapper tore. Pinkish water leaked out onto the cutting board.

   I tried again. The second one tore too. By the sixth try, the cutting board looked like a swamp, and I had a pile of soggy, broken dumplings that nobody would want to eat.

   I read the card again, line by line. I had done every single step. So why wasn't it working?

   Mom looked over my shoulder. "The filling seems very wet," she said gently.

   "The card doesn't say anything about wet," I said. My voice came out sharper than I meant it to. I wanted to throw the whole bowl in the trash and bring a bag of chips instead.

   Instead, I took a deep breath and did something I had not planned to do. I called Halmeoni.

   She answered on the second ring. When I explained what had happened, she laughed so loudly that I had to hold the phone away from my ear.

   "Oh, Jiwoo," she said. "You forgot to squeeze."

   "Squeeze what?"

   "The cabbage and the tofu. They are full of water. You wrap them in a clean towel and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, until no more water comes out. Then the filling is dry, and the wrapper stays strong."

   "But that's not on the card," I said.

   She was quiet for a moment. "No," she said. "I wrote that card for myself, a long time ago. My hands already knew that part, so I never wrote it down."

   I thought about that. All those years, the most important step had been living in her hands, not on the paper.

   Mom found a clean dish towel. I scooped the filling into it, twisted the ends, and squeezed over the sink. Water poured out, far more than I expected. I squeezed until my arms ached, and then I squeezed some more.

   This time, when I folded the first wrapper, it held. So did the second, and the third. Halmeoni stayed on the phone the whole time, telling me stories about making mandu with her own mother while I folded and pinched. By the end, I had forty-two dumplings lined up on a tray. They were not as neat as hers, but not one of them leaked.

   On Family Food Day, my mandu were gone before Ruby's corn bread. Our teacher, Mr. Dalton, asked me to share the recipe with the class.

   That night, I took out a pen and a fresh index card. I copied Halmeoni's recipe carefully, word for word. Then, in my own handwriting, I added one more line between the tofu and the wrappers: "Squeeze the filling in a towel until it is dry. Your hands will learn this. Write it down anyway."

   I mailed the new card to Halmeoni the next morning. A week later, she called to tell me she had taped it inside her cabinet door, right next to the old one.

   1.

   Which sentence best states a theme of the story?

   1. AIt is always better to work alone than to ask for help.
   2. BSome knowledge is learned by doing, and it is worth passing on.
   3. CWinning a contest matters more than enjoying the work.
   4. DStore-bought food is just as good as food made at home.
2. 2.

   Jiwoo says, "My voice came out sharper than I meant it to." What does the word "sharper" show?

   1. AShe spoke in a cheerful, joking way.
   2. BShe spoke to Mom in an impatient, cross way.
   3. CShe spoke clearly so Mom would understand the card.
   4. DShe spoke very quietly because she was tired.
3. 3.

   Jiwoo says the cutting board "looked like a swamp." What does this comparison help the reader picture?

   1. AThe board was wet, messy and covered in leaking filling.
   2. BThe board was too small for all the dumplings.
   3. CThe board was green from the chopped onions.
   4. DThe board smelled like plants growing outside.
4. 4.

   The story is told by Jiwoo. How does this point of view affect what the reader learns?

   1. AThe reader shares her frustration and then her thoughts about Halmeoni's words.
   2. BThe reader learns what every student brought to Family Food Day.
   3. CThe reader learns what Mr. Dalton thought of each dish.
   4. DThe reader learns how Halmeoni first learned to make mandu.
5. 5.

   How does Jiwoo change during the story?

   1. AShe goes from loving to cook to deciding she will never cook again.
   2. BShe goes from refusing help to asking for it and learning from it.
   3. CShe goes from trusting the card to throwing it away.
   4. DShe goes from liking Ruby to being jealous of her.
6. 6.

   Why does Halmeoni most likely tape the new card next to the old one?

   1. AShe plans to throw the old card away soon.
   2. BShe wants to remind herself to call Jiwoo more often.
   3. CShe cannot read her own handwriting anymore.
   4. DShe is proud of Jiwoo and values what she added.
7. 7.

   How does the ending, when Jiwoo writes a new card, fit the story as a whole?

   1. AIt shows she has turned her mistake into something she can pass on.
   2. BIt explains why the first wrappers kept tearing.
   3. CIt shows that Jiwoo still does not understand the recipe.
   4. DIt shows that Mr. Dalton forgot to ask for the recipe.

8. From Tadpole to Frog

   If you visit a pond in early spring, you might find a clump of something that looks like clear jelly with tiny black dots inside. Those dots are frog eggs. Each one could become a frog that hops, swims, and catches insects with a sticky tongue. But first it will have to change its whole body. This change is called metamorphosis, from a Greek word meaning "change of form."

   Starting Out in the Water

   Most frogs lay their eggs in water. A female may lay hundreds or even thousands of eggs at one time. The jelly around the eggs protects them and keeps them moist. Inside each egg, a tiny tadpole begins to grow.

   Not every egg survives. Fish, insects, birds, and even other tadpoles eat frog eggs and young tadpoles. Laying so many eggs at once helps make sure that at least a few will live long enough to become adult frogs.

   After about one to three weeks, depending on the kind of frog and how warm the water is, the tadpoles hatch. A newly hatched tadpole looks nothing like a frog. It has a round body, a long tail for swimming, and no legs at all. It breathes the way a fish does, using gills to take oxygen from the water. Most tadpoles eat plants, scraping tiny green algae off rocks and leaves with their rough mouths.

   Growing Legs

   As the weeks go by, the tadpole grows bigger. Then two small bumps appear near the base of its tail. These bumps become back legs. At first the legs are tiny and weak, but they grow longer and stronger every day.

   Next, the front legs appear. Inside the tadpole's body, other changes are happening too. Lungs are forming, so the young frog will be able to breathe air. The tadpole starts swimming up to the surface to gulp air. Its mouth grows wider, and its eyes get bigger. It is getting ready for a new life.

   Where Does the Tail Go?

   One of the strangest parts of metamorphosis happens to the tail. It does not fall off. Instead, the tadpole's body slowly absorbs it, breaking it down and using it as food. During this time, many young frogs stop eating, because their bodies are living off the tail. Day by day the tail shrinks, until only a small stub is left.

   At this stage, the young animal is called a froglet. It looks like a tiny frog with a short tail. Soon it climbs out of the water onto land for the first time.

   A Double Life

   An adult frog is very different from the tadpole it used to be. It has four legs, and the back legs are strong enough for long jumps. It breathes with lungs, and it can also take in some oxygen through its thin, moist skin. Instead of eating algae, it hunts insects, worms, and spiders, snapping them up with its long tongue.

   Frogs belong to a group of animals called amphibians. The name comes from Greek words meaning "double life," because most amphibians spend part of their lives in water and part on land. Salamanders and newts are amphibians too.

   The journey from egg to frog takes different amounts of time for different kinds of frogs. Some finish in about two months. American bullfrog tadpoles may stay in the water for a year or more before they become frogs.

   Why Ponds Matter

   Because frogs begin their lives in water, they depend on clean ponds, streams, and wetlands. Pollution can harm frog eggs and tadpoles. When a pond is drained or filled in, the frogs that would have hatched there lose their nursery. Scientists often keep track of frogs, because a healthy group of frogs is a sign of a healthy wetland.

   So the next time you spot a clump of jelly in a pond, look closely. You may be looking at the start of one of nature's most surprising changes.

   8.

   Which change happens first as a tadpole grows?

   1. AIt starts hunting insects with its tongue.
   2. BBack legs grow near the base of its tail.
   3. CIt climbs onto land for the first time.
   4. DIts front legs appear.
9. 9.

   According to the passage, why do many young frogs stop eating while their tails shrink?

   1. ATheir bodies use the tail as food.
   2. BTheir mouths are too small to eat.
   3. CPollution has made the water unsafe.
   4. DThey cannot find algae in the pond.
10. 10.

    Why does a froglet most likely wait until its lungs have formed before it climbs onto land?

    1. AIt needs lungs to help it eat algae.
    2. BIt needs lungs to grow its back legs.
    3. CIt needs lungs to breathe air out of the water.
    4. DIt needs lungs to lay eggs in the jelly.