LEVEL M Benchmark Passage Bullet Trains Name Word Count: 128 Bullet Trains Imagine speeding through the countryside at more than two hundred miles an hour. You watch houses, trees, and farms fly by. The ride is smooth. You arrive at the next city more quickly than you had thought was possible. Welcome to the world of bullet trains. These trains can be very, very fast. The fastest bullet train goes almost three hundred miles an hour. People rode the first bullet trains in Japan in the 1960s. Many countries in Europe began using high-speed trains soon after that. These countries are small, but they have many big cities that are close together. Bullet trains let people travel easily from city to city. Other countries are trying high-speed trains, too. Look for a bullet train soon in a city near you! © Learning A–Z All rights reserved. Image: © iStockphoto.com/narvikk www.readinga-z.com
LEVEL M Benchmark Passage Quick Check Bullet Trains Name Date Instructions: Read each question carefully and choose the best answer. 1. What is the main idea of 4. What is the author’s purpose the passage? for writing the passage? A Bullet trains move at speeds A to give readers information of up to 300 miles an hour. about bullet trains B Bullet trains are useful B to persuade readers to start for traveling between riding bullet trains to school cities quickly. C to help readers understand C Bullet trains are the best how to catch bullet trains trains in the world. D to entertain readers with D Bullet trains are found stories of bullet trains in Japan and Europe. 5. What is a likely reason why bullet 2. What happened in the 1960s? trains first became popular in small countries with large cities? A Many countries built bullet trains. A Bullet trains let people travel easily from city B People began using the to city in small countries. first bullet trains. C Bullet trains traveled between B Large countries already have Japan and Europe. faster trains than bullet trains. D Companies moved all of their C People dislike moving quickly bullet trains into cities. in large countries. D Bullet trains are harder 3. Which word means the land to build in small countries and scenery of an area out with small cities. in the country? A countries B cities C countryside D farmland © Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.readinga-z.com
LEVEL M Benchmark Passage One Fast Train Ride Name Word Count: 135 One Fast Train Ride It was Wes’s first time visiting Grandma in Japan. He was tired and grumpy. He had missed the end of the movie that played during the flight. Now the flight was getting in late. He and his parents still had to take a train to Grandma’s place. “Don’t worry,” said Dad. “It’s the bullet train. It won’t take long.” They caught the train just before it left. It was so fast! Even though Wes was tired, he couldn’t stop staring out the window. Each building went by in a flash. The scenery changed often as the train zoomed over the land. It was so quiet that it felt like sitting in a theater. Grandma met the family on the other end. “How was the ride?” she asked. “It was better than a movie,” laughed Wes. © Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.readinga-z.com
LEVEL M Benchmark Passage Quick Check One Fast Train Ride Name Date Instructions: Read each question carefully and choose the best answer. 1. Which of the following is not 4. Why did Wes say that the train a reason Wes was grumpy? ride was better than a movie? A His plane was late. A The view had been more exciting than a movie. B He had missed part of a movie. B The ride had been longer than a movie. C His train was fast. D He was tired. C The train had been quieter than a movie theater. 2. Which of the following D The seats had been more events happened first? comfortable than movie theater seats. A Wes took a train ride. B Wes arrived in Japan. 5. Read the example sentence: C Wes arrived at a train station. The scenery changed often as the train zoomed over the land. D Wes took a flight. What does the word scenery 3. What changed about Wes mean in this sentence? from the beginning to the A parts of a play end of the story? B places where events happen A He got scared. C parts of a train B He got happier. D things that are seen in and C He got bored. around a place D He got angrier. © Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.readinga-z.com
LEVEL M Benchmark Passage Kid Rappers Name Word Count: 129 Kid Rappers Kids have been rappers ever since hip-hop music became popular. Some became stars. Will Smith and LL Cool J had hits in their teens. Other kids had success even before their teens. The rappers Lil’ Romeo and Lil’ Bow Wow both gained fame before age thirteen. Both of them kept rapping. Each of them dropped the “Lil’” from his name when he got too big. P-Star was only nine when she rapped at clubs in New York. A movie about her showed on TV. P-Star also became an actor. Some kids get their start on talent shows. CJ Dippa is just one of the kid rappers who have done well on TV. Hip-hop is here to stay. As long as there is hip-hop, there will be kid rappers, too. © Learning A–Z All rights reserved. Image: © Reuters/Keith Bedford www.readinga-z.com
LEVEL M Benchmark Passage Quick Check Kid Rappers Name Date Instructions: Read each question carefully and choose the best answer. 1. What was the author’s purpose 4. Why did Lil’ Romeo and Lil’ Bow for writing the passage? Wow change their names? A to entertain you with funny A They stopped rapping stories about rappers and wanted to use their real names again. B to persuade you to practice a skill such as rapping B They grew older and thought the “Lil’” in their names made C to inform you about popular them sound childish. kid rappers D to teach you how to write C They found out about each a rap song as a kid other and didn’t want people to confuse them. 2. Which rappers first became D They grew older and wanted stars in their teens? new kid rappers to use the names. A Will Smith and LL Cool J B Lil’ Romeo and Lil’ Bow Wow 5. What is the best summary C CJ Dippa and P-Star of the passage? D LL Cool J and CJ Dippa A Some rappers gained fame on TV talent shows. 3. What does the word talent mean? B Some rappers had success A natural kindness in their teens or earlier. B natural grace C Kid rappers are always better than older rappers. C natural humor D natural skill D Kids who are rappers often become actors. © Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.readinga-z.com
LEVEL M Benchmark Passage Take Me Seriously Name Word Count: 123 Take Me Seriously As soon as I saw Top Talent on TV, I wanted to try out. When the show came to Atlanta, I waited in line with my mother and hundreds of other people. Everyone was nervous except me. I was going to surprise them all. Finally, it was my turn. The stage lights were hot. The crowd was silent. “What’s your name?” a judge asked me. “Mia,” I said. “But I call myself Miss Mia.” The crowd laughed. I’m an eight-year-old girl, so they didn’t expect me to be good. The music came on, and I started rhyming. Then the crowd started clapping along with me. By the end, each judge was clapping, too. “I never expected that,” said one of them. “You’re amazing!” © Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.readinga-z.com
LEVEL M Benchmark Passage Quick Check Take Me Seriously Name Date Instructions: Read each question carefully and choose the best answer. 1. Who told the story? 4. If a person is nervous, that person is . A a performer in a talent show B a judge at a talent show A sad C a parent of a rapper B brave D a person in an audience C worried D skillful 2. Who waited in line with Mia? 5. What was the author’s purpose A her friend for writing the story? B her mother A to entertain you with a story C a judge about a kid rapper D a rap star B to persuade you that talent show judges are unfair 3. Why did Mia think she would surprise everyone? C to teach you ways to be unafraid in front of a crowd A She was eight years old and was better at rapping D to inform you about young than most people expected. rappers B She had the best stage name of anybody in the talent show competition. C She had a big group with her that was ready to jump onstage in the middle of her song. D She saw that the judges were friends of her mother, but they had not seen her yet. © Learning A–Z All rights reserved. www.readinga-z.com