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7th grade comprehension test exercises:

Adventurous Storyteller

Jack London, one of America’s major writers of adventure tales, was born in
California in 1876. During his life, London worked at many jobs. His broad life
experiences would become the background for his writing.

London loved to read. As a teenager, he spent many hours educating himself at the
Oakland, California, public library. He attended college at the University of
California at Berkeley, but he stayed for only six months. He thought Berkeley was
“not lively enough” and wanted to do something more exciting.

London wrote stories about working people and the hard times they had making a
living. He knew their problems first hand. He worked as a sailor, rancher, factory
employee, railroad hobo, and gold prospector, to name just a few of his many jobs.

London grew up near the waterfront in Oakland. He loved the water. When he was
fifteen years old, he bought a small sailboat called a sloop. Later he sailed to Japan
on a schooner, which is a much larger sailing boat.

Like many people of the time, London caught the Klondike Gold Rush Fever. In
l897, he headed for Alaska. He didn’t find gold, but he discovered something even
more valuable. He discovered that people enjoyed listening to the stories he made
up with his vivid imagination.

London entertained the miners with story after story. Later, using his experiences
during the Gold Rush, he created many more colorful stories. London resolved to
live a full, exciting life. He once said, “I would rather be a superb meteor, every
atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.” Each day,
he pushed himself. Once London determined that he was going to be a writer,
nothing could stop him. His goal was to write at least one thousand words every
day. He refused to stop even when he was sick. In eighteen years, the writer
published fifty-one books and hundreds of articles. He was the best-selling and
highest-paid author of his day. Many people also considered him to be the best
writer.
White Fang and The Call of the Wild are his most famous stories and are about
surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. Readers can enjoy Jack London’s energy and
his talent for telling wonderful stories each time they open one of his novels.

1. Why was Jack London able to write on many topics?

A. He had a variety of experiences and jobs.
B. He was drawn to the Klondike Gold Rush.
C. He pushed himself to reach goals.
D. He was the best-selling and highest-paid author.

2. Why did Jack London not complete college?

A. He traveled to Alaska in 1897.
B. He was hired to sail to Japan.
C. He spent much of his time writing.
D. He was not interested enough.

3. What do a sloop and schooner have in common?

A. They were both built in Japan.
B. They were both owned by Jack London.
C. They are both types of watercraft.
D. They were both made in the early 1900s.

4. When did Jack London discover he first had a talent for storytelling?
A. when he went to college
B. when he went to Alaska
C. when he was a teenager
D. when he worked as a sailor

5. Which word best describes Jack London?

A. cautious
B. unfocused
 C. imaginative
D. compassionate

6. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage? A. identify books written
by Jack London B. provide information on Jack London’s life C. support the
statement that London was the “best writer” D. describe life during the
Klondike Gold Rush

A. identify books written by Jack London

B. provide information on Jack London’s life
C. support the statement that London was the “best writer”
D. describe life during the Klondike Gold Rush

ANSWERS:

1. A
2. D
3. C
4. B
5. C
6. B

8th Grade Comprehension Test Exercises:

Oversleeping

So Jake spread his arms, leaped skyward from the sidewalk, and began to fly,
rocketing up over the neighborhood. Suddenly he heard the distant voice of his
father calling, as if from another universe, and Jake pried open sleep-heavy eyes . .
.

“Get up, pal,” said Jake’s father, “or you’ll miss the school bus.”

“Just let me sleep a little longer,” Jake mumbled. Then he groaned and turned over,
pulling the covers up over his head like a tent, as if to somehow recapture his
dream. Jake loved to sleep. It wasn’t that he was lazy or lacked energy. Jake was a
normal fourteen-year-old kid in every way. But he loved to curl up under a soft
white cloud of sheets, rest his head on a marshmallow pillow, and luxuriate in the
twilight world of slumber where life is exciting and dreams always come true.

So Jake was sitting at a table at Chez Maurice’s in Hollywood, having lunch with his
buddy, Tom Cruise. Tom was offering Jake a role in his next movie when . . .

“Get up,” said Jake’s father, gently shaking his son’s shoulders. Jake yawned and
hauled his legs over the side of the mattress, where he sat for a few moments to
reconcile himself with the shocking reality of upright existence. He dragged himself
into the shower, where he briefly dreamed of tropical rain forests, and at last
shuffled downstairs to breakfast.

“Jake’s going to sleep his life away!” teased Taylor, his nine-year-old sister, as she
sat at the table, kicking her dangling legs excitedly as if to show by comparison
how wide awake she was.

“He’s just a growing boy,” said Jake’s father, washing dishes at the kitchen sink.
“Right?” Jake nodded sleepily and finished his breakfast. He trudged out the front
door with Taylor, still half sleep walking, and they waited on the curb for their
school bus, as usual.

At school, finally fully awake, Jake cycled through the pleasant routine of another
typical day. He greeted his buddy Benjamin at the locker they shared. They
discussed hockey games and books. Then there was science with Mr. Albert, math
with Ms. Freed, and lunch with Benjamin, who always told great jokes. After school,
there was homework, dinner with his dad and Taylor, maybe a little TV, and then
off to dreamland. And so went week after week, and month after month.

So Jake swung the bat, sending the ball out of Dodger Stadium and into the
Baseball Hall of Fame . . .

“Come on, get up,” giggled Taylor, holding a ringing alarm clock only inches from
her brother’s face. “You’ll be late for school!” Jake shook his head in disbelief and
ducked under the covers.

Moments later Jake awakened to an empty, quiet room. He noted with puzzlement
that all the buttons on his pajama top had popped off in the night. Then he pulled
himself from bed and padded sleepily to the shower. The bathroom mirror reflected
a face that was oddly unfamiliar—one with heavier eyebrows and new creases in its
brow. Jake rubbed a hand over his face and felt the unexpected sandpaper abrasion
of whiskers. Mystified and dazed, he staggered downstairs to the kitchen, where he
was shocked to discover a teenaged Taylor sitting at the breakfast table beside his
father, who was grayer and heavier.
“So you finally woke up,” commented Jake’s father, casually sipping his coffee. “We
thought you’d sleep forever.”

“You certainly overslept!” added Taylor in a surprisingly mature voice.

Jake shook his head as if to disperse the fog of dreams. “What are you talking
about?”

“You’ve been asleep for four years,” Jake’s father replied calmly. “Better get
dressed, or you’ll be late for your last day of school.” This statement set Jake’s
mind reeling. His last day of school? Had he really slept so long? Was he now
eighteen years old?

Lost in a whirl of confusion, Jake went to his room to dress for school and
discovered that none of his clothes fit him. He borrowed a shirt, pants, and shoes
from his father—and they made him look and feel even older.

Taylor led zombie-like Jake out the front door to the curb. Boarding his bus, Jake
stared in bewilderment at the aged faces of his friends. “Hey, it’s Jake!” shouted
someone from the back of the bus. “He’s back!” One by one, his schoolmates began
to recognize him.

“Buddy, you sure look older!” said someone sitting near where Jake stood. Jake
looked down to discover his friend Benjamin smiling heartily and looking startlingly
like his older brother. Jake sat beside Benjamin, who eagerly told what had
happened during Jake’s years of slumber—how Mr. Albert had retired from teaching
science, and how Ms. Freed had married. Benjamin spoke excitedly of hockey
games won and lost; of books read and remembered; of school plays, classes, pep
rallies, and car washes. They were small, ordinary events, but to Jake they seemed
extraordinary because they had happened without him. He had missed grades nine
through twelve. And now there would be no more school days with Benjamin, his
teachers, or his other friends. Jake had slept them all away.

“Come on, buddy, get up,” called Jake’s father. Jake pried open leaden eyelids to
see his father standing at the foot of his bed, looking younger and leaner. Beside
him was a nine-year-old Taylor, seemingly more girlish and bubbly than ever
before.

“Come on, sleepyhead!” she giggled. Her laughter seemed as bright as the yellow
sunshine splashing about the room. “You don’t want to miss school, do you?” Jake
beamed and looked at his family. “No, I wouldn’t want to do that,” he said as he
threw back the covers and leaped out of bed.

1. What conclusion can be made based on the fact that Jake’s pajamas do not fit?
A. He has cheap pajamas that came apart while he slept.

B. He has grown lots in the four years he was asleep.

C. He ate too much the night before and gained weight.

D. He had a growth spurt that happened overnight

2. In paragraph 20, the phrase “as bright as the yellow sunshine” is an example of
which term?

A. simile

B. metaphor

C. personification

D. onomatopoeia

3. Which event happens first?

A. Jake dreams about having lunch with Tom Cruise.

B. Jake dreams about flying over the neighborhood.

C. Jake dreams about playing baseball for the Dodgers.

D. Jake dreams about sleeping for four years.

4. Why does Jake leap out of bed at the end of the story?

A. He does not want his dad bugging him.

B. He does not want his sister laughing at him.

C. He does not want to sleep his life away.

D. He does not want to grow anymore.

5. What do the italicized sentences represent in the story?

A. dreams

B. conversations

C. opinions

D. titles

6. After reading the passage, what could be the belief of the author?
A. Teenagers should not listen to their friends.

B. Teenagers should not listen to their parents.

C. Teenagers should not let opportunities pass them by.

D. Teenagers should not sleep more than ten hours a night.

7. What could be another title for the story?

A. Life is Full of Important Things to Do

B. Annoying Sisters Keep You Awake

C. He is Just a Growing Boy

D. Alarm Clock Jitters

ANSWERS:

1. B

2. A

3. B

4. C

5. A

6. C

7. A