Year 6 SATs Practice Sheet

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Non -Fiction Passage
Read the following passage and then answer the questions that have been split into the
four key types of comprehension question: Main Idea, Literal, Interpretive and Vocabulary.
(see Comprehension Factsheet for more information)

The Tarantula Girl

by Tom Owen

1 When a large wolf spider crawled across three-year-old Elizabeth Mulé’s car seat, she didn’t scream or
cry, as many children would have done. She just wanted to learn more about the spider.

2 Young Elizabeth’s curiosity led to a genuine interest in spiders. She asked questions about spiders
and wanted books about them. By the age of five, just reading about spiders wasn’t enough for
Elizabeth. She wanted her own tarantula, a type of spider that many people are frightened of.

3 Like many people, Elizabeth’s parents were afraid of spiders. They were not sure it was a good idea
to get their daughter a tarantula. Elizabeth didn’t give up, though. Instead, she began teaching her
parents what she had learned about the big spiders. She explained to them that although a tarantula
can bite and does have venom, its poison does not kill humans. In fact, most people don’t have a bad
reaction to its bite.

4 Since her parents were still uncertain, Elizabeth told them more. She explained that tarantulas are
actually very delicate. These spiders can easily be hurt and need special care. For example, tarantulas
that usually live on the ground should not be kept in a tall cage, because a fall from a high place can
kill them. Elizabeth also told her parents that tarantulas are helpful to humans because they eat bugs
such as cockroaches.

5 Finally Elizabeth was able to prove to her parents that a pet tarantula would not hurt her. Once her
parents were convinced, Elizabeth was allowed to have her first tarantula, which she named Spot.
After her parents became used to having a large spider in the house, they let Elizabeth get a
second tarantula, which she named Fluffy.

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Non -Fiction Passage

6 Elizabeth was very happy with her pets, but many of her friends thought they were a little scary.
Some of her friends didn’t even want to play at her house. Elizabeth decided that she needed to
teach other people all the interesting things she knew about spiders.

7 First Elizabeth started speaking at elementary schools. She talked about tarantulas and showed
the students her own spiders. Then she gave presentations about spiders at high schools. Soon
Elizabeth, with her mother’s help, wrote an article about spiders that was put on the Internet. She
wanted to teach as many people as possible about tarantulas.

8 Elizabeth continued to study and learn more about tarantulas. Three years after Elizabeth received
Fluffy, she was happily surprised when the spider made an egg sac. The egg sac is where baby
spiders grow. The kind of tarantulas that Elizabeth owned usually did not have babies when they
were kept as pets. Elizabeth watched closely as Fluffy guarded the egg sac.

9 One day Elizabeth noticed that Fluffy had opened the egg sac. The egg sac had gotten wet from
Fluffy’s water bowl, and Fluffy was eating the dead eggs. Elizabeth was afraid Fluffy might eat
some eggs that were still alive, so she took the egg sac from Fluffy’s cage. Elizabeth and her mother
carefully placed the egg sac in another cage. In a few weeks six spiders hatched from their eggs.
Elizabeth put each of the tiny tarantulas into its own baby-food jar. Although she wanted to keep
them all, Elizabeth’s parents let her keep only two of the baby tarantulas.

10 With her mother’s help, Elizabeth wrote a magazine article about hatching the tarantula eggs.
When she was eight years old, Elizabeth was invited to appear on television talk shows to show
people her tarantulas and share what she had learned about the big spiders. Other people also
noticed Elizabeth’s interest in tarantulas. In 2003 she was a guest speaker at a meeting of the
American Tarantula Society.

11 Elizabeth Mulé is fearless, but not because she handles spiders. Her courage comes from
following her interests, even though other people might think they are strange. She continues
to study tarantulas and to ask questions about spiders. And she doesn’t let anything stop
her from learning more about her favourite creature.

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Non -Fiction Comprehension
Some questions only require you to circle the correct answer but others ask you to write
the answer down yourself. Remember to write these answers using full sentences!

Main Idea Questions:

1. Which paragraph sums up the main idea in this article?
A. Paragraph 1
B. Paragraph 3
C. Paragraph 7
D. Paragraph 11

2. What do we learn about Elizabeth’s character from the article?

Literal Comprehension Questions:

3. In what year was Elizabeth a guest speaker at a meeting of the American Tarantula society?
a. 1999
b. 2001
c. 2003
d. 2006

4. List two facts about tarantulas that you can find out from the article.
1.

2.

5. Why did Elizabeth remove the egg sac from Fluffy’s cage?
A. So she could get some baby spiders
B. To prevent Fluffy from eating any live eggs
C. Because there wasn’t enough room in the cage.
D. To keep the cage tidy
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Non -Fiction Comprehension

Interpretive Comprehension Questions:

6. What is the author’s main purpose for writing this article?

A. To teach the reader about tarantulas
B. To tell the reader about a very brave girl who was good at breeding spiders
C. To give instructions on what to do if a tarantula escapes its cage
D. To tell the reader about a girl who taught herself and others about tarantulas.

7. How did Elizabeth’s parents originally feel about her getting a pet Tarantula? Which sentence tells
us this?

8. Based on the article, what do you think the reader’s lasting impression of tarantulas will be?
A. That they are not as dangerous as many people believe
B. That they live longer in captivity than in the wild
C. That they don’t like heights
D. That they are very dangerous animals

Vocabulary Questions:

9. Which word from paragraph 3 means the same as venom?

A. afraid
B. poison
C. kill
D. teaching

10. Find the sentence in paragraph 4 that explains what is meant by the word delicate.

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 Year 6 SATs Practice Sheet
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Answersheet*

*For parents’ eyes only!

1. D - The final paragraph contains the best summary of the article as a whole. The
important words to notice in the question are ‘sums up’ which signals that the
answer would lie in the conclusion.

2. Although this question could be answered in many ways, the answer should be
focused on Elizabeth’s personality as the question specifically refers to her “character”.
A suitable answer could be Elizabeth is strong-willed and passionate about spiders.

3. C - 2003

4. There are many possible answers here, for example Tarantulas eat cockroaches or
Elizabeth named her first tarantula Spot.

5. B - To prevent Fluffy from eating any live eggs.

6. D - To tell the reader about a girl who taught herself and others about tarantulas.

7. The answer should read something along the lines of...

Elizabeth’s parents did not want Elizabeth to have a tarantula as they were afraid of
spiders. It tells us this in paragraph 3 when it says “Elizabeth’s parents were afraid of
spiders. They were not sure it was a good idea to get their daughter a tarantula”

8. A - That they are not as dangerous as many people believe.

9. B - poison

10. The sentence which explains what is meant by the word delicate is “These spiders
can be easily hurt”

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