Reading Club-Level 3
Passage from Tangerine by Edward Bloor
Lexile Level: 680L
Instructional Level Books: (1) Of Mice and Men, (2) Tangerine, (3) The Westing Game
The fact is we did have an eclipse that summer, around three weeks before school started. Based on that, Erik was telling his friends this story: The reason for the Coke-bottle glasses on my eyes was that I had stared at the sun, unprotected, during that eclipse. (A) The story puzzled me then, and it puzzles me now. I do not remember doing any such thing. (B) And yet when I search through our family photos, I can see that I never wore glasses of any kind before that summer. But right after the eclipse, I was wearing these thick lenses that I now call my regular glasses.
Puzzled or not, I went right along with the story. I even told it myself. It gave me a unique
kindergarten identity. It made me somebody. I was the boy who had not listened and who was now paying the price. (C) Look at me if you dare! Teachers and other adults seemed to value me as an example. (D) I was the living proof that you shouldn’t look at an eclipse or you’ll go blind; that you shouldn’t play in an abandoned refrigerator or you’ll suffocate; that you shouldn’t go swimming right after you eat or you’ll get stomach cramps and drown.
1. The word “identity“ is closest in meaning to
a. difference as a special person
b. problem in school
c. happiness as a new student
d. reason for going to school
2. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
a. The boy does not know that teachers point to him as an example.
b. The boy does not like wearing the thick glasses.
c. An eclipse is something everyone should try to see.
d. There is a mystery about how the boy damaged his ey
3. According to the passage, all of the following statements are true except
a. Erik tells people that the boy damaged his eyes by looking at an eclipse of the sun.
b. The boy tells people that he damaged his eyes by looking at an eclipse of the sun.
c. The boy’s glasses are made out of Coke bottles.
d. Eyes need to be protected to look at an eclipse.
4. Paragraph 2 supports which of the following statements in paragraph 1 about . . .
a. Erik’s friends
b. the boy’s life after the eclipse
c. the boy’s school
d. the boy’s family photos
5. Which of the sentences below expresses the essential information in the following sentence?
Sentence: I was the living proof that you shouldn’t look at an eclipse or you’ll go blind; that you shouldn’t play in an abandoned refrigerator or you’ll suffocate; that you shouldn’t go swimming right after you eat or you’ll get stomach cramps and drown.
a. He was shown as a person who suffered for not listening to the warnings of adults.
b. Do not climb into an empty refrigerator.
c. It is dangerous to go swimming minutes after eating lunch.
d. An eclipse is very bright.
6. According to the passage the boy . . .
a. damaged his eyes by looking at an eclipse of the sun.
b. always wore glasses.
c. liked to climb into empty refrigerators.
d. looked at the eclipse when he was in second grad
7. Look at the letters (A, B, C, and D) that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage
Sentence: I wonder why I cannot remember something that changed my life.
Where would the sentence fit best?
i. Option A
j. Option B
k. Option C
l. Option D
An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE (3) answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage.
Introductory Sentence: The boy has poor vision when he goes to school.
8.
9.
10.
a. Erik tells a story about the boy getting into empty refrigerators.
b. The boy is told that he damaged his eyes by looking at an eclipse of the sun.
c. The boy cannot remember looking at the eclipse of the sun.
d. The boy likes being different at school.
e. The photographs proved that he always wore