Reading Comprehension Tests with Answers — Free PDF

The Pattern on the Linen

Afternoon sunlight poured through the tall windows of the old brick mill, illuminating dust motes that drifted above rows of heavy workbenches. Ida smoothed a long runner of gray linen across the thick oak table. Her uncle dipped a roller into a tray of dark indigo ink, coating a carved wooden block etched with repeating diamond grooves. Ida wanted the border along both edges to look sharp and even for the weekend market.

“Remember to keep your wrists steady,” her uncle said, placing the inked block in her hands. “Wood does not bend, so your downward force must stay balanced.”

Ida carefully lined up the carved corner with the hem of the fabric. She pressed the block firmly against the cloth, leaning her weight over the center before lifting it straight up. Instead of a bold geometric diamond, the impression was pale and patchy. The outer edges were faint gray smudges, and the center had skipped the weave entirely.

Ida frowned, checking the bottom of the carved block. Plenty of sticky blue ink still covered the wood. “Did I push too lightly?” she asked, worried she had ruined the runner’s first corner.

“You pressed hard enough,” her uncle replied, tracing the unyielding oak beneath the cloth. “The problem is the table. Wood against wood leaves no room for the rough linen fibers to give. Without some cushion, only the highest threads touch the ink.”

He reached under the counter and pulled out a wide sheet of dense gray felt. Ida helped him lift the runner, sliding the thick woolen mat directly beneath the linen. She re-inked the block with a fresh roll of indigo and positioned it over the next section.

This time, as she pressed down, the block sank slightly into the padded surface. When Ida lifted the wood, crisp navy diamonds stood out with solid lines across every fiber. With patient rhythm, she stamped the remaining border from corner to corner.

Questions

1. What item did Ida and her uncle place beneath the linen runner to help stamp the pattern?
2. Why did Ida’s first printing attempt leave a pale and patchy pattern on the cloth?
3. How does Ida’s behavior after the clear print differ from her reaction to the first attempt? What does this suggest?
4. Why is the ink still covering the block an important clue when Ida examines the failed print?
5. In the phrase describing the material pulled from beneath the counter, what does the word “dense” suggest about the felt?
6. Why does the author describe the final print as showing crisp diamonds with solid lines across every fiber?

Satellites Over the Aral Sea

The Aral Sea in Central Asia was once one of the largest inland lakes in the world. Beginning in the 1960s, water from two major feeding rivers, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya, was diverted to irrigate regional farmland. Because less freshwater flowed into the basin, the vast inland sea slowly began to shrink.

As the water level dropped, the remaining sea grew much saltier. Most freshwater fish could no longer survive in the salty water, which severely damaged local fishing livelihoods. Fishing boats were grounded, and busy lakeside ports ended up miles away from the receding water.

Scientists used Earth observation satellites to track these environmental changes over several decades. False-color images captured by Landsat satellites in 1977, 1989, and 2006 documented the retreating shoreline. These views showed how rapidly water vanished from shallow areas across the basin.

The satellite pictures also revealed dramatic physical changes in the landscape. In the older images, an island stood surrounded by open water. By 2006, the dropping waterline caused the island to connect directly to the mainland as the seabed dried out.

Additional NASA satellite imagery taken from 2000 to 2011 showed ongoing shifts across the region. The shrinking sea divided into separate, smaller bodies of water and exposed wide stretches of dusty lakebed. By comparing photos taken across different years, researchers could measure the rate of water loss.

These space observations provide clear visual evidence of cause and effect. By comparing views recorded over many years, researchers documented how river diversion reshaped an entire ecosystem. Orbiting satellites turned gradual ground changes into a clear, measurable record of shifting shorelines and landscape transformation.

Questions

1. Why was river water redirected away from the Aral Sea starting in the 1960s?
2. What happened to local fishing communities when the sea became saltier?
3. What can readers infer about the drying seabed from the fact that an island joined the mainland by 2006?
4. How did comparing satellite pictures over multiple decades help scientists track regional changes?
5. In the description of lakeside ports, what does the word receding mean?
6. Why does the author conclude by focusing on orbiting satellites?

The Evening Bloom Watch

Joss checked the wall clock near the desert botanical garden entrance. The reserve would close its iron gates at eight o’clock, leaving him less than an hour. He walked briskly down the gravel path toward the native plant beds, where a night-blooming cereus grew beneath the shade of a creosote bush. Its dry, stick-like stems blended into the desert gravel.

His older sister followed at an unhurried pace, carrying their visitor guide. “The buds are still closed tight,” she noted, as Joss aimed his flashlight beam at the swollen tips. “A volunteer said these flowers usually open after sunset, but there is never any guarantee.”

“He told me the buds looked swollen enough to open tonight,” Joss replied. He leaned over the low wooden rail. A cool evening breeze stirred the creosote leaves, carrying away the lingering daytime heat. Joss decided to stay by the bed and wait rather than walk to the gift shop.

By seven forty, deep purple twilight settled across the garden. Joss pointed toward the largest bud. Its outer green scales had begun to tremble and loosen in the evening air. The tip separated, revealing folded white tissue beneath.

Layer by layer, the long ivory petals unfolded like crisp paper fans. A sweet perfume drifted into the cooling air, filling the path around them. A large hawk moth fluttered silently out of the dusk, hovering above the wide golden center of the blossom.

Joss kept his flashlight beam aimed at the ground so the glare would not disturb the moth. He and his sister watched in silence as two more white blossoms expanded against the slender gray stems. The flowers stood fully open ten minutes before the garden chimes signaled closing time.

Questions

1. At what time will the botanical garden close?
2. Why does Joss keep his flashlight beam pointed at the ground as the flowers open?
3. After the sweet perfume fills the path, what most likely attracts the hawk moth to the cereus blossom?
4. How does the changing largest bud give Joss a reason to keep watching?
5. When Joss holds his flashlight so the glare will not bother the moth, what does the word glare mean?
6. When the petals begin to open, why does the author compare them to crisp paper fans?

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The workbook includes 5 focused reading passages: the 3 passages above and 2 bonus passages, with comprehension test practice questions, instructional notes, and a separate answer key.

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