pira

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Progress

RIA
in Reading
AUTUMN
Assessment
5
TE
Second edition MA
name
Pull out the sheet of reading texts from the middle.
Read the texts and answer the questions.
LE

Boy Girl Test date / /

Date of birth / / Chronological age years months
Text type Questions Marks
Non-fiction 1–9 /16
Report 10–15 /9
MP

Story 16–26 /15

Total marks /40
Reading analysis
Comprehension /17
Making inference /3
Language, structure and presentation /20
SA

Reading Age Hodder Scale Age-Standardised Score Standardised Score

Copyright © 2015 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. Photocopying prohibited.

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 Read Great Escapes (page i)

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1 How long did each escape take? One is done for you.

Escape How long it took

RIA
1
2 comp
3 1 hour 30 minutes
comp
2 Which escape did Houdini say was his most difficult?

Number

TE
comp
3 Three sub-titles are missing from this text.
Write the correct section number after each sub-title.

Buried Alive
Underwater
MA
Handcuff Challenge
lsp
4 ’Houdini flicked himself free of the straitjacket.’
What does the word ’flicked’ tell you about Houdini’s escape?

Tick one answer.

He clicked his fingers.

LE

He finished the escape quickly.

He undid a clasp to free himself.
He unhooked his ankles.
lsp
5 In section 2, the writer tells us that there was ‘a tall crane high
above the streets’.
MP

Which other word emphasises how high up Houdini was?

lsp
6 From section 3, copy two words which tell you that Houdini was
under water for this trick.
SA

1 lsp

2
lsp

page total

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 7 Are these statements Fact or Opinion?

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Tick a box in each row.

Statement Fact Opinion

RIA
Many people watched Houdini’s stunts.
Houdini was a fool.
Houdini should never have attempted the
stunt in 1917.
comp
The feat in 1904 was the most interesting
to watch.
Houdini risked death in all his stunts. comp

TE
Houdini was a famous escape artist.
comp

8 Write the correct year of each stunt beneath each picture.

MA
comp

comp
LE

comp

9 Section 4 starts with this statement: ‘A stunt nearly cost him his
MP

life in 1917.’

Circle two separate words, below, that provide evidence for this
statement.

‘Houdini was placed in a pit and covered with 6 feet of earth. During
the performance he became exhausted and panicked while digging comp
his way up. As his hand broke through the surface, he fell unconscious.
SA

However, even this did not stop the fearless performer.’

comp

page total

pira 5 Autumn 3 Copyright © 2015 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. Photocopying prohibited.

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 Read  Lucky Escape!  (page ii)

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10 In paragraph 1, Lucky is described as ‘roaming’ near the cafeteria.
Circle what this word suggests she is doing.

RIA
hunting    running    prowling    growling    eating
lsp

11 Put these events in the order in which they happened.

Two are done for you.

TE
1 Tiger escapes.

Tiger is shot with a dart.

Waitress enters cafeteria.

Vet arrives.
MA
6 Keepers take tiger to enclosure.

Tiger falls asleep.

comp

12 In the paragraph beginning ‘Staff’, give two details which show
that the tiger’s escape was treated as a dangerous situation.
LE

1
comp
2
comp
MP

13 Tick one answer.

It was ‘no easy task’ to move the tiger because

she was dangerous.

she was heavy.
she was out of the enclosure.
SA

staff had been evacuated.

lsp

page total

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 Great Escapes

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Harry Houdini (1874–1926) is possibly the world’s most famous
escape artist.

RIA
These are some of his astonishing feats:

1
In 1904, in London, The Daily Mirror newspaper challenged
him to escape from specially designed handcuffs that had
taken five years to make. Over 4000 people and 100 journalists
waited eagerly for 70 minutes before he succeeded. Houdini
later proclaimed this to be the most difficult escape of his
career.

TE
2 The Straitjacket
Upside down and held only by his ankles, Houdini
hung from a tall crane high above the streets of New
York in 1908. Traffic was stopped as thousands of
MA
onlookers stared skyward, watching this spectacular
event.

In 2 minutes 37 seconds, Houdini flicked himself free

of the straitjacket, to the applause and amazement of
the crowd.

3
In New York on August 5, 1926, he was submerged
LE

in a sealed box in a hotel swimming pool. He

remained immersed for one and a half hours by
carefully controlling his breathing. Eventually,
Houdini reappeared at the surface, to the relief and
delight of the audience. Houdini wanted to challenge
the claims of Rahman Bey, the Egyptian performer,
that magic powers were necessary to remain in a
MP

sealed casket for an hour.

4
A stunt nearly cost him his life in 1917. Houdini was placed in
a pit and covered with 6 feet of earth. During the performance
he became exhausted and panicked while digging his way up.
As his hand broke through the surface, he fell unconscious and
SA

did not hear the applause. However, even this did not stop the
fearless performer.

pira 5 Autumn i Copyright © 2015 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. Photocopying prohibited.

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 L
RIA
TE
LUCKY ESCAPE!
Lucky, a female Siberian tiger, was found roaming near
the cafeteria at Hamden Zoo when staff arrived yesterday
morning.
MA
Staff were immediately evacuated from the surrounding area.
The zoo’s vet, armed with a tranquiliser gun, was on site within
10 minutes. A special dart was fired into Lucky’s shoulder and soon
she was sleeping soundly.

Lethal Weapons
LE

However, moving the 150 kilogram tiger was no easy task. When
awake, a tiger of this size can knock a person unconscious with
one swipe of its huge paws; its teeth and claws can also have lethal
effects. Trained keepers managed to lift her onto a special trolley
and take her safely back to her enclosure.
MP

Surprise
Joanne Skipton, the waitress who raised the alarm, said, ‘I usually
unlock the front door of the cafeteria first, but fortunately today I
used the back door. Once inside, I saw Lucky looking through the
windows. If I had gone round the front, I would probably have
SA

startled her. Who knows what could have happened!’

pira 5 Autumn ii Copyright © 2015 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. Photocopying prohibited.

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 Crossing the Canyon

L
1 The cold, thin air in the back of Juan’s throat felt like he was

RIA
swallowing swords, but he ran until sweat burst through his
skin, until the sweat dried to salt. He ran until every searchlight,
floodlight and white-winking window was out of sight and he was
running in utter darkness. He ran until night gave way to morning,
and every moment he expected to hear shouts or the barking of
dogs on his trail.

2 With sunrise Juan allowed his hopes to rise too, like a ball of flame

TE
within his chest. Might he after all really get away? Might he reach
safety, against all the odds? No-one ever did, they had told him.
No-one ever would. But the hope kept rising in his throat.

3 Then he reached the canyon.

MA
4 He almost ran straight into it – a canyon of such dizzying depth
that the river in the bottom was only a green thread, and so wide
that a horse at full gallop could not have leapt across. He looked
over the edge and the sides went straight down.

5 Juan fell to his knees, grazing his forehead on the bark of a dead,
fallen tree, his arms over his head. Had he come this far to meet
disappointment? There was no way over. The canyon stretched to
LE

right and left as far as the eye could see. He could leap into it or
wait at the brink for his pursuers to catch up with him. But it was
true. No-one ever escaped. No-one ever would.
MP

GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE

SA

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 L
RIA
TE
MA
6 When he raised his head, Juan saw a little girl watching him. She
stood at the far side of the canyon, plaiting a rope-like twist of grass
between her hands. ‘Want to cross over?’ she said. In the silence of
the empty landscape her voice floated easily over to him.

7 She spoke the dialect of the neighbouring country. The river canyon
LE

must be the border. He had reached the border – a stone’s throw

from safety. ‘Is there a bridge? Anywhere? A bridge?’ he called.

8 ‘No. No bridge ... But I could fetch my sisters.’ She put her fingers
in her mouth and whistled shrilly. Juan gave a laugh somewhere
between a bark and a sob. Much good her sisters would do him.
MP

The girls came dawdling out from the long grass and regarded him
with the same solemn brown eyes. Each was rubbing a long twist of
grass between her hands.

Adapted from Crossing the Canyon by Geraldine McCaughrean

SA

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 14 In the final paragraph Joanne Skipton says ‘Who knows what

L
might have happened!’

What might have happened to Joanne Skipton if she had gone

round to the front of the cafeteria and startled the tiger?

RIA
Write two words.

She might have been

inf

or .
inf

TE
MA
LE

15 Tick two features of a newspaper report which are used in

this text.
MP

Features of a newspaper report Tick if used

headline using alliteration

caption

sub-headings
lsp
SA

quotation
lsp

page total

pira 5 Autumn 5 Copyright © 2015 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. Photocopying prohibited.

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 Read  Crossing the Canyon  (pages iii–iv)

L
16 W
 hich phrase in the first paragraph shows that Juan is finding it painful
to breathe?

RIA
lsp

17 Tick two answers.

The writer repeats ‘he ran’ three times to show that Juan

TE
likes running.
ran a long way.
ran for a long time.
ran very fast.
is bored with running.
MA
lsp

18 Circle two answers.

The writer uses questions in paragraph 2 to show Juan’s

fear    uncertainty    confidence    hopes    anger
LE

lsp

19 ‘Then he reached the canyon.’

The writer uses this single-sentence paragraph to make the reader

MP

suddenly stop.

What effect does this give? Tick one answer.

shows how frightened Juan is

brings us to an abrupt stop, like Juan
suggests how wide the canyon is
SA

makes it seem like an important event

lsp

page total

pira 5 Autumn 6 Copyright © 2015 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. Photocopying prohibited.

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 20 ‘A horse at full gallop could not have leapt across.’

L
The writer uses this description to show the size of the canyon.

RIA
This description tells you the canyon is .
lsp

21 Tick one answer.

In paragraph 5, Juan has ‘his arms over his head.’

This description suggests that

TE
he has tripped. he is worn out.
he is despairing. he wants to sleep.
MA lsp

22 Circle two words that describe the main idea in paragraph 5.

confidence    despair    hopefulness
comp
optimism    pessimism    suspicion
comp
LE

23 ‘No-one ever escaped. No-one ever would.’

(a) These sentences in paragraph 5 echo similar sentences in an

earlier paragraph.

Circle the number of the earlier paragraph.

MP

1       2       3       4
lsp

(b) The writer has repeated these sentences to show that Juan

now thinks escape is .

SA

lsp

page total

pira 5 Autumn 7 Copyright © 2015 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. Photocopying prohibited.

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 24 This picture shows Juan and three girls.
Circle the girl who said ‘Want to cross over?’

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Juan

RIA
TE
MA
comp
25 If there was a paragraph 9, what do you think it would be about?

Tick one answer.

The girls will sit and watch Juan.

Juan will try to climb down into the canyon.
inf
The girls will make a rope and throw it to Juan.
LE

Juan will be caught by the dogs.

26 (a) What type of story is this? Circle your answer. lsp

ghost adventure romance comedy
lsp
(b) Circle two features of this genre that appear in the story.
MP

humour excitement magic danger love

lsp

page total

ISBN 978 1 471 86333 2 (pack of 10 copies) Impression number 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Year 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015
Copyright © 2010 & 2015 Hodder and Stoughton Ltd
SA

Progress in Reading Assessment developed by Colin McCarty and Kate Ruttle for Hodder Education.
Illustrations by Jane Swift.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the publisher. This publication is
excluded from the reprographic licensing scheme administered by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd,
and may not be photocopied.
Printed in Spain for Hodder Education, Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0DZ.

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