Tom Sawyer: Reading comprehension questions

Chapter 1: THE FENCE

1. Who was Tom carer?

2. Why did Tom live with his aunt Polly?
3. How did aunt Polly punish Tom for not going to school?
4. What did Tom’s friends do when they saw him painting the fence?
5. What did Tom ask for in return for letting his friends paint the fence?
6. How did Aunt Polly feel after she looked at the painted fence?
7. Describe the girl Tom saw in the yard.

Chapter 2: IN THE GRAVEYARD

1. Talk about Tom’s friend Huck.

2. What adventure did Huck suggest he and Tom do?
3. Why was Tom’s teacher angry?
4. How did Tom manage to speak to the new girl Becky?
5. Why was Becky angry with Tom?
6. Why didn’t Tom go to school that afternoon?
7. What happened in the graveyard that night?
8. What did Tom and Huck promise each other?

Chapter 3: A BAD DAY

1. Why was Tom sad?

2. What did Tom do with the medicine his aunt gave him?
3. Who is Joe Harper?
4. What were Tom and Joe planning to do?
5. What was their plan?
6. Why did they go back home?
7. Who is Huck?
Chapter 4: ACROSS THE RIVER

1. How did the boys go across the river?

2. Why were the boys happy in the boat?
3. What did they do in the boat?
4. What were the men on the boat talking about?
5. Where did Tom hide after he got home?
6. What did Aunt Polly say about Tom?
7. What did Tom do that night after Aunt Polly went to sleep?
8. What happened that Sunday morning in the church?

Chapter 5: AT SCHOOL

1. What happened on Monday morning at school?

2. Why was Becky angry with Tom?
3. What did she do to annoy him?
4. What happened to the teacher’s book?
5. What did the teacher do soon after he went into the classroom?
6. Why did Tom blame himself?
7. What did the teacher say to Tom?
8. What did Becky say to Tom that afternoon?

Chapter 6: THE TRIAL

1. Why Tom was unhappy?

2. How did Tom and Huck feel when they remembered the night in the graveyard?
3. How did they feel about Muff Potter?
4. Why couldn’t Tom sleep after the trial?
5. What did Tom say at the trial?
6. Why were Tom and Huck afraid?
7. What did Tom like to talk about?

Chapter 7: INJUN JOE’S TREASURE

1. Why did Tom want to go on a new adventure?

2. What was this new adventure about?
3. What places did they decide to explore?
4. What happened while they were looking for treasure?
5. What did Injun and his friend find in the house?
6. What did Injun want to do to the boys?
7. What did the boys want to do?
Chapter 8: BECKY’S ADVENTURE DAY

1. Why was August special to Tom?

2. What did Becky do on her adventure day?
3. What was Becky allowed to do after her adventure?
4. What did the children do in the cave?
5. Did Tom and Becky come home to sleep?
6. How many men were looking for Tom and Becky?
7. Did they find them?

Chapter 9: HUCK’S ADVENTURE

1. What did Huck did instead of going on Becky’s adventure?

2. What was Injun’s friend holding in his hands?
3. Where did the men go to?
4. Who wanted to help Mrs Douglas?
5. Where did Hulk run to after hearing about Injun’s plans?
6. What did Hulk tell Mr Jones?
7. How did the men leave Mrs Douglas’ house?
8. Who went to the cave to look for the missing children?

Chapter 10: IN THE CAVE

1. Why couldn’t Tom and Becky get out of the cave?

2. Who did Tom meet in the dark cave?
3. What did Tom do to make the man go away?
4. Did Tom tell Becky about his experience?
5. How long were Tom and Becky in the cave for?
6. When did the children come out of the cave?
7. How did they go home?

Chapter 11: IN THE CAVE AGAIN

1. Why aren’t people able to go back to the cave?

2. Why did Tom go back to the cave?
3. Who was in the cave?
4. How did Tom and Huck plan to get the money out of the cave?
5. What was the sign that helped them to find the treasure box?
6. Why couldn’t they take the box with them?
7. What did they do to take the money?
Chapter 12: AT MRS’S DOUGLAS HOUSE

1. Who called the boys to come into Mrs Douglas’ house?

2. What did Mrs Douglas give the boys?
3. What happened in her house?
4. What did Mrs Douglas give Huck?
5. What did the boys say about the money?
6. How much money did they have?
7. What did the people think about it?

Chapter 13: HUCK’S NEW HOME

1. Where does Huck live after his adventure?

2. Why was he a new person?
3. Was he happy?
4. How long did he stay in his new house?
5. Why did Huck ran away?
6. Why does Tom say he can’t be friends with Huck?
7. What is Huck going to do for a month?

Questions for all the groups

Justify your answer with examples

1. Why do you think the author wrote Tom Sawyer?
2. What do you think about Tom? Is he a good or a bad boy?
3. If you were Tom or Huck, What would you do with the money from the treasure box?
4. Think about the times when you were a child. What kind of adventures did you have?