Released Reading Selections, 2018

Grade

6 v is io
n • L a n gua ge

IN G
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D
or D
i

A
Ju n

R E
B O O K L E T

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Section Reading
A2 page 2

Over Where?

Sometimes I gaze up
and see clouds a-moving.
I’m tempted to ask them
just what they are proving.
Proving what? Where? 5

’Cause some become people.

Observe in their faces—
the frowns that are fluffy
the smiles that are spaces.
Fluffy spaces? What faces? 10

Some eyes that are winking

dissolve into chins,
which morph into dancers
with remarkable spins.
I think you’re spinning! 15

Some become objects

not quite as expected—
a steamboat stuck sideways?
It seems so dejected!
Dejected? That’s debatable. 20
I haven’t decided.
Section Reading
A2 page 3

Fish that have wings,

bursting out of their tails
and paws for propulsion—
or could they be sails? 25
I think they’re more like
propellers with jaws.
Some become creatures
with remarkable traits.
A dragon with dentures, 30
a poodle on skates!
How about a goose in a car on a roof?
Ha ha! I’m a …
I’m good!
Sometimes I glance up 35
and see nothing but blue.
A vastness that’s missing some white—
in my view.
Mine too!
The sky is a canvas where clouds weave a story. 40
It’s huge and it’s endless and—
Look! Over there!
OVER WHERE?

GO TO Language A2
ANSWERS
Section Reading
B1 page 4

Leafcutter Ants—The World’s

Smallest Recyclers

Leafcutter ants could be the smallest recyclers on the planet. They 1

serve a valuable purpose in the rain forests and semi-tropical forests
of Central and South America. These tiny insects bite pieces out of
the leaves of plants. They then lift these pieces, frequently larger than
they are, and carry them off to their dens. These underground
dwellings can include hundreds of chambers and are home to millions
of ants.
Leafcutter ants gorge on a range of fresh leaves, fruits, flowers, tubers (edible roots) and 2
plant stems. A leafcutter colony is capable of removing the leaves of the tallest trees in a
single day! However, they aren’t the most thorough critters. They tend to move on to a new
tree before completely devouring the one on which they are currently feeding. Consequently,
they will often travel long distances from the nest in order to find better foliage.

Moving trails of ants often stretch over 30 metres long as they move across the forest floor 3
and up and down the trunks of trees. However, while seemingly destructive, these ants are
doing the forest floor a service. The chunks of leaves, combined with ant waste, provide
a compost pile that grows fungus. This fungus, in turn, provides the topsoil with valuable
nutrients that nourish forest plants. And by pruning vegetation, the ants promote new plant
growth as well.
While their eating habits seem careless, the leafcutter ants’ society is quite highly organized. 4
Their colony is well-structured and efficient, with various “orders” of ants responsible for
specific tasks for the benefit of the whole colony. The queen lays the eggs, and small worker
ants care for them and grow the fungus. Larger worker ants collect the leaves, and soldier
ants defend the colony. As you can see, these ants really “cut it.”

GO TO Language B1
ANSWERS
Section Reading
C1 page 5

The Reluctant Volunteer

“Johnny will come and help you.” 1

I could scarcely believe my ears. My mother was committing me to helping my uncle on his 2
farm.
How can you volunteer someone else? What is she getting me into? 3
“He’ll be there the last week of August,” I heard her say before she hung up the phone. 4
Oh, great! My last week of freedom before high school! How can she do this to me? 5
The summer sped by quickly, and the end of August arrived before I knew it. It was with 6
great trepidation that I unpacked my things at Uncle Daniel’s farm. Mom had suggested it
would be a great “learning experience” for me, but I wondered what “new” or “useful” skills
I could learn on the farm.
After a hearty lunch, Uncle Daniel hauled a heavy package 7
of shingles from the shed. “The first job we’re going to
tackle is to re-roof and re-shingle the cupola.”
I gazed up. “The cupola? That small tower on the roof of 8
the shed?”
“Exactly. I’ll take the measurements, and you can draw the 9
layout for the new roof.”
As I sketched the plan, it turned out that my knowledge of geometry was a great asset—there 10
were angles and lines everywhere. I think my uncle was impressed when he perused my
design.
“Measure twice, cut once” was his advice as he took out his circular saw. 11
Uh-oh, he wants me to handle a power tool? The look on my face said everything. 12
Uncle Daniel handed me a pair of safety glasses. 13
“These tools are efficient, and they have safety
features. I’ll show you how to hold it and use it,
and then you can try.”
I listened and watched, and then I carefully 14
followed the instructions. I quickly cut through a
board, then another and another. I shouldn’t get too
sure of myself, but Wow! I actually used a major
power tool!
Section Reading
C1 page 6

Once the roof was replaced, it was time to install the shingles. I steadied the ladder while 15
Uncle Daniel climbed onto the roof. My job was to pass up the shingles.
“Johnny, could you pass me the vise grips?” Uncle Daniel called down. 16
I rooted around in the big tool bag, even though I had no idea what I was looking for. Feeling 17
a little embarrassed, I had to ask, “Um . . . what do they look like?”
“Oh, sorry, Johnny,” replied Uncle Daniel. “I shouldn’t have 18
assumed. The head of the tool looks like pincers and it has two
handles that you squeeze tightly. They’re used for gripping
things. I think the ones I need have blue handles.”
“Oh, here—exactly as described,” and I tossed them up to him. I 19
was learning fast, and only one afternoon had gone by!
At dinner, I sat down to a big home-cooked meal, and was I hungry! I couldn’t wait to text 20
my parents about my first day.
“Tomorrow we’ll pull up some boards from the deck and prepare to resurface them,” Uncle 21
Daniel announced after dinner.
But that evening, a storm hit with heavy rain and lightning. The next day, the deck boards 22
were too wet to work on, so Uncle Daniel and I set to work cutting saplings that were growing
too close to the house. The land sloped steeply away from the house toward the creek,
so standing on the slope was precarious and required good balance. “No problem,” I said
confidently. It turns out I was also getting a good workout as I removed the unwanted trees.
While I worked on the brush, Uncle Daniel cut down two 23
damaged birch trees. “Excellent firewood,” he remarked, as
his chainsaw transformed the trunks into logs. I lugged them
back to stack in the woodpile.
Every morning that week, my uncle and I worked together 24
and took the afternoons to relax and go fishing. When I
crawled into bed each night, my fingers throbbed and my
muscles ached as I drifted off to sleep exhausted.
Can I ache so much and still be enjoying this? 25
By the week’s end, the shed had a new cupola, land was cleared, wood was stacked for the 26
winter, and work was started on the deck.
“Can I come back some weekends this fall?” I asked as I prepared to return home. “There’s 27
still a lot to do around here.”

GO TO Language C1
ANSWERS
Permissions and Credits

Section A2: Reading

Written for EQAO.

Section B1: Reading

Adapted from “Leaf Cutter Ants” by David Freeman, downloaded from the Wilderness Classroom’s Web site. Reprinted with
permission of the author.

Section C1: Reading

Written for EQAO.

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Telephone: 1-888-327-7377 Web site: www.eqao.com

© 2018 Queen’s Printer for Ontario