Directions: Read each selection silently.

Then read the

questions that follow and encircle the letter of the correct
answer.

ON MARKET DAY
Every Saturday, Manuel goes to market with his father,
Mang Ador. They always pass by Aling Juaning’s stall to buy
meat. They go to Mang Tinoy’s for fresh vegetables. They
also visit Aling Tita’s seafood section.
Whenever Mang Ador buys something, Manuel always tries
to predict what his father will cook for lunch. Today Mang
Ador bought tamarind, tomatoes, string beans, radish, and
shrimp.
“I know what we will have for lunch,” says Manuel happily.
Can you guess it, too?
Questions

1. Who is the father in the selection?

a. Ador
b. Tinoy
c. Manuel
2. Which stall do the father and son get their fish from?
a. Mang Tinoy’s stall
b. Aling Tita’s stall
c. Aling Juaning’s stall
3. What section of the market do the father and son
always go to?
a. fish, meat, and fruits sections
b. vegetable, fish, and fruit sections
c. vegetable, seafood, and meat sections
4. In the story, the boy tries to predict what they will
have for lunch. When one tries to predict, one tries to
______.
a. ask
b. hear
c. guess
5. The boy in the story shows us that a person can find
out what his family will have for lunch by _________.
a. looking at what his father buys from the market
b. asking his mother what she thinks his father will
cook
c. smelling the scents in the kitchen as his father
cooks
6. What do you think does Manuel say on their way to
the market?
a. “I’m tired.”
b. “I’m excited.”
c. “I‘m nervous.”

THE LEGEND OF THE FIREFLY

There was a time when young and old stars could talk
to Bathala. One day, the young stars learned that they
become part of a black hole when they grow old. The young
stars feared losing their light. They asked Bathala for help.
“I have a solution. But you have to give up a lot,” said
Bathala. “You need to leave the heavens and live on land.”
Some of the younger stars agreed.
On a dark night, you might chance upon these stars.
They have turned into tiny twinkling bugs whose tails
flicker as they fly from place to place.
Questions

1. What did the younger stars fear?

a. asking for help
b. becoming insects
c. losing their light
d. leaving the heavens
2. What was Bathala’s solution to the younger stars’
problem?
a. He will make them young forever.
b. He will turn them into bugs with lights.
c. He will give them their light for eternity.
d. He will give them a new life in the heavens.
3. “One might chance upon these stars on a very dark
night.” Which statement below means the same
thing?
a. One will always see these stars on a very dark
night.
b. One will never see the stars on a very dark night.
c. One will surely see these stars on a very dark
night.
d. One will possibly see these stars on a very dark
night.
4. The story is a legend. This means that __________.
a. It is a real story about a person’s life.
b. It is a story which could really happen.
c. It is a story about where things came from.
d. It is a story where there are talking animals.
5. According to the selection, what is a firefly?
a. a bug that wants so much to be a star
b. an old star that already lost its energy
c. an insect that died and went to heaven
d. a young star that became a glowing insect
6. Which statement is NOT explicitly stated in the given
selection? Fireflies are _____________________.
a. young stars that did not want to lose their energy
b. twinkling bugs that used to be fearful young stars
c. insects with chemicals that make their bodies glow
d. young stars that once lived in the heavens with old
stars
7. Why did Bathala say “you would have to give up
much” to the young stars?
a. Life on earth will give them less light.
b. The young stars will give up their lives.
c. The young stars will not be happy on earth.
d. Life was better in the heavens than on earth.

FLYING ROCKS
There are rocks in our Solar System that never flocked
together to form planets. Larger ones called asteroids
gather in the Asteroid Belt, a strip found between Mars and
Jupiter. Some asteroids don’t move along this belt but have
paths that bring them close to the earth. These are called
Apollo Asteroids.
There may be half a million asteroids whose diameters
are bigger than one kilometer. The largest asteroid is over
1000 kilometers across. It is speculated that many asteroids
were once larger but they collided with each other and
became small fragments.
Unlike asteroids, meteoroids are small rocky bodies,
that are scattered in space and do not orbit the sun. They
cross the Earth’s orbit and are often seen burning up in the
Earth’s atmosphere at night. The faint flashes of light they
make are called shooting stars.
Questions

1. What are asteroids?

a. Large fragments of rock in the Solar System
b. Large fragments of rock that circle the moon
c. Small fragments of rock that do not circle the sun
d. Small fragments of rock that do not circle the
planets
2. What are meteoroids?
a. Large fragments of rock that circle the sun
b. Large fragments of rock that circle the planets
c. Small bits of rock that do not circle the sun
d. Small bits of rock that do not cross the planets’
orbits
3. Which among the following statements is NOT true?
a. Some asteroids move close to the earth.
b. Large rocks flock together in the Asteroid Belt.
c. All rocks in our Solar System have formed planets.
d. The Asteroid Belt is found between Mars and
Jupiter.
4. “It is speculated that many asteroids were once
larger.” What does the word speculated mean?
a. written
b. guessed
c. confirmed
d. questioned
5. What is a possible reason behind the fact that
asteroids are not anymore as large as they were first
thought to be?
a. They could have shrunk when they got closer to the
sun.
b. They could have hit one another and broken into
pieces.
 c. They could have burned up and eventually become
smaller.
d. They could have rammed into some planet and
broken apart.
6. Which of the following statements is TRUE of
asteroids and meteoroids?
a. Both asteroids and meteoroids can be seen in a
belt of rocks between Jupiter and Mars.
b. Both asteroids and meteoroids circle the Earth and
can be seen as faint flashes of light.
c. Both asteroids and meteoroids are composed of
rocky particles found in the Solar System.
d. Both asteroids and meteoroids are scattered
randomly across in space and do not orbit the sun.
7. Many asteroids must have collided with one another.
What is a synonym of the word “collided?”
a. trapped into
b. crashed into
c. converged with
d. connected with
8. If you see faint flashes of light in the night sky, which
of the following could have happened?
a. Flames shoot up from the sun and come closer to
the earth.
b. Meteoroids have just crossed the earth’s orbit and
burned up.
c. Meteoroids have just crossed paths with the sun
and burned up.
d. There are moments when the earth orbits a lot
closer to the sun.
 ECOSYSTEMS
Ecosystems consist of living and non-living organisms
in an area. These include plants, animals, microbes, and
elements like soil, water, and air. The living organisms
depend on both living and non-living aspects of an
ecosystem.
An ecosystem can be as small as a puddle or as big as
an ocean. It is a very delicate balance, with these life forms
sustaining one another. Disruptions to an ecosystem may
prove disastrous to all its organisms.
When a new plant or animal is suddenly placed in an
ecosystem, it will surely compete with the original
inhabitants for resources. This stranger may even push out
the natural organisms, causing them to be extinct. The
organisms that depended on the extinct organisms will
definitely be affected.
The balance in ecosystems have been unsettled by
natural disasters such as fires, floods, storms, and volcanic
eruptions. However, in recent years and ironically, in the
name of progress, human activity has affected many
ecosystems around the world.

Questions
1. Which among the following is NOT a good
description for an ecosystem?
a. animals and plants relying on each other to
survive
b. a place where people are friendly to the
environment
c. a biological community where organisms affect
each other
d. a variety of living and non-living things in a
particular area

2. Why is an ecosystem considered to be a delicate

balance?
a. There are big ecosystems and small ecosystems
that have to be balanced.
b. Not all ecosystems weigh the same so their weight
needs to be distributed.
c. A change in an ecosystem can have tremendous
effects on all its organisms.
d. Different organisms always have equal importance
in any given ecosystem.

3. Which of the following is NOT one of the natural

disasters that have caused ecosystems to be
unsettled?
a. fires
b. floods
c. storms
d. humans
4. Based on the selection, which of the following is true
about human progress and ecosystems?
a. Human progress sometimes causes ecosystems to
suffer.
b. Human activity promotes the development of
ecosystems.
c. Human activity helps find solutions to ecological
problems.
d. Human progress causes different ecosystems to be
progressive.

5. According to the selection, a new organism

introduced in an ecosystem can have an effect on an
original inhabitant when _________________.
a. it fights with and eventually eats the original
inhabitant
b. it consumes resources intended for the original
inhabitant
c. it makes the original inhabitant feel strange in the
ecosystem
d. it contributes to disasters that upset the balance in
the system
6. What should human beings do in order to maintain
the balance in different ecosystems?
a. Cut down a lot of trees so that there is more space
for animals to live in.
b. Take corals from the sea so that fish would have
more freedom to swim.
c. Plant more trees in order to replace those that have
been cut down.
d. Catch a lot of tuna so that nothing will eat the
mackerel or the small fish.
7. The diagram below shows an ocean ecosystem. The
arrows point to the food source of the succeeding
organism. If a new organism is introduced
into the system and it eats the shrimplike creatures,
how will this indirectly affect the mackerel?
a. The mackerel will have no more shrimplike
creatures to eat.
b. The mackerel will still be eaten by the tuna fish as
it continues to consume the small fish.
c. The mackerel will be eaten by the small fish which
now has to look for a new food source.
d. The mackerel might lose its food since without a
food source, the small fish could die.

7. Using the same diagram, which of the following

statements is FALSE?
a. The small fish depends solely on shrimplike
creatures for food.
b. The tuna fish depends solely on the mackerel as its
food source.
c. The large shark depends solely on the tuna fish as
its food source.
d. The shrimplike creatures depend solely on one-
celled life for food.