Islamic Educational College-Jabal Amman

American Program-Middle & High School

2021- 2022
Student’s Name:

“The Earth Dragon Awakes” Reading Comprehension Sheet 3 Grade 4: A, B, C

- Read “The Earth Dragon Awakes”, and then answer the following questions.

1- Why doesn’t Ah Sing seem worried when he and Chin first feel the Earthquake?
Ah Sing may have experienced small earthquakes before; also, he doesn’t want to alarm
Chin.
2- Why does Ah Sing push Chin under the table?
Ah Sing is trying to protect both of them from being injured by shattering glass and
falling objects.
3- Why do you think the author switches from the events happening in Ah Sing’s tenement
to the scene in the street?
He wanted to show what is happening outside the buildings and around the city; to give a
broad view of the earthquake as a force underneath the whole city.
4- Why does the author use compare the buildings in the city to “houses of cards”?
The author is showing how flimsy the buildings are compared to the power of the
earthquake.

5- How does the author create feelings of both hope and despair in his description of Chin
and Ah Sing?
They are alive because of the protection of the table, but they are buried alive; they hear
footsteps and voices, but they cannot be heard.
6- What does the word scrabble mean in the last paragraph on p.355? how do you know?
It means “claw or scratch your way through something.” I know because
Ah Sing and Chin are clawing through the rubble with their hands.
7- What brings Chin to the brink of panic?
He is desperate, feeling trapped, and he is terrified when he hears the cry of “Fire!
8- Why does the feeling of breeze cause Chin to have renewed burst of energy?
It proves to Chin that there is an unblocked path for air to travel from outside to him and
Ah Sing; it offers hope of escape.
9- What can you tell about Ah Quon? What is the text evidence?
He and Chin are very close friends. He likes to joke, but his relief shows how worried he
was about Chin. Ah Quon cares about Chin’s father, too, because he begins digging for
him.
10- From what point of view is the story told? How can you tell?
It is told from the third-person point-of-view because the narrator is outside the story.