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Selection Comprehension Lesson 12

Choose the best answer for each question.

1. Which sentence BEST tells what the story is about?

Max gets a pen pal and makes friends for others, too.
Max and a pen pal write about brothers and sisters.
Max decides to sneak a note into a box of grapes.
Max has many friends and a pony of his own.

2. How does Max get the idea of having a pen pal?

He reads about pen pals in a book.
His father used to have a pen pal.
His mother tells him he needs a new friend.
The packing house manager asks him a question.

3. How does Maggie get her first note from Max?

Ms. Moore gives it to her.
Don Manuel mails it to her.
Her father brings it home to her.
A friend at school gives it to her.

4. What is one way Max and Maggie are ALIKE?

Both speak Spanish.
Both have hobbies.
Both live on a fruit farm.
Both live in South America.

Selection Comprehension 121

“A Pen Pal for Max”
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5. What can readers tell about Maggie and her Lesson 12
classmates?
They are good at soccer.
They want to visit Chile.
They care about other people.
They have been in an earthquake.

6. Why does Max take Maggie’s letters to Don

Manuel?
He is afraid that Don Manuel is lonely.
He needs help reading Maggie’s English writing.
He does not know what to write back to Maggie.
He thinks Don Manuel should get his own pen pal.

7. What is MOST LIKELY to happen next?

Max’s class will travel to the United States.
Don Manuel will take Max to meet Maggie.
Max’s teacher will give the boxes to Max’s father.
Children in Max’s class will write to Maggie’s class.

8. How can readers tell this story is realistic fiction?

It takes place in a far-away country.
The events could not really happen.
The characters have feelings like real people.
It tells about an important person from the past.

Selection Comprehension 122

“A Pen Pal for Max”
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Lesson Test

Lesson 12
READ
THINK
EXPLAIN Written Response

9. Pretend that you are Max. Write what you would tell Maggie the
next time you write to her. Use information and details from “A Pen
Pal for Max” to support your answer.

Selection Comprehension 123 TOTAL SCORE: /8 + /2

“A Pen Pal for Max”
© Harcourt • Grade 3
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Lesson Test

Phonics/Spelling: Consonant Digraphs Lesson 12

/n/kn, gn; /r/wr; /f/gh

Read each word. Then fill in the circle next to the word
that has the same sound as the underlined part of the
model word and that also completes the sentence.
1. chief
The funny joke made me .
chuckle
grief
giggle
laugh

2. rock
I wrote the answer on the test.
wrong
same
longest
ready

3. note
The doctor her name on the paper.
knocked
wrote
signed
saw

4. nod
Be careful with the sharp .
gnat
knife
key
file
Phonics/Spelling: Consonant Digraphs 124 TOTAL SCORE: /4
/n/kn, gn; /r/wr; /f/gh
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Lesson Test

Focus Skill: Plot Lesson 12

Read the passage. Then choose the best answer for

each question.

Taking Care of Muffy

Mia took the key from Mrs. Galloway and put it safely in
the pocket of her jacket. “Goodbye,” Mia said to Mr. and Mrs.
Galloway. “Have a great trip and don’t worry about Muffy. I’ll
take good care of her.”
Because the Galloways were going on vacation, they had
asked 16-year-old Mia to take care of their dog, Muffy, while
they were gone. Mia loves playing with Muffy, so she agreed.
The Galloways would pay Mia ten dollars for coming over
before and after school every day to feed Muffy, take her
outside, and play with her.
After dinner that night, Mia told her parents that she was
going to take care of Muffy. As she walked next door, she
reached into her pocket. She froze! Frantically, she searched
her pocket, but the key was not there. What would she do? Mia
could see Muffy through the window, wagging her tail, ready to
play.
Mia walked to the front door. She turned the knob, but of
course, it was locked. Mia looked in the grass. Had she dropped
the key? The shiny metal was nowhere to be found.
Turning to go home, she ran into her mother. Mia opened
her mouth to let her story spill out, but Mom interrupted her.
“Are you missing this?” she asked, holding up the key.
“Where did you find it?” Mia asked thankfully.
“I told you that we needed to sew that hole in your jacket
pocket! Let’s do that after you take care of Muffy.”
“Yes,” Mia agreed. “Let’s do that!”

Focus Skill: Plot 125

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Lesson Test
1. What happens at the beginning of the story? Lesson 12

Mia gets a new dog.

Mia gets the key from the Galloways.
Mia eats dinner with her family.
Mia goes next door to play with Muffy.

2. What problem does Mia have?

She forgets to take care of Muffy.
She does not like dogs.
She cannot find the key to her neighbor’s house.
She cannot earn enough money to get what she wants.

3. How is the problem solved?

Mom brings the key to Mia.
Mia remembers to take care of Muffy.
Mia takes care of Muffy and earns ten dollars.
Mom gets a dog for Mia.

4. Why does Mia lose something important?

She isn’t responsible.
She usually loses things.
She takes off her jacket.
She has a hole in her pocket.

Focus Skill: Plot 126 TOTAL SCORE: /4

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Lesson Test

Use Context Clues Lesson 12

Choose the best answer for each question.

1. We went to the office of the new physician, Dr. Scott.
What word helps you understand the meaning of
physician?
went
office
new
Dr.

2. Even after we emptied the wastebasket, we could still smell

the rubbish.
What word helps you understand the meaning of rubbish?
after
emptied
wastebasket
smell

3. The schoolchildren learned about stars during the

astronomer’s brief speech.
What word helps you understand the meaning of
astronomer?
schoolchildren
stars
brief
speech

Use Context Clues 127

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4. You may have been able to trick me once, but you Lesson 12
will not be able to deceive me again.
What word helps you understand the meaning of deceive?
trick
once
able
again

5. The child is very independent. He wants to do everything

on his own.
What words help you understand the meaning of
independent?
child, very
he wants to
very, everything
on his own

6. An octopus uses its tentacles to swim quickly through the

ocean water.
What word helps you understand the meaning of tentacles?
octopus
quickly
through
ocean

Use Context Clues 128 TOTAL SCORE: /6

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Lesson Test

Robust Vocabulary Lesson 12

Choose the word that best completes each sentence.

1. John the secret code.
mistaken
deciphered
astonished
fortunate

2. While I took the test, I found the hallway noise .

bothersome
deciphered
heaving
mistaken

3. We didn’t buy the car because it needed plenty of .

encouraging
heaving
repairs
rivalry

4. Mom and I were the annoying sales clerk.

mistaken
heaving
fortunate
dodging

5. Thomas thought he saw his teacher, but he was .

bothersome
fortunate
mistaken
astonished
Robust Vocabulary 129
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6. Do you know how to Spanish to English? Lesson 12

din
mistaken
translate
catastrophe

7. The from the jet engine could be heard from far

away.
repairs
din
fortunate
heaving

8. We were to find two seats in the crowded theater.

bothersome
deciphered
fortunate
mistaken

9. The sailboats were in the rough seas.

din
encouraging
catastrophe
heaving

10. The news of the saddened us all.

rivalry
catastrophe
repairs
din

Robust Vocabulary 130 TOTAL SCORE: /10

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Lesson Test

Grammar: Singular and Plural Pronouns Lesson 12

Read each sentence. Choose the pronoun that replaces

the underlined word(s).
1. Lupe played tag with Kara at recess.
she
us
her
them

2. I will get the bike for you.

it
you
its
we

3. Omar and I have been friends since first grade.

They
Our
My
We

4. Where did you get the puppies?

they
them
their
it

Grammar: Singular and Plural Pronouns 131 TOTAL SCORE: /4

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Lesson Test

Oral Reading Fluency Lesson 12

If you have ever wished that you lived in a castle, keep

reading because you may soon change your mind! More
than a thousand years ago, royalty started constructing
stone castles because castles offered a safe place to live.
From the castle, people could protect their land from
enemies. Soldiers, servants, and animals lived inside the
castle making it a bustling, crowded place.
It was frequently damp and cold inside the walls of
stone castles. Even in the summer time, the stone rooms
remained damp causing people to spend as much time
outside the castle as possible. In the winter, cold winds
ripped through the rooms and hallways of a castle.
Rooms without a burning fire were quite cold.
Life in the castle was not very private because only
royalty had bedrooms and slept in beds. Most other
people slept in one large room called the great room on
benches or on the floor. Since most castles did not have
running water, people did not bathe every day.
Many castles remain standing today, but would you
want to live in one?

Oral Reading Fluency 132 /WCPM

© Harcourt • Grade 3