English Reading Comprehension For Grade 5 Children

• Passage-1: My Nephew
• Passage-2: Bu-cola
• Passage-3: Yusri and Yusra
• Passage-4: Mother
• Passage-5: Pangolins
• Passage-6: Earthquakes
• Passage-7: When Your Time Comes
• Passage-8: Collecting Fossils
• Passage-9: The Bicycle
• Passage-10: The Egg and the Bottle
• Passage-11: Sasha’s Night Alone
• Passage-12: About The Cat
• Passage-13: Isle Of Jormuguar
• Passage-14: Shoes: Taking One Step at A Time

Passage 2 - Yusri and Yusra

Read the following story very carefully and answer the questions that follow.

[1]

Yusri and Yusra are 13-year-old twins who love reading mystery books about their favourite character, Detective Din. They had just finished Book Three in the ‘Din Does It Again’ series and were eager to start Book Four. Unfortunately, the library was closed until Monday. They had already completed their homework and there was nothing interesting to watch on the television.

“Let us see if Mom will let us have some of those sticky banana cakes I can smell in the kitchen,” suggested Yusri.

“Great idea!” Yusra replied.

[2]

They wandered into the kitchen where they found their mother busily packing away the freshly baked cakes. When they entered she turned to them and said angrily, “I can see you have already helped yourselves to my cakes ….and left your messy fingerprints behind! You can not have anything else to eat now because you will spoil your appetite for dinner.”

[3]

Yusri and Yusra looked at each other in surprise. “I didn’t eat any,” mumbled Yusra, while Yusri just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. However, they knew better than to argue with their mother. The boys walked over to their elder brother’s room. “Hey Aziz, do you want to play badminton with us?” Yusra called as he knocked on the door.

“Go away, you brats!” Aziz shouted.

“What is wrong?” Yusra asked, startled by his brother’s tone.

“You have been playing with my things again, haven’t you? You left sticky fingerprints everywhere! My badminton trophies are all over the floor! You have broken the handle on my championship cup!” Aziz sounded really angry.

Yusra and Yusri looked at each other, completely puzzled by Aziz’s accusation. Before they could say anything, their sister Amina came bursting out of her room.

[4]

“Mum! Dad! The terrible twins have messed up my room too! There are fingerprints all over my mirror, and the poster I got from the concert last week ….they have ripped it! There are even pieces of cake on my pillow!”

Yusra started to deny that they had been in the room but Amina interrupted him immediately, wailing. “I have warned you before about coming into my room without permission! You are impossible!” She slammed the door furiously.

Their father appeared, looking annoyed. “I don’t know what mischief you two are up to this time, but you can go and wash the car. There are sticky fingerprints all over it too. I didn’t expect you to be so childish and destructive,” he scolded them sternly.

[5]

Now Yusra and Yusri were really mystified. “We need to solve this mystery before we get seriously punished for all these things we didn’t do,” Yusra decided. “Now, what would Detective Din do?”

[6]

“We need some equipment – a notebook to write down clues and a magnifying glass to look at those fingerprints.” Yusri responded.

“Yes, let us look at them first,” Yusra suggested.

[7]

The boys quickly collected the things they needed and crept into the kitchen, making sure to avoid all the other members of their family. “Hmm, these are very small. Maybe one of the children from the neighbourhood is responsible,” Yusra exclaimed as they peered at the fingerprints near the open window.

[8]

The boys then followed the trail of crumbs. It led form the kitchen, down the hallway, towards the bedrooms and into the garage. Strangely, it led over to the trees. The twins looked up at the trees and shouted together, “Monkey!” They rushed to their parents. “Mum, Dad, look over there! It was that mischievous monkey! It must have come in through the kitchen window, eaten some cake, then left the trail of sticky crumbs around the house,” Yusri explained. “I know we sometimes play tricks on people, but this time we are not guilty.”

“Excellent work, boys! Your hero would be proud of you,” Dad praised them. “But you still have to wash the car because the money won’t do that.”

Questions

Answer the questions given below. Marks allotted for each question is given in brackets.

From paragraph 1

1. How many ‘Detective Din Does It Again’ books had Yusri and Yusra already read? (1)

2. Why didn’t Yusri and Yusra watch television? (1)

3. Which word in this paragraph has the same meaning as ‘enthusiastic’? (1)

From paragraph 2

4. What does ‘helped yourselves to my cakes’ mean? Choose the answer from A, B, C or D and write the letter in the box given.(1)
   A. Took mother’s cake without asking her
   B. Assisted their mother to make some cakes
   C. Baked the cakes
   D. Arrived too late to help their mother.

5. In your own words, explain why Mum wouldn’t let Yusri and Yusra eat any more food before dinner. (1)

From paragraph 3

6. Which actions show that Yusri was confused? Give two details. (2)

7. Which word in this paragraph means ‘spoke softly’ (1)

From paragraph 4

8. Which information tells us that Amina likes music? (1)

9. “Amina came bursting out of her room.” How was she feeling? Choose the best answer from the options A, B, C or D and write the letter in the box given. (1)
   A. Excited
   B. Surprised
   C. Upset
   D. Worried

10. Which word in this paragraph means ‘angrily’? (1)

From paragraphs 5 and 6

11. Which single word in this section has the same meaning as ‘confused’? (1)

From paragraph 7

12. Why so you think Yusri and Yusra wanted to avoid the other members of the family? (1)

13. Which word in this paragraph has the meaning of ‘looked closely’? (1)

From paragraph 8

14. Who was guilty? (1)

15. When the twins’ father said, “Your hero would be proud of you”, which hero was he talking about? (1)

16. Which word in this paragraph has the meaning of ‘naughty’? (1)

From the whole passage

17. Circle the best answer, True (T), false (F) or no information (NI) for each of the following statements. (3)

    a) Aziz is a good badminton player

T

F

NI

    b) Amina is the oldest of the siblings

T

F

NI

    c) Yusri and Yusra have been in trouble before.

T

F

NI

18. Show where fingerprints were not found. Tick three boxes. (3)

In the kitchen
On the magnifying glass
On Amina’s pillow
On Amina’s mirror
In Aziz’s room
In the garden

19. Think like a detective! Put the following events in the order that they have happened. Write 1 to 8 in the answer boxes below. (7)

The car got sticky marks on it.
A monkey came into the house
Amina’s poster was ripped.
Yusri and Yusri decided to find out the real culprit
Their father said that they had to wash the car
The twins’ mother blamed them for leaving fingerprints behind
Yusri and Yusra’s father praised them for their detective work.
Their sister blamed them for leaving fingerprints on her mirror

20. Write a summary about the events that happened in the story and how it ended. Use your own words as far as possible. Write your summary in 150 words. (10)

Answer Key

1. 3
2. There was nothing interesting to watch on the television.
3. eager
4. A
5. This is because, if they ate food before dinner, they would not be hungry and wouldn’t eat anything at dinner.
6. 1) Yusri shook his head.
  2) he shrugged his shoulders.
7. mumbled
8. Amina had gone to a concert the previous week.
9. C
10. Furiously
11. mystified
12. They did not want the other members of the family to know what they were doing
a. since all of them believed that Yusri and Yusra were the culprits and not anyone else.
13. peered
14. A monkey
15. Detective Din.
16. mischievous
17. a) T b) F c) T

18.

In the kitchen
On the magnifying glass	✓
On Amina’s pillow	✓
On Amina’s mirror
In Aziz’s room
In the garden	✓

19.

The car got sticky marks on it.	3
A monkey came into the house	1
Amina’s poster was ripped.	2
Yusri and Yusri decided to find out the real culprit	7
Their father said that they had to wash the car	6
The twins’ mother blamed them for leaving fingerprints behind	4
Yusri and Yusra’s father praised them for their detective work.	8
Their sister blamed them for leaving fingerprints on her mirror	5

20. Yusri and Yusra were accused of eating the cakes their mother had baked and leaving finger prints behind. They were also blamed by their elder brother who said that they had left sticky fingerprints in his room, played with his badminton trophies and broken the handle of his championship cup. They were also blamed by their sister for leaving fingerprints on her mirror and ripping the poster she had got from a concert. She also accused them of leaving pieces of cake on her pillow. Their father interrupted them and said that there were fingerprints all over the car and that they had to wash it.

Yusri and Yusra, determined to find out who the culprit was, took a magnifying glass and a notebook to write down clues and started investigating. Their investigation led them to find that it had been a monkey who had done all the mischief. (150 words)