IXL | Read science fiction with illustrations

Read the first part of the story.

Home Helper

Saturday was spring-cleaning day. I was excited because we had just added Home Helper 2.0 to our house. I remembered that the ad read, "Home Helper scrubs your home until it sparkles, so you don't have to!" So I was getting ready to hop on my bike and head to the park. But Mom and Dad stopped me.

"Kelsey, we need you to clean inside," Mom said.

"What? Why?" I asked in surprise. "What about Home Helper?"

"Home Helper can do some things, but we all still need to help out around the house," Dad said. "Mom and I are going to work in the yard. Just dust the furniture and wash the windows, and you'll be done."

I sighed and dropped my bike on the grass before heading back inside.

Why is Kelsey surprised that her parents expect her to help clean?

Her parents have never asked her to help with chores before.

She is too young to be in charge of dusting and washing the windows.

She expected that Home Helper 2.0 would do all the cleaning.

Home Helper 2.0 has already done all of the dusting and window washing.

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Learn with an example

question

Read the first part of the story.

Blast Off!

Ajay was staring at the Flying Cart Race poster when he heard a voice behind him.

"So, Ajay, are you entering the race, too?"

Ajay turned around to see his classmate Betsy. "I sure am," he replied.

"That's great," said Betsy. "I mean, I guess you have a chance to win something. I think everyone who enters gets a free pencil."

Ajay frowned. Betsy had won first prize in every race since 2050. But this year, Ajay had big plans. "I've just finished building the fastest flying cart I've ever made," he bragged.

He didn't mention that it was also the first flying cart he'd ever built.

"Good luck," Betsy said. "I built mine, too, and it's even faster than the one I built last year!"

"Actually, I'm still adding a few things to mine," Ajay said. "It's going to be really powerful."

"Well, at least you know you'll get a free pencil!" Betsy said.

What does Betsy think about Ajay's chances of winning?

Betsy doesn't believe that Ajay actually signed up for the race.

Betsy thinks Ajay's cart will be a lot faster than hers.

Betsy is sure that she's going to beat Ajay.

Betsy thinks it's time for Ajay to win first place.

key idea

Sometimes authors don't explain everything that you need to know in a story. So, you may need to make guesses, or

inferences,

about what happens and why. Making inferences will help you understand the whole story, even the things that the author doesn't say openly.

solution

In the story, Betsy has won every race since

2050,

and she claims that she has built an even faster cart than last

year.

She tells Ajay that he has the chance to win something because everyone who enters gets a free

pencil.

This suggests that Betsy doesn't think Ajay has a chance to win anything besides the pencil that everyone gets. So, you can guess that Betsy is sure that she's going to beat Ajay in the flying cart race.

$Confetti$

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Teacher tools

Work it out

Not feeling ready yet? These can help:

H.3Draw inferences from a text

H.4Make predictions about a story

MM.2Use context to identify the meaning of a word

F.New!Read long vowel stories

BB.2Read realistic fiction

BB.3Read science fiction

F.New!Read r-controlled stories

F.New!Read variant vowel and diphthong stories

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