IXL | Read historical fiction with illustrations

Read the first part of the story.

Heading West on Route 66

With one final shove, Beth and James finally fit their suitcases into the trunk of the car. James folded his arms and glared at the car.
"Cheer up," Beth said. "A road trip to Los Angeles is an adventure! We're traveling West just like the settlers did in the 1800s!"
"It's not the 1800s," James whined. "It's 1950, and I don't want to spend my summer stuck in a car. I want to spend it with my friends here in Chicago!"
Mom and Dad joined them in the driveway. "We're ready," said Mom. "And we got these for you."
She handed James and Beth each a new notebook and pen. "So you can write about everything we see along Route 66," she explained.
"Great idea!" said Beth, admiring the front cover of her journal. "Thanks!"
James rolled his eyes and climbed into the backseat. He tossed his notebook onto the floor and slammed the door shut with a loud grumble.

What is the most likely reason that James tosses his notebook onto the floor and slams the door?

He wants his family to know how upset he is about the road trip.

He wants to hurry up and get going on their vacation.

He's tired of being forced to write in his journal every day.

He is upset that he has to sit in the backseat of the car.

ref_doc_title.

Learn with an example

question

Read the first part of the story.

El Fuerte Dorado

Raúl and Luisa raced each other upstairs to their Mexico City apartment. Outside their door, the children spied a package tied with a golden bow.
"Another package!" Luisa cried.
Mamá and Tío Miguel reached the young twins at the top of the stairs.
Raúl explained to his uncle, "We've been getting mysterious packages. Sometimes books or toys—but no return address."
Luisa tore open the package to find three tickets to tomorrow's lucha libre match—June 14, 1946.
"El Fuerte Dorado is wrestling Dark Shadow!" Raúl exclaimed. Golden-masked El Fuerte was a big star, but no one knew his true identity. "Can we go, Mamá?"
"Yeah! Tío Miguel can take us!" exclaimed Luisa.
"I'd love to," said their uncle. "But I have some business to take care of during the match tomorrow. But I can walk with you to the arena! I'll be working nearby."
"Don't worry. I can take you, hijos," Mamá replied to her children.

What is most likely true about the packages the children and Mamá have been receiving?

The packages are really meant for Tío Miguel.

Mamá is not happy about the mysterious packages.

The packages always contain tickets to sporting events.

Raúl and Luisa do not know who is sending the packages.

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

Think about these details from the story:

Raúl refers to the packages they have been getting as "mysterious."
The packages are sent with no return address.

Something that is mysterious is unknown or unexplained. Also, a return address includes the name of the sender. However, these packages have no return address.

So, you can guess that Raúl and Luisa do not know who is sending the packages.

Looking for more? Try this:

$Confetti$

Excellent!

Now entering the Challenge Zone—are you ready?

Questions
answeredQuestions

Time
elapsedTime

hr	min	sec
00	00	06

SmartScore
out of 100
IXL's SmartScore is a dynamic measure of progress towards mastery, rather than a percentage grade. It tracks your skill level as you tackle progressively more difficult questions. Consistently answer questions correctly to reach excellence (90), or conquer the Challenge Zone to achieve mastery (100)! Learn more

Teacher tools

Work it out

Not feeling ready yet? These can help:

B.2Draw inferences from a text

C.2Compare and contrast characters

GG.3Use context to identify the meaning of a word

N.2Read historical fiction

Excellent! You got that right!

Jumping to level 1 of 1

Excellent!