ESL
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Secondary 1 - Term 1 - Reading Comprehension Project
NAME: _______________________________
GROUP: ________ DUE DATE: _____________________
HANDOUT PART 1
Handout Part 1:
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1
1. BEFORE READING
Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He
was born on November 30th 1835 in Florida, Missouri. When he was four
years old he moved to Hannibal, a town on the Mississippi River.
In 1861, Mark Twain had to leave Hannibal because of the start of
the Civil War. Some of his most famous novels are The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). The
books were inspired by Mark Twain's experiences as a child growing up in
Missouri during the Civil War. Slavery was legal in Missouri when Mark
Twain lived there.
Mark Twain:
 Worked as a river boat pilot on the Mississippi River.
 Was briefly part of the Confederate Army.
 In 1870, married Olivia Langdon, an abolitionist.
 His daughter and wife died in the 1900s, he became depressed.

Died of a heart attack in 1910.
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1.1 WHO wrote the book?
/5
a) NAME: _____________________________________________
b) DATE OF BIRTH: ____________________________
c) PLACE OF BIRTH: ____________________________
d) FAMOUS NOVELS:
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
1.2 VOCABULARY:
/4
a) CIVIL WAR: _________________________________________________________
b) SLAVERY: __________________________________________________________
c) CONFEDERATE ARMY: _______________________________________________
d) ABOLITIONIST: ______________________________________________________
1.3 WHEN does the story take place?
/1
a) YEAR (approximately): ___________________________________________________________
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1.4 WHERE does the story take place?
 Instructions: Write the two STATE NAMES in the empty spaces.
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1.5 BEFORE READING
 1.5 Instructions: Read the back cover AND the story introduction on the first page of the book.
What do you know about Huckleberry Finn? (Check one box for each sentence).
YES
/7
NO
1. Huck liked school.
2. Huck went to live with a woman called Widow Douglas.
3. Huck’s father was kind to him.
4. Huck ran away.
5. Huck’s friend Jim was a slave.
6. Huck and Jim travelled down the Mississippi.
7. Jim had 300 dollars
 1.6 Instructions: What is going to happen in the story? Can you guess? (Check one box for each
sentence).
/6
YES
NO
1. Huck goes back to live with the Widow Douglas.
2. Huck’s father dies.
3. Huck and Jim find a lot of money.
4. Huck and Jim fall in the river.
5. Huck and Jim meet some bad men.
6. Jim goes back to his owner.
* BEFORE READING
( Section 1.1 to 1.6)
=
/25
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CHAPTER 1
Total :
/20
 1. 7 Instructions: Write a short summary of chapter 1;
a) WHO were the characters in chapter 1?
* 3 points
___________________________________________________________________________
b) WHERE did the story take place?
* 1 point
____________________________________________________________________________
c) WHEN was the story taking place?
* 1 point
___________________________________________________________________________
d) WHAT happens in chapter 1? (summary)
* 5 points
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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 1.8 Instructions: Answer the questions on page 45 of your novel (1 to 10)
* 10 points
1.
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3.
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7.
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10.
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