EOG Prep
Grade 4
Reading Comprehension
with Extra Writing Practice
by Jonathan D. Kantrowitz
Edited by Patricia F. Braccio and Sarah M.W. Espano
Item Code RAS 2089 • Copyright © 2008 Queue, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval
system. Printed in the United States of America.
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Table of Contents
To the Students ............................................v
The Farmer’s Daughter and the Pail ............1
Nellie Bly..........................................................5
The Swimming Party ......................................9
Ancient Egyptian Pyramids ..........................13
I Spy Something Red ....................................17
An Excerpt from Peter Pan, or The Boy Who
Would Not Grow Up
by J.M. Barrie ..........................................21
The Fox and the Grapes................................24
The Foolish Puppy ........................................26
Keep Your Food Safe......................................28
Whole Wheat Pecan Waffles ........................32
Bear, from How to Know the Wild Animals
by Carolyn Wells........................................35
Chameleon, from How to Know the
Wild Animals
by Carolyn Wells........................................37
Abraham Lincoln’s Tale ................................39
The Purple Cow
by Gelett Burgess ......................................41
Project Day ....................................................43
Town Mouse and Country Mouse ................45
The Thirsty Bird ............................................47
Jan’s Birthday Party ....................................50
Perfect Day for Sailing ..................................53
The Lion and the Mouse ..............................56
Restless Evening............................................58
from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge ....................60
Atalanta and the Prince................................62
from “The Children’s Hour”
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ............66
Skitch & Ramona’s Fort ................................68
Skitch & Ramona’s Fort—Part II ................70
from “The Star-Spangled Banner (The
Defense of Fort McHenry)”
by Francis Scott Key ................................74
“Sea-Fever”
by John Masefield ....................................76
The Oak and the Reed ..................................78
“The Daffodils”
by William Wordsworth ............................80
The Farmer and the Cat ..............................82
Androcles and the Lion ................................84
Midas’s Secret ................................................87
French Toast ..................................................90
Make a Collage ..............................................93
What Are Sprains and Strains? ....................96
How Will Healthy Eating and Physical
Activity Help Me? ..................................101
Mount St. Helens Erupts ............................103
Constellations ..............................................108
Gift of an Apple Tree....................................112
Trip to an Art Exhibit ..................................114
Trip to Switzerland ......................................117
from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain ........................................119
Pilgrim Children ..........................................122
Battle of Trenton..........................................124
Miss Lulu Bett
by Zona Gale ..........................................127
Dr. Smithers in the Basement ....................131
Killer Whale ................................................134
Friends ........................................................137
Opossums ....................................................140
From Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass: An American Slave
by Frederick Douglass ............................144
David Meets His Cousins ............................146
Ann Plays in the Spring Concert................149
Paul Robeson................................................153
from The Happy Prince
by Oscar Wilde ........................................156
Roger Sherman ............................................159
“Old Ironsides”
by Oliver Wendell Holmes ......................162
Raccoons ......................................................164
Abigail Adams ..............................................168
Ladybug Law ..............................................171
Autumn Moon Holiday ................................176
Woodrow Wilson ..........................................180
New Amsterdam’s Buildings ......................183
New Amsterdam Life ..................................185
from Tarzan of the Apes
by Edgar Rice Burroughs ......................187
from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
by L. Frank Baum ..................................190
Chipmunk and Bear ....................................195
The Raven ....................................................198
from The Railway Children
by E. Nesbit ............................................201
Planting a Tree ............................................210
from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz—Part II
by L. Frank Baum ..................................214
Arts and Crafts Projects..............................221
JAN’S BIRTHDAY PARTY
Last week Jan had a birthday
party. This year she planned a very
different kind of party for her birthday.
It was a costume party. Everyone had to
dress up as an animal, a thing, or a
different person. Jan told everyone that
they could not buy their costumes. They
had to make the costumes by hand.
Jan knew which costume she
wanted. She used the clothes she wore to
dance class. She got out her black pants
and black shirt.
Then Jan bought some yellow paper. She wrapped the paper around each leg
all the way from her foot to the top of her leg. She also got a big pillow.
She put the pillow under her shirt to make her body appear round. Then she
got two coat hangers. She covered them with yellow paper and made two wings.
Then she put on a black mask.
All of Jan’s friends came dressed up. One boy came as a pirate. He had long
scary scars painted on his face. Jan’s best friend came as an ice cream cone. She had
covered herself with brown paper. On her head she wore a big pink ball that looked
like strawberry ice cream.
Jan’s friends all had a good time making their costumes. At the party, they
tried to guess what everyone was. Jim, one of Jan’s friends, came as Pac-Man. Jim
fooled everyone at the party and he won the prize.
1. With which statement would Jan most likely agree?
A
B
C
D
It’s fun to make your own costume.
There’s only one way to have a party.
It’s best to buy costumes at the store.
Scary costumes are the finest kind.
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2. Why does Jan’s best friend cover herself in brown paper?
A
B
C
D
She
She
She
She
wanted
wanted
wanted
wanted
to look like a napkin.
her costume to be a surprise.
to look like a cone.
people to guess who she was.
3. What was Jan most likely dressed as?
A
B
C
D
the sun
a flower
an insect
an angel
4. How was Jan able to make wings for her costume?
A
B
C
D
She
She
She
She
wore her black dance clothes.
put yellow paper on hangers.
put a pillow under her shirt.
wrapped paper on her legs.
5. What is the main reason one boy paints scars on his face?
A
B
C
D
He
He
He
He
wants to look like an animal.
wants to appear frightening.
thinks that they look very real.
is trying to look like a cone.
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6. What is the most important rule about Jan’s party?
A
B
C
D
Everyone
Everyone
Everyone
Everyone
has to wear a costume.
must wear different costumes.
has to make a costume.
must bring a second costume.
7. Why did Jim most likely win a prize?
A
B
C
D
because
because
because
because
he wore Jan’s favorite costume
his costume was most unusual
the party was for his birthday
nobody could guess his costume
8. Why did Jim win the prize? Tell how you would make your own costume.
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ANDROCLES AND THE LION
In the days of ancient Rome, a slave named Androcles escaped from his
master. He ran deep into a forest. There he met a huge lion. Androcles turned to run.
Then he noticed that the lion was in great pain. A thorn was wedged into one paw.
The paw was swollen and bloody.
Androcles came close to the lion. The great beast lay still. The slave then
examined the foot. He pulled out the thorn. Androcles wrapped the swollen paw.
Soon the lion was better. The grateful beast took Androcles to its lair. The lion
brought the man food every day.
Early one morning, while the friends were asleep, the lion heard a noise
outside his den. He wanted to run away, but waited to wake up Androcles. By the
time Androcles awoke, it was too late. They were trapped. Soldiers were outside the
cave with nets. The soldiers captured both the slave and his friend, the lion.
Androcles was sentenced to die for having run away from his master. In Rome,
slaves were killed by being fed to hungry lions in the Coliseum. All of Rome came to
the arena where Androcles was to be thrown to the lions.
Androcles was very afraid. As he stood in the center of the field, a huge lion
came running at him. It was Androcles’ old friend!
The emperor was amazed when the lion licked Androcles’ hand. When he
learned the story of the two friends, he pardoned them both saying, “Gratitude is the
sign of noble souls.”
1. Who was Androcles?
A
B
C
D
a
a
a
a
lion tamer
slave
woodsman
lion
2. Where did Androcles run when he escaped?
A
B
C
D
a city
the country
a forest
an arena
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3. Why didn’t the lion eat Androcles when they first met?
A
B
C
D
Androcles was too thin.
The lion’s paw was hurt.
Androcles had a sword.
The lion was not hungry.
4. The second paragraph states that “The grateful beast took Androcles to its
lair.” What is a lair?
A
B
C
D
a
a
a
a
marketplace to get food
place where an animal lives
place where slaves are taught
shelter for missing people
5. Why did the lion wait for Androcles to wake up?
A
B
C
D
The
The
The
The
lion
lion
lion
lion
wanted
wanted
wanted
wanted
to
to
to
to
see where Androcles would run.
be sure that Androcles could escape.
eat Androcles in front of the soldiers.
attack the people with Androcles.
6. Why was Androcles sentenced to die?
A
B
C
D
Androcles was a runaway slave.
He did a bad job at the Coliseum.
Androcles had helped a lion.
It was against the law to live with a lion.
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7. What did the Romans expect would happen in the Coliseum?
A
B
C
D
The lion would lick Androcles.
The lion would kill Androcles.
Androcles would kill the lion.
Androcles would ride on the lion.
8. Which most likely describes the emperor’s reaction to what happened in the
Coliseum?
A
B
C
D
The
The
The
The
emperor
emperor
emperor
emperor
was upset at the lion when it did not kill Androcles.
thought that Androcles would be a good lion tamer.
believed that Androcles must have special powers.
was moved by how the lion responded to Androcles.
9. Do you think Androcles deserved to die? Why? Why not?
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AUTUMN MOON HOLIDAY
In China, there is a holiday in September called the Autumn Moon holiday. On
this holiday, people go out at night to gaze at the moon and tell stories about it.
When they go out, they carry lanterns that look like the moon. People who live near
the water like to take their lanterns out on rowboats and watch the lantern lights
shine on the water. The light from the lanterns looks just like the moonlight.
There are many stories that people like to tell during this holiday. One story
is about a princess who lives on the moon.
Once there was an evil king who wanted to live forever. He had become king
by killing the kind king who ruled the kingdom. The evil king asked his wizard to
make him a pill so that he would never die.
Many days later the wizard finished the pill, and he warned the king to be
careful with the pill. The wizard said, “You must never lose this pill because I cannot
make another one.” The wizard also told the king that the pill was made only for the
king. “No one else must take it,” warned the wizard.
A princess lived in the palace. She was the daughter of the king who died.
When the princess heard about this pill, she became frightened. She had to stop this
evil king from ruling forever, so she stole the pill and took it herself.
All of a sudden, she felt herself becoming light as a cloud. Soon she became so
light that she floated right up to the moon. That is where she has lived ever since
she saved the kingdom from its evil king.
1. Why does the author begin this passage by talking about the Autumn Moon
holiday?
A
B
C
D
because that is when the princess took the pill
because that is the only time you can see the princess
to give the reader a sense of when the story is told
to give the reader two stories in the same passage
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2. According to the passage, what do some people do during the holiday?
A
B
C
D
row their boats
eat large cakes
sing songs
carry flowers
3. How did the people of the kingdom most likely feel about the princess after
she took the pill?
A
B
C
D
They
They
They
They
were
were
were
were
angry that she moved to the moon.
glad that she saved them from the king.
relieved that she left the kingdom.
afraid that she would be a bad ruler.
4. What did the king want?
A
B
C
D
The
The
The
The
king
king
king
king
wanted
wanted
wanted
wanted
to see the moon.
a new princess.
to live forever.
to have children.
5. What was the princess afraid of?
A
B
C
D
The evil king would live forever.
She would have to take medicine.
It would rain during the holiday.
She would be hungry on the moon.
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6. Which of these reasons also most likely influenced the princess when she
decided to take the pill?
A
B
C
D
She
She
She
She
was determined to live on the moon.
was angry that the king had killed her father.
wanted to live forever and avoid death.
wanted to be the kingdom’s new ruler.
7. In paragraph 5, what does it mean that the princess “stole the pill and took it
herself”?
A
B
C
D
The
The
The
The
princess
princess
princess
princess
swallowed the pill.
hid the pill from the king.
didn’t pay for the pill.
fed the pill to her dog.
8. When did the princess go to the moon?
A
B
C
D
before she saved the kingdom
after she took the king’s pill
after she ate dinner with the king
before she lived in the palace
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9. Would you have done what the princess did? Why? Why not?
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