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TAKS MASTER ® Student Practice Book
ECS3696-TAKS
Integrated Test-Prep Program
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Grades 2–9
TAKS MASTER® Learning Modules™
Practice
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TAKS MASTER® Student Practice Books
Reading • Grade 6
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Vocabulary • Comprehension • Literary Concepts • Critical Thinking
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ECS3696 Cover ©2008:NEW TAKS G6 Read cover
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Contents
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What’s inside this book? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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TAKS Reading Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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TAKS Reading Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Reading Passages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Answer Key and Answer Sheet are included in the accompanying Teacher
Guide for this book.
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How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
TAKS Reading Objectives for Grade 6
1. The student will demonstrate a basic understanding of culturally diverse written texts.
2. The student will apply knowledge of literary elements to understand culturally diverse
written texts.
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3. The student will use a variety of strategies to analyze culturally diverse written texts.
4. The student will apply critical-thinking skills to analyze culturally diverse written texts.
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Objective 1
Objective 2
Objective 3
Objective 4
Word in Context
Characterization
Progression of
Ideas
Inference
Multiple-Meaning
Word
Story Plot
Similarities/
Differences
Fact/Opinion
Derivative
Setting
Representation of
Text Information
Supporting
Interpretation/
Conclusion
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Use the information in the chart below to identify the specific skill addressed in a question.
Denotative/
Connotative
Meaning
Problem
Resolution
Identifying
Purpose
Connect/
Compare/Contrast
Detail/Fact
Literary
Devices
Story Variants
Organizational
Pattern
Author’s Point
of View
Style/Tone/
Mood
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Retelling Events
Main Idea
Summary
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) publishes information booklets that define and explain the
specific skills tested in each objective. Consult these booklets for further information.
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© ECS Learning Systems, Inc. ■ TAKS MASTER® Reading, Grade 6
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Reading Passages
Bunnies under the Bed (Expository Selection)
Pan Tzu’s Gift
(Narrative Selection)
Sojourner and the Sisters (Mixed Selection)
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Why the Moon Only Shines at Night and
How Moon and Sun Came to Be (Paired Selection)
Better Friends than We Thought (Expository Selection)
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The Great Barrier Reef and
Exploring the Reef (Paired Selection)
The Boy Who Drew Cats (Narrative Selection)
And the Smiles Keep Coming (Expository Selection)
A Very Long Nap (Narrative Selection)
An Ancient and Wonderful Substance (Mixed Selection)
Snowshoes
(Expository Selection)
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Reading Room Honors a Great Reader
(Expository Selection)
Caves of Wonder and
Vacation Letter (Paired Selection)
America’s President of Swivel Chairs and English Peas
(Expository Selection)
The Erie Canal and
The Panama Canal (Paired Selection)
© ECS Learning Systems, Inc. ■ TAKS MASTER® Reading, Grade 6
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Tuesday, September 3
Section B, Page 1
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Serving the neighbors of the Texas Hill Country
Bergheim, Texas
Some people do good for others.
Some help other people to do good. A
few, like Bill and Kathy Magee, do both.
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The Magees help children whose
faces are deformed from birth defects or
injuries. The Magees also founded
Operation Smile, a medical charity.
Through this charity, hundreds of doctors
and nurses are able to operate on
thousands of children with deformities of
the face. These people give children a
reason—and the ability—to smile. Since
1982, Operation Smile volunteers have
repaired the faces of more than 50,000
economically disadvantaged children
worldwide.
Dr. Bill Magee, Jr. is a plastic surgeon.
Kathy Magee is a nurse and social
worker. They grew up together in New
Jersey. After college, they married and
began a family of five children. Dr. Magee
studied for many years and then set up
practice in Norfolk, Virginia. Soon after,
in 1981, the Magees volunteered to go to
the Philippines for their first medical
mission. They went with a group of Texas
doctors to repair the cleft lips and palates
of poor children.
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4
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With a cleft palate, the roof of the mouth
has an opening. In the United States,
babies with these defects usually undergo
surgery soon after birth. But in poor
countries like the Philippines, twice as
many babies are born with these
deformities, and usually nothing is done.
These children can’t eat right. They can’t
talk or hear well. Some are kept hidden
because people make fun of them or
think they are bad luck.
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And the Smiles Keep Coming
Cleft lips and cleft palates are
common birth defects. They occur when
the mouth doesn’t finish developing. Cleft
means “split in two parts.”With a cleft lip,
the lip (usually the upper lip) has a gap
where it never finished growing together.
© ECS Learning Systems, Inc. ■ TAKS MASTER® Reading, Grade 6
Kathy remembers arriving in the
Philippines. “People pushed their babies
at us, tugged at our sleeves with tears in
their eyes, and begged us to help their
children,” she says. During the five days
of the medical mission, the team operated
on 150 children. However, they had to
turn away 250 more. The Magees
promised they would be back the next
year.
Continued on the next page
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Objective 3 (Representation of Text Information)
11. The diagram shows information from the passage.
smothering
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freezing to death
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Problems in the Snow
Which idea belongs in the empty box?
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A
B
C
D
forcing
exhaustion
resting
snowdrifts
Objective 3 (Representation of Text Information)
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12. Look at the diagram of animal prints below.
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3
4
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Which set of prints belongs to the animal that would do best in a snowy climate?
A
B
C
D
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Set 1
Set 2
Set 3
Set 4
© ECS Learning Systems, Inc. ■ TAKS MASTER® Reading, Grade 6
Use “The Erie Canal” and “The Panama Canal” to answer questions 14-16.
Objective 4 (Connect/Compare/Contrast)
Objective 3 (Similarities/Differences)
14. How was DeWitt Clinton’s role in
building the Erie Canal similar to
Theodore Roosevelt’s role in building the
Panama Canal?
15. What is one difference between the
Erie Canal and the Panama Canal?
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A Traffic on the Erie Canal has
increased over time, but traffic on
the Panama Canal has remained the
same.
B The design of the Panama Canal
includes a dam and a lake, but the
Erie Canal has neither of those
things.
C The Erie Canal includes a series of
locks, but the Panama Canal was
built without locks.
D The Erie Canal was completed in
about 8 years, but the Panama Canal
was completed in about 20 years.
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A Both men worked with leaders from
other countries to build the canals.
B Both men supplied most of the
money needed for building the
canals.
C Both men contributed some of their
own money to have the canals built.
D Both men used their influence to
bring about the construction of the
canals.
Objective 3 (Representation of Text Information)
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16. Look at the chart comparing the Erie Canal and the Panama Canal.
Erie Canal
Panama Canal
Connected the Atlantic Ocean to the
Pacific Ocean
Connected eastern and western New York
Used locks to let ships pass from the
Hudson River to the higher Lake Erie
Built by workers from nearly
100 countries
Built by immigrant workers
from all over the world
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Which information belongs in the empty box?
A
B
C
D
Included a dam for ships to use from one side of the lake to the other
Used locks to let ships pass through different water levels caused by mountains
Used locks to allow more ships to travel on the canal from one end to the other
Used locks to increase the length of the canal several times
© ECS Learning Systems, Inc. ■ TAKS MASTER® Reading, Grade 6
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