Why did Theo run along the path?

Read a Literary Passage · ELPAC Grade 1 reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.

A short story or scene, with questions about characters, events and what words mean in context.

Read the story. Then answer the questions. On the real test a grade 1 student reads this kind of story on their own, so let your child read it first and help only with a word they are stuck on. The pictures are described after the story.

The Paper Boat

Theo made a boat out of paper. He took it to the creek behind his school. He set the boat on the water. It spun around once and floated away fast. Theo ran along the path after it. The boat stopped next to a big rock. Theo found a long stick and pulled the boat back. He carried it home to dry.

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Read panel descriptions

Picture one: a boy kneels at the edge of a creek. He is setting a small white paper boat on the water.

Picture two: the paper boat floats away down the creek. The boy runs along a dirt path beside the water.

Picture three: the boat has stopped next to a big gray rock. The boy leans out over the water and reaches with a long stick.

The question

Choose the best answer.

Why did Theo run along the path?

• AHe was late for school.
• BHe wanted to find a long stick.
• CHe wanted to catch his boat.Correct answer
• DHe wanted to show the boat to a friend.

Why “He wanted to catch his boat.” is correct

This is a "why" question, and the reason sits in the sentence just before the one the question asks about: the boat floated away fast. Your child has to connect two sentences rather than remember one, which is a step up from questions answered by a single sentence. If the answer does not come, reread only those two sentences and ask what happened right before Theo started running.

Why the other answers are wrong

• He was late for school. — School is named in the second sentence, but only as the place the creek is behind. Nothing says Theo is on his way there.
• He wanted to find a long stick. — Theo does find a stick, but later, after the boat stops by the rock. Children often reach for the part of the story they heard most recently, so it helps to ask what came first.
• He wanted to show the boat to a friend. — No friend appears anywhere in the story. An answer like this usually means your child is picturing what a boy might do with a boat instead of listening for what the words said.

Practice more of this

More reading practice for Grade 1, or see the ELPAC practice test for grade 1. For other grades, see free ELPAC practice tests by grade.