Walt: Make Inferences   

Read each passage and then respond to the questions.  Each question will ask you to make an inference. Explain your answer by using the clues in the text.

Every day after work Paul took his muddy boots off on the steps of the front porch.  Alice would have a fit if the boots made it so far as the welcome mat. He then took off his dusty overalls and threw them into a plastic garbage bag; Alice left a new garbage bag tied to the porch railing for him every morning.  On his way in the house, he dropped the garbage bag off at the washing machine and went straight up the stairs to the shower as he was instructed. He would eat dinner with her after he was “presentable,” as Alice had often said.

1.  What type of job does Paul do?

Paul works at a farm because he has muddy boots

2.  Describe Alice:

Alice was a angry type of person  because

3.  What relationship do Paul and Alice have?

Paul and alice are married

Crack!  Thunderstruck and rain poured.  Max stared blankly out the window, trying to contain his emotions that raged like the weather.  He was beginning to lose it. Dropping the kite from his hand, Max broke out into full sobs. His mother comforted him, “There, there, Max.  We’ll just find something else to do.” She began to unpack the picnic basket that was on the counter and offered him a sandwich. Max snapped, “I don’t wanna sand-mich!”  A flash from the sky lit up the living room. Boom!  Mum sighed.

4.  Why is Max upset?

max was sad because he couldn't play outside with his kite

5.  What was Mum planning on doing today?

Mum was planning to have a picnic

“Tommy!”  Mum called out as she walked in the front door.  “Tommy,” she continued shouting, “I sure could use some help with these groceries.  There was still no reply. Mum walked into the kitchen to put the grocery bags down on the bench when she noticed shattered glass from the window all over the living room floor and a baseball not far from there.  “I’m going to kill you, Tommy!” Mum yelled to herself as she realised that Tommy’s shoes were gone.

6.  What happened to the window?

The window was broken because tommy hit the baseball into the the window

7.  Why did Tommy leave?

Tommy left the house because he knew his mum was going to kill him

Today was a special day in Ms. Smith’s class.  Some of the children were walking around the room, some of them were standing in small groups, and some of them were at their desks, putting finishing touches on cardboard mailboxes.  After coloring a cool flame on the side of his race car mailbox, Johnny hopped off his chair, strutted over to Veronica’s desk, and dropped a small white envelope into her princess castle mailbox.  Veronica blushed and played with her hair. While this was happening, Bartleby was frantically trying to put a small white envelope into everyone’s mailbox. After giving one to Ms. Smith, Bartleby pulled out a medium-sized red envelope from his pocket.  He blushed and tried to put it in Veronica’s mailbox, but it wouldn’t quite fit. Bartleby struggled with it for a few seconds and then ran off with the envelope. Veronica rolled her eyes and popped her gum.

8.  Why is today a special day?

It was valentine's day

9.  Which boy does Veronica like?

Veronica like johnny

10. Why did Bartleby run?  

Bartleby ran because he didn't want Veronica to know he was putting the envelope in her mailbox