year

3
national assessment program
literacy and numeracy

READING
2008

0:45 Time available for students to complete

test: 45 minutes
Use 2B or HB
pencil only

© Curriculum Corporation, on behalf of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, 2008.
 YEAR 3 reading
Read What will we do now? on page 2 of the magazine
and answer questions 1 to 6.

1 Who wanted to make a castle?

Shade one
Jim bubble.

Ella

Beth

Vincent

2 Who didn’t want to go to the creek?

Jim

Ella

Beth

Vincent

3 Where is the spaceship?

in the park

at the creek

in the garden

inside the house

4 Who didn’t want to do anything outside?

Jim

Ella

Beth

Vincent

© MCEETYA 2008


 YEAR 3 reading
5 When did the children go fishing?
Shade one
last week bubble.

yesterday

this morning

a long time ago

6 From reading the story, what do we know about the children?

They fight a lot.

They are all brothers.

They live in the same house.

They do lots of things together.

Read Chimpanzees on page 3 of the magazine

and answer questions 7 to 12.

7 The text tells us that chimpanzees eat

tools.

sticks.

leaves.

termites.

8 The text tells us This chimp is hooking termites out of the ground with a stick.
Which word could you use instead of hooking?
hitting

getting

cooking

drinking
© MCEETYA 2008


 YEAR 3 reading
9 What is this chimpanzee doing?
Shade one
looking for termites bubble.

smelling leaves

drinking water Image: Tom McHugh /

Science Photo Library

washing itself

10 Chimpanzees need juicy fruit.

Why does the fruit need to be juicy?
to make it taste good

to give chimps a drink

to make chimps thirsty

to make it good for termites

11 The text tells us what chimpanzees can do.

This suggests that chimpanzees are
clever.

careful.

friendly.

naughty.

12 What would be another good title for this text?

How chimpanzees play

How chimpanzees grow

Where chimpanzees live

How chimpanzees use tools

© MCEETYA 2008


 YEAR 3 reading
Read Why elephants and emus cannot fly on page 4 of the magazine
and answer questions 13 to 18.

13 The branch fell on the man’s head because

Shade one
the man was careless. bubble.

the elephants landed in the tree.

the elephants tried to climb the tree.

the man took away the elephants’ wings.

14 The man used his powers of thought to

punish the elephants.

reward the elephants.

frighten the elephants.

surprise the elephants.

15 Which word best describes Emu in the Australian story?

hero

cheat

coward

show-off

16 Why did Kookaburra really set up a competition with Emu?

to teach Emu a lesson

to teach Emu to f ly better

to show off in front of Emu

to see whose wings were the best

© MCEETYA 2008


 YEAR 3 reading
17 At the end of the Australian story, what happened to Emu’s wings?
They shrank.
Shade one
bubble.
They disappeared.

They grew stronger.

They became more colourful.

18 What is the same about the Indian folktale and the Australian story?
Both make fun of silly characters.

Both show that animals are clever.

Both tell how simple life used to be.

Both explain why something is the way it is.

Read Ride to School Day on page 5 of the magazine

and answer questions 19 to 25.

19 How does Sandy feel about riding to school?

She enjoys it.

She finds it tiring.

She finds it boring.

She thinks it is easy.

20 Why did Jayden take part in Ride to School Day?

He thought it was a good idea.

He wanted to get better at riding.

His parents thought it was a good idea.

His parents organised Ride to School Day.

© MCEETYA 2008


 YEAR 3 reading
21 From what Monika writes, she probably rides to school when
it is a windy day. Shade one
bubble.

the weather is fine.

she has plenty of time.

she can ride with her friends.

22 Andrew writes that he rides to school because

it is peaceful.

it is good exercise.

he lives close to the school.

he has just bought a new bike.

23 Who rides to school most often?

Sandy

Monika

Tamara

Andrew

24 Tamara does not ride to school very often because

she does not like her bike.

she thinks riding is special.

she thinks riding does not matter.

she lives too far away from school.

© MCEETYA 2008


 YEAR 3 reading
25 What is the purpose of the introduction?
Shade one
to describe Binkley School bubble.

to describe each of the students

to explain what the students wrote about

to explain how to organise a Ride to School Day

Read Amphibians on page 6 of the magazine

and answer questions 26 to 32.

26 The text describes amphibians as animals that

do not have lungs.

cannot swim very well.

can live on land and in water.

use their gills to eat and breathe.

27 According to the text, the world’s largest amphibian is a

frog.

toad.

newt.

salamander.

28 One of the differences between frogs and toads is that

frogs have drier skins.

frogs lay eggs in strings.

frogs develop tails as adults.

frogs can stay underwater longer.

© MCEETYA 2008


 YEAR 3 reading
29 Young frogs start to breathe with their heads above water when they
develop lungs.
Shade one
bubble.
start eating insects.

develop internal gills.

hatch out of their eggs.

30 Number the boxes 1, 2, 3 and 4 to show the correct order of stages

in a frog’s development.
Write one number
forelegs grow in each box.

hind legs grow

tail disappears

spawn hatches

31 Which part of a tadpole is described as feathery?

Shade one
tail bubble.

gills

skin

lungs

32 The main purpose of the diagram at the end of the text is to

describe the life cycle of frogs.

explain the eating habits of frogs.

highlight the differences between frogs and toads.

show the many types of amphibians that live in ponds.

© MCEETYA 2008


 YEAR 3 reading
Read The story of Opo on page 7 of the magazine
and answer questions 33 to 38.

33 When the men first noticed something in the water,

Shade one
they thought it was a bubble.

boat.

shark.

dolphin.

swimmer.

34 The word they in the third line refers to the

boats.

dolphins.

fishermen.

sea animals.

35 Why did the fisherman name the dolphin Opo?

The dolphin seemed very young.

Opo is a word that means orphan.

Opo is part of the name of a town.

The dolphin had a friendly manner.

© MCEETYA 2008

10
 YEAR 3 reading
36 Opo came up to the fishermen because she was
Shade one
shy. bubble.

wild.

alone.

curious.

37 By rolling over, Opo was showing that she

was saying goodbye.

liked being touched.

wanted something to eat.

wished the men would go away.

38 The scientist thought that Opo was probably swimming alone because she
preferred to be with humans.

had been frightened away by sharks.

had become separated from her mother.

was more intelligent than other dolphins.

END OF Test

© MCEETYA 2008

11
 YEAR 3 reading practice questions
Read Tim on the back cover of the magazine
and answer questions P1 to P2.

P1 The story takes place on

Shade one
Monday. bubble.

Tuesday.

Wednesday.

Thursday.

Friday.

P2 Number the boxes 1, 2, 3 and 4 to show the order in which

Tim dressed.
Write one number
shoes in each box.

shorts

shirt

socks

© Curriculum Corporation, on behalf of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, 2008.