Remarkable / Worksheets / Grade 5 English / The starfish in the tide pool
A CAPS Grade 5 English reading comprehension: a story called "The starfish in the tide pool", with 12 questions (21 marks), a word list and a memo.
Story · CAPS Grade 5
Low tide had pulled the sea far back from the beach at Jeffreys Bay, leaving the rocks shining in the morning sun. Gulls wheeled overhead, and the air smelled of salt and seaweed. Zinhle carried her bucket carefully across the sand. Beside her, her friend Ruan hopped from rock to rock, and behind them walked Ruan’s Oupa, with his hat pulled low against the wind.
“Come and look!” Ruan called. He was kneeling beside a tide pool, a small pool of seawater left behind among the rocks. It was like a tiny underwater garden. Pink seaweed swayed gently, a hermit crab dragged its borrowed shell across the bottom, and in the middle lay a bright orange starfish. Tiny silver fish darted between the stones.
“Wow,” whispered Zinhle. She had only ever seen starfish in books.
“I’m taking it home,” Ruan announced. Before anyone could answer, he scooped the starfish into his bucket. “It will be the best thing in my bedroom!”
Zinhle’s stomach tightened. She remembered the sign at the car park: Look, but please do not take. Her teacher had once told the class that tide pool animals need cool, salty water to stay alive. “Ruan, I don’t think that is a good idea,” she said quietly. “Look at its arms. They are curling up.”
“It’s only one starfish,” Ruan muttered, but his ears turned red.
Oupa had been watching from a flat rock. He did not shout. He just looked into the bucket and said, “The tide will be back in two hours. Where will this little fellow be then?”
Ruan stared at the starfish. It lay very still, and its orange arms had turned pale. Without a word, he carried the bucket back to the tide pool and tipped it gently. For a moment nothing happened. Then one arm uncurled, then another, and the starfish crept slowly under a ledge.
“Well done, my boy,” said Oupa. “A good scientist looks, takes photographs and leaves everything as he found it.”
So Ruan took photographs with Oupa’s phone instead. By lunchtime, the waves had crept back over the rocks like a shy cat, and the tide pool had disappeared under the sea. “Thanks for stopping me,” Ruan whispered to Zinhle as they climbed back over the rocks. “It’s home now,” he said, smiling.
Read the story, then answer the questions.
Where did the story take place?
Zinhle had often seen real starfish before.
Complete the sentence.
A hermit crab dragged its borrowed across the bottom of the pool.
What did the sign at the car park say?
According to Oupa, what does a good scientist do? Write two things.
Number these events from 1 to 5 to show the order in which they happened.
Match each character to what he or she did.
How did Ruan feel when Zinhle spoke to him? How do you know?
Why did Oupa ask, “Where will this little fellow be then?”
Ruan carried the bucket back to the tide pool “without a word”. What do you think he had realised?
Do you think Oupa was right to speak calmly to Ruan instead of shouting at him? Give a reason.
The writer says the waves crept back “like a shy cat”. What are the waves being compared to? Why is this a good comparison?
Total 21 marks
Reading and writing · CAPS Grade 5 · 21 marks
Accept any answer that says the same thing in the learner’s own words. Where the answer is marked “any”, accept any correct answer from the text.
| Q | Level | Answer | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Literal | B. On a beach at Jeffreys Bay | 1 |
| 2 | Literal | False | 1 |
| 3 | Literal | A hermit crab dragged its borrowed shell across the bottom of the pool. | 1 |
| 4 | Literal | Look, but please do not take.Accept the words of the sign, or look but do not take. | 1 |
| 5 | Literal | Any two: looks, takes photographs, leaves everything as he found it.1 mark for each correct thing, up to 2 marks. | 2 |
| 6 | Reorganisation |
| 3 |
| 7 | Reorganisation | 1 → B Ruan = scooped up the starfish and later put it back 2 → C Zinhle = told Ruan that taking the starfish was not a good idea 3 → A Oupa = asked a question that made Ruan think | 3 |
| 8 | Inference | He felt embarrassed or annoyed. His ears turned red.1 mark for embarrassed, ashamed, annoyed or cross. 1 mark for the clue: his ears turned red, or he muttered. | 2 |
| 9 | Inference | A. He wanted Ruan to think about what would happen to the starfish away from its pool. | 1 |
| 10 | Inference | He had realised that the starfish was suffering and belonged in its pool, and that Zinhle and Oupa were right.1 mark for realising that the starfish needed its pool or was in trouble. 1 mark for realising that he was wrong, or that Zinhle and Oupa were right. | 2 |
| 11 | Evaluation | Yes. Oupa’s calm question made Ruan think and decide for himself to put the starfish back.Accept a reasoned opinion that uses the story. 1 mark for an opinion and 1 mark for a reason, for example: yes, because Ruan listened and changed his mind; or no, because Ruan should have listened to Zinhle at once. | 2 |
| 12 | Appreciation | A shy cat. Both move slowly and quietly, a little at a time.1 mark for a shy cat. 1 mark for a reason, such as moving slowly, softly or quietly. | 2 |
Total 21 marks
| Level | Marks | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Literal | 6 | 29% |
| Reorganisation | 6 | 29% |
| Inference | 5 | 24% |
| Evaluation | 2 | 10% |
| Appreciation | 2 | 10% |