Tuesday's Cold Read Passage

Starship to Sirius

Word Analysis/ Fictional

1      Toby sat slumped in a chair in the ship’s main hall, staring at the huge viewscreen. Sirius was a small, blue disk against the perfect blackness of space. Toby remembered when it had simply been a tiny dot among thousands of other stars. Then it had grown into a sharp, distinct point of blue light. Now it was so close, Toby felt he could almost reach out and touch it. The problem was, he didn’t know if he wanted to.

2      He knew he should be excited. This was the moment everyone on the ship had waited for their whole lives. Actually, it had been even longer than that. The Pegasus had left Earth 150 years earlier, bound for Danae, a small, Earth-like planet in orbit around Sirius. Pegasus was one of the “generational starships” that had been sent from Earth to establish colonies on habitable planets relatively nearby.

3      The key word, though, was “relatively.” Even though Sirius was close to the Sun in astronomical terms, it still took much longer than a human lifetime to travel there. Each generational starship was as big as a small city, and the passengers who left on it knew they would never see their final destination. That dream would only come true for their descendants.

4      Toby’s great- great-grandparents had been among those first passengers. How brave they must have been, Toby often thought. He doubted he had that sort of courage in him. What made him feel even worse was that he wasn’t even grateful to be one of those who would actually land on Danae. He was 15 years old. He and his friends would be the first generation to live their entire adult lives on the new planet. But as he stared at the blue disk on the screen, Toby wished the ship would just go right by Danae.

5      The touch of a hand on his shoulder startled him.

6       “Toby?” It was his mom. “I thought I’d find you here.”  She sat down next to him and gently squeezed his arm, her face practically glowing. “I can’t believe it’s only going to be a few more weeks, can you? The whole ship’s buzzing. It’s amazing.”

7      “Yeah, I guess,” was all Toby could say in reply.

8      “What’s wrong, Toby?” his mom asked. “Are you thinking about Grandpa?” I’m like an open book to Mom, Toby thought. He nodded and said, “I just can’t stop wishing he were here.”

9      “I know, Toby. He’s been on your mind a lot lately, hasn’t he?”

10   He had. It was over a year since he had died, but now that their destination was finally within reach, Toby found himself thinking about his grandfather almost daily. He had always planned on exploring the wonders of their new home with Grandpa. Toby remembered Grandpa explaining something called “fishing.”

11   “My grandfather, the one who left Earth on the Pegasus, told me all about it,” Grandpa had said. “He told me it was something that grandfathers did with their grandkids on Earth. Of course, I never had a chance to do it with him. You need lakes and streams to fish, and even the Pegasus doesn’t have those. But he made me promise that when I reached Danae and had grandkids of my own, I’d take them fishing and see what we could catch on the new planet. He told me the water on Earth was blue. I wonder, what color will it be on Danae? Well, I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”

12   Now that won’t happen, Toby thought.

13   “We all miss him, Toby,” his mother said, “but more than anybody, Grandpa would want you to be thrilled about finally getting here.”

14   He sure would, Toby thought. But without Grandpa, leaving the Pegasus-the only home he had ever known-made Toby nervous.

15   A bright streak of light appeared on the viewscreen, headed for the star. It was one of the high-speed probes regularly sent out from the ship to gather data on Danae before the Pegasus arrived. In only a few weeks, they’d be there to see the planet for themselves.

16   “I’ve been looking forward to this since before I can remember, Mom,” Toby said. “But now, Grandpa, it just won’t be the same.” Deep down, he was still excited by the adventure waiting for him. He was looking forward to the challenges ahead. But without Grandpa, Toby wondered, how am I going to do in this new world?

 Reading Buckle Down 8th  (2^nd Edition), 1995, pp. 51-54.

          1.     What is the best reference source to use for this type of selection?

           A    Folktale

           B   Contemporary Fiction

           C   Science Fiction

           D   Historical Fiction

         2.     If the suffix ful means full of something, then which word means grateful?

         F   proud

         G   happy

         H   humble

         J   thankful

         3.     Which words are synonyms for viewscreen in paragraph#1?

A    television

B  radio

C computer monitor

D telephone

                                                                           

     4.  What are the best meanings of the word habitable in paragraph #2?

F    cozy

G  nearby

H  livable

J  suitable

                                                                           

      5.     If the suffix less means without (adj.), then which word means in some way (adv.) in paragraph #3?

A   astronomical

B   generation

C   relatively

D  descendants

    6.     If a spaceship is to ride, then a viewscreen is to_____?

F touch

G watch

H taste

J  hear