Name:_____________________________________ Section:________________________ Date:_______________
STUDY GUIDE
2-Part Reading Comprehension Questions and Nouns
GRAMMAR For Tuesday’s quiz, study the types and rules for nouns on this sheet. There are a couple of examples here, and
you can refer to your grammar worksheets from last week for more. (Pronouns will appear on a future grammar quiz.)
Noun Types
Abstract Nouns
Abstract nouns refer to ideas, concepts, emotions, and other “things” you can’t physically interact with. You can’t see, taste,
touch, smell, or hear something named with an abstract noun.
Success seems to come easily to certain people.
He received an award for his bravery.
Collective Nouns
A collective noun is a word that refers to a group. It can be either singular or plural, but is usually used in the singular.
Watch out for that swarm of bees.
Our class graduates two years from now.
Common Nouns
Common nouns are used to refer to general things rather than specific examples. Common nouns are not normally
capitalized unless they are used as part of a proper name or are placed at the beginning of a sentence.
Stack those boxes carefully.
Would you like a cookie with your coffee?
Concrete Nouns
Concrete nouns are words used for things you can touch, see, taste, feel, and hear – things you interact with every day.
Please remember to buy oranges.
Take out a pencil and do your worksheet.
Proper Nouns
Proper nouns have two distinct features: They name specific one-of-a-kind items, and they begin with capital letters, no
matter where they occur within a sentence.
Cleopatra is the cutest kitten ever.
I can see Jupiter tonight.
Name:_____________________________________ Section:________________________ Date:_______________
Possessive Nouns
GOOD NEWS…there’s only TWO POSSIBLE ways of making a noun possessive! A 50-50 shot without even knowing the rules!
Add an apostrophe + “s”
Add only an apostrophe
SINGULAR POSSESSIVES…A singular possessive noun shows one thing’s ownership of something else.
In Mr. Andrews’s class, we follow the famous grammar guide The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. This means that we
ALWAYS make a singular possessive, no matter what letter the word ends in, by adding apostrophe + “s”
Ms. Jones’s Spanish class was noisy.
I ate my mother’s batch of cookies in less than five minutes!
PLURAL POSSESSIVES…A plural possessive noun shows more than one thing owning something else.
Most plural nouns end in “s” and receive just an apostrophe at the end to show possession.
The witches’ brooms would not fly.
Many towns’ fire trucks are red.
Nouns with irregular plurals that do not end in “s” receive apostrophe + “s” to show possession.
The sheep’s wool was dyed green.
Several children’s coloring books had pictures of zombies in them.
READING COMPREHENSION For Wednesday’s quiz, you will read a brief passage then answer two-part
comprehension questions. The first part will test your comprehension of the text, the second part will ask you to answer a
question that shows how you arrived at the answer to part 1. An example of such a question is below.
1. Part A
Which sentence best states the central idea of the first section (paragraphs 1-4) of “Wizard of Odds”?
A. Genetics are as fanciful as a flying broomstick.
B. Harry Potter novels can educate students about how people inherit different traits.
C. In Harry Potter’s world wizards are born not made.
D. Both of Hermione’s parents are muggles, yet she is one of the best students at the Hogwarts School.
Part B
Which sentence from “Wizard of Odds” best supports the answer in Part A?
A. “In real life, certain diseases such as cystic fibrosis, are inherited in a similar manner.”
B. “If wizarding is determined by recessive alleles, it should have turned up more often in the Granger family
pedigree.”
C. “Because both of Harry’s parents had magical powers, each one must have had two recessive alleles (ww).”
D. “Geneticists call the characteristics that we inherit from our parents traits.”