Reading Comprehension

Word Helper

observatory – a building for watching the sky galaxy – a huge group of billions of stars Polaris – the North Star, used for navigation light-year – the distance light travels in one year

📚 Read this passage

Mia pressed her nose against the cold observatory window. Outside, the night sky blazed with thousands of stars. She was searching for Polaris — the North Star — the one her grandfather had taught her about last summer.

"Polaris never moves," he had told her, pointing up. "Sailors used it to find their way across the ocean for hundreds of years."

Mia swept her telescope slowly across the sky. There was Orion's Belt — three bright stars in a row. And there, just above it, a faint smudge of light: the Andromeda Galaxy, two million light-years away. But still no Polaris.

Then she remembered what her grandfather had said: find the Big Dipper first. Follow the two stars at the end of its cup, and they will point straight to Polaris. She tilted the telescope — and there it was, steady and bright, exactly where it had always been.

✏️ Answer these questions

1. Who taught Mia about the North Star? (1 mark)

2. Give another name for Polaris. (1 mark)

3. Name two things Mia saw through her telescope before finding Polaris. (2 marks)

4. How far away is the Andromeda Galaxy? (1 mark)

5. How did Mia finally find Polaris? Explain in your own words. (2 marks)

6. Why do you think sailors used Polaris to navigate? Use the passage to help you. (2 marks)

⭐ Think Deeper (1 mark)

7. How do you think Mia felt when she finally found Polaris? Use clues from the passage.

✅ Suggested Answers

1. Mia's grandfather taught her about the North Star.

2. Polaris / the North Star. (Either accepted.)

3. Any two of: Orion's Belt (three bright stars in a row); the Andromeda Galaxy (a faint smudge of light); the Big Dipper. (2 marks for two correct; 1 mark for one.)

4. Two million light-years away.

5. She first found the Big Dipper, then followed the two stars at the end of its cup, which pointed straight to Polaris. (Award 2 marks for a clear explanation; 1 mark for a partial answer.)

6. Accept answers based on the text: Polaris never moves in the sky / it stays in the same place, so sailors could always use it to know which direction was north. (Award 2 marks for a developed answer; 1 mark for a basic one.)

7. Accept reasonable inferences: e.g., relieved, happy, excited, pleased. Pupils should refer to something in the passage (e.g., the fact that she had been searching, or that it was exactly where it had always been). (1 mark.)

📌 Curriculum Links

• Retrieval: Questions 1, 2, 4 — locate and retrieve information from the text.

• Inference: Questions 6, 7 — deduce meaning using evidence from the text.

• Sequence / Explanation: Question 5 — summarise and explain events.

• Vocabulary in context: Word Helper section; encourages pupils to use context clues.

📖 Reading Comprehension – The Lost Star

The Lost Star

Reading Comprehension — Answer Key

The Lost Star