ISEE Lower Level Reading : Identifying and Analyzing Details in Literature Passages

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for ISEE Lower Level Reading

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Example Questions

Example Question #2 : How To Locate And Analyze Details In Fiction Passages

Adapted from The Luckiest Girl in the School by Angela Brazil (1916)

December and January were scarcely good months for taking pictures, but Winona attempted some time exposures, with varying results. It was difficult to make the children realize the necessity of keeping absolutely still, and they ruined several of her pictures by grinning or moving. She secured quite a nice photo of the house, however, and several of the village, and promised herself better luck with family portraits when the summer came round again. She turned a large cupboard in the attic into her dark-room, and spent many hours experimenting with chemicals. She had urgent offers of help, but rejected them steadfastly, greatly to the disappointment of her would-be assistants. In the summer she meant to try all kinds of experiments. She had visions of rigging up a shelter made of leaves and branches, and taking a series of magnificent snap-shots of wild birds and animals, and she certainly intended to secure records of the sports at school. In the meantime she must content herself with landscape and still life.

Which of these is Winona planning to photograph in the summer?

Possible Answers:

Wild animals 

Her family

All of the answer choices

Wild birds 

Her sports teams

Correct answer:

All of the answer choices

Explanation:

The author reveals how Winona is planning to photograph “family portraits when the summer came round again." The author also writes, ”She had visions of rigging up a shelter made of leaves and branches, and taking a series of magnificent snap-shots of wild birds and animals, and she certainly intended to secure records of the sports at school.” This means that she plans to photograph all of the answer choices in the summer. 

Example Question #22 : Identifying And Analyzing Details In Literature Passages

Adapted from "The Lion’s Share" in The Fables of Aesop by Aesop (trans. Jacobs 1902)

The Lion once went hunting with the Fox, the Jackal, and the Wolf. They hunted and they hunted till at last they surprised a Stag, and soon took its life. Then came the question of how the spoil should be divided. "Quarter me this Stag," roared the Lion; so the other animals skinned it and cut it into four parts. Then the Lion took his stand in front of the carcass and pronounced judgment: "The first quarter is for me in my capacity as King of Beasts; the second is mine as arbiter; another share comes to me for my part in the chase; and as for the fourth quarter, well, as for that, I should like to see which of you will dare to lay a paw upon it." "Humph," grumbled the Fox as he walked away with his tail between his legs; but he spoke in a low growl. “You may share the labors of the great, but you will not share the spoil."

Which of these animals is not mentioned in the story?

Possible Answers:

Wolf

Fox 

Tiger

Jackal 

All of these answers 

Correct answer:

Tiger

Explanation:

This story mentions a lion, a jackal, a wolf, a fox, and a deer. It does not mention any tigers.

Example Question #23 : Identifying And Analyzing Details In Literature Passages

Adapted from "The Lion and the Mouse" by Aesop (trans. Jacobs 1909)

Once when a Lion was asleep a little Mouse began running up and down on top of him; this soon woke up the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon the mouse, and opened his big jaws to swallow him. "Pardon, O King," cried the little Mouse: "forgive me this time, I shall never forget it: who knows but maybe I shall be able to assist you one of these days?" The Lion was so tickled at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him that he lifted up his paw and let him go. Sometime after the Lion was caught in a trap, and the hunters who desired to carry him alive to the King, tied him to a tree while they went in search of a wagon to carry him on. Just then the little Mouse happened to pass by, and seeing the sad plight in which the Lion was in, went up to him and soon gnawed away the ropes that bound the King of the Beasts. "Was I not right?" said the little Mouse. “Little friends may prove great friends and a small mercy can go a long way.”

Why does the lion not eat the mouse?

Possible Answers:

The mouse is too quick for the lion.

Lions do not ever eat mice.

The lion is tied down and helpless.

The lion has just eaten and is not hungry.

The mouse promises to help the lion in the future.

Correct answer:

The mouse promises to help the lion in the future.

Explanation:

The author says, “The Lion was so tickled at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him that he lifted up his paw and let him go.” This tells us that the lion only refuses to eat the mouse because the mouse promises to help the lion in the future.

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