SSAT Middle Level Reading : SSAT Middle Level Reading Comprehension
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SSAT Middle Level Reading
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : How To Locate And Analyze Details In Poetry Passages
Adapted from “The Duel” by Eugene Field (1888)
The gingham dog and the calico cat
Side by side on the table sat;
'Twas half-past twelve, and (what do you think!)
Not one nor t'other had slept a wink!
The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate
Appeared to know as sure as fate
There was going to be a terrible spat.
(I wasn't there; I simply state
What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)
The gingham dog went "bow-wow-wow!"
And the calico cat replied "mee-ow!"
The air was littered, an hour or so,
With bits of gingham and calico,
While the old Dutch clock in the chimney-place
Up with its hands before its face,
For it always dreaded a family row!
(Now mind: I'm only telling you
What the old Dutch clock declares is true!)
The Chinese plate looked very blue,
And wailed, "Oh, dear! What shall we do?"
But the gingham dog and the calico cat
Wallowed this way and tumbled that,
Employing every tooth and claw
In the awfullest way you ever saw--
And, oh! how the gingham and calico flew!
(Don't fancy I exaggerate!
I got my views from the Chinese plate!)
Next morning where the two had sat
They found no trace of the dog or cat;
And some folks think unto this day
That burglars stole the pair away!
But the truth about the cat and the pup
Is this: They ate each other up!
Now what do you really think of that!
(The old Dutch clock, it told me so,
And that is how I came to know.)
According to the speaker, why were the calico cat and the gingham dog nowhere to be found in the morning?
They had eaten each other up.
They had run away in the night.
Their owner had taken them to the vet.
They had moved to a new house.
They had been stolen by a burglar.
They had eaten each other up.
The last verse of the poem talks about where the dog and cat were in the morning: “Next morning where the two had sat \ they found no trace of the dog or cat; \ and some folks think unto this day \ that burglars stole the pair away! But the truth about the cat and the pup \ is this: They ate each other up!” The author tells us that many people thought they had been stolen by burglars, but in fact they were not there because they had eaten each other up.
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