B-44 Appendix B Informal Reading Inventory

SILENT READING24

Introduction: Agents had advertised in Lo Tung’s village for laborers to help build the railroad
in California. They offered houses to live in, plenty of food, and thirty dollars a month. The
passage to go was fifty-four dollars. Read the story to find out why Lo Tung signed on. Then I
will ask you questions about the story. Read it carefully.

Fifty-four dollars was a fortune, and impossible for his mother! The agent had allowed
them to borrow from him. That was when he’d complained of Lo Tung’s size.
© 2011. Pearson. For Reading Diagnosis and Improvement, 6e by Michael F. Opitz, Dorothy Rubin, and James A. Erekson. All rights reserved.

“Not a penny of your wages will be yours till you pay me back,” he had warned.
Lo Tung had agreed. He would have agreed to almost anything. Not that he wanted to
go to America. The thought of leaving his home brought tears to his eyes. But it was clearly
his duty. He was, after all, the eldest son. Since his father’s death the family responsibility
had been his. If he went, his debt to the agent would be cleared in two months. Then he
could begin sending money home for his mother and his sisters, and his little brother. He
had to believe that he could save enough to go home himself some day.
Thinking of home here in the heat of the freight car made loneliness rise in him like water
in a swamp. Fear was bad, but loneliness was worse. He would not allow himself to
remember.
“We are slowing,” Wei said. “I can see through a crack.”
Someone else announced, “We are here.”
Tired men and boys staggered up, swaying, hoisting their bedrolls. As the train chugged
to a stop they waited quietly for what was to come.
When the doors opened Lo Tung saw that it was night outside, the sky filled with a million
crystal stars.
“American stars,” he whispered to Wei, pointing upward.
“Are they the same that shine over China or ...”
“Out! Everyone out!” Men waited beside the train, big, bulky men who cast massive
shadows.
“Hurry! Get a move on!”
The words were not in Lo Tung’s language but he understood the tone.

Comprehension Questions
Points
(Literal) 1. How were Lo Tung and his mother able to get enough money for Lo Tung 10
to go to America? (The agent had allowed them to borrow from him.)
(Inference) 2. Why was Lo Tung going to America? (Because his family needed the 10
money; he couldn’t earn the money they needed in his village.)
(Inference) 3. Why did he feel he had to support his family? (Because his father was dead 10
and he was the eldest son)
(Literal) 4. How long would it take to clear his debt to the agent? (Two months) 10
(Inference) 5. Does Lo Tung expect to stay in America? Explain. (No, the story states that 10
he had to believe that he could save enough to go home himself some day.)
(Literal) 6. What does Lo Tung feel is worse than fear? (Loneliness) 10
(Inference) 7. What simile is used to describe Lo Tung’s loneliness? Explain the simile. 10
(Loneliness rose in him like water in a swamp; when it rains, water in a
swamp rises very quickly, and that’s how fast his loneliness rose.)
(Inference) 8. How do we know it was a clear night when they arrived at their destination? 10
(The sky was filled with a million crystal stars.)

24Ibid., p. 240.
 Appendix B Informal Reading Inventory B-45

(Literal) 9. What kind of men were waiting beside the train? (Big, bulky men who 10
cast massive shadows)
(Main idea) 10. What is the main idea of the story? (Even though Lo Tung does not 10
want to leave his family, he goes to America so he can earn money for
his family in China.)

Scoring Scale
Levels Comprehension Errors
Independent 0–10 points
© 2011. Pearson. For Reading Diagnosis and Improvement, 6e by Michael F. Opitz, Dorothy Rubin, and James A. Erekson. All rights reserved.

Instructional 11–20 points

Frustration 50 points or more