The Understudy: Reading Comprehension Worksheet (Grade 4)
Free printable Grade 4 reading comprehension worksheet: an original fiction passage, "The Understudy", with 5 questions covering literal understanding, inference, vocabulary in context and main idea. Answer key included.
Reading Comprehension: The Understudy
Read the passage carefully, then answer the questions in full sentences.
Maya had wanted the lead in the school play since Year 3. When the cast list went up, she found her name beside one small word: understudy. She would only perform if Ben, who had won the part of the inventor, could not. Maya smiled for the teacher and cried on the walk home.
Still, she came to every rehearsal. She learned Ben's lines, his moves, even the way he tapped his chin when the inventor was thinking. She told herself it was just in case, but really she loved the play too much to stay away.
On opening night, Ben woke with a fever. The teacher found Maya backstage, already in costume, already whispering the first line. "Can you do it?" she asked. Maya had known the answer for weeks.
Under the lights, she tapped her chin, and the audience leaned in. She was not copying Ben. She had made the inventor her own. When the curtain fell, the applause was for her, and she had earned every clap by refusing to give up.
- 1.What part was Maya given in the play?
- 2.Why did Maya keep coming to every rehearsal?
- 3.What does 'understudy' mean?
- 4.How did Maya feel about the casting at first? How do you know?
- 5.What lesson does the story suggest?