Reading Standards for Literature > Story Structure and Meaning (CCSS.RL.6.5) Practice Test

At lunch, Maya hovered over the robotics club table while everyone argued about a stubborn motor. Wires curled like spaghetti, and the metal frame sagged on one side. Maya was new, and her hands felt too big for the tiny screws. When the robot jolted and went still, the room went silent except for the clock. Someone muttered, "It's broken. The competition is this Friday." Maya stared at a small gear lodged crooked on its axle. The teacher started to suggest packing up, but Maya leaned closer.

"Maybe the gear wasn't broken; maybe it was a puzzle." She whispered it to herself first, then louder. The sentence sounded brave in the quiet.

She asked for needle-nose pliers and a flashlight. Kneeling, she saw a hairline crack on the bracket and a missing spacer. She drew a quick sketch on a napkin, arrows pointing where the gear needed to sit. Others gathered around, offering parts and ideas. The room shifted from sighs to plans. They didn't finish the fix before the bell, but they left the table with a list and a meeting time for after school. As Maya tossed her napkin into her backpack, the sketch crinkled like a ticket to a place she wasn't afraid to go.

The canyon opened like a cracked book, its layers of stone stacked with stories. Theo checked the paper map Gran had drawn years ago, each landmark sketched in pencil: Coyote Rock, Ladder Gulch, Cottonwood Bend. Rin kept an eye on the sky, where wisps of cloud tugged at the sun.

They followed the dry wash until the walls pressed in. A narrow bridge of stone arched across a shadowed gap, just where the map said it would. Beyond it, the path curled along the base of a cliff. Their plan was simple: reach Cottonwood Bend by sunset and set up camp by the clear pool.

At the next turn, the path dissolved into scree. Theo unfolded the map again, but the bottom edge was smudged from years in Gran's backpack. The tiny ladder mark—Ladder Gulch—was a blur. "If we miss the ladder, the wash goes into a drop," Rin said, peering ahead. They traded a look, then chose the only safe option: climb the gentler north slope to the rim and circle around. The climb would be longer, and the light was already slanting gold.