Student@ competition
Reading Comprehension

If you could hear me tell this story aloud, you would know from my accent that I’m not originally from the United States. My family is from Saint Petersburg, a large city in the far western part of Russia. We came to Boston three years ago because my father was invited to teach at a large university in this city.

Fortunately I already knew English fairly well before we got here. Still, my stomach became knotted up every time I thought about being in an unfamiliar place. For one thing, I would not have a single friend in the United States. For another, as the oldest of three children in my family, I thought I needed to set a good example for my brother and sister and make my parents proud.

With this weight on my shoulders, I started my new life here. I sat at my desk and made a list of goals for myself.

1. Make one new friend each day.

2. Earn the top grades in every subject.

3. Be the top athlete in every sport.

4. Help my sister and my brother adjust to their new life.

I taped this list to my bathroom mirror and reread it before leaving for my first day of school in the United States.

At the time the list seemed entirely reasonable to me. My mother thought otherwise. After reading it, she exclaimed, "Mikhail, you cannot possibly believe that you must accomplish these things! Your father and I don’t expect you to be Superman." Maybe they didn’t expect me to perform miracles, but I still wanted to excel in every possible way.

How did I do with the goals on my list? Not so well. First, I did not make a new friend every day, because good friendships take time. You can’t collect friends the way you do baseball cards or marbles. Second, I worked hard but discovered that some subjects were easier for me than others. And that was O.K. Third, in my quest to be incomparable in all sports, I ended up spraining my wrist during a soccer game and breaking an ankle running track. And as for goal number four, I learned that my sister and my brother wanted to live their own life here in the United States, without their older brother’s intrusiveness. In fact, they’ve probably adjusted better than I have. They haven’t broken a single bone! So I decided that I needed a new list.

1. Be kind to others.

2. Do my best every day at school.

3. Give my best effort to the sports I love to play.

4. Be a role model for my sister and my brother but learn from them as well.

5. Remember that Superman is a fictional character!

1. Why did Mikhail’s family move to the United States?

A Mikhail wanted to attend a school where he could play sports.

B Mikhail’s father was offered a teaching position at a university.

C Mikhail’s family had other relatives living in Boston.

D Mikhail needed to improve his English-speaking skills.

2 Which idea from the story best shows that Mikhail understands that his original expectations were unrealistic?

A Mikhail believes he must set a good example.

B Mikhail decides to make a new list of goals.

C Mikhail realizes that he cannot live his sister’s and brother’s life for them.

D Mikhail thinks he will be a disgrace if he doesn’t succeed.

3 In paragraph 2, the author uses the words "knotted up" to show Mikhail’s feelings of —

A anxiety B curiosity

C secretiveness D caution

4 What is one of the main reasons Mikhail sets high expectations for himself?

A. He wants to be a good role model for his siblings.

B. He wants to do as well in his American school as he did in his Russian school.

C. He wants to be one of the most popular people at his school.

D. He wants his parents to compare him to Superman.

5 What is Mikhail’s problem at the beginning of the story?

A. Mikhail’s siblings are eager to help Mikhail achieve his goals.

B Mikhail is excited about being in a new country.

C Mikhail sets impossible expectations for himself.

D Mikhail feels that he must help his siblings.

6 An important theme in the story is that

A showing concern for others is critical for self-improvement

B facing one’s fears is important in accomplishing goals

C learning to accept oneself is necessary for happiness

D being willing to try new things is the key to success

7 In the story, use of the first-person point of view allows the authors to —

A share each narrator’s inner thoughts and feelings

B concentrate on creating unusual characters

C focus on the most important facts

D describe each story’s setting in vivid detail

8 How does Mikhail approach his goals differently?

A. Mikhail ignores what his parents tell him.

B. Mikhail is trying to do something that will help others.

C Mikhail finds it hard to forgive himself when he makes an error.

D Mikhail is trying to excel at many things.

Answers

1. B

2. B

3. A

4. A

5. C

6. C

7. A

8. D