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Daily 
Warm-Up
9
Fiction: Mystery/Suspense/Adventure
The Case of the Missing Reed
Nicholas scooted into the band room seconds before 
the final bell. He hadn’t intended to be tardy, as he 
wanted the extra time to switch gears in his thinking 
from schoolwork to the upcoming band festival. It 
would have been helpful to have a few minutes to 
review the music before rehearsal, as well. After 
opening his clarinet case, he reached for his reed 
guard to take out a new reed for the instrument.
“What? Where are my reeds?” Sheets of music 
scattered as Nicholas frantically searched the case.
The reeds were nowhere to be found. He calmed down 
enough to quickly assemble the clarinet and check to 
see if he had a reed in place from the previous practice.
Nicholas sighed with relief at the sight of the slim, light-
colored piece of wood held in place on the mouthpiece 
with the ligature, or clamp. Upon looking closely, he 
realized the reed was split, and now he had no way to 
replace it.
Nicholas began to panic, the festival was tomorrow, and 
he wanted to keep his first-chair position.
“Mr. Lehman, have you seen my reed guard?” With 
effort, Nicholas kept his tone even and his voice calm.
“It’s not in my case, and the reed I have is split.”
Mr. Lehman looked up from arranging music on his 
director’s stand. “Did you have it yesterday?”
At the risk of having it sound like a lame excuse, 
Nicholas said, “Yes. It just disappeared.”
Looking out over the gathering band students, Mr. 
Lehman posed the question to the class, asking also if 
anyone had a reed Nicholas could use for rehearsal.
“I’ll look at home, sir, just in case,” Nicholas assured his 
instructor. There had to be some explanation; he was 
conscientious with his band equipment.
Text Questions
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 1 . What does the word conscientious mean as it is used in the text?
a. He always used the right band equipment.
b. He did not steal other people’s band equipment.
c. He took care of his equipment.
d. He was strict about who could borrow his equipment.
 2 . What will happen if Nicholas doesn’t find the reed guard?
a. He will be disqualified from band.
b. He will play with a split reed in the band festival.
c. He will have to borrow a reed for rehearsal.
d. He will lose his first chair position in band.
 3 . Why did Nicholas want to arrive early to band rehearsal?
a. He had been tardy too many times already.
b. He wanted to review the music before rehearsal.
c. He wanted to search for the missing reed guard.
d. He needed to assemble his instrument.
 4 . Which of the following statements does not express one of Nicholas’s concerns about the missing reed guard?
a. The reed he had was split.
b. He didn’t have any other replacement reeds.
c. The band festival was the next day.
d. He was conscientious about his band equipment.
 5 . What are some things Nicholas could do to solve the mystery?
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#3658 Daily Warm-Ups: Reading 
144 
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