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Daily 
Warm-Up
10
Fiction: Mystery/Suspense/Adventure
The Kraken
The captain breathed a sigh of relief with the dawning 
of the new day. All through the night, his crew had 
been pulling out all the stops in a race for survival.
Every hand at the oars, the ship had practically flown 
away from the danger of that thing. The captain 
believed it was an enormous pirate ship, robbing 
unarmed merchant ships, and then sinking their 
victims. The crewmen, however, were haunted by 
stories told in the dark of the night at the taverns in 
town. The legends claimed a horrific beast roamed the 
seas, preying on ships, eating them whole in the night.
The Kraken! The beast would appear during the worst 
storms, rising out of the sea, wrapping its tentacles 
around the ships and crushing them. Rumor had it that 
the previous night the ship SeaStar had been 
transporting spices from India to England when it hit.
First the clouds came, then the rains, then the sleet.
The sailor in the crow’s nest had spotted it first. A large 
shape—black against the fog of the night—was gaining 
on them! The captain, concerned for the welfare of 
vessel and crew, had ordered the crew to sail northeast 
toward the coastline away from the storm and the 
phantom. They had fled in frenzy, fear feeding their 
speed toward the sunrise. The captain looked to the 
dawn again. Whether it was a pirate ship as he 
suspected or a large sea monster, it didn’t matter. What 
mattered was that it never showed itself in the daytime.
Now that the sun was up, the crew gave a resounding 
cheer. They were safe for the moment.
Text Questions
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 1 . What does it mean to say the captain was concerned for the crew’s welfare?
a. He wanted them to stay healthy.
b. He was concerned about their well-being and safety.
c. He worked for the government to provide aid.
d. He worked hard to provide benefits for the crew.
 2 . Based on what you read, which was not a possibility for the identity of the mysterious thing?
a. a pirate ship
b. a horrific beast
c. an unidentified island
d. a violent storm
 3 . Which evidence best supports the theory that the mysterious thing was a storm?
a. The clouds, rain, and sleet came.
b. It robbed their ship of its cargo.
c. It had been eaten during the night.
d. It disappeared during the daytime.
 4 . How do members of the crew react to the threat?
a. They determine to fight the beast head-on.
b. They flee in fear and cheer when the threat disappears with the dawn.
c. They hide from the pirates to escape capture.
d. They man the lifeboats to escape potential disaster.
 5 . Why do you think the mysterious thing disappears in the daytime?
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#3658 Daily Warm-Ups: Reading

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