Year 8 Comprehension Worksheet Pdf Apr 2026

A) To describe the animals living in the trench B) To compare the ocean trench to outer space C) To explain how trenches are formed D) To list the temperature in the trench

(10 marks) | Question | Marks | Answer Guide | |----------|-------|----------------| | 1 | 1 | “gnarled” | | 2 | 2 | Suggests very strong, violent, painful wind — like an animal in distress. | | 3 | 2 | Any two: seventy-three years old; legs had forgotten spring of youth; gnarled hands; last shift. | | 4 | 2 | The lighthouse light is being automated. Ezra will lose his job/role/purpose. | | 5 | 2 | He has a personal, affectionate relationship with the lighthouse; personifies it as an old friend. | | 6 | 3 | Examples: “cold and patient” (unfeeling contrast); “alone” (isolation); whispering (quiet, intimate); “one more night” (finality). | | 7 | 1 | B — compare ocean trench to outer space. | | 8 | 2 | Uses analogy/comparison: 50 jumbo jets stacked on a person. | | 9 | 2 | Giant amphipods, snailfish, bioluminescent jellyfish (any two). | | 10 | 2 | Plastic bags, aluminium cans, a discarded Christmas tree filmed at the bottom. | | 11 | 2 | It is no longer untouched/clean because humans have left rubbish even in the deepest ocean. | | 12 | 1 | B | | 13 | 1 | C | | 14 | 1 | A | | 15 | 1 | D | | 16 | 2 | He is doing it out of love, pride, or ritual — not necessity. Suggests devotion and sadness at change. | | 17 | 2 | Shocks the reader; shows absurdity of pollution reaching even the deepest, most remote place. | | 18 | 10 | Mark for: point of view maintained, 3 sensory details, 1 simile/metaphor, clear writing. |

Extension Activity (Optional) Research task: Find one image of a Fresnel lens and one image of the Mariana Trench. Write two sentences explaining how each image connects to the texts you have read. End of worksheet. Save as “Year_8_Comprehension_Worksheet.pdf” for printing or digital distribution.

Conditions here are extreme. The pressure exceeds 1,100 times standard atmospheric pressure — equivalent to 50 jumbo jets stacked on a single person. Temperatures hover just above freezing, yet hydrothermal vents spew water hot enough to melt lead. Remarkably, life thrives. Giant amphipods (shrimp-like creatures the size of rabbits), snailfish with gelatinous bodies, and bioluminescent jellyfish have adapted to the crushing dark. year 8 comprehension worksheet pdf

| Word | Meaning | |------|---------| | 12. gnarled (fiction) | A) giving off light naturally | | 13. algorithm (fiction) | B) twisted and rough | | 14. bioluminescent (non-fiction) | C) a step-by-step process or set of rules | | 15. pristine (non-fiction) | D) unspoiled, pure, original condition |

a) _________________________________________________________________

Below him, the sea chewed at the cliffs. Above, the lantern room waited, cold and patient. Tonight would be his last shift. Tomorrow, automation would arrive — a silent algorithm of sensors and LEDs — and Ezra Keeper, the last keeper of Puffin Island, would become a memory. A) To describe the animals living in the

b) ________________________________

He pushed open the heavy oak door. The glass prisms of the Fresnel lens caught the dying sun and threw rainbows across the walls. For a moment, Ezra simply stood there, breathing in the smell of polish, salt, and kerosene. Then he lit the flame.

Refer to a specific technique or fact. (2 marks) 9. Name two creatures that live in ocean trenches. (2 marks) Ezra will lose his job/role/purpose

b) _________________________________________________________________

(2 marks) 11. Explain in your own words why Dr. Lena Okonkwo says the trench is “no longer pristine.” (2 marks) Section E: Vocabulary in Context Match each word from the passages to its correct meaning. Write the letter in the box.

12. _____ 13. _____ 14. _____ 15. _____

Beneath the waves, far beyond the reach of sunlight, lies a landscape more alien than Mars. Ocean trenches — deep, narrow canyons in the seafloor — plunge to depths of over 11,000 metres. The deepest known point, the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, could swallow Mount Everest whole with room to spare.