Through the Foothills with a Flock of Sheep
by John Muir from My First Summer in the Sierra
Chapter I passage: John Muir was founder of the Sierra Club and a noted American naturalist. As a young man in 1869, he spent the summer exploring the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains with shepherds taking a flock of sheep to a high pasture. This passage is from his diary of that summer which was published in 1911. Students will read the passage and answer questions on the language Muir uses and the central idea.
Reading Comprehension Passage
Through the Foothills with a Flock of Sheep
by John Muir from My First Summer in the Sierra
Reading Comprehension Questions
Vocabulary List
Vocabulary List
Each of the vocabulary words below are used in the reading passage. As you read the passage, pay attention to context clues that suggest the word’s meaning.
1. Stratified
2. Inquiring
3. Fondly
4. Foragers
5. Hastily
6. Crevices
7. Dreary
8. Seldom
Context Clues
Context Clues
Using context clues from the sentences in the passage, underline the correct meaning of the word in boldface.
1. “…the foothills of metamorphic gold-bearing slates dip below the stratified deposits of the Central Valley.”
a. thick b. muddy c. rocky d. layered
2. “We had not gone more than a mile before some of the old leaders of the flock showed by the eager, inquiring way they ran…”
a. confusing b. questioning c. wild d. haphazard
3. “…their fondly quavering calls interrupted now and then by hastily snatched mouthfuls of withered grass.”
a. lovingly b. loudly c. muffled d. familiar
4. “… with a crooked, ever-changing point made up of the strongest foragers…”
a. jumpers b. eaters c. hunters d. fighters
5. “…hastily explored nooks in the rocks and bushes for grass and leaves…”
a. curiously b. quickly c. calmly d. sleepily
6. “The trees…with pale blue-green leaves and white bark, sparsely planted on the thinnest soil or in crevices of rocks beyond the reach of grass fires.”
a. piles b. holes c. cracks d. arrangements
7. “Now the scorching weather makes everything dreary.”
a. dreamy b. exciting c. gloomy d. rainy
8. “A few rattlesnakes lie coiled in out-of-the-way places, but are seldom seen.”
a. often b. commonly c. rarely d. never