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The Night Market Stall With No Number

8th grade fiction passage about an unnumbered stall at a night market: 289 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade fiction an unnumbered stall at a night market 289 words

The Night Market Stall With No Number

The night market near Sunil's house had one hundred stalls, each marked with a painted number above its awning, and he and his sister Anika knew almost every one of them by heart. When they spotted a tiny cart tucked between stall forty-two and stall forty-three, with nothing painted on it at all, they stopped to stare in complete surprise.

The cart sold only small brass keys, which were laid out in rows on a green cloth, and a sign propped beside them announced, "One key opens one thing. Choose carefully."

"That sounds like a riddle," Anika whispered. "How are we supposed to know which key to take?"

The old man behind the cart only smiled and said nothing. Sunil noticed that every key had a tiny number stamped into its handle, and that several of the numbers matched the stalls around them. He picked up the key marked fifty-eight and suggested, "Maybe a key opens the stall that carries the same number."

They hurried to stall fifty-eight, a cheerful tea seller with a stack of wooden boxes. When Sunil held up the key, the tea seller laughed and pointed to the smallest box, which was fastened with a lock. Inside were a folded paper coupon good for a free cup of tea and a note that read, "For the first people who figured it out."

It turned out that the market's founders had started this game fifty years earlier, a tradition so quiet that most visitors never noticed it. The old man changed the prizes every season, and he had never been disappointed by a curious child.

Sunil and Anika shared the tea on a bench, watching the lanterns swing gently above the crowd.

Questions

  1. What made the small cart unusual? in the text

  2. What did the cart sell? in the text

  3. How did Sunil choose which stall to try? in the text

  4. What did the key open? in the text

  5. What did the sign mean by saying one key opens one thing? think about it

  6. Why do most visitors never notice the game? think about it

Words to know

awning
a cover that sticks out over a shop to give shade
riddle
a puzzle that must be solved by thinking
coupon
a paper that can be traded for something free or cheaper
founders
the people who start something
tradition
a custom that people have kept for a long time
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 231 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

The night market near Sunil's house had one hundred stalls. Each had a painted number over its awning. Sunil and his sister Anika knew most of them. So they stopped when they saw a tiny cart between stall forty-two and stall forty-three. It had no number at all.

The cart sold small brass keys on a green cloth. A sign said, "One key opens one thing. Choose carefully."

"That is a riddle," Anika whispered. "Which key do we take?"

The old man at the cart just smiled. Sunil saw that every key had a tiny number on its handle. Some numbers matched the stalls nearby. He picked up key fifty-eight. "Maybe a key opens the stall with the same number," he said.

They ran to stall fifty-eight. It was a cheerful tea seller with a stack of wooden boxes. Sunil held up the key. The tea seller laughed and pointed to the smallest box. It had a lock. Inside were a paper coupon for a free cup of tea and a note. The note said, "For the first people who figured it out."

The founders of the market began this game fifty years ago. It is a quiet tradition, and many visitors never see it. The old man changes the prizes every season.

Sunil and Anika shared the tea on a bench. Lanterns swung above the crowd.

▲ This passage · 289 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.8

The night market near Sunil's house had one hundred stalls, each marked with a painted number above its awning, and he and his sister Anika knew almost every one of them by heart. When they spotted a tiny cart tucked between stall forty-two and stall forty-three, with nothing painted on it at all, they stopped to stare in complete surprise.

The cart sold only small brass keys, which were laid out in rows on a green cloth, and a sign propped beside them announced, "One key opens one thing. Choose carefully."

"That sounds like a riddle," Anika whispered. "How are we supposed to know which key to take?"

The old man behind the cart only smiled and said nothing. Sunil noticed that every key had a tiny number stamped into its handle, and that several of the numbers matched the stalls around them. He picked up the key marked fifty-eight and suggested, "Maybe a key opens the stall that carries the same number."

They hurried to stall fifty-eight, a cheerful tea seller with a stack of wooden boxes. When Sunil held up the key, the tea seller laughed and pointed to the smallest box, which was fastened with a lock. Inside were a folded paper coupon good for a free cup of tea and a note that read, "For the first people who figured it out."

It turned out that the market's founders had started this game fifty years earlier, a tradition so quiet that most visitors never noticed it. The old man changed the prizes every season, and he had never been disappointed by a curious child.

Sunil and Anika shared the tea on a bench, watching the lanterns swing gently above the crowd.

■ Harder · 292 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.4

The night market near Sunil's house contained one hundred stalls, each identified by a painted number above its awning, and he and his sister Anika knew almost every one of them by heart. Consequently, when they spotted a tiny cart tucked between stall forty-two and stall forty-three, with nothing painted on it whatsoever, they stopped to stare in complete surprise.

The cart sold only small brass keys, which were arranged in tidy rows on a green cloth, and a sign propped beside them announced, "One key opens one thing. Choose carefully."

"That sounds like a riddle," Anika whispered. "How are we supposed to know which key to take?"

The old man behind the cart merely smiled and said nothing. Sunil observed that every key had a tiny number stamped into its handle, and that several of those numbers matched the stalls surrounding them. He picked up the key marked fifty-eight and proposed, "Perhaps a key opens the stall that carries the same number."

They hurried to stall fifty-eight, a cheerful tea seller with a tall stack of wooden boxes. When Sunil held up the key, the tea seller laughed and pointed to the smallest box, which was fastened with a lock. Inside were a folded paper coupon good for a free cup of tea and a note that read, "For the first people who figured it out."

It turned out that the market's founders had begun this game fifty years earlier, a tradition so quiet that most visitors never noticed it. The old man changed the prizes with every season, and he had never once been disappointed by a curious child.

Sunil and Anika shared the tea on a bench, watching the lanterns sway gently above the crowd.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put awning, riddle, coupon, founders and tradition on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the story will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 3 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to retell the story in three sentences: how it began, what the problem was, and how it ended.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "The Night Market Stall With No Number"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 289 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 7.8. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 3 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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