Read the passage below.

TimeShip 7000

"I see it! The TimeShip 7000!" Cara said to Sadie. The girls cheered and exchanged a high five. Cara's smile faded slightly when she saw the long line leading to the ride.

"Looks like we're not the only ones who are excited," she said. 

"Let's hurry!" said Sadie, and they ran to join the line.

Shielding her eyes from the sun, Cara read a large sign posted near the launchpad: "NEW AT THE FAIR: TIMESHIP 7000! VISIT A DIFFERENT MOMENT IN TME, EACH TIME! CHARMS OF THE PAST, WONDERS OF THE FUTURE!" In smaller letters, it read, "Riders cannot control where pods go."

The line inched forward as riders got off and streamed past. "Can you believe we saw the first airplane flight?" a dad asked his daughter.

Two boys galloped by, holding their noses. "Ugh, the Oregon Trail smelled gross! The horses and the pioneers!" one said.

Cara frowned. "Hopefully, we'll go somewhere better than that."

Which of the following is true about the TimeShip 7000?

Read the passage below.

Gil flopped into an office chair. "I can't believe we're here on a Saturday!" he groaned.

Gil and Lacey were spending the afternoon at Mom's new workplace, Just Hats. "Don't worry," Mom said. "We won't be here long. I'm just finishing up an important project. You're not going to believe this: I'm designing these new hats that--"

Lacey rolled her eyes and opened her book. Gil slid onto the floor, pretending to fall asleep.

Mom sighed. "Look, not everyone can repair time machines like Uncle Rob or create alien walkie-talkies like Jen's mom. But my job is still pretty cool. These hats aren't just hats. They--"

"Mom, I know you're excited about your new job," Lacey interrupted, looking up from her book. "It's just that hats are, well, sort of ..."

"Boring," Gil said.

Mom shrugged. "Sometimes things are the opposite of what they seem."

What is Mom likely trying to tell Gil and Lacey?

Read the second part of the passage.

Mom gave up trying to interest Gil and Lacey in her job. "I'm going to be working a few rooms away," she said. "Try to keep yourselves busy until I'm done."

As she walked out the door, Mom looked back with a sly smile. "And if  you get hungry, you can get a snack from the vending machine down the hall." She handed them some coins.

After Mom left, Lacey tried to read, but Gil began drumming his hands loudly against a table. Lacey rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Lacey," Gil whined. "Let's get a snack.

"Im'm reading," she grumbled.

Gil did jumping jacks in front of  Lacey. "One, two, three: snack! One, two, three: snack!"

Lacey slammed down her book. "One trip to the vending machine, and then do you promise to leave me alone?"

"Promise!" Gil shouted, racing out the door.

How is Gil different from Lacey?

Read the third part of the story.

Trailing behind Gil as he ran down the hallway, Lacey paused at a door that was ajar. She peeked through the narrow opening, expecting to see another office. Instead, she saw some kind of lab.

The room was lined with shiny white counters, where computers blinked next to vials of brightly-colored liquids. In the middle of the lab was some sort of machine with an enormous tube. In the corner stood a rack filled with different types of hats: cowboy hats, baseball caps, floppy sun hats, even a goofy clown's hat.

Gil appeared, looking over Lacey's shoulder. "Strange," he whispered. "Why would they design hats in a science lab?"

Then, a door at the back of the room opened, and Mom walked in. Gil and Lacey watched as she took a baseball cap off the rack and put it on her head.

Suddenly she vanished.

Look at the word in bold. Why does Lacey pause at the door in the hallway? Use context clues in nearby text to help you figure out the meaning of the word ajar.

Read the last part of the story.

"Whoa!" Gil shouted. In his excitement, he knocked Lacey into the room, stumbling in behind her.

"Don't push your sister!" a voice scolded. It was Mom's voice, but she was nowhere in sight. Then suddenly she reappeared, the hat now in her hand.

Lacey grabbed the edge of the counter. "W-What happened to you?" she sputtered.

Mom chuckled. "I tried to tell you earlier, but you both kept interrupting. The hats I design are special; wearing one makes you disappear!"

Speechless, Lacey and Gil stared at Mom. Then Gil spoke. "Mom, I'm really, really sorry I said your job is boring. I totally don't think that. Also, can we please try on that hat?"

Mom laughed and held out the hat. "Who wants to go first?"

"Me!" Lacey and Gil shouted at the same time.

What is Mom's job?

Read the first part of the story.

Under the Sea

"The drinking water's ready, Pop!" Chandler shouted. Like all boat families, Chandler's family used a DeSalter to make the seawater safe to drink.

"Pop," he said, "at the fish trade today, I saw you talking with Big Frank and the other old-timers. What were they talking about this time?"

Pop smiled. "Oh, you know Big Frank. He always has some kind of strange idea to share. Well, as long as anyone can remember, people have lived on boats, right?"

"Where else would we live? Underwater?" Chandler asked. "The entire Earth is sea."

"Well, Big Frank believes that Earth wasn't always just sea. He thinks people once lived on something called land."

"Land?" Chandler asked. 

"Dry ground, not covered by water."

Chandler shook his head, confused. "So how did Earth become like this?"

Pop twisted his heard. "Maybe the sea rose, or the land sank. Hard to say."

Chandler thought about Pop's words, gazing at the endless ocean.

What is it like on Earth when the story takes place?

Read the second part of the story.

"Do you think what Big Frank says is true?" Chandler asked Pop.

Pop's eyes twinkled. "I'm glad you asked," he said. "Let me show you something I've been working on."

Pop went into the boat's cabin and came out with a strange device like nothing Chandler had ever seen. "I've been collecting old parts to make this. It's an underwater camera. It takes pictures of what's under the sea."

"But we know what's under the sea," Chandler said. "Whales, fish, sharks, turtles, seaweed..."

"And possibly," Pop interrupted," evidence that people once lived on dry land!"

Chandler laughed. "I'm sorry, Pop, but that's just a little hard to believe. It sounds like another one of Big Frank's crazy stories!"

"Well, are you up for an adventure?" Pop asked, handling Chandler the camera.

Chandler laughed and shrugged. "Why not?" he said.

Based on the story, what are Pop and Chandler most likely to do next?

Read the third part of the story. 

Pop and Chandler traveled across the calm sea. It was a sunny, cool day.

"How do you know where to go?" Chandler asked.

"One of the old-timers told me about a place up north," said Pop. "He mentioned that people sometimes catch strange fishing nets up there."

Up until this point in his life, Chandler had understood the world simply: sea, sea creatures, and boat families. But now, as their boat traveled across the wide sea, Chandler's imagination started to run wild. He tried to picture himself standing on something solid that wasn't the bottom of the boat. What if Big Frank's idea was true?

After a while, Pop slowed the boat and cut the engine. He carefully lowered the camera onto the surface of the water and pressed a button. The device disappeared beneath the blue. 

"Now what?" Chandler asked. 

"Now, Son, we wait," Pop said.

What is the most likely reason why people sometimes catch strange things in their fishing nets up north?