Octopus Escape Reading Comprehension
Name:
Date:
Score:
Grade 4 • Informational Reading Lexile Level: ~750L
The Great Octopus Escape
How an eight-armed escape artist slipped out of an aquarium and swam home
True Story
[1] One quiet evening in 2016, a daring breakout unfolded at the National Aquarium of New Zealand. The escape artist was not a crafty bandit or a nimble monkey. It was Inky, a common New Zealand octopus about the size of a soccer ball. When the aquarium staff locked the front doors and switched off the lights, Inky decided his glass tank was no longer the place he wanted to spend his days.
[2] Octopuses are among the ocean’s most intelligent invertebrates—animals that do not possess a backbone. Because an octopus lacks a rigid skeleton, its entire body is astonishingly soft and flexible. In fact, the only hard part of an octopus is its sharp beak, which resembles a parrot's beak. As a rule of thumb, if an octopus can fit its small beak through an opening, the rest of its rubbery body can squeeze right through behind it.
[3] Keepers later realized that the heavy screen lid on Inky's enclosure had been left slightly ajar following maintenance. Inky quickly seized his chance. Using the hundreds of strong suction cups lining his eight arms, he pushed open the lid and slithered down the outer glass onto the damp floor. He then navigated across eight feet of concrete until he discovered a narrow, six-inch-wide floor drainpipe.
[4] The drainpipe plunged fifty meters straight downhill into Hawke’s Bay. Without hesitation, Inky squeezed into the dark pipe and slid down toward freedom, splashing safely into the cool Pacific Ocean. By sunrise, aquarium workers found only a faint trail of wet suction marks leading directly to an empty pipe. Rather than hunting for Inky, the aquarium staff celebrated his clever journey back to his true wild home.
Word Spotlight
- invertebrate: An animal with no backbone, allowing extreme flexibility.
- ajar: Slightly open; not completely shut or secured.
Fascinating Fact
An octopus has three hearts, blue blood, and about two-thirds of its neurons located in its arms, letting each arm touch, taste, and explore independently!
Turn the page to answer the 4 multiple-choice questions and complete the writing prompts. Page 1 of 2
The Great Octopus Escape • Comprehension & Writing Total Points: 10
A Multiple Choice: Text Evidence (1 Pt Each)
Fill in the circle next to the correct answer choice.
1. What is the central idea of the passage?
A Aquariums should never keep wild sea animals.
B An octopus used its intelligence and unique body to return to the ocean.
C Drainpipes in New Zealand are unsafe for ocean wildlife.
D Aquarium workers trained Inky to slide down slippery pipes.
2. In paragraph 2, what does the word invertebrate explain about Inky?
A He breathes through lungs rather than gills.
B He has a skeleton made of heavy bone.
C He lacks a backbone, making his body flexible and squishy.
D He moves slowly when out of deep water.
3. According to paragraph 2, why could Inky fit into a six-inch pipe?
A He waited until he stopped growing larger.
B His small beak was the only rigid part of his body.
C He used his arms to widen the opening of the drain.
D The aquarium workers greased the pipe beforehand.
4. Why did aquarium staff decide NOT to search the ocean for Inky?
A They recognized that he had successfully returned to his natural home.
B They had already purchased a replacement octopus.
C They thought another animal in the tank had swallowed him.
D They were worried Inky would harm the rescue divers.
B Written Response Prompts (3 Pts Each)
Respond in complete sentences using evidence from the text.
Prompt 1 (Text Evidence):
Explain how Inky’s physical traits (body features) made his escape possible. State two specific details from paragraphs 2 or 3.
Prompt 2 (Point of View):
Do you agree with the aquarium staff's decision to let Inky stay in the ocean instead of recapturing him? Support your opinion with reasoning.
Writer's Checklist:
Restated the question Cited text evidence Capital letters & punctuation
Page 2 of 2
