Lena held her mother’s hand tightly as they walked down the street toward the school. It was the first day she would attend Jefferson Middle School—not the one in her neighborhood, but the one across town, where no one from her block had ever gone before.
The court decision had come down weeks earlier: schools in their city were to be integrated. It was the law now. But laws didn’t erase looks. Or whispers. Or the quiet spaces that widened when Lena entered a room.
She wore her best dress. Navy blue with a white collar. The one her mother had ironed the night before while humming softly, even though Lena knew her hands were shaking.
As they walked past the wide lawns and tall porches of Jefferson Street, Lena felt the weight of eyes behind curtains. Her feet moved carefully, like each step might set something off. Her mother hadn’t said much, just squeezed her hand now and then, as if to pass her strength along without speaking.
At the school gates, her mother knelt, brushed a crease from Lena’s skirt, and whispered, 'Walk steady. You belong here too.'
Lena nodded, her heart pounding like thunder muffled beneath her ribs. She let go of her mother’s hand and stepped forward—not just into the school, but into history. She didn’t look back.
Q1: What historical context is most likely behind Lena's experience in the passage?
Q2: What is the emotional tone of the story?
Q3: What does the mother’s repeated hand-squeezing most likely symbolize?
Q4: What deeper meaning is implied by the line, 'She let go of her mother’s hand and stepped forward—not just into the school, but into history'?
Q5: What theme is most strongly expressed in this passage?
Printable Comprehension Practice
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Q1: What historical context is most likely behind Lena's experience in the passage?
✅ Correct Answer: B
💡 Reasoning: The references to school integration, a court decision, and racial tension strongly suggest the passage is set during the Civil Rights Movement when schools were being desegregated.
Q2: What is the emotional tone of the story?
✅ Correct Answer: B
💡 Reasoning: Lena is clearly nervous, shown through her physical reactions and her mother's quiet support, but she still walks forward with courage.
Q3: What does the mother’s repeated hand-squeezing most likely symbolize?
✅ Correct Answer: C
💡 Reasoning: The mother doesn’t say much, but her gestures—especially the hand-squeezing—are quiet expressions of love and strength.
Q4: What deeper meaning is implied by the line, 'She let go of her mother’s hand and stepped forward—not just into the school, but into history'?
✅ Correct Answer: C
💡 Reasoning: The line suggests that Lena’s action has symbolic weight beyond her personal experience—it represents progress in civil rights history.
Q5: What theme is most strongly expressed in this passage?
✅ Correct Answer: C
💡 Reasoning: Lena’s quiet, determined walk into a newly integrated school represents a small but powerful act of bravery within a larger historical movement.