All-American Burger
"I
come in peace!" said the seven-foot tall, green thing with the giant head
as he walked through the door and up to the counter.
"That's
good to know," I said, and I meant it.
When most customers come to the counter, I'm supposed to ask, "May I take your order." Somehow, though, that seemed a little silly
right now.
"If
you don't mind me asking," I said instead, "where did you come from?"
The
green guy leaned over the counter, and my heart raced like a supersonic
train. He put his huge hand on my
shoulder. I would have started running,
but my feet felt like they were glued to the ground.
"I
am from the planet Zxcretqpl," said the green guy. His ship was sitting right outside the
window, still smoking and beeping and blipping from the long voyage over the
vast unknown. So, when I asked him where
he was from, I should have known that he wasn't going to say "Texas."
"What
do you want?" I asked, knowing that
this was a much better question.
"I
hear your 'All-American Burger' is the best in the universe. I wanted to see for myself," the green
guy said with what I think was a smile.
Our
radio commercials did say that our "All-American Burger" was the "best in the universe." At the moment, I felt like that might be
false advertising.
However,
it was clear what the giant green guy wanted.
"May I take your order?" I finally asked.
A
half-hour later he was wiping ketchup off of his giant mouth with our tiny
napkins. "Not bad!" he said as
he walked out the door and onto his ship.
There was a flash and a rumble, and he was gone.
Reading
Comprehension Questions
1) What is the most likely setting in the above passage?
a.
the All-American
Burger Diner
b.
the planet of
Zxcretqpl
c.
the state of Texas
d.
in far reaches of outer space
2) What type of book or genre would the above passage be found?
a.
poetry
b.
science fiction
c.
fairy tail
d.
non-fiction
3) Why did the “giant green guy” come to visit the narrator in
the above passage?
a.
he wanted to taste a burger
b.
he needed help with his ship
c.
they were old friends
d.
he needed to ask for directions
4) In the context above, what does “vast unknown” mean?
a.
“All-American Burger”
b.
“the planet of
Zxcretqpl”
c.
“the country”
d.
“outer space”
5) In the above passage, why should the narrator have known
that the “giant green guy” wasn’t going to answer “
a.
he was speaking a strange language
b.
he was clearly from another world
c.
he was making a very strange request
d.
he was 7-feet tall
Answer Key
1)
What is the
most likely setting in the above passage?
a.
the All-American Burger Diner
b.
the
planet of Zxcretqpl
c.
the state of
d.
in far reaches of outer space
2)
What type of
book or genre would the above passage be found?
a.
poetry
b.
science fiction
c.
fairy tail
d.
non-fiction
3)
Why did the
“giant green guy” come to visit the narrator in the above passage?
a.
he wanted to
taste a burger
b.
he needed help with his ship
c.
they were old friends
d.
he needed to ask for directions
4)
In the
context above, what does “vast unknown” mean?
a.
“All-American Burger”
b. “the planet of Zxcretqpl”
c.
“the country”
d.
“outer space”
5)
In the above
passage, why should the narrator have known that the “giant green guy” wasn’t
going to answer “
a.
he was speaking a strange language
b.
he was clearly
from another world
c.
he was making a very strange request
d.
he was 7-feet tall