The Bottle — Reading Comprehension — Answers
Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the Year 7 reading comprehension comprehension exercise.
Year 7 · English · Reading Comprehension
The Bottle — Reading Comprehension — Answers
Part A — Right there in the text
Find each answer in the story.
Answer: She always looked for interesting things washed up after a storm, to add to her collection.
- Aa brass button
- Bthree fishing floats
- Ca green glass bottle
- Dthe skull of a seabird
Answer: a green glass bottle
The bottle is the new find; the other three are listed as already in her collection.
Answer: Its neck was sealed with wax.
- Afrom Lena's beach
- Bfrom a boat
- Cfrom the jetty at Port Lincoln
- Dfrom Harbour Street
Answer: from the jetty at Port Lincoln
Rosa wrote that she was 'throwing this off the jetty at Port Lincoln'.
Answer: 2 February 1998.
Answer: Lena's nan's house, where Lena's mum grew up.
Part B — Reading between the lines
Explain your answers using evidence from the story.
Answer: She realised with a shock that the address was her nan's house, which meant the note was somehow connected to her own family.
Answer: She wants to check her suspicion that Rosa Petrakis is actually her mother before she says anything.
Answer: At first it seems funny and unbelievable, but then she realises it is really her own note from childhood, and she is overwhelmed with emotion.
Answer: It shows that nobody expected the bottle to go anywhere, which makes its 28-year, 300-kilometre journey even more surprising.
Part C — Word meanings
- Adry and hot
- Bwet and soft
- Crocky
- Dicy
Answer: wet and soft
Squelching is the sucking sound made when walking on wet, soft ground.
- Afight
- Bstorm with strong wind
- Clong walk
- Dholiday
Answer: storm with strong wind
A 'blow' here means strong wind; a 'big blow' is a storm.
Answer: She did it slowly, gently and carefully so the old paper would not tear.
Part D — Extended response
Model answer: Dear Rosa, You asked whoever found your bottle to write and tell you where it ended up. It ended up on Cutler's Beach, three hundred kilometres from Port Lincoln, after a storm, twenty-eight years after you threw it. I know this will sound strange, but the person who found it is your daughter. Nan was wrong: it did not wash up by dinner time. It waited until it could find me.
Success criteria:
- Written as a letter with a greeting and sign-off
- Written in Lena's voice, first person
- Tells Rosa where and when the bottle was found
- Shows that Lena knows Rosa is her mother
- Includes at least one detail from the original story
- Full sentences with correct punctuation and paragraphs
Marking tips
- Give credit for correct method even when the final answer slips — the working shows where the thinking went right.
- For open-ended tasks, use the success criteria as a checklist rather than looking for one "right" answer.
- Celebrate what went well first, then pick one thing to work on next.