KS2 reading test - To the Rescue

1 ContentsIntroductionQuiet Heroinea story in which a young girl performs an actof heroismSuperheroesinformation about what makes a superhero The Fur ther Adventures of Souperkida comic strip superhero to the rescueSpecial Effects on Filminside information on how special effects arecreated on screen510886 Many people, both children and adults, enjoystories which are about heroes, heroines orsuperheroes. There are heroes in almost everybook we read and in every film we see, but whatis a hero?Does a hero always have to be brave?Or strong?Does a hero have to have special powers?5In this booklet you will have achance to find out somethingabout heroes in fiction andsuperheroes in fantasy, as wetake a look at what makes ahero on paper and on looked up from the pot of oatmealshe was stirring over the fire, and there inthe doorway was a massive black head,the nose up and smelling, the tiny eyesbright with hungry anticipation.

2 Don t nobody yell, she said softly. Justback up slow and quiet to the ladder andclimb up to the loft. Charlie, you get Agnes, and Mama, you take Rachel. Sheheard her mother whimper. Shhh, shecontinued, her voice absolutely even. It sall right as long as nobody gets upset. Justtake it nice and gentle. I m watching him allthe way, and I ll yank the ladder up after me. They obeyed her, even Mama, thoughLyddie could hear her sucking in her Lyddie s back, the ladder creaked, astwo by two, first Charles and Agnes, thenMama and Rachel, climbed up into the glared straight into the bear s eyes,daring him to step forward into the when the ladder was silent and shecould hear the slight rustling above her as the family settled themselves on the strawmattresses, she backed up to the ladder and,never taking her eyes off the bear, inched herway up to the loft.

3 At the top she almost fellbackward on to the platform. Charles draggedher on to the mattress beside her HeroineThis story takes place in a forested region of the eastern USA. Lyddie, theeldest daughter, is preparing breakfast one racket released the bear from the charm Lyddie seemed to have placed on him. Hebanged the door aside and rushed in toward the ladder, but Charles snatched bottom rungs swung out, hitting the beast on the nose. The blow startled him momentarily, giving Lyddie a chance to help Charles haul the ladder up on to the platformand out of reach. The old bear roared in frustration and waved at the empty air with hishuge paws, then reared up on his hind legs. He was so tall that his nose nearly touchedthe edge of the loft. The little girls cried out. Their mother screamed, Oh my!

4 Hush, Lyddie commanded. You ll just make him madder. The cries were swallowedup in anxious gasps of breath. Charles s arms went round the little ones, and Lyddie puta firm grip on her mother s shoulder. It was trembling, so Lyddie relaxed her fingers andbegan to stroke. It s all right, she murmured. He can t reach us. FromLyddieby Katherine Paterson78 SuperheroesTHE earliest superheroesappeared in comic books in the1930s. Some of them such asCaptain Marvel are less wellknown today but others fromthat era, Superman forexample, are still with appear in feature films,cartoons, on television, as wellas in comics and a new type offiction called graphic novels .Such is their appeal that manyof them Batman, Supermanand Wonder Woman, to namebut three are knownthroughout the world andtheir stories are told in COURSE superheroes may be popular allover the world, but that does not mean thateverybody likes them.

5 Some people arguethat their adventures are far-fetched andunrealistic. They are accused of having aharmful influence on children who putthemselves in danger by copying theirheroes impossible deeds. Others enjoy thestories for their excitement, suspense andescape from reality. Fans revel in knowingevery detail about their superheroes: theirindividual powers, their intriguing costumes,their unique physical features even theirfamily backgrounds. While fans may be interested in the detaileddifferences between these characters, thereare certain features they have in commonand which they have to possess in order toqualify as superheroes .9extraordinary powers they mayhave the ability to appear anddisappear, fly, or see with x-ray vision;courage they are always willing to take risks to save others;a sense of justice they fight crime, never give in, always do the right thing for the good of others;a sharp mind they must be quick thinkers to detect clues, to unravelmysteries and decide on the course of action;superhuman strength they have to be exceptionally strong and fast;a secret identity they lead double lives as part-time heroes, part-time ordinary humans;a special costume they are recognised as superheroes by their unique outfits;skills to take on any evil they are able to battle against a singleindividual, or a thousand, against humans, animals or enemies fromanother planet.

6 AND THEY ALWAYS in the have:onfilmonfilmTHE ACTORSwho play superheroes in films are just ordinary film makers have to make them fly, appear or disappear andescape from all forms of danger in order to make their characters seemsuperhuman. A large team of technicians helps the director and cameracrew in creating the various special effects used to give the impression thatsomething extraordinary is taking place on screen. Flying, for example, issomething we often see superheroes do and there are lots of ways tocreate the illusion that someone is flying. It can be done by simplysuspending an actor from wires in front of a moving background; or it canbe done by computer, which can be complicated and take much longer. Reporter, Jo Novak, asked three technicians about the part they play increating special effects.

7 These are their answers to her s what we call morphing transforming oneimage into another. Beforecomputers, this was a lengthyprocess that involved graduallyaltering an actor s make-up andfilming each new look aftereach make-up most complex projectrequired 15 applications ofmake-up. Now, a hi-techcomputer needs only two still images the actor before andafter the change. These twophotographs are all that isneeded by the computerprogram to generate all thestages in between, blendingthem so smoothly that youbelieve the transformation is happening before your very Aslam, make-up artistQAMolly Lerner, stunt doubleQHow do you make the bangs, crashes and other sound effects?AThey don t! Only a stunt doublelike me can do that. Films wouldbe very boring without theexciting scenes stunt doublesperform.

8 The way it works isthat I get made up and dressedto look like the main star. I doall the dangerous, exciting bitsinstead of the actor. You can ttell it s me because all my shotsare filmed from a distance sothat you never get a clear viewof my face. I m trained to makesure that my life is never put atany risk, though. If I have to fallfrom an upstairs window, I wearpadded body armour under mycostume and land on soft crashmats to cushion my fall. Close-ups of the star are added later,so the audience think she wasthe only one ever involved inthe action. That s how actorsare made to seem braver thanthey really are! How do actors survive the fires, explosions and other dangerous accidents in films?My job, as part of the soundcrew, starts when the filming isfinished. We work on the actors dialogue, the music and all thesplats, bangs and crashes youget in action films.

9 We createmost sounds artificially, recordthem and add them at this latestage. A lot of our work is stilldone without computers. You dnever guess, but the scrunchingsound of footsteps in snow ismade by squeezing custardpowder inside a rubber glove;the sound of crackling fire ismade by rustling paper. On theother hand, we produce roars,explosions and the thud ..thud .. thud of a heartbeatelectronically, using asynthesizer. This sound is storedon a computer and called upwhen needed to fit the Hughes,sound technicianHow do actors change from ordinary humans into superheroes,monsters or even aliens?Acknowledgements: Lyddieby Katherine Paterson, published by Victor Gollancz, London, text has been incorporated into this test paper solely for the purposes of the examination inaccordance with Section 32(3) of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.

10 No copyrightclearance for any other use has been obtained or sought. Qualifications and Curriculum Authority 2003 QCA key stage 2 team, 83 Piccadilly, London W1J 8 QAOrder refs:QCA/03/1010 (pupil pack)QCA/03/1009 (mark schemes pack)254901