Comprehension Questions- Deltora Quest #4 The Shifting Sands

The Shifting Sands

By Emily Rodda

Grades 3-5; Genre - Fantasy; GRL S; AR pts: 4.0

Lief, Jasmine and Barda head to toward the Shifting Sands anxious to get the next gem for the Belt of Deltora.  On their way they come to Rithmere, a city where the annual Games are held.  The companions enter into the Games and do well, but are betrayed when the lady who is supposedly taking care of them tricks them and they become prisoner to the Grey Guards.

Comprehension Questions

Chapter 1

  1. Where were the companions headed to retrieve the next gem?  The Shifting Sands  
  2. When the companions were crossing the river, what did they see flying toward them in the distance?    Ak-Baba
  3. How did the companions hide from the Ak-Baba?  Went under the water with the cloak over them like a canopy

Chapter 2

  1. How did the fish save the companions from the Ak-Baba?  Swam over the companions in a swarm hiding them
  2. How is Jasmine able to communicate with the fish?  She knows how to listen to them
  3. What did Jamine and Barda find for breakfast after they crossed the river from the City of the Rats?  Apples

Chapter 3

  1. Who are the guardians of the apple orchard?  Bees
  2. Why was the woman so protective of her apples?  To make sure she had enough to make her Queen Bee Cider
  3. What does the Queen Bee Cider do to those who drink it?  Gives extra strength
  4. Why were there so many travelers going to Rithmere?  To participate in the Rithmere Games

Chapter 4

  1. What was the prize for winning the Games?  1000 gold pieces
  2. Who were the two travelers the companions overheard talking about the Games on the way to Rithmere?  Orwen and Joanna
  3. What did the man running the game at the stall want to buy from Jasmine?  Kree/ her bird

Chapter 5

  1. How did the companions get the silver coin in Rithmere?  Kree worked for the man Ferdinand and spun the wheel thirty times
  2. How did Ferdinand feel about Kree?  The best bird he’d ever had
  3. How did Kree ruin Ferdinand’s gig?  Took off the cloth covering the table to uncover Ferdinand’s trick

Chapter 6

  1. What did Jasmine find on the ground after Ferdinand ran away as the crowd chased him?  a small wooden bird
  2. What is the name of the woman who runs the Champion Inn?  Mother Brightly
  3. Why didn’t Barda want the companions to use their real names when they entered the Games?  To keep their real identities secret
  4. Where did Mother Brightly make the companions put their weapons?  In a locked cupboard

Chapter 7

  1. Who else was staying and eating at the Champion Inn?  Other competitors
  2. When the companions changed their minds and decided they didn’t want to participate in the Games, why were they not able to get out of the Inn?  They were entered and written down and locked in
  3. When the companions were attacked in the blackened hallway, what was taken from them?  Their room key
  4. How had their attacker tried to stop them from winning the Games?  Gave them a threatening note and locked them in their room so they couldn’t get to the Games

Chapter 8

  1. How did the companions get out of the locked room before the Games?  Jasmine hung a blanket from her bed and hung it out the window
  2. Who came to the companion's rescue and unlocked the room?  Mother Brightly
  3. What was the drink of choice at the Rithmere Games for everyone?  Queen Bee Cider
  4. What does Jasmine choose to drink?    Water

Chapter 9

  1. How did Neridah trick Lief as they fought?  She acted scared and weak
  2. How did Jasmine make it to the four finalists?  Orwen tried to stop Glock from hurting Joanna, but Glock beat them both
  3. Who defeated Barda in the Games?   Doom

Chapter 10

  1. What happened to Neridah and Glock when they drank the cider before the next round of fighting?  They fell unconscious
  2. Who did Jasmine have to fight in the final round?   Doom
  3. What made Jasmine forget her fear and fight hard?  Doom taunted her about running home and hiding her head in her momma’s lap
  4. Why didn’t the companions want to linger in Rithmere?  Didn’t want to get attacked by the crowds, uncomfortable in Rithmere

Chapter 11

  1. How did Mother Brightly suggest the companions leave the Inn so they won’t get attacked by the townspeople?  Into the cellar and through a tunnel to the back of the Inn
  2. Why was Jasmine ashamed of herself for how she fought Doom?  She forgot herself and took pleasure in hurting him
  3. Why did Mother Brightly trick the companions and help them get captured?  So they could be taken to fight in the Shadow Arena
  4. Why did the companions feel the Rithmere Games were a trap?  Lures the strongest and best fighters to the Games for the Shadow Arena

Chapter 12

  1. Who rescued the companions from the Grey Guards?  Doom
  2. Why did Doom compete in the Games?  To see what the Games were really about
  3. Why didn’t the companions want to go to Doom’s stronghold?  They needed to go to the Shifting Sands
  4. Why did the companions try to hide their scent and trail?  So the Grey Guards couldn’t follow them

Chapter 13

  1. When the companions got to the Shifting Sands, how did Lief feel like he’d been there before?  The opal had shown him this place
  2. Who followed the companions into the Shifting Sands?  Carn 2 and Carn 8/Grey Guards
  3. What happened to the Grey Guards when they followed the companions into the Sands?  They got captured and eaten by a large monster

Chapter 14

  1. What did Lief hear in the Sands that his companions could not?  Low droning sound
  2. How did the companions know that the creature in the Sands took the gold coins, medallion and Jasmine’s dagger?  It left impressions in the sand of them
  3. What did Jasmine use as firewood for their fire while they were in the Shifting Sands?  Grey Guards clubs

Chapter 15

  1. When weapon killed the beast in the Sands when it was going to attack Lief?  Grey Guard blisters
  2. How did the companions know they had reached the Center of the Sands? They saw a lone peak that looked like a volcano
  3. What was the sound the companions heard coming from inside the peak?  Humming of bees
  4. What was the large peak?  A hive

Chapter 16

  1. What did Lief use as a weapon as he went into the hive?  Smoke
  2. Whose voice helped Lief as he journeyed through the hive?  Queen Bee’s
  3. Why couldn’t Lief just take the lapis lazuli from the pyramid?  Everything on top would topple and fall/ the Hive would attack
  4. What did Lief use to replace the lapis lazuli?  Jamine’s wooden bird from Rithmere
  5. What else did Lief retrieve from the Hive besides the gem?  Jasmine’s dagger