What is the main idea of the story?

Lena uses distinctive background clues to return a photograph while protecting the pictured family's privacy. (The mural and clock guide Lena to an intermediary who contacts attendees without public facial identification.)

Why does Lena contact the school instead of posting the picture?

The school can reach likely attendees without exposing the pictured faces publicly. (The story contrasts the privacy rule with a background-based route through the event organizer.)

What does “foreground” mean in the final paragraph?

the part of an image that appears closest to the viewer (The people are in front of the mural and clock, so they occupy the foreground.)

What does Mrs. Okafor bring to prove the print is hers?

matching negatives and her receipt (The third paragraph states that she arrives with both the matching negatives and receipt.)

The Unclaimed Photograph: Level 3 Reading Comprehension Questions

At the photo shop, Lena found one print left beneath the cutting machine. It showed three people at a picnic, but no order number remained. Store rules prevented her from posting their faces online. She placed the picture in the unclaimed drawer.

Weeks later, Lena examined it again. Behind the people stood a mural of blue swallows and a clock with one missing numeral. She recognized the clock from the courtyard of a neighborhood music school. The mural was newer, so the photograph had probably been taken there recently.

Lena called the school without describing the people. An administrator remembered a family picnic held after a student concert and offered to contact attendees. That evening, Mrs. Okafor arrived with the matching negatives and her receipt. The print was the only clear picture of her brother's first public performance day.

Lena had reunited the photograph without asking strangers to identify a face. The background, which first seemed unimportant, provided a route home while protecting the privacy of everyone in the foreground.

Comprehension questions