My son's teacher allows him to answer the questions for the comprehension section orally and the teacher takes notes on the answer. He does have to answer the exact question like you have stated. Last week he also had to answer "How do you believe the ending would have changed if ___ had happened first?" and "Explain the character traits of __ and how it is relevant to the story."
I thought those were extremely difficult questions for a 4th grader, let alone a 1st grader! I do appreciate that he is allowed to answer orally because while his reading is comfortably at 4th grade, his handwriting is clearly 1st grade. He would not have been able to provide the depth and detail in his answer if he had to write it. He'd likely write "I don't know" so that he could be done fast!
