Reading Comprehension Practice A

Floods can cause tremendous damage.  They can ruin houses, roads and buildings. Floods can take down trees and cause mudslides. It often leaves mud, sand and debris behind.  It can take months to clean up after a flood.
 What is the main idea?

• Floods can cause a lot of damage.
• Floods cause mudslides.
• Floods damage houses and roads. 

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RI.4.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

The peregrine falcon is a beautiful wild bird. It is also one of the fastest. In 1978, the peregrine falcon was placed on the endangered species list. The main reason the peregrine falcon was dying out was the use of pesticides. 
Which of the following is NOT a supporting detail? 

• The peregrine falcon is one of the fastest wild birds
• It was placed on the endangered species list
• It was dying out because of pesticides
• The peregrine falcon is an amazing bird

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.5.1

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.4.1

Soccer is known in some countries as football. It is a popular sport across the world, with over 200 countries playing the sport. It is estimated that over 250 million people, both men and women, play soccer. The sport has been part of the Olympic games from 1900 to 1928 and from 1936 to today.
 What is the main idea?

• Soccer is important at the Olympics.
• Soccer is a worldwide sport.
• Soccer is also called football.
• Soccer is played by men and women.

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RI.5.2

CCSS.RL.4.2

Which sentence suggests that Joanna rode her bike to school?

• Joannaʼs hair was a little messy when she got to school.
• Joanna crossed three streets on her way to school.
• Joanna went four blocks on her way to school.
• Joanna had to put her helmet inside the classroom closet.

Tags

CCSS.RI.5.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RL.4.1

CCSS.RI.7.1

CCSS.RL.6.1

Weather reporters have to give out a lot of information. That's why they use pictures. The pictures help them tell us about the weather without using so many words. Weather reporters need to know where the cold air is. They need to know where the warm air is. They have to know where it is raining and what types of clouds are in the area. Their reports need to be correct, but they also need to be short. The pictures help weather reporters get the information out in a fast way.

Which sentence best describes the main idea of the paragraph?

• Weather reporters need to know where the cold air is

• Pictures help weather reporters get information out in a fast way

• Their reports need to be correct, but they also need to be short

• They have to know where it is raining and what types of clouds are in the area

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RI.4.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

READING COMPREHENSION 
Opera refers to a dramatic art form, originating in Europe, in which the emotional content is conveyed to the audience as much through music, both vocal and instrumental, as it is through the lyrics. By contrast, in musical theater an actor's dramatic performance is primary, and the music plays a lesser role. The drama in opera is presented using the primary elements of theater such as scenery, costumes, and acting. However, the words of the opera, or libretto, are sung rather than spoken. The singers are accompanied by a musical ensemble ranging from a small instrumental ensemble to a full symphonic orchestra.

It is pointed out in the reading that opera ----.

• has developed under the influence of musical theater
• is a drama sung with the accompaniment of an orchestra
• is not a high-budget production
• is often performed in Europe

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RI.5.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

Dolphins are regarded as the friendliest creatures in the sea and stories of them helping drowning sailors have been common since Roman times. The more we learn about dolphins, the more we realize that their society is more complex than people previously imagined. They look after other dolphins when they are ill, care for pregnant mothers and protect the weakest in the community, as we do. Some scientists have suggested that dolphins have a language but it is much more probable that they communicate with each other without needing words. Could any of these mammals be more intelligent than man? Certainly the most common argument in favor of man's superiority over them that we can kill them more easily than they can kill us is the least satisfactory. On the contrary, the more we discover about these remarkable creatures, the less we appear superior
It is clear from the passage that dolphins ----.

• don't want to be with us as much as we want to be with them
• are proven to be less intelligent than once thought
• have a reputation for being friendly to humans
• are the most powerful creatures that live in the oceans

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

CCSS.RL.4.2

Naval architects never claim that a ship is unsinkable, but the sinking of the passenger-and-car ferry Estonia in the Baltic surely should have never have happened. It was well designed and carefully maintained. It carried the proper number of lifeboats. It had been thoroughly inspected the day of its fatal voyage. Yet hours later, the Estonia rolled over and sank in a cold, stormy night. It went down so quickly that most of those on board, caught in their dark, flooding cabins, had no chance to save themselves: Of those who managed to scramble overboard, only 139 survived. The rest died of hypothermia before the rescuers could pluck them from the cold sea. The final death toll amounted to 912 souls. However, there were an unpleasant number of questions about why the Estonia sank and why so many survivors were men in the prime of life, while most of the dead were women, children and the elderly.
One can understand from the reading that ---

• the lifesaving equipment did not work well and lifeboats could not be
   lowered
• design faults and incompetent crew contributed to the sinking of the
   Estonia ferry
• naval architects claimed that the Estonia was unsinkable
• most victims were trapped inside the boat as they were in their cabins

Tags

CCSS.RL.5.1

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RI.5.1

CCSS.RL.7.1

CCSS.RI.4.1

Erosion of America's farmland by wind and water has been a problem since settlers first put the prairies and grasslands under the plow in the nineteenth century. By the 1930s, more than 282 million acres of farmland were damaged by erosion. After 40 years of conservation efforts, soil erosion has accelerated due to new demands placed on the land by heavy crop production. In the years ahead, soil erosion and the pollution problems it causes are likely to replace petroleum scarcity as the nation's most critical natural resource problem.
As we understand from the reading, today, soil erosion in America ----.

• causes humans to place new demands on the land
• is worse than it was in the nineteenth century
• happens so slowly that it is hardly noticed
• is the most critical problem that the nation faces

Tags

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.5.2

CCSS.RI.4.2

CCSS.RI.5.2

CCSS.RL.6.2

Soccer is known in some countries as football. It is a popular sport across the world, with over 200 countries playing the sport. It is estimated that over 250 million people, both men and women, play soccer. The sport has been part of the Olympic games from 1900 to 1928 and from 1936 to today.
 What is the main idea?

• Soccer is important at the Olympics.
• Soccer is a worldwide sport.
• Soccer is also called football.
• Soccer is played by men and women.

Tags

CCSS.RI.6.2

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RL.7.2

CCSS.RI.4.2

CCSS.RI.5.2