NewsELA 9/11 Attacks Assessment

Read the sentences summarizing the MAIN ideas of the article below.

Which answer choice would complete the summary?

• After the attacks, President George W. Bush told the American people that the United States could not be destroyed.

• Less than a month later, U.S. military troops were sent to Afghanistan where they defeated the Taliban.

• Since then, President Obama and Trump have had differing approaches to dealing with the ongoing warfare.

• When American troops were sent to Afghanistan, the leader of the Taliban, Osama bin Laden, went into hiding.

One MAIN idea of the article is that the United States was attacked by al-Qaida on September 11, 2001.

What is another MAIN idea?

• The World Trade Center was designed to withstand strong winds and large fires.

• The attackers hijacked planes and flew them into buildings, causing the deaths of thousands of people.

• Al-Qaida pretends that the acts of violence they commit are encouraged by their religion.

• President Trump plans to send more soldiers to fight in Afghanistan.

Read the selection below from the section "Bush declares war."

Which sentence from this selection BEST supports the conclusion that terror attackers will not be easily beaten?

• On October 7, the U.S. went to war with Afghanistan and al-Qaida.

• Within two months, the Taliban government was defeated.

• The Taliban are Islamic extremists that gave help to al-Qaida.

• However, Taliban fighters attacked U.S. troops in Pakistan and the war continued.

Which paragraph in the section "Thousands of casualties" MOST CLEARLY shows that the events of 9/11 are still not entirely understood?

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Significance: Why is the event described in the article taught in schools today? What are the lasting lessons that we can learn from studying this event?

Support your response with evidence from the text.