Newsela Boy Finds a Fossil lex 720

Which sentence from the section "Carefully Digging It Up" helps you understand that fossils can be easily damaged?

• In May, Houde and a team began the weeklong work of digging up the fossil.

• The bones were so old that they could fall apart as the dirt around them was cleaned away.

• Jude, who is 10 years old, said that most of his friends still don't believe that he found a million-year-old fossil.

• He thinks that, in the future, it will be put on display at New Mexico State University's Vertebrate Museum.

Read the paragraph from the section "Million-Year-Old Skull Fossil."

It turned out that Jude was correct: what he'd found wasn't usual at all. It was the fossilized skull of a Stegomastodon. It was thought to be more than 1 million years old.

What conclusion can you make based on this paragraph?

• Finding fossils like this is rare.

• Jude studied fossils in the past.

• Many people find these types of fossils.

• Most fossils are older than the one Jude found.

In the article, Houde said studying fossils "really has to be done with great care and know-how."

Which answer choice BEST explains what he meant?

• Studying fossils is easy and fun work, which makes it a great job to have.

• Studying fossils is something that he has always loved to do.

• A person has to be very interested in dinosaurs and digging to study fossils.

• A person needs to work hard and have lots of experience to study fossils.

Read the paragraph from the section "Million-Year-Old Skull Fossil."

There are no living Stegomastodons. They were wiped out long ago. They looked similar to elephants. Their two enormous tusks curved upward and stood nearly 9 feet tall.

What phrase from this paragraph helps you understand the meaning of "wiped out"?

• are not living

• long ago

• similar to elephants

• 9 feet tall