Streams and Water Infiltration

Which sentence states a central idea of paragraphs 1 and 2?

• Streams are vital resources for people.

• Streams are only found outside of cities.

• Streams are different in various landscapes.

• Streams are normal parts of natural settings.

Read the sentence from paragraph 3. "Streams, stream banks, and the low lands around them provide important habitat for animals and plants that share the urban/suburban landscape with us." What does habitat mean as it is used in the sentence?

• area

• environment

• shelter

• territory

How do paragraphs 4 and 5 support the central idea that streams are important to urban and rural settings?

• They discuss the importance of both types of streams.

• They elaborate on how streams provide resources to plants.

• They detail similarities and differences of both types of streams.

• They explain why natural streams are better than urban streams.

How does the author introduce the idea of urban streams?

• by pointing out that urban settings also have streams

• by preparing readers to think only about rural streams

• by getting readers to focus on the characteristics of all streams

• by presenting readers with the transition from rural to urban streams

What is the meaning of impervious as it is used in the sentence?

• affected

• cracked

• exposed

• resistant

What is the meaning of diverted as it is used in the sentence?

• pushed

• redirected

• sped forward

• brought together

Based on the information in paragraph 8, what inference can be drawn about water movement in cities?

• Natural waterways have disappeared

• Natural waterways are overloaded with rainwater

• There are fewer natural waterways now than in the past

• Flooding is caused when manmade waterways overflow.

What is the author's purpose in the passage?

• to describe to readers the creation of urban and rural streams

• to explain to readers the flooding of streams in rural and urban areas

• to persuade readers that urban and rural streams are important to cities

• to inform readers about the differences between rural and urban streams

Which quotation supports the answer to Part A?

• "Streams are an important part of every landscape, no matter whether that landscape is a forest, a city, or a suburb." (paragraph 2)

• "They are also part of the network of channels that drains rain and melting snow off our streets, parks, and yards." (paragraph 3)

• "Urban streams tend to carry more water at a faster speed after a storm than their country cousins." (paragraph 4)

• "Storm water has no choice but to flow downhill into street drains and ditches and then into streams." (paragraph 5)

What is a central idea of the passage?

• Streams in the city contain more water than streams in the forest.

• Groundwater flows slowly underground and empties into stream channels.

• Rainfall in suburban areas lands on hard surfaces, so it cannot infiltrate the soil.

• City streams are different from streams that are found in the forest and other natural areas.