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Silent Spring Comprehension Check

Total questions: 20

Worksheet time: 19mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

As described in the selection from Silent Spring, what is the town like before everything begins to change?

a)

Prosperous and Beautiful

b)

Unhappy and crowded

c)

Troubled and unhappy

d)

Prosperous and crowded

2.

In the selection from Silent Spring, why are doctors in the town puzzled?

a)

More children are being born with birth defects.

b)

People are reacting more violently to insect stings.

c)

People are being attacked more often by wild animals.

d)

More people are becoming sick from new kinds of illnesses

3.

What is most likely the cause of the great changes that happen to the town in the selection from Silent Spring?

a)

pesticides

b)

radiation

c)

bacteria

d)

floods

4.

In the selection from Silent Spring, how do animal populations change after the town changes?

a)

Animal populations mostly stay the same.

b)

Birds are still plentiful, but most insects die.

c)

Most birds disappear, but farm animals are fine

d)

Animal life in general disappears or does poorly.

5.

What would a blight most likely do to a farmer’s crops?

a)

make them more plentiful

b)

allow them to sell for a profit

c)

help them to ripen sooner

d)

cause them to rot or die

6.

Which of these words tells how a person with maladies is most likely to feel?

a)

ill

b)

silly

c)

angry

d)

embarrassed

7.

Which sentence best illustrates the meaning of deserted?

a)

A caravan of traders moved slowly across the hot sand.

b)

Late at night, not a soul was to be seen on Roosevelt Avenue.

c)

We decided to wait and see the movie when Max was feeling better.

d)

The beach was so crowded that we had trouble finding a place to sit.

8.

Part A: From the details in the selection from Silent Spring, what can you conclude about the town before the changes take place?

a)

The town attracts visitors who enjoy outdoor activities.

b)

The town is full of simple, poor, hard-working people.

c)

The town is a settlement for recent immigrants.

d)

The town is located in an industrial area.

9.

Part B: Which of the following quotations from Silent Spring best supports the answer to Part A?

Remember part A asked: From the details in the selection from Silent Spring, what can you conclude about the town before the changes take place?

a)

There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings. The town lay in the midst of a checkerboard of prosperous farms....

b)

Then foxes barked in the hills and deer silently crossed the fields, half hidden in the mists of the fall mornings.

c)

The countryside was, in fact, famous for the abundance and variety of its bird life, and when the flood of migrants was pouring through in spring and fall people traveled from great distances to observe them. Others came to fish the streams....

d)

So it had been from the days many years ago when the first settlers raised their houses, sank their wells, and built their barns.

10.

In this sentence from Silent Spring, to which of the five senses does the imagery most strongly appeal?

Then foxes barked in the hills and deer silently crossed the fields, half hidden in the mists of the fall mornings.

a)

hearing and touch

b)

sight and hearing

c)

touch and taste

d)

smell and sight

11.
What is the author's purpose?
a)
to warn of a danger
b)
to document what was done
c)
to describe her town
d)
to scare people with a horror story
12.

What is the white powder?

a)

Snow

b)

Flower petals

c)

Ash

d)

DDT

13.

Which phrase best describes the mood established in these sentences from

Silent Spring?


There was a strange stillness. The birds, for example—where had they gone? Many people spoke of them, puzzled and disturbed. The feeding stations in the backyards were deserted. The few birds seen anywhere were moribund; they trembled violently and could not fly. It was a spring without voices.

a)

mysterious and frightening

b)

hectic and confusing

c)

sad and regretful

d)

bitter and angry

14.

In the selection from Silent Spring, who or what is responsible for the white powder that has fallen on the town and its surroundings?

a)

an accumulation of fallout from nuclear testing

b)

blossoms from fruit trees growing nearby

c)

a sudden snowstorm in early spring

d)

humans living in or near the town

15.

Which sentence contains a simile?

a)

He is as happy as a clam.

b)

The ice cream tasted good.

16.

To quote from text to help support or prove a point

a)

credible sources

b)

cite

c)

source

d)

plagiarism

17.
What is an inference?
a)
 An inference is something that you think is true based on information that you have.
b)
An inference is directly written in the text
18.

An (a)   is the act of breaking into smaller components for the purpose of study or examination

19.

(a)   means to "clearly" state.

20.

How do you cite your textual evidence?

4 lines