READTHEORY Passage and Questions Name Date • Reading Comprehension Assessment Directions: Read the passage Then answer the questions below Island Animals The Galapagos Islands are home to many strange and wonderful animals But people are prohibited from living on the islands No people live there—only animals And the animals that live there are very unusual They are not like the animals you might see at home In fact, they are unlike the animals you might see any other place in the world One interesting animal that lives on the islands is the Marine Iguana This is a special kind of Iguana You see, iguanas look like big lizards They can be over five feet long! And, surprisingly, most Iguanas cannot swim But Marine Iguanas know how to swim They are the only ones that can This is what makes them special And they only live on the Galapagos Islands Another unusual animal living on the islands is the Giant Tortoise A Tortoise is a turtle that lives only on land And these tortoises really are giant They can weigh over 500 pounds! And they can live longer than people can They can live for up to 150 years! The Tortoises are not the only big creatures on the islands The islands also have Fur Seals and Sea Lions Like the tortoises, the Fur Seals and Sea Lions can also weigh over 500 pounds And they are both excellent swimmers Some people have trouble telling them apart That's because they look a lot like each other The main difference is the Fur Seals have thicker fur, like a very furry dog In addition to the animals described above, the Galapagos Islands are home to the Flightless Cormorant The Flightless Cormorant is a very strange bird It has wings but cannot fly! That's because its wings are too small for flying But even though it can’t fly, it can something else It can swim! It can even swim down to the ocean floor in search of food As you can see, the Galapagos Islands are home to some pretty interesting animals But this isn't the only reason why the islands are amazing They are beautiful too! Maybe one day you will take a trip there and see for yourself 1) In paragraph 1, we learn that "People are prohibited from living on the islands." If something is prohibited, this means it is A B C D not allowed not exciting not healthy not illegal 2) According to the passage, what makes the Marine Iguana special? A B C D It can be over five feet long It looks like a big lizard It knows how to swim It lives in the Galapagos Islands READTHEORY Questions 3) Edgar is a Giant Tortoise that lives in the Galapagos Islands How old might Edgar be? A B C D 128 years old 162 years old 176 years old 195 years old 4) How are the Fur Seal, Sea Lion, and Giant Tortoise alike? I They can all weigh over 500 pounds II They are all excellent swimmers III They are all covered in fur A B C D I only I and II only II and III only I, II, and III 5) In paragraph 5, the author explains I how the Flightless Cormorant can swim II where the Flightless Cormorant finds food III why the Flightless Cormorant is strange A B C D I only I and II only II and III only I, II, and III 6) Which group of words best describes the animals that live on the Galapagos Islands? A B C D dreamy, fantastic, unreal heavy, long, large unusual, interesting, special rare, endangered, scarce 7) In paragraph 1, we learn that the animals found on the Galapagos Islands are "unlike the animals you might see any other place in the world." Why you think this is the case? Explain _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ READTHEORY Answers and Explanations 1) A Question Type: Vocabulary prohibited (adjective): not allowed; forbidden In paragraph 1, we read: “People are prohibited from living on the islands.” In order to answer this vocabulary question correctly, we need to figure out what the word prohibited means as it is used in this sentence We can use context clues—hints from known words or phrases around an unknown word or phrase—to help us figure out what the word prohibited means In the next sentence, we read: “No people live there—only animals do.” This lets us know that people not live on the islands Because we also know that “people are prohibited from living on the islands,” we can understand that being prohibited from living there most likely has something to with not living there If people were not allowed to live on the islands, then they would also not live there From this we can tell that being prohibited from living on the islands most likely means not being allowed to live there This lets us know that if something is prohibited, this means it is not allowed Therefore (A) is correct Using the above information, we can understand that being prohibited from living on the islands most likely has something to with not living there But just because people are not exciting would not mean they would not live there From this we can tell that word prohibited cannot mean “not exciting.” This lets us know that if something is prohibited, this does not mean it is not exciting Therefore (B) is incorrect Using the above information, we can understand that being prohibited from living on the islands most likely has something to with not living there But just because people are not healthy would not mean they would not live there From this we can tell that word prohibited cannot mean “not healthy.” This lets us know that if something is prohibited, this does not mean it is not healthy Therefore (C) is incorrect Using the above information, we can understand that being prohibited from living on the islands most likely has something to with not living there But just because people are not illegal would not mean they would not live there From this we can tell that word prohibited cannot mean “not illegal.” This lets us know that if something is prohibited, this does not mean it is not illegal Therefore (D) is incorrect 2) C Question Type: Detail In order to answer this detail question correctly, we need to find where in the passage the author talks about Marine Iguanas A good way to this is to scan the topic sentence (the first sentence) of each paragraph, since this sentence will likely tell us what information can be found in the rest of the paragraph The topic sentence of paragraph reads: “One interesting animal that lives on the islands is the Marine Iguana.” This lets us know that paragraph will likely talk about Marine Iguanas, and that the details we are looking for may be found in this paragraph In the paragraph, we read that “most iguanas cannot swim,” but that Marine Iguanas “know how to swim.” We then read: “They are the only ones that can This is what makes them special.” This lets us know that Marine Iguanas are different from other iguanas because they are the only ones that can swim, and that they are special because they can swim From this we can tell that what makes the Marine Iguana special, according to this passage, is that it knows how to swim Therefore (C) is correct In paragraph 2, we read about Marine Iguanas The passage tells us first about all iguanas, and then tells us what is special about Marine Iguanas We are told that iguanas “look like big lizards,” that they “can be over five feet long,” and that most of them “cannot swim.” The passage then tells us about what makes Marine Iguanas special We are told that Marine Iguanas, unlike most other iguanas, “know how to swim,” and that “this is what makes them special.” We can now understand that when the passage talks about how iguanas can be over five feet long, it is not talking about Marine Iguanas only, but about all iguanas From this we can tell that all iguanas can be over five feet long, not just Marine Iguanas This lets us know that what makes the Marine Iguana special, according to this passage, is not that it can be over five feet long Therefore (A) is incorrect In paragraph 2, we read about Marine Iguanas The passage tells us first about all iguanas, and then tells us what is special about Marine Iguanas We are told that iguanas “look like big lizards,” that they “can be over five feet long,” and that most of them “cannot swim.” The passage then tells us about what makes Marine Iguanas special We are told that Marine Iguanas, unlike most other iguanas, “know how to swim,” and that “this is what makes them special.” We can now understand that when the passage talks about how iguanas look like big lizards, it is not talking about Marine Iguanas only, but about all iguanas From this we can tell that all iguanas look like big lizards, not just Marine Iguanas This lets us know that what makes the Marine Iguana special, according to this passage, is not that it looks like a big lizard Therefore (B) is incorrect In paragraph 2, we read about Marine Iguanas The passage tells us first about all iguanas, and then tells us what is special about Marine Iguanas We are told that iguanas “look like big lizards,” that they “can be over five feet long,” and that most of them “cannot swim.” The passage then tells us about what makes Marine Iguanas special We are told that Marine Iguanas, unlike most other iguanas, “know how to swim,” and that “this is what makes them special.” From this we can tell that, according to this passage, what makes the Marine Iguana special is that it knows how to swim Although we might think that any animal that lives on the Galapagos Islands is special because it lives there, this is not the reason that the passage gives for saying that Marine Iguanas are special This lets us know that what makes the Marine Iguana special, according to this passage, is not that it lives in the Galapagos Islands Therefore (D) is incorrect 3) A Question Type: Inference In paragraph 3, we read about the Giant Tortoise In the last sentence of that paragraph, we read: “They can live for up to 150 years!” This lets us know that Giant Tortoises can sometimes live to be 150 years old From this we can tell that Edgar, who is a Giant Tortoise that lives in the Galapagos Islands, could be 128 years old Therefore (A) is correct In paragraph 3, we read about the Giant Tortoise In the last sentence of that paragraph, we read: “They can live for up to 150 years!” This lets us know that Giant Tortoises can sometimes live to be 150 years old, but that they not live to be older than 150 years old From this we can tell that Edgar, who is a Giant Tortoise that lives in the Galapagos Islands, could not be 162 years old This eliminates (B) In paragraph 3, we read about the Giant Tortoise In the last sentence of that paragraph, we read: “They can live for up to 150 years!” This lets us know that Giant Tortoises can sometimes live to be 150 years old, but that they not live to be older than 150 years old From this we can tell that Edgar, who is a Giant Tortoise that lives in the Galapagos Islands, could not be 176 years old This eliminates (C) In paragraph 3, we read about the Giant Tortoise In the last sentence of that paragraph, we read: “They can live for up to 150 years!” This lets us know that Giant Tortoises can sometimes live to be 150 years old, but that they not live to be older than 150 years old From this we can tell that Edgar, who is a Giant Tortoise that lives in the Galapagos Islands, could not be 195 years old This eliminates (D) READTHEORY Answers and Explanations 4) A Question Type: Inference In paragraph 3, we read that the Giant Tortoise “can weigh over 500 pounds!” In paragraph 4, we read: “Like the tortoises, the Fur Seals and Sea Lions can also weigh over 500 pounds.” From all this we can tell that the Fur Seal, Sea Lion, and Giant Tortoise are alike because they can all weigh over 500 pounds This supports option (I) In paragraph 3, we read that a “Tortoise is a turtle that lives only on land.” Because of this, and because the passage does not say that the Giant Tortoise can swim, we can understand that, according to this passage, the Giant Tortoise cannot swim This lets us know that, although the Fur Seal and Sea Lion are both excellent swimmers, we cannot say that the Fur Seal, Sea Lion, and Giant Tortoise are alike because they are all excellent swimmers This eliminates option (II) Although the passage does tell us that both the Fur Seal and the Sea Lion have fur, there is nothing in the passage that says that the Giant Tortoise has fur This lets us know that we cannot say that the Fur Seal, Sea Lion, and Giant Tortoise are alike because they are all covered in fur This eliminates option (III) Therefore (A) is correct 5) C Question Type: Detail Although we read in paragraph that the Flightless Cormorant can swim, the author does not explain to us how the bird does this He or she only tells us that it can it This eliminates option (I) In paragraph 5, the author writes: “It can even swim down to the ocean floor in search of food.” This lets us know that the Flightless Cormorant finds food on the ocean floor From this we can tell that one of the things the author explains in this paragraph is where the Flightless Cormorant finds food This supports option (II) In paragraph 5, the author writes: “The Flightless Cormorant is a very strange bird.” In the next two sentences, we read: “It has wings but cannot fly! That’s because its wings are too small for flying.” From this we can tell that the Flightless Cormorant is a strange bird since it has wings but cannot fly because its wings are too small This lets us know that one of the things the author explains in this passage is why the Flightless Cormorant is strange This supports option (III) Therefore (C) is correct 6) C Question Type: Global In paragraph 1, we read: “And the animals that live there are very unusual.” In paragraph 2, we read about Marine Iguanas that live on the islands The passage describes them as “interesting,” and “special.” In paragraph 3, we read about Giant Tortoises that live on the islands The passage describes them as “unusual.” In paragraph 5, we read about the Flightless Cormorants that live on the islands The passage describes them as “very strange.” In the final paragraph, we read: “As you can see, the Galapagos Islands are home to some pretty interesting animals.” All of these words, “unusual,” “interesting,” “special,” and “strange,” make us think that the group of words that best describes all of the animals on the islands would be unusual, interesting, special Therefore (C) is correct Although the animals on the Galapagos Islands are described as being "wonderful" in paragraph 1, the passage does not provide information to support the idea that they are imaginary or not real Therefore the group of words that best describes all of the animals on the islands would not be dreamy, fantastic, unreal Choice (A) is incorrect Although the passage does talk about how long the Marine Iguana is, it does not say anything about how long any of the other animals are Although the passage does talk about how heavy the Giant Tortoise, Fur Seal, and Sea Lion are, it does not say anything about how heavy the Marine Iguana and Flightless Cormorant are From this we can tell that the group of words that best describes all of the animals on the islands cannot be heavy, long, large Therefore (B) is incorrect The passage does not say anything about any of the animals on the islands being endangered Also, it does not use the word endangered From this we can tell that the group of words that best describes all of the animals on the islands cannot be rare, endangered, scarce Therefore (D) is incorrect