★Main Topic in Paragraphs
Grade 2 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me
Read the text. Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Towers on the Shore
For hundreds of years, lighthouses have helped ships stay safe near the shore. Many coasts have rocks and sandbars hidden under the water. At night or in thick fog, sailors cannot see these dangers. A lighthouse warns them to keep away. It also helps them find the way into a harbor.
The light at the top of the tower is special. Long ago, keepers burned oil in big lamps. Today most lighthouses use electric lights. Around the light sits a large glass lens with many rings. The lens bends the light into one strong beam. Sailors can spot some beams from more than twenty miles away.
Each lighthouse has its own signal, so sailors know which one they see. Some lights flash once every few seconds. Others flash twice, or shine without blinking. In the daytime, sailors look at the paint instead. One tower may have black and white stripes, while another has red bands.
In the past, a keeper lived beside each lighthouse. Every evening, the keeper climbed the stairs to light the lamp. Keepers wound gears that turned the lens, and they cleaned the glass each morning. Now most lighthouses run on their own with machines and timers. Some old keepers' houses have become museums that families can visit.
What is the main topic of the whole text?
- lighthouses and how they help sailors
- the lives of lighthouse keepers
- how sailors steer ships through storms
What is paragraph 2 mostly about?
- where sandbars hide under the water
- how the light can shine so far
- how keepers lit the lamps each night
What is paragraph 1 mostly about?
- how fog forms over the sea
- how far a beam can reach
- why ships need lighthouses
Which detail belongs in paragraph 3?
- Sailors use charts that list each lighthouse's flash pattern.
- Some keepers rowed boats to town for supplies.
- Some lenses are taller than a grown-up person.
