4th Grade Summarize a Text worksheets

Summarize a Text

Grade 4 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Read the text. Circle the sentence that best summarizes the part named.

1. Read this first

   From Cacao Pod to Chocolate Bar

   Chocolate starts as a seed on a tree. Cacao trees grow in hot, rainy places near the equator, such as Ghana and Ecuador. Big pods, shaped a bit like footballs, grow right on the tree's trunk and branches.

   Farmers cut the ripe pods open by hand. Inside, thirty to fifty seeds are tucked in a sweet white pulp. These seeds are called cacao beans. Fresh beans taste very bitter, nothing like a chocolate bar.

   Next, the farmers pile the beans under banana leaves for about a week. During this time, the beans warm up and begin to change. This step, called fermenting, starts to build the chocolate flavor. Then the beans are spread out in the sun to dry. Workers rake them often so they dry evenly.

   The dried beans are packed into sacks and shipped to chocolate factories around the world. At the factory, the beans are roasted, much like coffee beans. Roasting makes the flavor deeper and fills the air with a rich smell. Machines crack the beans and remove the thin shells.

   The inside pieces are ground into a thick, dark paste. Chocolate makers mix in sugar, and sometimes milk. They stir and smooth the mixture for hours. Finally, the warm chocolate is poured into molds and cooled into bars.

   From tree to bar, the journey can take months and cross an ocean.

2. 1.

   Which sentence best summarizes this text?

   • Cacao beans are fermented, dried, roasted, and ground to make chocolate.
   • Cacao pods grow on the trunks of trees in hot, rainy places.
   • Chocolate makers add sugar because fresh cacao beans are bitter.
3. 2.

   Which sentence best summarizes the third paragraph?

   • Beans are fermented under leaves, then dried in the sun.
   • Farmers cut the ripe pods open by hand.
   • Beans are packed in sacks and shipped to factories.
4. 3.

   Which sentence best summarizes the fourth paragraph?

   • Dried beans go to factories, where they are roasted and shelled.
   • Farmers pile the beans under banana leaves for about a week.
   • Fresh cacao beans taste very bitter, nothing like a chocolate bar.
5. 4.

   Which sentence best summarizes the fifth paragraph?

   • The beans are ground, mixed with sugar, and made into bars.
   • Workers rake the beans often so that they dry evenly in the sun.
   • Roasting fills the air with a rich smell at the factory.