How a sentence or paragraph fits the whole article

Grade 6 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   From Used Can to New Can (article)

   [1] A drink can feels light, but making one from fresh metal takes a surprising amount of energy. [2] Aluminum comes from an ore called bauxite, which must be mined, refined, and then processed with huge amounts of electricity.

   [3] Recycling avoids most of that work, because used aluminum only has to be melted down and shaped again. [4] This process uses about five percent of the energy that making new metal requires.

   [5] The savings depend on people sorting their cans, however, and many cans never reach a recycling bin. [6] In the United States, fewer than half of the aluminum cans sold each year are recycled.

   [7] Some states add a small deposit to the price of each can and return it when the can is brought back. [8] These programs reward the habit that makes recycling work, and states with deposits tend to recycle a larger share of their cans.

2. 1.

   Bo's draft puts the second paragraph, sentences [3] and [4], before the first paragraph, sentences [1] and [2]. What goes wrong?

   • The article would lose its explanation of why recycling saves energy, so its main idea would fall apart.
   • Little would go wrong, because both paragraphs are about aluminum and each fact would still be there.
   • Readers would think the energy cost of new metal is caused by recycling, since recycling comes first.
   • Recycling would come first, and the phrase “that work” would point to nothing the reader has met.
3. 2.

   Esme reads a classmate's note: “Sentence [4] only repeats sentence [3].” Which reply is accurate?

   • The note is right, because [3] already says recycling avoids most of the work and [4] says the same.
   • The note is wrong, because [4] adds the problem that makes recycling hard, which [3] leaves out.
   • The note is wrong, because [4] adds ways to make recycling cheaper, which [3] leaves out.
   • The note is wrong: [3] says recycling avoids most of the work, and [4] adds how large the saving is.

4. Towers That Sway on Purpose (article)

   [1] When an earthquake shakes the ground, a tall building does not simply stand still. [2] Engineers know that rigid walls crack under sudden pushing, so they design towers that can bend a little.

   [3] Steel frames are one answer, because steel stretches and springs back instead of snapping. [4] Another answer is a heavy weight hung near the top that swings against the motion of the building.

   [5] Taipei 101, a skyscraper in Taiwan, has a steel ball weighing about 660 metric tons hanging inside its upper floors. [6] When wind or an earthquake sways the tower, the ball swings the other way and reduces the movement.

   [7] Other buildings stand on flexible pads that let the ground move beneath them while the structure above stays steadier. [8] Together, these methods show that safe design often means managing movement instead of trying to stop it completely.

5. 3.

   Jun notices that sentences [5] and [6] give details about one idea stated earlier in the article. Which sentence states that idea?

   • Sentence [2]
   • Sentence [4]
   • Sentence [3]
   • Sentence [1]
6. 4.

   Kira reads a classmate's note: “Sentences [4] and [7] describe the same method, so one could be cut.” Which reply is accurate?

   • The note is wrong, because [7] is the one of the two that gives a real building as an example.
   • The note is wrong: [4] describes a swinging weight and [7] describes flexible pads, which are two methods.
   • The note is right, because both sentences describe a part of the building that moves against the shaking.
   • The note is right, since the heavy weight in [4] is what rests on the flexible pads in [7].
7. 5.

   Luz wants the sentence that moves the article from the swinging-weight method to a different method. Which sentence is it?

   • Sentence [3]
   • Sentence [6]
   • Sentence [8]
   • Sentence [7]

8. Reading the Story in Tree Rings (article)

   [1] Each year a tree adds a new layer of wood just under its bark, and the layer shows up as a ring. [2] Wide rings usually form in wet years when growth is easy, while narrow rings form in dry or cold years.

   [3] Scientists can therefore read a trunk like a record of past weather. [4] They do not need to cut down the tree, because a thin tool can pull out a core about the width of a pencil.

   [5] The patterns of wide and narrow rings in old wooden beams can overlap with patterns in living trees from the same region. [6] By linking these overlapping patterns end to end, researchers can build a record that stretches back thousands of years.

   [7] This record lets them find the exact year a wooden beam in an old building was cut. [8] It also shows when long droughts struck, which helps them judge how unusual today's weather is.

9. 6.

   Milo wants the sentence that carries the article from what one tree can show to how many trees can be combined. Which sentence is it?

   • Sentence [5]
   • Sentence [6]
   • Sentence [3]
   • Sentence [4]
10. 7.

    Noah wants the two sentences that give uses of the long record described in sentence [6]. Which pair is it?

    • Sentences [2] and [3]
    • Sentences [4] and [5]
    • Sentences [7] and [8]
    • Sentences [6] and [7]
11. 8.

    Pia reads a classmate's note: “Sentence [4] is not needed, because sentence [3] already explains how scientists read tree rings.” Which reply is accurate?

    • The note is wrong, because [4] names the tool that scientists prefer over any other method.
    • The note is wrong: [3] says what a trunk can show, and [4] adds how to study it without harming the tree.
    • The note is wrong, because [4] adds the way long records are built, which [3] leaves out.
    • The note is right, because [4] repeats that scientists can read a trunk and adds nothing about the tree.

12. The Clock That Sped Up Basketball (article)

    [1] In the early years of professional basketball, a team that led late in a game could simply hold the ball. [2] Players passed it back and forth without shooting, and fans grew bored watching the clock run down.

    [3] In 1950, one game ended with a final score of only 19 to 18. [4] Games like that showed league owners that scoring might drop even further if nothing changed.

    [5] Danny Biasone, who owned the Syracuse Nationals, figured that a lively game held about 120 shots. [6] Dividing the 2,880 seconds of a game by 120 shots gave him 24 seconds for each shot.

    [7] The league adopted a 24-second shot clock in 1954, and teams now had to shoot before time ran out. [8] Scoring jumped, games became livelier, and versions of the clock are still used around the world today.

13. 9.

    Sentence [4] warns that scoring might drop even further. Tala looks for the later sentence that shows the opposite happening. Which sentence is it?

    • Sentence [8]
    • Sentence [7]
    • Sentence [6]
    • Sentence [5]
14. 10.

    Zee reads a classmate's note: “Sentences [3] and [4] could be cut, because sentences [1] and [2] already show the problem.” Which reply is accurate?

    • The note is wrong, because [3] and [4] explain how the shot clock was designed, which [1] and [2] do not.
    • The note is right, because [3] and [4] repeat the same stalling problem with a number added.
    • The note is wrong: [1] and [2] describe the stalling, and [3] and [4] add proof that it was costing points.
    • The note is wrong, because [3] shows that the 1950 game was the first one with stalling.