Cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution
Grade 6 Reading Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
How a Warm Ocean Feeds a Hurricane (article)
[1] A hurricane begins over ocean water that has been warmed to at least eighty degrees Fahrenheit. [2] The heat makes huge amounts of water evaporate, and the rising vapor carries energy high into the air.
[3] As the vapor climbs, it cools and turns back into water droplets, which build towering storm clouds. [4] This change releases heat, so the surrounding air warms and rises even faster than before.
[5] The rising air leaves lower pressure near the surface, and wind rushes in to fill the empty space. [6] Earth's spinning bends that wind into a circle, which is why the storm turns around a calm center.
[7] When the storm moves over land, it loses its supply of warm water. [8] Without that fuel, the winds weaken within a day or two, even though heavy rain may continue.
Ari studies how the hurricane article is built. Which description fits the whole article?
- It explains how a hurricane forms and grows stronger, and it stops there without saying how a storm fades.
- It follows a hurricane through a series of stages, from its start to its end, in the order they occur.
- It describes a danger from hurricanes and then explains the steps that people take to protect themselves.
- Each stage in a storm's growth sets off the next, and the last paragraph shows what happens when the supply is cut off.
Bo wants to add one sentence after sentence [6] that keeps the same kind of link between ideas. Which sentence fits?
- Scientists give each hurricane a name so that people can follow news about it more easily.
- As more air rushes in and spins, the circle of wind grows tighter around the calm center.
- A hurricane is much larger than a thunderstorm, and it lasts for days instead of hours.
- Families near the coast should board up their windows and leave early when a hurricane warning is announced.
Esme imagines deleting sentence [4]. What would readers lose?
- They would lose the reason the air keeps rising even faster once the vapor turns into droplets.
- They would lose the fact that storm clouds are built from tiny water droplets.
- They would lose the reason that rising vapor cools and turns back into droplets as it climbs.
- They would lose the explanation that wind speeds depend on how large the ocean happens to be.
Wind Turbines and Solar Panels (article)
[1] Wind turbines and solar panels both make electricity without burning fuel, so neither one sends smoke into the air. [2] Each depends on the weather, which means the amount of power rises and falls during the day.
[3] The two machines collect energy in different ways. [4] A turbine's tall blades spin in the wind and turn a generator, while a solar panel has no moving parts and absorbs sunlight directly.
[5] Location matters for each machine as well. [6] Turbines work best on open hills or offshore, where winds blow steadily, but panels can sit on a rooftop in a quiet neighborhood.
[7] Their output also follows different schedules. [8] Panels make the most power at midday and none at night, whereas turbines may keep spinning after dark if the wind blows.
Jun wants to add one sentence after sentence [6] that keeps the way paragraphs 2 to 4 are built. Which sentence fits?
- Turbines placed offshore often catch stronger winds than turbines on land, so they make more electricity.
- Over the past fifty years, engineers built larger turbines and cheaper panels, one improvement after another.
- A turbine also needs wide open space for its blades to turn, while a panel needs a flat surface that faces the sky.
- A town with dirty air could fix the trouble by building more of these machines near its homes.
Kira imagines cutting sentences [5] and [6] from the article. What would readers lose?
- They would lose one feature on which the machines differ: the places where each one works well.
- They would lose a way the machines are alike: both depend on the weather, so their power rises and falls during the day.
- They would lose the reason that rooftops are the safest place for electric machines in a neighborhood.
- They would lose the explanation of how the tall blades of a turbine spin and turn a generator.
Keeping Railroad Switches Clear (article)
[1] In cold regions, snow and ice can pack into the moving rails that guide a train from one track to another. [2] When these switches freeze in place, trains must stop, and a delay on one line can slow the whole network.
[3] At first, workers walked out with shovels and brooms to clear each switch by hand. [4] That plan worked on calm mornings, but heavy snow refilled the switches faster than the workers could clean them.
[5] Engineers then installed gas heaters beside the rails, which melted snow as soon as it landed. [6] The heaters solved most of the trouble, though they burned fuel even when no snow was falling.
[7] To fix that, the railroad added sensors that turn the heaters on only during snow or freezing rain. [8] With the sensors in place, trains kept to their schedules, and the company spent less on fuel.
Milo imagines deleting sentence [6]. What would readers lose?
- They would lose the description of how snow and ice pack into the rails that guide the trains.
- They would lose the reason the workers first went out with shovels to clear each switch by hand.
- They would lose the proof that gas heaters are the cheapest way to keep switches clear.
- They would lose the new trouble with the heaters that the railroad later added sensors to fix.
Noah compares ideas. Which situation below is built like sentences [3] to [8]?
- A bakery opens at six, bakes until noon, sells until four, and cleans up before it closes.
- A bakery's oven heats the air, the hot air dries the dough, and dry dough makes loaves that crack open on top.
- A bakery's loaves kept burning, so it lowered the oven heat; the loaves came out pale, so it added a timer.
- A bakery sells two kinds of loaves: one is soft and wide, and the other is hard and narrow.
Pia studies how the railroad article is built. Which description fits the whole article?
- It records winter work from hand tools to heaters to sensors as three separate events.
- It compares three ways of clearing switches, giving the same points about each one in turn.
- It shows how snow leads to frozen switches and then to train delays, and it stops there.
- It states a trouble, then follows a series of fixes, each one answering a flaw in the one before.
Two Kinds of Volcanoes (article)
[1] Shield volcanoes and steep cone volcanoes are both built from layers of cooled lava, but they look very different. [2] A shield volcano is wide and gently sloped, while a cone volcano rises into a tall, steep peak.
[3] These shapes come from the kind of lava inside each mountain. [4] Shield volcanoes erupt thin, runny lava that spreads far before it hardens, so the mountain grows wide and low.
[5] Cone volcanoes erupt thick, sticky lava that cannot flow far, so it piles up close to the opening. [6] Gas also gets trapped in this thick lava, and the growing pressure can end in a sudden, loud eruption.
[7] That difference explains why the two kinds feel so different to nearby towns. [8] Shield eruptions usually give people time to move away, but cone eruptions can come with little warning.
Ren compares ideas. Which situation below links its ideas the way sentence [4] does?
- A flat roof and a steep roof are both made of wood and tiles, but their shapes differ.
- Strong wind drives sand against a fence, so a long hill of sand builds up beside it.
- A builder lays the beams first, adds the boards next, and nails down the tiles last.
- A flat roof leaked during storms, and the owners solved the leak by adding a slope.
Tala studies how the volcano article is built. Which description fits the whole article?
- It follows one chain of events in which thick lava traps gas, pressure builds, and a sudden eruption follows.
- It explains how the two kinds of volcanoes are alike, since both are built from layers of cooled lava.
- It sets two kinds of volcanoes side by side and explains their different shapes with a cause in the lava.
- It shows that the shape of each mountain decides which kind of lava erupts from it.