Cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution
Grade 6 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Why Ponds Freeze From the Top (article)
[1] In winter, a pond freezes from the top down, and the water underneath usually stays liquid. [2] This happens because water behaves in an unusual way as it gets cold.
[3] When the air chills the surface, the top water cools and becomes heavier, so it sinks. [4] Warmer water from below rises to take its place, and then that water cools as well.
[5] Once all of the water reaches about four degrees Celsius, it stops sinking. [6] Water colder than that grows lighter, so the freezing layer stays on the surface and turns into ice.
[7] The sheet of ice works like a blanket and slows the loss of heat from the water below. [8] Because of this protection, fish and pond plants can survive the winter in cold but liquid water.
Bo wants to know why the top layer of the pond is the part that turns to ice. Which sentence explains it?
- [3] When the air chills the surface, the top water cools and becomes heavier, so it sinks.
- [8] Because of this protection, fish and pond plants can survive the winter in cold but liquid water.
- [7] The sheet of ice works like a blanket and slows the loss of heat from the water below.
- [6] Water colder than that grows lighter, so the freezing layer stays on the surface and turns into ice.
Esme writes a note about the pond article. Which note keeps the ideas in the right connection?
- Ice forms on top first, and that sheet of ice then makes the cooling water below it sink toward the bottom.
- The article lists four winter events in order: sinking water, a four-degree pond, ice, and surviving fish.
- Ice forms on top because warm water from the bottom pushes the cold water up and out of the way.
- Cooling makes the surface water sink until the pond reaches four degrees, and then colder water stays on top and freezes.
Two Old Ways to Tell Time (article)
[1] Long before electric clocks, people measured the hours with sundials and with water clocks. [2] Both tools turned a natural movement into marks that anyone could learn to read.
[3] A sundial depends on the shadow of the sun. [4] As the sun crosses the sky, a pointed rod called a gnomon casts a shadow that slides across numbered lines.
[5] A water clock depends on dripping water instead. [6] Water leaks slowly from one container into another, and the rising level inside the second container shows how much time has passed.
[7] The sundial stops working on cloudy days and at night, while the water clock keeps running in any kind of light. [8] On the other hand, a sundial needs no refilling, but someone must pour the water back into a water clock.
Jun wants to know when the sundial fails but the water clock keeps working. Which sentence tells that?
- [2] Both tools turned a natural movement into marks that anyone could learn to read.
- [4] As the sun crosses the sky, a pointed rod called a gnomon casts a shadow that slides across numbered lines.
- [7] The sundial stops working on cloudy days and at night, while the water clock keeps running in any kind of light.
- [8] On the other hand, a sundial needs no refilling, but someone must pour the water back into a water clock.
Kira looks at sentences [3] and [4]. What job does that paragraph do in the article?
- It continues a history of tools, telling which one people invented next after the first.
- It lists the ways the sundial and the water clock are different from each other.
- It explains a trouble with measuring time and how a sundial was built to solve it.
- It shows how the sundial works, giving the first half of a pair that is compared later.
Luz writes a note about the clock article. Which note matches the article?
- A sundial tells time with a shadow that slides across numbered lines as the sun crosses the sky.
- Water clocks were built because sundials stopped working at night, and the new clocks solved that trouble.
- A sundial and a water clock both mark time, but one depends on sunshine and the other on dripping water.
- Sundials and water clocks tell time in the same way, because both use a moving shadow and a pointed rod.
Grass for the Dunes (article)
[1] Along the north beach, the sand dunes were gradually eroding, and winter waves had begun to reach the parking lot. [2] Without the dunes, a strong storm could flood the road and damage the shops behind it.
[3] The town consulted local scientists about how to hold the sand in place. [4] They recommended planting beach grass, because its long roots grip the sand and grow thicker each year.
[5] Volunteers planted thousands of grass shoots in careful rows along the damaged dune. [6] They also installed low fences that slow the wind and keep visitors on the marked paths.
[7] Within two years, the grass had spread and the dunes had stopped shrinking. [8] The parking lot stayed dry during the next storm, which relieved the shop owners.
Milo looks at sentences [1] and [2]. What job does that paragraph do in the article?
- It presents the trouble at the beach and the damage that the trouble could cause.
- It explains the steps by which waves slowly wear a dune away, from the first wave to the last.
- It tells what the town did to help the dunes and how well the help worked.
- It tells what happened first at the beach, before the town and its volunteers took their turns.
Noah reads the dune article. How does sentence [4] connect to sentence [3]?
- It gives the scientists' answer to the question that the town brought to them.
- It shows that beach grass has already saved the dunes at several other beaches.
- It names the trouble that made the town ask the scientists for help.
- It compares the scientists' view of the beach with the town's view, showing how the two differ.
Pia writes a note about the dune article. Which note keeps the ideas in the right connection?
- The north beach dunes were wearing away, and winter waves had started to reach the parking lot.
- Waves were wearing away the dunes, so the town planted grass and set up fences, and the dunes stopped shrinking.
- Planting grass worked so well that the town no longer needs the fences or the volunteers to protect the dunes from winter waves.
- The town called scientists, then volunteers planted grass, then low fences went up, and then a storm came.
Seeing Stars Again (article)
[1] Outdoor lights that point in every direction send some of their glow up into the sky. [2] That light bounces off tiny bits of dust and moisture in the air, which fills the night with a pale haze.
[3] As a result, faint stars disappear, and only the brightest ones can be seen above a town. [4] People who live where the haze is strongest may see a few hundred stars instead of thousands.
[5] The town of Millbrook decided to bring back its night sky, so the council changed its street lamps. [6] The new lamps have metal shields that aim all of the light down toward the road.
[7] The shields keep the roads bright for drivers while sending far less light upward. [8] A year later, residents counted many more stars, and families began holding stargazing nights in the park.
Tala wants to know what residents saw in the night sky after the new lamps went up. Which sentence tells that?
- [5] The town of Millbrook decided to bring back its night sky, so the council changed its street lamps.
- [4] People who live where the haze is strongest may see a few hundred stars instead of thousands.
- [7] The shields keep the roads bright for drivers while sending far less light upward.
- [8] A year later, residents counted many more stars, and families began holding stargazing nights in the park.
Zee looks at sentences [5] and [6]. What job does that paragraph do in the article?
- It compares old street lamps with new ones to show how the two kinds are alike.
- It describes how dark Millbrook was in earlier years, before any outdoor lights were built.
- It shows what the town did in answer to the dim night sky and describes the new lamps.
- It explains how outdoor lights fill the night air with haze, one step at a time.