Words with special meanings in articles

Grade 7 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Coral Reefs (article)

   [1] A coral reef looks like a garden of rocks, but animals build it. [2] Each coral polyp, a tiny soft animal with a ring of tentacles, makes a hard cup of limestone around its body. [3] When a polyp's life ends, its cup stays behind, and new polyps build on top of the old cups for thousands of years. [4] Reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean floor, yet they shelter about a quarter of all sea species. [5] That is why scientists call them the rainforests of the sea.

   [6] Polyps get much of their food and color from tiny algae that live inside their bodies. [7] When the water becomes too warm, the stressed polyps push the algae out, and the coral turns pale. [8] This is called bleaching. [9] A bleached coral is still alive, but it is starving, and it may not survive if cooler water does not return soon. [10] Reef managers watch ocean temperatures closely so they can warn nearby towns before a bleaching event begins.

2. 1.

   Ari reads sentence 2 of the article. What does polyp mean as the article uses it?

   • a tiny alga that gives coral its color
   • a ridge of rock under the water
   • a hard cup of limestone
   • a tiny soft animal with tentacles
3. 2.

   Bo reads sentences 7 and 8. What does bleaching mean as the article uses it?

   • coral losing its algae and turning pale
   • ocean water becoming too warm
   • making cloth white with a chemical
   • the hard limestone cups that polyps leave behind

4. Where Warm and Cold Air Meet (article)

   [1] Weather rarely changes at random. [2] Much of it comes from fronts, the boundaries where two large masses of air meet. [3] Air masses differ in temperature and moisture, so they do not mix easily. [4] At a cold front, heavy cold air bulldozes under lighter warm air and shoves it upward. [5] The rising warm air cools, forms tall clouds, and often brings a short burst of rain. [6] Behind the front, the sky clears and the temperature drops. [7] A warm front behaves more gently, because warm air slides up over cooler air and brings light rain that can last for hours.

   [8] Forecasters also watch air pressure with a barometer. [9] This instrument measures how heavily the air above it presses down. [10] When the pressure falls steadily, a storm is usually on its way. [11] When it rises, the weather is likely to turn calm and dry. [12] A barometer cannot name the exact hour of the rain, but it gives a useful early hint.

5. 3.

   Jun reads sentence 2. What does front mean as the article uses it?

   • the boundary where two air masses meet
   • a huge body of air with one temperature and moisture
   • the drop in temperature after a storm passes
   • the forward part of something, like the front of a line
6. 4.

   Kira reads sentences 8 and 9. What does barometer mean as the article uses it?

   • a warning that a storm is on its way
   • an instrument that measures air pressure
   • a boundary where cold and warm air meet
   • a forecaster who studies the sky
7. 5.

   Luz reads sentence 4. What does the word bulldozes suggest about how the cold air moves?

   • It forms tall clouds and brings rain.
   • It works like a heavy machine that digs up the ground.
   • It pushes forward with great force.
   • It slips under the warm air very gently.

8. Inside a Honeybee Hive (article)

   [1] A honeybee hive can hold tens of thousands of bees, yet every bee seems to understand its responsibilities. [2] The queen lays the eggs, and she may lay more than a thousand of them in a single day. [3] Foragers, the workers that fly out to find food, visit many flowers to gather nectar and pollen. [4] Back at the hive, a forager passes the nectar to younger workers, who store it in tiny wax cells. [5] The workers fan the nectar with their wings, and slowly it thickens into honey.

   [6] The hive hums like a busy factory, with every worker doing a task that keeps production going. [7] In winter, the bees cluster. [8] They pack together in a tight ball around the queen, and the bees on the outside shiver their flight muscles to make heat. [9] The honey they stored in summer is their fuel until flowers bloom again. [10] By early spring, the ball loosens, and the foragers return to the first blossoms.

9. 6.

   Milo reads sentence 3. What does forager mean as the article uses it?

   • a flower that makes nectar and pollen
   • the bee that lays the eggs for the hive
   • a worker bee that flies out to find food
   • a worker bee that fans nectar with its wings
10. 7.

    Pia reads sentence 6. What does the phrase hums like a busy factory suggest about the hive?

    • The queen may lay more than a thousand eggs a day.
    • The hive is quiet and still.
    • Many bees work steadily at different tasks.
    • The bees run machines inside the hive.

11. Magma and Lava (article)

    [1] Deep under a volcano, rock melts into a thick, glowing liquid called magma. [2] Magma is lighter than the solid rock around it, so it slowly rises through cracks. [3] As it rises, some of it collects in a magma chamber. [4] This large pocket under the surface holds the melted rock while pressure builds, much like the pressure in a shaken soda bottle. [5] Eventually the magma finds a vent, an opening in the ground where material can escape.

    [6] Once magma reaches the surface, it is called lava. [7] Lava flows from a vent as slow rivers of rock, or it may be thrown into the air in bursts. [8] Cooled lava hardens into new rock, and over many eruptions it builds a mountain. [9] The islands of Hawaii were built this way, one layer of lava at a time. [10] Volcanologists study vents and chambers to learn when an eruption may come.

12. 8.

    Ren reads sentence 5. What does vent mean as the article uses it?

    • melted rock that has reached the surface
    • to let out strong feelings
    • an opening where material escapes
    • a pocket where melted rock collects
13. 9.

    Tala reads sentences 3 and 4. What does magma chamber mean as the article uses it?

    • an opening where material escapes
    • a crack that magma rises through
    • a large pocket holding melted rock
    • a soda bottle that holds pressure
14. 10.

    Zee reads sentence 4. What does the comparison to a shaken soda bottle suggest about the pressure in the chamber?

    • The force keeps growing until material bursts out.
    • The magma fizzes and bubbles like a soft drink.
    • The force slowly fades until nothing happens.
    • Magma is lighter than the rock around it.