How an article is organized and what each part does
Grade 7 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Marshes at Work (article)
SPONGES FOR STORM WATER
[1] After a heavy storm, a marsh soaks up water like a sponge. [2] Its thick plants and spongy soil slow the water down and hold it, so rivers downstream rise more gently. [3] Towns near healthy marshes often see less flooding than towns that have drained theirs.
FILTERS FOR RUNOFF
[4] Water running off roads and farms often carries soil and extra nutrients. [5] As that water creeps through a marsh, plant roots take in the nutrients and the soil settles out. [6] The water that leaves is usually cleaner than the water that came in.
A SHRINKING HABITAT
[7] Despite this work, about half of the wetlands in the United States have been drained or filled since colonial times. [8] Many were turned into farms, roads, and neighborhoods. [9] Each loss removes a home for frogs, herons, and many other creatures.
WHAT TOWNS CAN DO
[10] Some towns now protect their marshes with laws and buy land around them. [11] Others rebuild damaged wetlands, which costs money but can cut flood damage later.
Pia notices that 'A Shrinking Habitat' comes after the two sections on what marshes do. Why might the author order them this way?
- Readers must learn that wetlands are shrinking before they can understand what a marsh does in the first place.
- The author wants readers to blame towns for the marshes that have been drained.
- Readers learn what marshes give before they learn how much has been lost, so the loss matters more.
- A marsh must slow storm water before it can clean runoff, so sponges come before filters.
Ren asks how 'What Towns Can Do' connects to the sections before it.
- It answers the loss in the third section by saving or rebuilding the marshes that do the work in the first two.
- It adds a fourth job for marshes, besides soaking up storm water and filtering runoff.
- It says that rebuilding a wetland costs money but can cut flood damage later on.
- It shows that towns can bring back the half of the wetlands that were lost.
Tala imagines 'A Shrinking Habitat' moved to the very start of the article. Which sentence would be hardest to follow?
- Sentence [10], because it answers a loss that readers would meet later on.
- Sentence [7], because 'Despite this work' would point to work the reader has not met yet.
- Sentence [8], because it names farms, roads and neighborhoods before readers know what a marsh is.
- Sentence [4], because water carrying nutrients would no longer follow the storm water in sentence [2].
When the Prairie Blew Away (article)
THE PLOWED PRAIRIE
[1] Before settlers arrived, the grasses of the Great Plains held the soil with deep, tangled roots. [2] In the early 1900s, farmers plowed millions of acres of that grass to plant wheat, and prices were high enough to make the work pay. [3] For a while, the rains came and the crops grew, so few people worried about what had been removed.
YEARS WITHOUT RAIN
[4] In the 1930s, a long drought dried out the plains. [5] With no grass to anchor it, the loose topsoil rose in great dark clouds called black blizzards. [6] Many families lost their crops, packed their belongings, and moved away to find work elsewhere.
HOLDING THE SOIL
[7] In 1935, the federal government created a Soil Conservation Service to teach better farming. [8] Farmers learned to plow along the curves of a hill, rotate their crops, and plant rows of trees as windbreaks. [9] These methods kept the soil in place, and when dry years returned later, the dust storms were far less severe.
Zee notices that the plowing comes before the drought. Why might the author order 'The Plowed Prairie' and 'Years Without Rain' this way?
- Readers must understand the dust storms before they can see why the grass was worth keeping.
- The plowing removed the grass first, so the drought's damage makes sense only after readers know that.
- Readers must first hear about the Soil Conservation Service, or the plowing would look like a mistake.
- The author wants readers to blame the farmers for the whole disaster on the plains.
Bo imagines 'Years Without Rain' moved to the very start of the article. Which sentence would be hardest to follow?
- Sentence [7], because the Soil Conservation Service needs the drought explained before it.
- Sentence [9], because later dust storms need the storms of the 1930s explained first.
- Sentence [6], because families moving away would make no sense before the plowing is told.
- Sentence [5], because 'no grass to anchor it' depends on the plowing the reader has not met yet.
A Skate Spot for Hill Park (article)
THE CASE FOR A SKATE SPOT
[1] Our town has no safe place for teenagers who want to skate, even though many of them practice every afternoon. [2] Right now they practice on the library steps and in the grocery store parking lot, where cars and walkers share the space. [3] A small skate spot in Hill Park would give them a place built for the job.
WHAT NEIGHBORS WORRY ABOUT
[4] Some neighbors fear that a skate spot would be too noisy for the houses beside the park, especially in the evening. [5] Others worry about the cost, since concrete ramps are expensive and the town budget is already tight. [6] These concerns are fair, and a good plan should answer them.
A PLAN THAT ANSWERS BOTH
[7] To answer the worry about noise, the spot could go at the far end of the park, behind a row of trees that soften sound. [8] Costs could be eased by a fundraiser and a grant from the state parks program, which could pay for most of the work. [9] With both steps in place, the skate spot would give skaters a place to practice and keep the park peaceful for the neighbors.
Esme notices that the writer names the neighbors' worries before giving a plan. Why might the writer organize the article this way?
- Naming the worries first shows the plan was built to answer them, which makes the plan more convincing.
- Readers must see the plan before they can understand why the neighbors are worried.
- The writer wants readers to believe that most neighbors already support the skate spot.
- Readers must first learn the library steps are unsafe, or the neighbors' worries would seem unfair to them.
Jun asks how 'A Plan That Answers Both' connects to 'What Neighbors Worry About.'
- It shows that the neighbors' worries will disappear once a skate spot is built.
- It names the state parks program as a possible source of money for the work.
- Each step in the plan answers one of the worries named there, noise first and then cost.
- It returns to the first section by repeating that skaters need a safe place built for them.
Kira imagines 'A Plan That Answers Both' moved to come right after the first section. Which sentence would be hardest to follow?
- Sentence [3], because Hill Park would be named before readers learn anything about the neighbors.
- Sentence [7], because 'the worry about noise' refers to a worry the reader has not met yet.
- Sentence [9], because 'both steps' would have nothing to refer to in the new order.
- Sentence [2], because the library steps and parking lot would appear without a plan to move the skaters.
A Faster Route 9 (article)
THE OLD ROUTE
[1] For thirty years, Route 9 wound through every neighborhood on the east side of town before it reached the hospital. [2] The ride took fifty minutes, though the hospital is only six miles from the end of the line. [3] Riders who worked early shifts often arrived late because the bus spent so long on side streets.
THE NEW ROUTE
[4] Last year the transit board redrew the map so that Route 9 follows Grant Avenue straight to the hospital. [5] The trip now takes twenty-two minutes, and a bus arrives every ten minutes instead of every thirty. [6] The Pine and Alder neighborhoods on the old path lost their stops.
WHO GAINED AND WHO LOST
[7] Hospital workers and most commuters gained the most from the change, and ridership has grown by a third. [8] Residents of Pine and Alder now walk a mile to the nearest stop, which is hard for older riders. [9] To help, the board added a small shuttle that links Pine and Alder to Grant Avenue twice an hour.
Luz notices the article describes the old route before the new one. Why might the author order the sections this way?
- Seeing the old route's long delays first lets readers judge how much the new route improves things.
- Readers must learn about the new route first, or the old route's delays would not seem like delays.
- Readers must learn who gained and who lost first, or they could not tell which route was shorter.
- The writer wants readers to agree that the old route was a mistake from the start.
Milo asks how 'Who Gained and Who Lost' connects to the section before it.
- It returns to the old route to explain why the ride once took so long.
- It shows that the board's change was a mistake because it hurt some riders.
- It weighs the results of the change that section describes, including a cost the new route caused.
- It says that ridership has grown by a third since the change was made.