Join short sentences and add detail
Grade 8 Reading Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Plowing Up the Plains (student draft: informative)
[1] When prices for wheat soared during the First World War, farmers on the southern Great Plains plowed up millions of acres of native grass to plant more of the crop, a decision that seemed prudent at the time because the harvests were large and the profits were dependable. [2] The deep roots of that prairie grass had held the soil in place for thousands of years. [3] Once the roots were gone, the soil lay bare. [4] The 1930s brought a severe and prolonged drought. [5] The wind began to lift the dry topsoil into the air.
[6] On April 14, 1935, a day later remembered as Black Sunday, a wall of dust rolled across the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, turning afternoon into darkness so complete that people could not see their own hands. [7] Families sealed their doors and windows with wet cloth. [8] Thousands of families abandoned their farms. [9] The families traveled west to California in search of work.
[10] Hugh Hammond Bennett testified before Congress in the spring of 1935. [11] He was a soil scientist who had warned for years about erosion on the plowed prairies. [12] A dust cloud from the Plains darkened the sky over Washington, D.C., while he spoke, just as lawmakers were debating whether the disaster demanded a national response. [13] Congress created the Soil Conservation Service. [14] Farmers under its guidance began to plow along the contours of their land, rotate their crops, and plant long rows of trees as windbreaks, practices that did not end the drought but helped keep the remaining topsoil in the fields when dry years returned.
Jun joins sentences [8] and [9] with an opening -ing phrase. Which version keeps both facts, adds none, and tells about the right doer?
- Traveling west to California in search of work, the farms were abandoned by thousands of families.
- Abandoning their farms, thousands of families traveled west to California in search of work.
- Abandoning their farms, thousands of families traveled west in search of work.
- Abandoning their farms, thousands of families traveled west to California in search of work and a better life.
Kira joins sentences [10] and [11] with an opening phrase. Which version keeps both facts, adds none, and tells about the right doer?
- Having warned for years about erosion on the plowed prairies, soil scientist Hugh Hammond Bennett testified before Congress in the spring of 1935.
- Having warned for years about erosion, soil scientist Hugh Hammond Bennett testified before Congress in the spring of 1935.
- Having warned for years about erosion on the plowed prairies, Congress heard soil scientist Hugh Hammond Bennett in the spring of 1935.
- Having warned for years about erosion on the plowed prairies, soil scientist Hugh Hammond Bennett testified before Congress in the spring of 1935 about the dangers of drought.
Plowing Up the Plains (student draft: informative)
[1] When prices for wheat soared during the First World War, farmers on the southern Great Plains plowed up millions of acres of native grass to plant more of the crop, a decision that seemed prudent at the time because the harvests were large and the profits were dependable. [2] The deep roots of that prairie grass had held the soil in place for thousands of years. [3] Once the roots were gone, the soil lay bare. [4] The 1930s brought a severe and prolonged drought. [5] The wind began to lift the dry topsoil into the air.
[6] On April 14, 1935, a day later remembered as Black Sunday, a wall of dust rolled across the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, turning afternoon into darkness so complete that people could not see their own hands. [7] Families sealed their doors and windows with wet cloth. [8] Thousands of families abandoned their farms. [9] The families traveled west to California in search of work.
[10] Hugh Hammond Bennett testified before Congress in the spring of 1935. [11] He was a soil scientist who had warned for years about erosion on the plowed prairies. [12] A dust cloud from the Plains darkened the sky over Washington, D.C., while he spoke, just as lawmakers were debating whether the disaster demanded a national response. [13] Congress created the Soil Conservation Service. [14] Farmers under its guidance began to plow along the contours of their land, rotate their crops, and plant long rows of trees as windbreaks, practices that did not end the drought but helped keep the remaining topsoil in the fields when dry years returned. Meaning: the writer's point is that the soil lay bare once the roots that held it were gone.
Milo joins sentences [2] and [3] to match the meaning in the figure. Which version does it correctly and keeps both facts?
- Although the roots were gone, the soil that they had held in place for thousands of years lay bare.
- The roots had held the soil in place for thousands of years, once they were gone, the soil lay bare.
- Once the soil lay bare, the roots that had held it in place for thousands of years were gone.
- Once the roots were gone, the soil that they had held in place for thousands of years lay bare.
Plowing Up the Plains (student draft: informative)
[1] When prices for wheat soared during the First World War, farmers on the southern Great Plains plowed up millions of acres of native grass to plant more of the crop, a decision that seemed prudent at the time because the harvests were large and the profits were dependable. [2] The deep roots of that prairie grass had held the soil in place for thousands of years. [3] Once the roots were gone, the soil lay bare. [4] The 1930s brought a severe and prolonged drought. [5] The wind began to lift the dry topsoil into the air.
[6] On April 14, 1935, a day later remembered as Black Sunday, a wall of dust rolled across the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, turning afternoon into darkness so complete that people could not see their own hands. [7] Families sealed their doors and windows with wet cloth. [8] Thousands of families abandoned their farms. [9] The families traveled west to California in search of work.
[10] Hugh Hammond Bennett testified before Congress in the spring of 1935. [11] He was a soil scientist who had warned for years about erosion on the plowed prairies. [12] A dust cloud from the Plains darkened the sky over Washington, D.C., while he spoke, just as lawmakers were debating whether the disaster demanded a national response. [13] Congress created the Soil Conservation Service. [14] Farmers under its guidance began to plow along the contours of their land, rotate their crops, and plant long rows of trees as windbreaks, practices that did not end the drought but helped keep the remaining topsoil in the fields when dry years returned. Bare sentence [7]: Families sealed their doors and windows with wet cloth. Purpose: a museum label that tells visitors why.
Noah adds one phrase to sentence [7]. The purpose is in the figure. Which version fits it and changes nothing else?
- Families sealed their doors and windows with wet cloth during the dust storms that followed Black Sunday.
- Families sealed their doors and windows with wet paper to keep out the fine dust.
- Families sealed their doors and windows with wet cloth to keep out the fine dust.
- Families sealed their doors and windows with wet cloth in the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma.
Plowing Up the Plains (student draft: informative)
[1] When prices for wheat soared during the First World War, farmers on the southern Great Plains plowed up millions of acres of native grass to plant more of the crop, a decision that seemed prudent at the time because the harvests were large and the profits were dependable. [2] The deep roots of that prairie grass had held the soil in place for thousands of years. [3] Once the roots were gone, the soil lay bare. [4] The 1930s brought a severe and prolonged drought. [5] The wind began to lift the dry topsoil into the air.
[6] On April 14, 1935, a day later remembered as Black Sunday, a wall of dust rolled across the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma, turning afternoon into darkness so complete that people could not see their own hands. [7] Families sealed their doors and windows with wet cloth. [8] Thousands of families abandoned their farms. [9] The families traveled west to California in search of work.
[10] Hugh Hammond Bennett testified before Congress in the spring of 1935. [11] He was a soil scientist who had warned for years about erosion on the plowed prairies. [12] A dust cloud from the Plains darkened the sky over Washington, D.C., while he spoke, just as lawmakers were debating whether the disaster demanded a national response. [13] Congress created the Soil Conservation Service. [14] Farmers under its guidance began to plow along the contours of their land, rotate their crops, and plant long rows of trees as windbreaks, practices that did not end the drought but helped keep the remaining topsoil in the fields when dry years returned. Bare sentence [13]: Congress created the Soil Conservation Service. Purpose: a timeline entry that tells readers when.
Pia adds one phrase to sentence [13]. The purpose is in the figure. Which version fits it and changes nothing else?
- Congress created the Soil Conservation Service in 1935.
- Congress created the Soil Conservation Corps in 1935, after months of debate.
- Congress created the Soil Conservation Service to protect the remaining topsoil on the Plains.
- Congress created the Soil Conservation Service in Washington, D.C., after long debate.
The Woman Who Mapped the Ocean Floor (student draft: informative)
[1] In the early 1950s, geologists knew far less about the ocean floor than about the land, because its depths lay hidden beneath miles of water and the instruments for measuring them were crude, slow, and expensive. [2] Marie Tharp, a geologist at Columbia University's Lamont Geological Observatory, was hired to turn sonar measurements, which arrived as long, tangled paper records, into maps that other scientists could actually read. [3] Women were not allowed on the research ships. [4] Tharp stayed in the laboratory. [5] She plotted the soundings by hand along lines of latitude and longitude. [6] Her colleague Bruce Heezen collected them at sea.
[7] As the profiles accumulated on her drafting table, a pattern appeared along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: a deep, V-shaped valley ran down the center of the mountain chain. [8] Tharp suspected that it was a rift, a place where the crust was pulling apart. [9] Heezen at first doubted that the seafloor could be spreading. [10] He dismissed her idea as "girl talk," but further data from other ships soon convinced him that she was right.
[11] The rift valley became strong evidence for continental drift. [12] Continental drift was an idea that most geologists had rejected as unproven, since no one had found a mechanism that could move whole continents. [13] Tharp and Heezen completed their map of the ocean floor. [14] Tharp received public honors only late in her career, long after her maps had changed how scientists understood the planet.
Ren joins sentences [4] and [5] with an opening -ing phrase. Which version keeps both facts, adds none, and tells about the right doer?
- Staying in the laboratory, Tharp plotted the soundings by hand.
- Staying in the laboratory, Tharp plotted the soundings by hand along lines of latitude and longitude.
- Staying in the laboratory, the soundings were plotted by hand along lines of latitude and longitude.
- Staying in the laboratory, Tharp plotted the soundings by hand along lines of latitude and longitude for the Navy.
Tala joins sentences [11] and [12] with an appositive. Which version keeps both facts, adds none, and renames the right noun?
- The rift valley became strong evidence for continental drift, an idea that most geologists had rejected as unproven, since no one had found a mechanism that could move whole continents.
- The rift valley became strong evidence for continental drift, an idea that most geologists had rejected as unproven.
- The rift valley became strong evidence for continental drift, it was an idea that most geologists had rejected as unproven, since no one had found a mechanism that could move whole continents.
- The rift valley became strong evidence for continental drift, an idea that most geologists had rejected as unproven for decades, since no one had found a mechanism that could move whole continents.
The Woman Who Mapped the Ocean Floor (student draft: informative)
[1] In the early 1950s, geologists knew far less about the ocean floor than about the land, because its depths lay hidden beneath miles of water and the instruments for measuring them were crude, slow, and expensive. [2] Marie Tharp, a geologist at Columbia University's Lamont Geological Observatory, was hired to turn sonar measurements, which arrived as long, tangled paper records, into maps that other scientists could actually read. [3] Women were not allowed on the research ships. [4] Tharp stayed in the laboratory. [5] She plotted the soundings by hand along lines of latitude and longitude. [6] Her colleague Bruce Heezen collected them at sea.
[7] As the profiles accumulated on her drafting table, a pattern appeared along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: a deep, V-shaped valley ran down the center of the mountain chain. [8] Tharp suspected that it was a rift, a place where the crust was pulling apart. [9] Heezen at first doubted that the seafloor could be spreading. [10] He dismissed her idea as "girl talk," but further data from other ships soon convinced him that she was right.
[11] The rift valley became strong evidence for continental drift. [12] Continental drift was an idea that most geologists had rejected as unproven, since no one had found a mechanism that could move whole continents. [13] Tharp and Heezen completed their map of the ocean floor. [14] Tharp received public honors only late in her career, long after her maps had changed how scientists understood the planet. Meaning: the writer's point is Tharp's suspicion; Heezen's doubt is the obstacle she faced.
Zee joins sentences [8] and [9] to match the meaning in the figure. Which version does it correctly and keeps both facts?
- Although Heezen at first doubted that the seafloor could be spreading, Tharp suspected that it was a rift, a place where the crust was pulling apart.
- Tharp suspected that it was a rift, a place where the crust was pulling apart, Heezen at first doubted that the seafloor could be spreading.
- Because Heezen at first doubted that the seafloor could be spreading, Tharp suspected that it was a rift, a place where the crust was pulling apart.
- Although Tharp suspected that it was a rift, a place where the crust was pulling apart, Heezen at first doubted that the seafloor could be spreading.
The Woman Who Mapped the Ocean Floor (student draft: informative)
[1] In the early 1950s, geologists knew far less about the ocean floor than about the land, because its depths lay hidden beneath miles of water and the instruments for measuring them were crude, slow, and expensive. [2] Marie Tharp, a geologist at Columbia University's Lamont Geological Observatory, was hired to turn sonar measurements, which arrived as long, tangled paper records, into maps that other scientists could actually read. [3] Women were not allowed on the research ships. [4] Tharp stayed in the laboratory. [5] She plotted the soundings by hand along lines of latitude and longitude. [6] Her colleague Bruce Heezen collected them at sea.
[7] As the profiles accumulated on her drafting table, a pattern appeared along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: a deep, V-shaped valley ran down the center of the mountain chain. [8] Tharp suspected that it was a rift, a place where the crust was pulling apart. [9] Heezen at first doubted that the seafloor could be spreading. [10] He dismissed her idea as "girl talk," but further data from other ships soon convinced him that she was right.
[11] The rift valley became strong evidence for continental drift. [12] Continental drift was an idea that most geologists had rejected as unproven, since no one had found a mechanism that could move whole continents. [13] Tharp and Heezen completed their map of the ocean floor. [14] Tharp received public honors only late in her career, long after her maps had changed how scientists understood the planet. Meaning: the collecting came first; the plotting followed.
Ari joins sentences [5] and [6] to match the meaning in the figure. Which version does it correctly and keeps both facts?
- Although Heezen collected the soundings at sea, Tharp plotted them by hand along lines of latitude and longitude.
- After Tharp plotted the soundings by hand along lines of latitude and longitude, Heezen collected them at sea.
- Heezen collected the soundings at sea, Tharp plotted them by hand along lines of latitude and longitude.
- After Heezen collected the soundings at sea, Tharp plotted them by hand along lines of latitude and longitude.
The Woman Who Mapped the Ocean Floor (student draft: informative)
[1] In the early 1950s, geologists knew far less about the ocean floor than about the land, because its depths lay hidden beneath miles of water and the instruments for measuring them were crude, slow, and expensive. [2] Marie Tharp, a geologist at Columbia University's Lamont Geological Observatory, was hired to turn sonar measurements, which arrived as long, tangled paper records, into maps that other scientists could actually read. [3] Women were not allowed on the research ships. [4] Tharp stayed in the laboratory. [5] She plotted the soundings by hand along lines of latitude and longitude. [6] Her colleague Bruce Heezen collected them at sea.
[7] As the profiles accumulated on her drafting table, a pattern appeared along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge: a deep, V-shaped valley ran down the center of the mountain chain. [8] Tharp suspected that it was a rift, a place where the crust was pulling apart. [9] Heezen at first doubted that the seafloor could be spreading. [10] He dismissed her idea as "girl talk," but further data from other ships soon convinced him that she was right.
[11] The rift valley became strong evidence for continental drift. [12] Continental drift was an idea that most geologists had rejected as unproven, since no one had found a mechanism that could move whole continents. [13] Tharp and Heezen completed their map of the ocean floor. [14] Tharp received public honors only late in her career, long after her maps had changed how scientists understood the planet. Bare sentence [3]: Women were not allowed on the research ships. Purpose: a museum caption that tells visitors when.
Bo adds one phrase to sentence [3]. The purpose is in the figure. Which version fits it and changes nothing else?
- In the early 1950s, women were not allowed on the research ships.
- At the Lamont Geological Observatory, women were not allowed on the research ships.
- Because of the practices of the time, women were not allowed on the research ships.
- In the early 1950s, women were not allowed on the research laboratories.
