Words with special meanings in articles

Grade 8 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Why the Sea Rises and Falls (article)

   [1] Along the coast of Maine, fishing crews and clam diggers plan their days around the tide tables printed in the local newspaper. [2] The tides rise and fall because the moon's gravity pulls on the ocean, and the sun's gravity adds a smaller pull of its own. [3] When the sun, Earth and moon line up at the new moon and the full moon, the two pulls combine, and the sea rises higher and falls lower than usual. [4] These extreme tides are called spring tides, a name that has nothing to do with the season. [5] A week later, at the quarter moon, the pulls work at right angles, and the difference between high and low water shrinks to its smallest. [6] Those gentler tides are called neap tides.

   [7] The difference in height between high and low water is the tidal range, and it varies enormously from place to place. [8] In the Bay of Fundy, in eastern Canada, the range can exceed fifty feet, while in some parts of the Gulf of Mexico it is barely a foot. [9] The strip of shore that lies between the high-tide line and the low-tide line is the intertidal zone. [10] Snails, barnacles and crabs live there, and they must survive hours of both drowning and drying each day.

   [11] Watching the water pull away from a rocky beach, a visitor might say that the sea is breathing, slowly in and out, in most places twice a day. [12] Tide tables list the predicted times of each high and low, and commercial fishing crews depend on them to decide when to leave the harbor.

2. 1.

   Ari reads about spring tides. Which meaning of the term fits the article?

   • Tides with the smallest difference between high and low water.
   • Tides that flow from underground springs into the sea.
   • Tides with the greatest difference between high and low water.
   • Tides that arrive in the months after winter.
3. 2.

   Bo checks the word range in the sentence about the Bay of Fundy. What does range mean there?

   • The difference in height between high and low water.
   • A chain of mountains rising near a coast.
   • The height of the highest tide ever recorded at a place.
   • The distance that a boat can travel before it needs fuel.
4. 3.

   Esme reads that a visitor might say the sea is breathing. What does that suggest about the tides?

   • The ocean is alive and controls its own tides.
   • The tides are sudden and cannot be predicted.
   • They rise and fall in a regular, repeating rhythm.
   • The ocean takes in air through the shore.
5. 4.

   Luz notices that fishing crews depend on tide tables rather than use them. What does depend on add?

   • It means the same as use, so nothing is added.
   • It suggests the crews are careless about the sea.
   • It shows the crews cannot plan safely without the tables.
   • It suggests the tables are correct at any moment.

6. Forces in a Bridge (article)

   [1] A bridge looks still, but engineers describe it as a place where forces are constantly fighting. [2] Every bridge must carry its own weight, called the static load, along with the changing weight of traffic, called the live load. [3] The span of a bridge is the distance between its supports, and longer spans must resist more bending. [4] In a simple beam bridge, the top of the deck is squeezed by compression while the underside is stretched by tension. [5] Engineers can move those forces around, but they cannot make them disappear. [6] Concrete handles compression well but cracks under tension, which is why most concrete beams contain embedded steel bars.

   [7] An arch bridge turns the load into compression that flows down to the abutments, the heavy anchors at each end. [8] A suspension bridge does the opposite, because its main cables hang in tension from tall towers and pull upward on the deck. [9] The Golden Gate Bridge, which opened in 1937, has a main span of about 4,200 feet, which made it the longest suspension span in the world until 1964. [10] Its cables are made of thousands of steel wires bundled together, which lets the structure flex in the wind without snapping.

   [11] Designers sometimes say that a bridge is frozen music, but a bridge is more like a held breath. [12] Everything inside it is waiting, and the slightest failure of any part would release the whole. [13] That is why inspectors climb the cables and crawl through the girders on a fixed schedule.

7. 5.

   Milo reads about bridges. In the sentence about supports, what does span mean?

   • The distance between a bridge's supports.
   • The total weight a bridge can carry.
   • A unit of measure, the width of an open hand.
   • A stretch of time, as in a span of years.
8. 6.

   Noah wants to know what live load means in sentence 2. Which meaning fits?

   • The changing weight of traffic on the bridge.
   • The electric power carried by a cable.
   • The weight of living animals on the bridge.
   • The weight of the bridge itself.
9. 7.

   Pia reads that engineers see forces as constantly fighting. What does this suggest?

   • Workers on the bridge argue about how to build it.
   • The forces are so equal that nothing in the bridge moves.
   • Forces push and pull against one another all the time.
   • The forces will, in time, destroy any bridge that is built.
10. 8.

    Ren reads that a bridge is more like a held breath. What does that comparison suggest?

    • The bridge holds forces in balance that could be released.
    • The bridge needs air to flow through the girders inside it.
    • The bridge is about to collapse under the weight of traffic.
    • The bridge is relaxed and carries no force from the traffic.
11. 9.

    Tala compares release with break in the sentence about a failing part. What does release add?

    • It suggests the failure would be slow and gentle.
    • Nothing, because it means the same as break.
    • It suggests the bridge would be repaired quickly.
    • It suggests stored force is suddenly let go.
12. 10.

    Zee notices that inspectors crawl through the girders. What does crawl suggest?

    • The work is slow and cramped, in tight spaces.
    • The girders are unsafe to enter.
    • Nothing more than walk, so the word adds no meaning.
    • The inspectors are afraid of the girders.