1.

The lack of gravity in space makes even

simple tasks a challenge. Astronauts have
to wear boots that hold their feet to the
floor so that they can walk around. Eating is
a real chore. Dried and frozen foods are
stored in plastic bags. To eat chicken soup,
the astronauts cut a hole in one end of the
bag and squeeze the soup into their
mouths.
a. why there is little gravity in space
b. why easy tasks are challenging in space
c. why space food is stored in plastic bags
d. how to eat chicken soup
2. Many people in India don't eat beef,
but they still find many uses for cattle.
Cows provide milk for drinking and for
other dairy products. Young cattle are
used for plowing fields and carrying big
loads.
a. how cows are used in India
b. where some people do not eat beef
c. which cows plow field
d. what milk is used for
3. The spots on a fawn's coat let it hide in
shady areas without being seen. The viceroy
butterfly looks like the bad-tasting monarch, so
birds avoid both. The hognose snake hisses
and rolls on its back when it fears another
animal. When the opossum is attacked, it plays
dead. Distressed turtles hide in their shells
until they're sure it's safe to come out again.
a. how some animals protect themselves
b. why some harmless animals look dangerous
c. why spots or stripes make animals less
visible
d. why birds don’t like monarch butterflies
4. Dolly Madison was the wife of President
James Madison. She was quite a brave First
Lady. When the White House burned down,
Dolly rescued important government papers.
She also saved the portrait of George
Washington that hangs in the East Room today.
a. who Dolly Madison’s husband was
b. how the White House burned down
c. about Dolly Madison’s courageous acts
d. where the portrait of George Washington
hangs
5. Trousers are a recent style in the
history of fashion. Men wore tights under
short, loose pants until the early 1800s
when the first real pants for men
appeared. Until the 1940s few women
wore long pants. During World War II,
women factory workers started wearing
long pants. The fashion caught on.
a. that long pants are a somewhat new
fashion
b. when men stopped wearing pantaloons
c. who wore tights
d. why women don’t wear trousers
6. Every year hungry deer do millions of
dollars' worth of damage to young pine
trees. Scientists in Washington have found a
way to protect the trees. They use a
substance called selenium. Selenium
produces a bad smell when dissolved. A bit
of this element is put in the ground near
trees. Rain dissolves the selenium, and the
trees absorb it. The bad smell keeps the
deer away until the trees are fully grown.
a. how much damage deer do to trees
b. how trees can be protected from deer
c. what selenium is
d. why deer eat pine trees
7. When you take a multiple-choice test,
do you ever change your answers? Some
scientists think that it is a smart thing to
do. They found out that most students
who change their answers make the right
decision and make better scores on their
tests.
a. how to study for tests
b. what scientists think about answers
c. how to score better on a multiple
choice test
d. which answers to change on a test
8. Air plants, such as mosses and lichens,
grow on buildings and stones and get their
food and water from the air around them.
Other plants such as mistletoe get their
food and water from the trees they live on.
Sometimes these trees die if the plants take
away too much food or water.
a. what kinds of plants grow on buildings
b. why mistletoe sometimes kills trees
c. how some plants don’t live in soil
d. how mosses and lichens get food and
water
9. A scientist believes that millions of
animals have died every 26 million years.
He thinks that comets are responsible for
those deaths. Comets would explode on
impact as they slammed into Earth. Dust
from the explosions blocked light and heat
from the Sun. Plants and animals on Earth
could not withstand such conditions, so
they died.
a. how often animals died
b. why comets may come near Earth
c. where the dust comes from
d. about a possible cause of animal deaths
in the past
10."The War of the Worlds" a radio story,
once started a panic. Because many
people didn't hear that it was just a story
about monsters from space, they thought
the fake news bulletins were true. People
were frantic. It took hours to calm them
down and convince them that it was only a
radio play.
a. what people thought about news stories
b. why people were afraid of the monsters
c. how a radio play fooled many people
d. where the monsters in the story came
from
11.Tap dancing started in America. It began
as folk dancing that had much kicking and
stamping. Over time two kinds of dancing
developed. In one kind the dancers wore
hard shoes and danced very fast. In the
other they wore soft shoes and danced
slowly and easily. There wasn't really any
tap in tap dancing until 1925. That's when
someone put metal pieces on the toes and
heels of tap shoes.
a. how there are two kinds of tap dancing
b. how tap shoes are made
c. where some folk dances came from
d. how to tap dancing developed
12.Ages ago living things like bugs and
leaves got trapped in soft tree resin. The
resin hardened into what we know as amber.
It kept the trapped bugs and leaves in
perfect shape. Now scientists are learning
much about the distant past from amber
samples. Some scientists say they are more
useful than fossils.
a. where bugs and leaves got trapped
b. what hard resin is called
c. why amber samples are important to
scientists
d. what scientists think of fossils
13.Doctors think that wearing red-tinted
glasses can relieve sadness. Some people
get very moody and sad in the winter. They
may be affected by brief days. Bright lights
help some people but not everyone. The
reddish light coming through rose-colored
glasses seems to make people feel happy.
a. why happy people wear rose-colored
glasses
b. when some people get sad
c. how short the daylight in the winter is
d. how colored glasses may help people feel
better
14.In real life, rattlesnakes try to
avoid people and seldom attack. Most
people are bitten only after they step
on these snakes. A rattlesnake may
not even inject its poison when it
bites. In fact, more Americans die
from insect stings than from
snakebites!
a. how rattlesnakes aren’t as
dangerous as everyone believes
b. why insects kill people
c. when rattlesnakes use their poison
d. how snakes bite
15.The harmless hognose snake is a
champion bluffer. When this snake is
threatened, it hisses and acts as if it will
bite. If you don't run away, the hognose
snake "plays dead." It rolls over on its
back, wiggling around as if it's in distress.
Then it "dies" with its mouth open and
tongue hanging out. If you turn it on its
stomach, the snake will roll over on its
back again.
a. where the hognose snake is found
b. what things frighten the hognose snake
c. how dangerous the hognose snake is
d. how the hognose snake bluffs
16.Some college teachers in Michigan have
made a small computer that looks like an
orange. It will be picked and handled like real
fruit. Since much fruit is damaged on its way
to market, this machine will measure shaking
and temperature changes. The computerized
orange will help people find ways to avoid
damaging fruits during shipping.
a. where the computerized orange was
created
b. how the computer company helped make
the machine
c. what the computerized orange looks like
d. about the purpose of the computerized
orange
17.Imagine testing glass by throwing chickens
at it? Sometimes fast moving airplanes fly
through flocks of birds. If the birds hit the
windshield of a plane, the glass could shatter
and cause a crash. Airplane manufacturers
have made a chicken cannon that fires rubber
chickens at glass windshields. If the
windshield doesn't break when the rubber
chicken hits it, the designers know that the
glass can withstand the force of a real crash.
a. why birds can be dangerous to airplanes
b. how a chick cannon tests glass
c. how big a bird has to be to damage an
airplane
d. how the chicken cannon works
18.The Marines had a problem in World War
II. Orders were sent in code, but the enemy
kept learning the code. Nothing could be
kept secret. Then someone thought the
Navajo soldiers could help the Marines.
Since very few other people could speak
Navajo, this language was used as a code.
No one on the enemy side knew Navajo, so
the messages stayed secret.
a. how Navajo people kept secrets
b. when the secret code was used
c. how the Marines used Navajo as a code
d. why the original code had to be changed
19.The peanut is a humble plant with
hundreds of functions. Most peanuts are
roasted in their shells and lightly salted.
About half the peanuts eaten in the United
States are ground into a thick paste called
peanut butter. The rich oil made from
peanuts is good for frying foods and is used
for oiling machines and making soaps and
paint. Even peanut shells are used to make
plastics and to fertilize soil.
a. why peanut oil is used for frying
b.how much peanut butter is eaten in the
United States
c. about the many uses of the peanut
d why peanut shells make good fertilizer
Bob Geldof talked to the top musical talents of
the world and asked them to sing at a concert
to raise money. The stars agreed. Geldof
found a stadium, arranged for TV coverage,
and set up a trust fund. He said that none of
the stars would get special treatment.
Everyone would work together. In 1985, the
Live Aid concert raised more than $100
million for starving children.
a. how Geldof found a stadium
b. how many musical stars agreed to sing
c. why people are hungry in Africa
d. how a concert benefited starving children