Making Inferences

1. Making Inferences 5th grade

2. With your PARTNER…. • Decide who will be person A and person B • Person A will read the passage aloud while person B follows along • Person B reads and answers the questions, person A will check the person B’s answers and coach or cheer as needed.

3. President Grover Cleveland loved to go fishing. He liked to h have his picture taken weighing a big fish, and he would always brag about the size of the fish he caught. When his second child was born, he wife asked the doctor how much it weighed. Servants searched the White House, but no scale could be found. Then someone remembered the scale the president used for weighing fish. The scale was brought up form the cellar, and the newborn baby was paced upon it. The baby weighed 20 pounds!

4. The president’s scale was often used for a. weighing babies b. weighing vegetables c. weighing fish Servants found the scale a. in the cellar b. In the president’s car c. In a store Mrs. Cleveland had her baby a. in a hospital b. In the White House c. while on a fishing trip The story suggests that a. Mrs. Cleveland had a very big baby. b. The scale was dirty. c. The fish the president caught were not as big as he said they were.

5. The Killer Rabbits You probably think of rabbits as harmless, gentle creatures, but in Australia they are a menace. Rabbits almost destroyed Australia once, and the fight against them still goes on. Rabbits breed very rapidly. In Europe and America their numbers are kept down by rabbit-eating predators such as the hawk and the wolf. Rabbits were first brought to Australia by an English settler in 1859. By 19090 rabbits had nibbled away so much grass that much of Australia's grazing land had turned into a desert. Rain brought up just enough grass for the rabbits to eat. There was not enough for sheep and cows. Australians shot, trapped, and poisoned rabbits by the millions, but the land never completely recovered. In Australia today the rabbit remains an enemy to every farmer and rancher.

6. Before 1859, there were no a. settlers in Australia b. rabbits in Australia c. deserts in Australia • Rabbits ran wild in Australia because a. There were no rabbit-eating predators b. people thought they were cute c. They liked the desert 3. Because of the rabbits a. Sheep and cows starved to death b. No rain fell in Australia c. People died of poisoning 4. In Australia today, a. Rabbits are under control. b. It is too dry for farming or ranching c. Rabbits are still a problem.

7. Is It a Fruit or a Vegetable? What is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable? You probably think you know – but a botanist might not agree with you. A fruit is part of a plant that contains seeds. A vegetable is any vegetative part of the plant – leaves, stems, roots, or tubers. Celery, cabbage, and carrots are vegetables; apples and oranges are fruits. Everyone would agree on those. But what about tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and corn? Nearly everyone would call each of those foods vegetables – but to be strictly accurate, you would have to call them fruits!!

8. The part of a plant that bears the seeds it the a. fruits b. vegetable c. root • Vegetative means a. Poisonous b. green c. Growing • A peanut is really a a. A fruit b. a vegetable c. neither a fruit nor vegetable • Scientific names for things a. aren’t always correct. b. Are always hard to pronounce. c. Aren’t always the same as popular names.

9. A Porpoise Named Jack Jack the porpoise was a friend to sailors for more than 30 years. Jack lived in the waters of French Passage, a dangerous stretch of sea near New Zealand. Whenever a ship appeared, Jack would swim ahead of it, guiding it through the hazardous current. One day a passenger on the ship Penguin shot at Jack and wounded him. Jack recovered from his wound and went on guiding ships. But from that day whenever the Penguin appeared on French passage, Jack was nowhere to be seen.

10. 1. Jack lived a. Near New Zealand b. near France c. at Marineland 2. French passage is dangerous to ships because of a. rocks b. the current c. sharks • Jack a. Got even with the person who shot him. b. Stopped guiding the Penguin c. Disappeared from the French Passage • The story suggests that a. Jack could tell one ship from another b. Jack hated people after he was shot c. porpoises are as smart as people

11. About that Midnight Ride Every American knows the story of Paul Revere and his famous midnight ride. Everyone knows that he rode out of Boston to warn the people of Lexington, shouting, “The British are coming!” What many people don’t know is that Paul Revere never made it to warn the people of Concord, his second destination. He was stopped by British soldiers and turned back. Another rider, Samuel Prescott, got through with the message. Why is Revere famous and Prescott all but forgotten? Besides being a patriot. Paul Revere was also a silversmith. His beautiful silver pieces were greatly prized, especially after his death. If he hadn’t been known as a craftsman, he might have been forgotten, too. Then Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote his popular poem, “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.” The poem became very popular. Generations of school children were required by their teachers to memorize it. The story Longfellow told in his poem is known much better than the true facts.

12. Paul Revere made a living as a a. rider b. patriot c. silversmith 2. For a while after the American Revolution a. Samuel Prescott was a famous as a silversmith b. Paul Revere's ride wasn’t remembered as an important event. c. Revere’s silver work was more valuable than it was later. • The famous poem about Paul Revere a. Was written by Samuel Prescott. b. has long been forgotten. c. Doesn’t tell the true story. • If the poem had never been written a. No one would have heard of Paul Revere b. Paul Revere would still be remembered as a silversmith c. Samuel Prescott would have been forgotten.