Name: ______________________________Date: _________________

4-1.1 Main Idea

1. Alaska is a great place to visit. There are many things to see there. It is one of our most beautiful states. The state has many different kinds of animals. Alaska has beautiful mountains. It has the highest point in North America. It has volcanoes and glaciers. Which sentence from the passage best describes the main idea? A. Alaska has beautiful mountains. B. Alaska is a great place to visit. C. It has volcanoes and glaciers. D. It is one of our most beautiful states. 2. City Hall is the center of government in your town or city. It is a very important place. Most of your city leaders work there. Their job is to make your city a good place to live and work. You can go to City Hall to listen to a town meeting. You can go there to meet the people who work for the city. You can also go to City Hall and help out your city. What is this passage mainly about? A. city leaders B. town meetings C. towns and cities D. City Hall 3.

Have you ever heard of a zonkey? It is a cross between a zebra and a donkey. Other names for this type of mix are zedonk, zenkey, and zebronkey. Not all animals can mix. The zebra and donkey can mix together because they are in the horse family. However,

you would not be able to mix a pig and a bird because they are in different animal families. What other animal mixes have you heard of? This passage is mostly about A. combining different animals. B. animals in different families. C. liking all kinds of animals. D. zebras being like horses. 4.

Karate is a kind of martial arts. It comes from Japan. Training is divided into three divisions. The first is kihon, or basics. This is where students learn the simple, plain moves. The second level is called kata, or forms. This is where students learn moves that go into one another. For example, a student will first do a kick and then a punch. The last level is called kumite, or sparring. This is the part of karate where two students work together. They use things they learned from kihon and kata to pretend to fight. What is this passage mostly about? A. learning simple moves B. learning how to spar C. karate's training divisions D. Japanese martial arts 5. Japan is the country farthest to the east in Asia. It is also one of the richest countries in the world. Japan is a small country made of islands. There are four major islands and thousands of smaller ones. If the islands were combined, they would be about the size of California. The islands are really the tops of a great mountain range. That is why much of Japan is covered with hills and rocky mountains. This paragraph is mostly about A. Japan's geography. B. kinds of mountains. C. California's size.

D. islands in Asia.

Why So Clumsy?
by H. Torres Amber was always falling down or tripping over something. You would think she was wearing roller skates every where she went. For this reason, she would not even try to skate. She knew she might really hurt herself. She was not very good at sports either. The kids in her gym class knew this about Amber. Many even felt she was the clumsiest kid at Fair Oaks Elementary. Amber was always picked last when team captains were picking teams. It wasn't that they didn't like Amber. In fact, most of the kids thought Amber was really nice. They just did not want to take a chance losing the game. Amber was tired of being picked last. She felt that no one liked her. She knew she couldnt catch a football. She tripped and fell every time she tried to kick a soccer ball. I want to show my classmates that I can play sports without falling over, Amber thought. 6. Amber knows that she is not very good at sports. Which sentence from the story best supports this idea? A. "Many even felt she was the clumsiest kid at Fair Oaks Elementary." B. "She tripped and fell every time she tried to kick a soccer ball." C. "In fact, most of the kids thought Amber was really nice." D. "They just did not want to take a chance losing the game." 7. The main idea of the first paragraph is A. Amber is known for being a clumsy girl. B. Amber is not the only clumsy kid at school. C. Amber understands why she is picked last. D. Amber wishes she could kick a soccer ball. 8. The second paragraph is mainly about

A. how Amber always trips over soccer balls. B. why Amber does not like being picked last. C. what Amber would do if she didn't trip. D. when Amber will get better at sports. Only some of the things that you may hear about Davy Crockett are true. It is not true that he killed a bear when he was only three. Those are only words from a song. It is true that he was a frontiersman who loved to hunt. The words in the song about where he was born are only partly true. It's true that he was born in Tennessee, but not on a mountaintop, as the song states. Even his name is different from the song. People who knew him called him Davidnot Davy. David Crockett died defending the Alamo. One thing that is certain is that he was an American hero, pioneer, and politician.
adapted from The Truth About Davy Crockett

9. Which sentence best supports the idea that only some of the words to the song about Davy Crockett are true? A. Davy Crockett was not a very good frontiersman. B. David Crockett really liked to be called Davy instead. C. Davy Crockett killed a bear when he was three years old. D. Davy Crockett was not really born on a mountaintop. 10. What is the main idea of this passage? A. Not everything people hear about Davy Crockett is true. B. The real name for Davy Crockett was David Crockett. C. Davy Crockett was born on a Tennessee mountaintop. D. Davy Crockett really was an American frontiersman.

Hummingbirds in Your Backyard

Watching hummingbirds in your backyard is fun and interesting. Their little wings make a humming sound as they flap. Zipping backwards and forwards from plant to

plant, hummingbirds are amusing to watch. They love bright flowers. The birds get nectar from the flowers. Nectar is a liquid that flowers have that hummingbirds drink for food. To get hummingbirds into your backyard, you can plant bright flowers and hang a hummingbird feeder on your porch. The little birds like to sip the nectar from petunias, morning glories, and other bright plants. These birds are drawn to red feeders because they love that color. Making hummingbird food is easy. Put four parts water and one part sugar into the feeder. Soon, you will have hummingbirds visiting your backyard every day. 11. Hummingbirds will come if you plant bright flowers. Which sentence from the passage best supports this idea? A. "Their little wings make a humming sound as they flap." "Zipping backwards and forwards from plant to plant, hummingbirds are amusing to B. watch." "The little birds like to sip the nectar from petunias, morning glories, and other bright C. plants." D. "Put four parts water and one part sugar into the feeder."

Antarctic Ice is Getting Thinner

Ice in parts of Antarctica is thinner. NASA says it is melting too fast. Scientists flew a plane above the ice. They used a laser to measure how thick the ice was. They found that the ice is breaking off. It is breaking faster than it was 10 years ago. The ice falls into the sea. It hurts animals like penguins and seals. Scientists are studying why the ice is breaking faster. The temperature in Antarctica has gone up in the last 50 years. 12. This passage is mostly about A. how the ice in Antarctica is getting heavier. B. how the ice in Antarctica is melting too fast. C. how scientists can measure ice with a laser. D. how penguins are in danger on the melted ice.