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Master reading comprehension with fun passages on bison & ancient games!

Where the Bison Roam If it weren't for Mary Ann and Charles Goodnight, the great Southern bisonherd would probably be history.In the late 1800s, thousands of bison roamed the plains of Texas. But during the winter of 1874, hunters killed almost all of the animals. Angry over the destruction of the herd, the Goodnights rescued the orphaned calves, corralling them on a farm.When the Goodnights died, the animals were left to roam wild. The herd had shrunk to 250 by the 1960s. In 1997, only 38 of the great Southern bison were alive.That's when the state of Texas stepped in. State officials herded the bison onto a 350-acre pasture near Amarillo, where they are now protected. Officials hope that the survivors of the once-vast herd will breed and that the herd will regain its numbers. 1. The state of Texas protects the bison by passing laws that prohibit the hunting of bison. keeping them in a 350-acre pasture near Amarillo. giving money to wildlife preservation groups. bringing bison from other countries to the United States. 2. If there were only 38 bison in 1997, but now [in 2005] there are 56, we can assume that during the past ten years, the Goodnights took good care of the orphaned calves. the state of Texas has spent a lot of money protecting the bison. bison came from some other herd. some breeding has already occurred. 3. The method the Goodnights chose to help the bison was to try to keep hunters away from the herd. get the adult bison to mate in captivity. capture and care for the orphaned calves. herd them into a 350-acre pasture. 4. Amarillo, Texas, is important in this passage because it is where the herd of 250 lived in the 1960s. the site of a huge protective pasture for bison. where the Goodnights have their farm. where the bison herd lived in the late “The First American Ball Game” 1 In the century after Columbus, Spanish explorers came to the New World of Central America and Mexico. Their records show their surprise at finding a civilization already centuries old. People living in great cities were fed by expert farmers who guided water to their fields by canals.2 The Spanish were turned off by some of the Maya and Aztec Indian customs, but there was one custom they recorded with amazement and respect. It was a fast-paced ball game played on a special court.3 The ball was usually just a little smaller than today’s soccer ball, but a lot harder and heavier because it was solid rubber. Two teams of up to six players kept the ball in motion by striking it with their hips.4 One of the Spanish leaders, Cortés, was so impressed that he took two teams of Indian players back to Spain to show off the game. So in 1528, Europeans saw a ball game that had been played in America, probably for more than three thousand years.A Game with Bounce5 A German visitor to the Spanish court wrote a report about the ball game. He commented on the speed of the game and the athletic skill of the players. What he thought was the really big deal was the ball itself. It bounced.6 Europeans played ball games with leather balls filled with straw. The Europeans thought they were smarter than the Indians. Yet the Indians were showing Europeans a real rubber ball for the first time.7 In studying the Maya and Aztecs, today’s archeologists have given a lot of attention to the ball game. It seems to have played an important role in people’s lives. Every town had a ball court. One city had thirteen. Some courts even had carefully laid stone floors and rows of seats for spectators.8 Design of the courts seems to have changed over the centuries. A later design included stone rings mounted high up on the court’s side wall.Making Rubber9 One archeologist, Dr. Dorothy Hosler, and her student Michael Tarkanian asked an interesting question: where did the Maya get the rubber that made the game possible? The early Spanish explorers had wondered about that, too, and described how the balls were made from the sap of Castilla trees.10 After reading the ancient records, Dr. Hosler and Michael wondered if they could make rubber balls as the Maya had made them. They went to Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico, in search of Castilla trees.11 They were surprised to find farmers still doing just what the explorers had described four hundred years ago. The farmers slashed the bark of the trees and collected the white, gooey sap. Then the farmers crushed a morning-glory vine and added its juice to the sap. After a few minutes of stirring, a mass of rubber floated to the surface. And the rubber could be formed into a bouncy ball.“The First American Ball Game” text by Jack Myers, illustration by Gary Undercuffler, from Highlights, December 2002, copyright © 2002 by Highlights for Children, Inc. Used by permission. 5. Which of these made the ancient ball games DIFFERENT from other ball games in the 1500s? Ancient ball games used a rubber ball while other ball games did not. Ancient ball games required six players while other ball games did not. Ancient ball games required athletic skill while other ball games did not. Ancient ball games were played on stone while other ball games were not. 6. According to the passage, today’s archeologists know which of the following about the Aztecs and Mayas? Most of the Maya and Aztec people were farmers. Maya and Aztec towns were overcrowded. Most Maya and Aztecs had no time for games. Each Maya and Aztec town had a ball court. 7. What piece of information about the Maya and Aztec can be learned from the passage? What religious festivals they had. The rules of their ball-playing game. What they thought of the Spanish explorers. That they used canals to water their crops. 8. Based on the information in the passage, which of the following statements is MOST LIKELY true? The Europeans tried to make rubber balls that could bounce. The Europeans adopted many of the Mayan customs. The Europeans played ball games with the Maya for many years. The Europeans encouraged the Indians to play with balls made of leather and straw. 9. With which statement would the author MOST LIKELY agree? Traveling is most exciting when discovering a new place. People from different cultures can learn from one another. Mastering a new skill is a very difficult task. Customs usually change after many years. 10. Who was Cortés? a Maya leader aGerman visitor a Spanish leader an Aztec leader