Read the selections and choose the best answer to each question.
The Real Story About Sharks
1 - Sharks are seen as a fierce predator at the top of the food chain. These dangerous creatures also captivate their audience. TV series like Shark Week and movies like Jaws only add to people’s interest and curiosity to learn more.
2 - These ancient creatures have been around for over 400 million years. Their ability to evolve and stay at the top of the ocean food chain has helped them survive all these years. The present-day sharks have grown in size compared to their ancestors. Specifically, over the years, sharks’ brains evolved to use more than two-thirds of their brain function for their senses. This evolution has helped them become a more intelligent and resilient species. In addition to their growth and intelligence, sharks once had rounded teeth for consuming plants that evolved into sharp razor-like teeth, making them carnivores. Sharks have also been able to adapt to fresh and saltwater alike with the ability to live in all temperatures. Sharks are amazing creatures that adapted and evolved over millions of years surviving even evidence of catastrophic events in earth’s past.
3 - Sharks, however, now face a new enemy, humankind. Sharks have evolved and survived millions of years, but will they be able to adapt quickly enough to survive their new enemy? It is estimated that over 100 million sharks are killed each year by commercial and recreational fishing. An additional threat sharks face is the altering of their habitat by pollution. Like many animals all over the world, the growth in human population rapidly changed a once stable ecosystem.
4 - These popular and iconic creatures are everywhere, on our TVs, in movies, and featured in social media. Even with their popularity, resilience, and evolution, sharks have become endangered species. Only time will tell if they will adapt and survive alongside humankind.
by Peter Benchley
The great fish moved silently through the night water, propelled by short sweeps of its crescent tail. The mouth was open just enough to permit a rush of water over the gills. There was little other motion: an occasional correction of the apparently aimless course by the slight raising or lowering of a pectoral fin—as a bird changes direction by dipping one wing and lifting the other.
The eyes were sightless in the black, and the other senses transmitted nothing extraordinary to the small, primitive brain. The fish might have been asleep, save for the movement dictated by countless millions of years of instinctive continuity: lacking the
flotation bladder common to other fish and the fluttering flaps to push oxygen-bearing water through its gills, it survived only by moving. Once stopped, it would sink to the bottom and die of anoxia.
#7 - Select the sentence from Passage 1 that shows why people care about sharks.
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10 points
A) “These dangerous creatures also captivate their audience.” (paragraph 1)
B) “These ancient creatures have been around for over 400 million years.” (paragraph 2)
C) “Sharks have also been able to adapt to fresh and saltwater alike with the ability to live in all temperatures.” (paragraph 2)
D) “Over 100 million sharks are killed each year by commercial and recreational fishing.” (paragraph 3)
A) “These dangerous creatures also captivate their audience.” (paragraph 1)
#8 - Select the boxes to describe sharks in Passage 1. More than one box may be filled for each description.
10 points
Sharks a million years ago Sharks in present day
lives in saltwater
large in size
razor sharp teeth
less than half of brain function used for their senses
lives in saltwater
large in size
razor sharp teeth
less than half of brain function used for their senses
Sharks a million years ago:
- lives in saltwater
- large in size
- razor sharp teeth
Sharks in present day:
- lives in saltwater
- large in size
- razor sharp teeth
- more than two-thirds of brain function used for their senses
#9 - What message are the authors of Passage 1 and Passage 2 trying to get across?
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10 points
A) Sharks are interesting creatures.
B) Sharks are terrifying creatures.
C) Sharks are dangerous creatures.
D) Sharks are beautiful creatures.