Making Inferences

Level ThreeMrs. Hunsaker

The Glass Snake

The glass snake grows to be nearly four feet long. It has a round, snakelike body, and even moves like a snake. But it’s really a kind of lizard. It has tiny, almost invisible legs. The glass snake isn’t poisonous. It eats only worms, insects, and other small creatures. When a hungry animal attacks it, the glass snake breaks free of its own tail. While the animal tries to grab the still wriggling tail, the lizard escapes. Later it will grow a new tail.

The glass snake is

a poisonous snake.

one of the world’s biggest snakes.

not really a snake at all.

The glass snake wouldn’t eat a

dog.

snail.

caterpillar.

It probably got its name because

it eats glass.

it can break free of its tail.

you can see through it.

One difference between snakes and lizards is that

lizards are not poisonous.

lizards have invisible legs.

snakes have no legs.

Getting Around in Venice

You couldn’t drive a car in Venice, Italy, even if it were permitted. The city is built on water. It’s set on dozens of islands, separated by canals. High, arching foot bridges cross the canals. It’s easy to get lost in Venice. It has changed very little in the last 400 years. Most of the “streets” are only narrow walks. They twist and turn between rows of buildings, then end suddenly at the water’s edge or open onto large squares. But it’s not really hard to get around town. Like any city, Venice has buses. Of course the buses are really boats, which you board at wide, floating platforms. You just buy your ticket and off you go.

One thing you won’t find in Venice is

boats.

houses.

cars.

Venice is

a new city.

less than 200 years old.

more than 400 years old.

Venice’s foot bridges were probably built with high arches

to keep people from driving cars over them.

so that boats could pass underneath them.

so that people could see long distances from them.

Finding your way in Venice is something like finding your way

in a maze.

in a forest.

on an island.

Mary’s Scary Story

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley was the young wife of the famous poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley. One year they were vacationing in Switzerland with their friend Lord Byron, another famous poet. They were staying at an ancient castle by a lake. One dark and stormy night, the three of them were sitting up late and talking. Byron Suggested that they each write a scary story. Mary Shelley went to her room wondering what to write about. Suddenly she remembered a dream she once had about a scientist who created a monster. She worked on her story all night. The next day she read what she had written to her husband and their friend. No one today remembers the stories the two famous poets wrote that night. But Mary Shelley’s story, published in 1817, is still a favorite. Can you guess the name of her story? It was called Frankenstein.

Before she wrote Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

was a famous poet.

wasn’t well known as a writer.

was married to a scientist.

Byron wanted to write scary stories because

he believed in ghosts.

it was a spooky setting.

there was nothing on TV.

Mary got the idea for Frankenstein from

her husband.

a scientist.

a dream.

Frankenstein was written

in France.

before 1820.

when Mary Shelley was 46 years old.

Geronimo

His name was Goyathlay, which in the Apache language means “He who yawns.” But to the world he was Geronimo. He was chief of the last free-living band of band of Indians in the United States. Legends call Geronimo blood thirsty and cruel. But legends are not always true. In 1876 the U.S. government ordered Geronimo to lead his people to a reservation in Arizona. It was a harsh place, a desert. Geronimo refused to go. He and his people slipped into Mexico. There they lived like Robin Hood. They raided ranches on both sides of the border. On one of these raids. Geronimo was captured by soldiers. For a few years he lived on the reservations as a peaceful ranches. Then another Apache chief, Victorio, turned outlaw. Feelings were stirred up against all Apaches. Geronimo heard rumors that he was to be hanged. Again he escaped to Mexico, but Americans soldiers hunted him down. In 1886 he surrendered and was sent to prison. “I never do wrong without a cause,” Geronimo said. “I think I am a good man, but …they say I am a bad man.”

Geronimo refused to go to a reservation because

it would have been hard for his people to live there.

he liked Mexico better.

he liked raiding ranches.

Legends describe Geronimo as a

peaceful rancher.

bad man.

lazy man.

The last free-living band of Indians in the United States was the

Goyathlay.

Apache.

Geronimo.

Geronimo might have said that all he wanted was to

get even with the soldiers.

be free and to help his people.

live in Mexico.

Mother Seals

It is late June on Seal Island. The islands is full of mother seals and their babies. The baby seals, called “pups,” are little blue-eyed balls of black fur. They depend entirely on their mother seal knows her own baby. She will feed it, and no other! She will look for it if it wanders away. She will rescue it from danger. But the mother seal cannot be with her baby all the time. Sometimes she has to search for food in the deep water around the island. She may have to swim out 100 miles or more to find food. She has to be careful of the killer whale and the shark. If she does not return to the island, no other mother will feed her baby.

Baby seals are born in

June.

the winter.

October.

Seals eat

vegetables.

fish.

lots of bread.

A shark would probably

kill a seal.

play with a seal.

be afraid of a seal.

If the mother seal is killed, her baby will probably

not even notice it.

stay with another family.

die of starvation.

You are ready to move to the next level!