Two Ways to Survive: the Roadrunner and the Scorpion: Grade 4 Reading Comprehension

Hot and dry places are hard to live in, yet both the roadrunner and the scorpion manage it. They solve the same problem in different ways.

The roadrunner lives in deserts and dry scrubland in the southwestern United States and Mexico. It is about 55 centimeters long, including its tail. It has long, strong legs, which let it run about 30 kilometers an hour. It is a carnivore and eats lizards, insects and snakes.

The scorpion, on the other hand, lives in deserts, grasslands and forests on every continent except Antarctica. It is from 1 centimeter to about 20 centimeters long. It has a curved tail with a venom-filled stinger, which stuns prey and drives away enemies. It is a carnivore and eats insects, spiders and small lizards.

Both animals show that there is more than one way to survive in a hot and dry place.

Questions

Compare and contrast What do the two animals have in common?
Both live in the same country. Both live in places that are hot and dry. Both eat exactly the same foods. Both are exactly the same size.
Compare and contrast Which detail is true of the roadrunner but not the scorpion?
It has a curved tail with a venom-filled stinger. It eats insects. It is from 1 centimeter to about 20 centimeters long. It has long, strong legs.
Details How does the scorpion use a curved tail with a venom-filled stinger?
It hides it while it escapes from predators. They help it swim fast and dive deep. They carry pollen back to the hive. It stuns prey and drives away enemies.
Main idea Which sentence best states the main idea?
Animals cannot live in hard places. Two animals survive the same kind of place in different ways. The roadrunner is the best animal in the world. The scorpion and the roadrunner live together in one group.
Text structure How is this passage organized?
It tells a made-up story with characters. It lists events in the order they happened. It describes one animal, then the other, then sums up what they share. It gives steps to follow.

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