• Practice for every day of the school year • Help students prepare for standardized testing

SKILL PRACTICE
Read the question. Fill in the bubble next to the correct answer.
 1. Which sentence states a fact?
A 
Ants bumping into each other 
looks weird.
B 
Fish gather scents from the water.
C 
Elephants have the hardest-working 
noses.
D 
Nostrils that close are a good thing.
 2. Which sentence states an opinion?
A 
A beaver’s nostrils open and close.
B 
An ant’s feelers work like a nose. 
C 
An elephant’s nose gathers food.
D 
Getting water up your nose feels awful.
 3. Which sentence cannot be proved?
A 
Elephants’ noses work hardest of all.
B 
Camels close their nostrils.
C 
Beavers swim in water.
D 
Ants touch their feelers together.
 4. Based on the passage, which one is 
true about animals’ noses?
A 
Animals’ noses all do the same job.
B 
Insects’ and mammals’ noses 
are different.
C 
All animals’ noses open and close.
D 
Fish close their noses underwater.
STRATEGY PRACTICE
Underline one fact and draw a box around one opinion
in the second paragraph.
Fact and Opinion
3453.indb 128
5/6/10 4:00 PM

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Name: 
© Evan-Moor Corp. • EMC 3453 • Daily Reading Comprehension 
129
WEEK 20
Cause and Effect 
Fact and Opinion
DAY 5
READ THE PASSAGE
Use visualization to help you understand the information.
The Air Up There
The air surrounding Earth is the atmosphere. It is made mostly of two gases, 
nitrogen and the gas that we need, oxygen. Earth’s gravity pulls on the gases and 
keeps the atmosphere close to the surface of Earth.
The atmosphere has the most gases at sea level, where the sea and land 
meet. As you go higher into the atmosphere, there are less gases. That means 
there is less oxygen to breathe. As a result, it is harder to breathe on a 
mountaintop than at a beach.
Outer space is where the atmosphere disappears. Astronauts who explore 
outer space wear special puffy suits that cover their heads and bodies. They look 
out of a clear window in the suit. The thick gloves are heated because space is 
very cold. The suits are white to reflect heat and to be seen easily against the dark 
background of space. Astronauts breathe oxygen from a tank on their backs.
A spacesuit is a cozy atmosphere!