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

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© Evan-Moor Corp. • EMC 3453 • Daily Reading Comprehension 
59
WEEK 9
DAY 1
READ THE PASSAGE
Look for how African and Asian elephants are the same and different.
Be an Elephant Detective
Wrinkly gray skin, a huge body, a seven-foot nose. Elephants all seem to look 
the same. But there are two different kinds of elephants—African and Asian. Each 
kind is named for the place where it lives in the wild. If you learn a few things to 
look for, you can tell whether an elephant is African or Asian.
An easy way to tell African and Asian elephants apart is to first look at an 
elephant’s ears. An African elephant has large ears that flap like wings. An Asian 
elephant has much smaller, rounded ears. Next, look at the elephant’s head. The 
top of an African elephant’s head is rounded. But an Asian elephant’s head has 
two bumps on it. If the elephant does not have tusks, it is a female Asian. Finally, 
check out the elephant’s body. If the back dips down in the middle, it is an African 
elephant. The back of an Asian elephant is humped. If the two kinds of elephants 
stood side by side, the African elephant would be much larger.
SKILL PRACTICE
Read the question. Fill in the bubble next to the correct answer.
 1. How are the two kinds of elephants alike?
A 
They both have small, rounded ears.
B 
They both have very long noses.
C 
They both have rounded heads.
D 
They both have backs that dip down.
 2. Which of these is a difference between 
African and Asian elephants?
A 
African elephants weigh more.
B 
Asian elephants are taller.
C 
African elephants have rounded backs, 
but Asian elephants do not.
D 
All Asian elephants have tusks, 
but African elephants do not.