Editorial Development: Bonnie Brook Communications

SKILL PRACTICE
Read each question. Fill in the bubble next to the correct answer.
 1. Compared to the 1930s, Americans today eat 
more 
.
A 
vegetables
B 
chicken
C 
sugar
D 
bread
 2. One reason for the difference in people’s diets in 
the 1930s and today is that 
.
A
people drank more soda in the 1930s
B
nutritional information is no longer
available today
C
obesity was a problem in the 1930s
D
fast food is popular today
 3. According to the passage, how were farmers 
different from city dwellers in the 1930s? 
A 
Farmers ate better than people in cities did.
B 
City dwellers depended more on fast food for 
their meals.
C 
More farmers than city dwellers were obese.
D 
City dwellers ate more sugar than farmers did.
 4. Which of these affected food choices both in the 
1930s and today?
A 
convenience
B 
affordability
C 
healthfulness
D 
availability
STRATEGY PRACTICE
What kinds of food options are available in your community? How could they be 
improved?
 
Compare and Contrast
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10/31/12 7:34 AM

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96
Daily Reading Comprehension • EMC 3458 • © Evan-Moor Corp.
Name: 
WEEK 15
DAY 2
READ THE PASSAGE
Think about why the two different types of voles in the passage are similar
and different.
A Tale of Two Voles
Very few animals in the wild stay with one partner throughout many years, but prairie voles are an 
exception. A male prairie vole helps its female partner raise their offspring. It not only sticks with its mate, it 
also tries to protect that mate by acting aggressively toward any approaching unfamiliar male vole. A male 
meadow vole, on the other hand, has many different mates. It does not care for its young or watch over 
their mothers, even though the meadow vole and the prairie vole are closely related. What accounts for the 
difference in behavior?
Scientists theorize that a hormone known as vasopressin is responsible. The meadow vole’s brain 
does not receive as much of this hormone. Scientists conducted an experiment in which they delivered 
more vasopressin directly to male meadow voles’ brains. When they did this, meadow voles actually 
changed their ways. They became much more like their prairie vole cousins, choosing to stay with one 
female and help raise their offspring. Apparently, vasopressin is related to feelings of happiness. When the 
vole feels happy with its mate, it wants to stay with the female. Without the added vasopressin, the male 
meadow vole’s brain misses this emotional response, and the vole goes from one mate to the next. 
Another team of researchers blocked the vasopressin from reaching the prairie vole’s brain. Sure enough, 
when the vasopressin was blocked, the prairie vole became much more like the meadow vole. It no longer 
formed a strong attachment to one mate or cared for its offspring.