Making Inferences
Level Two
Mrs. Hunsaker
The Blind Men and the Elephant
There is an old story about six blind men who went to
see an elephant. Of course they couldn’t really see it. They
thought they could tell what it was like by feeling it. The first
man said, “The elephant is like a tree.” The second said, “You
are wrong, The elephant is like a thick rope.” The third said,
“You are both wrong. The elephant is like a wall.” The fourth
man said, “You are all wrong . The elephant is like a fan.” The
next man said the elephant was like a snake. And the last
said that it was really like a spear. Each man was certain that
he alone was right.
The six blind men
all were right
each touched a different animal.
each touched a different part of the
elephant.
The first man touched the
elephant’s
trunk.
leg.
tail.
The fourth man touched the
elephant’s
ear.
tusk.
side.
The moral of the story is
“Blind men are wise.”
“An elephant is a big animal.”
“Be sure you get all the facts.”
Slugs
No one would want a slug for a pet. It’s not a pretty
animal. It looks like an earthworm with horns. A gardener is
always on the watch for slugs. Slugs love green leaves. They
can eat their way quickly through a garden, killing all the
plants. Yet slugs have helped people too. They have saved
the lives of many soldiers. This happened in World War 1.
Soldiers were being killed by poison gas. Sometimes they
couldn’t tell if there were gas in the air until it was too late.
Soldiers began bringing slugs with them into battle. If the
slugs died, the men knew there was poison gas in the air. To
a gardener, the slug is an ugly pest. But to those soldiers, it
was a hero.
People don’t keep slugs as pets
because slugs
cost too much to feed.
are poisonous.
are ugly.
Gardeners watch out for slugs
because
they can sell them to the army.
the slugs eat plants.
the slugs make good fertilizer.
One place where slugs would not
be found is in a
vegetable garden
kitchen cupboard.
flower box.
The slugs saved the soldiers
because
they could eat poison gas.
the gas would kill them.
they ate the enemy’s food.
One Hump or Two?
Have you ever seen a camel in a zoo? Which kind did
you see? One kind of camel is called a dromedary. It has one
hump. The other is called the Bactrian camel. It has two
humps. The dromedary is taller and faster than the Bactrian
camel. But the Bactrian camel is stronger. It can carry a much
heavier load. Both camels can go several days without eating
or drinking. They can store food in their humps. Camels used
to be very important in some desert countries. People used
them for transportation and food. But today most people in
these countries cross the desert in trucks and eat food from
cans.
A one-humped camel
can go farther than a two-humped camel.
would beat a two-humped camel in a race.
is easier to ride than a two-humped camel.
A two-humped camel
is taller than a one-humped camel.
is more gentle than a one-hundred camel.
can carry more weight than a one-humped
camel.
If a dromedary goes several days
without eating.
it dies.
it rows a second hump.
its hump gets smaller.
From the story we can guess that
there are fewer camels now than there used
to be.
there are more camels now than there used
to be.
camels are smaller than they used to be.
Niagara Falls Is Falling
Niagara Falls may be the most famous waterfall in the
world. But it’s not the highest. In fact, it’s not even close.
Angel Falls in South America is the world’s highest, at 3,212
feet. Niagara Falls is only 167 feet high – and it’s getting
smaller. It’s wearing itself down. The bed of the Niagara River
is made of soft rock. The river carries water into Lake Ontario
from the other four Great Lakes. This is a lot of water, and it’s
been flowing for thousands of years. Just 300 years ago,
Niagara Falls was much higher than it is today. In another 300
years, it will probably be much smaller.
Niagara Falls
used to be the highest waterfall in the world.
used to be higher than it is now.
is 300 years old.
Niagara Falls is
in Venezuela.
on the Niagara River.
in a lake.
If the bed of the Niagara River were
of harder rock,
Niagara Falls would be higher.
Niagara Falls would be lower.
there would be no Niagara Falls.
Niagara Falls
wasn’t there 300 years ago.
will have disappeared in 300 years.
will look very different in 300 years.
Jumping Rope
Today, jump-rope games are played by both boys and
girls. But this was not always true. Until about 100, jumping
rope was nearly always a boys’ game. Its rules were simple;
whoever jumped the longest was the winner. Now, jump-rope
games are played to chanted rhymes. How many of these
rhymes do you know? Your grandmother may remember
some of the same ones. Many can be heard in playgrounds
all over the United States. But children are not the only ropejumpers. A boxer training for a fight jumps rope as part of his
exercise every day.
A hundred years ago,
few girls jumped rope.
jump-rope games hadn’t been invented.
only boxers jumped rope.
A hundred years ago, jump-rope
games
were the same as they are today
were simpler than they are today.
took more strength to play
Many of the rhymes that children
jump rope to now
are very new.
have been passed along for many years.
were made up by boxers.
A boxer jumps rope to train himself to
hit harder.
run faster.
move his feet quickly.
You are ready to move to the next level!