CONCEPTS OF COMPREHENSION: SEQUENCE 4th GRADE UNIT
Reading Passage
Water Woes
Running Low
World leaders meet to discuss the planet’s water problems.
It isn’t easy for Mexico City resident Carmen Martinez to get water.
She lives in Iztapalapa, one of the poorest slums of the Mexican
capital. A slum is a crowded, dirty area with poor living conditions
within a large city.
Once every eight days, she wakes up before dawn and treks down a
hill from her run-down shack to a pumping station to beg for water.
She stands in line with as many as 150 other people. When her turn
finally comes, she gets aboard a tanker truck full of brownish, smelly
liquid.
The truck then climbs the hill and pours the water into a dumpster and
six barrels. Martinez and her family use that water to bathe, clean, and
wash. Although the water is free, it is not potable, or drinkable, so
Martinez also buys bottled water at a store. She imagines what it
would be like "to just turn on a faucet."
Representatives from 148 countries recently met in Mexico City for the
fourth World Water Forum in the hopes of making Martinez’s dream a
reality. More than 1 billion people around the world do not have access
to safe drinking water, according to the United Nations. The forum
participants met to exchange ideas about how to quench the thirst of
the world’s soaring population.
Precious Resource
Although more than two-thirds of Earth’s surface is covered in water,
there is only a limited amount of drinking water in the world. Salty
seawater makes up about 97 percent of the world’s water. Another 2
percent of water is frozen at the North and South Poles.
Half a percent of the water is too far underground to be reached,
which leaves about half a percent of fresh water for all the people
and animals on Earth. Fresh water does not have any salt in it. Earth’s
fresh water supply is renewable only by precipitation, such as rain,
sleet, or snow. (See "The Water Cycle")
Text: Copyright © 2006 Weekly Reader Corporation. All rights reserved.
Weekly Reader is a registered trademark of Weekly Reader Corporation.
Used by permission.
© 2010 ReadWorks, Inc. All rights reserved.
CONCEPTS OF COMPREHENSION: SEQUENCE 4th GRADE UNIT
Reading Passage
Although most Americans have access to clean water, people in many
countries around the world do not. Some countries in Central and
South America, Asia, and Africa have some of the most
contaminated, or dirty, water in the world. Chemicals from factories,
fertilizers from farms, and untreated sewage get washed into the
water supply. In addition, many poor countries don’t always have a
way to collect and conserve, or save, water.
Searching for Solutions
Participants at the seven-day World Water Forum discussed ways of
pooling the world’s money and resources to save water. They proposed
building more dams1 to collect rainwater.
The participants suggested that more decision-making power about
water be given to people in small towns and villages. They also called
for governments, not corporations, to take charge of providing water.
Around the world, people agree that access to water is a basic human
right.
Governments know they need to act now to save the world’s liquid
resource. "Water is endangered and so are we all," Loïc Fauchon,
president of the World Water Council, told reporters.
1
dam: a barrier that prevents the flow of water in order to collect a large supply
Text: Copyright © 2006 Weekly Reader Corporation. All rights reserved.
Weekly Reader is a registered trademark of Weekly Reader Corporation.
Used by permission.
© 2010 ReadWorks, Inc. All rights reserved.
CONCEPTS OF COMPREHENSION: SEQUENCE 4th GRADE UNIT
Reading Passage
The Water Cycle
Water moves from the air to the land and back to the air, again and
again. The repeated journey is known as the water cycle. Because
water travels in a cycle, it can carry pollutants into the ocean, the air,
and the ground.
NASA GSFC/MIT/CREW
Water Cycle
(1) Evaporation. The sun’s heat changes water into a gas, or vapor.
(2) Condensation. The water vapor meets cool air and changes back
into tiny droplets of water.
(3) Precipitation. Those water droplets form clouds. As the drops get
heavier, they fall from the clouds as rain, sleet, or snow.
(4) Collection. Most precipitation falls into the ocean. Some falls on
the land and moves into bodies of water.
Text: Copyright © 2006 Weekly Reader Corporation. All rights reserved.
Weekly Reader is a registered trademark of Weekly Reader Corporation.
Used by permission.
© 2010 ReadWorks, Inc. All rights reserved.
CONCEPTS OF COMPREHENSION: SEQUENCE 4th GRADE UNIT
Question Sheet
Name:
Date:
“Water Woes” Questions
_____ 1. In the third paragraph, in the phrase, “it is not potable”, it refers to
a. Carmen Martinez.
b. a slum.
c. water from the pumping station.
d. a dumpster.
_____ 2. Before everyone can have clean drinking water,
a. money and resources must be pooled.
b. more dams must be built.
c. governments and not corporations must take charge.
d. all of the above.
_____ 3. After water evaporates, it
a. condenses.
b. precipitates.
c. collects.
d. rains.
_____ 4. Which process must occur before collection?
a. precipitation
b. condensation
c. evaporation
d. none of the above
_____ 5. What does potable mean?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
© 2010 Urban Education Exchange. All rights reserved
.
CONCEPTS OF COMPREHENSION: SEQUENCE 4th GRADE UNIT
Question Sheet
Name:
Date:
“Water Woes” Answer Sheet
PR
1. In the third paragraph, in the phrase, “it is not potable”, it refers to
a. Carmen Martinez.
b. a slum.
c. water from the pumping station.
d. a dumpster.
Seq. 2. Before everyone can have clean drinking water,
a. money and resources must be pooled.
b. more dams must be built.
c. governments and not corporations must take charge.
d. all of the above.
Seq.
3. After water evaporates, it
a. condenses.
b. precipitates.
c. collects.
d. rains.
Seq.
4. Which process must occur before collection?
a. precipitation
b. condensation
c. evaporation
d. none of the above
ViC
5. What does potable mean?
Answers will vary, but should mention clean or drinkable.
Suggested Additional Vocabulary: precious, pooling, forum, quench
© 2010 Urban Education Exchange. All rights reserved
.