G-NEWSELA article: The chicken family tree branches out to dinosaurs, so say scientists

The scientists in this article would MOST LIKELY agree with which of the following statements? 

• It is never a good idea to manipulate nature for scientific reasons. 
• Gene manipulation is very complicated and only produces limited results. 
• Scientists can learn a lot about modern birds by experimenting with dinosaur DNA. 
• Embryonic gene alterations are an effective way for people to learn about animal ancestors. 

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Which of the following has been MOST instrumental in helping scientists better understand dinosaurs? 

• a chicken's egg 
• a chicken's movement 
• a chicken's leg bone 
• a chicken's fossil 

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Read the following sentence.
A group at Yale modified beak-related genes to produce the kind of reptilian snout we associate with "true" dinosaurs.
Which word could replace "associate" WITHOUT changing its meaning? 

• anticipate 
• create 
• equate 
• separate 

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CCSS.RI.6.4

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Read the sentence from the section "Meaty Chicken Legs."
 They inhibited a gene to stop the legs from maturing into normal chicken legs.
Which phrase from the article helps to explain what "inhibited" means? 

• matured into 
• produced the   
• have created   
• turned off 

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Read the sentence from the section "Pecking Order."
As scientists get better and better at using the gene editing, making changes like these — silencing or activating a few genes to bring an animal closer to its ancestors — may become routine. 
What does the author mean by the phrase "may become routine"?

• people may use this technique in their everyday lives
• scientists may use this technique when they are further studying genetics
• a way for the scientists to drive
• the scientist will make less mistakes when using this technique

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Back then, dinosaurs had big tails, so scientists stuck toilet-plunger-like fake tails on some chicken butts to see how the animals would walk. 
Look at the word in blue. What is the best word that could replace the word WITHOUT changing the meaning?

• blocked
• jammed
• decorated 
• attached

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Which sentence would summarize the main idea of this passage?

• Researchers unsuccessfully studied dinosaur mobility using chickens.
• In order to study dinosaurs, researchers must study and experiment with the animals we have today.
• Modifying genetic material from chickens may help scientist understand dinosaur characteristics.
• According to researchers, chickens are present- day dinosaurs.

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Read the following sentence:
For now, none of the experiments have attempted to produce living animals from the tweaked embryos. 
Choose the answer that is similar to the meaning in the sentence above.

• All the chickens that have had their genes modified have all died after they are born.
• The experiments to change chicken legs into dinosaur legs have been unsuccessful.
• The chickens in the experiment do not grow legs.
• The embryos that scientists have modified die before they are born.

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Which group would be MOST affected if there were successful attempts at genetically modifying chicken embryos?

• Science Teachers
• Schools
• Grocery Stores
• KFC

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Which sentence describes how the author's opinion towards the main idea of the passage?

• They made chicken embryos without the perching toe that modern birds have.  
• Scientists can explore the biological connection between birds and dinosaurs in the lab, Vargas said. 
• Modern birds have leg bones that are a tad different from those in their ancient ancestors. 
• As scientists get better and better at using the gene editing, making changes like these — silencing or activating a few genes to bring an animal closer to its ancestors — may become routine. 

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