Unit 10 Formative A

Read the following excerpt from the passage, then choose the correct answer.

Excerpt from “Hurricane!” It’s summer, and hurricane season is here! Hurricanes, otherwise known as tropical cyclones, are powerful storms that twist and spin. They can become very large, some covering an area hundreds of miles wide. These storms are feared because their strong winds, high tides, and heavy rains threaten life and property.

Hurricanes are a _________.

• body of water

• type of snowstorm

• season of the year

• type of natural disaster

Read the following excerpt from the passage, then choose the correct answer.

Excerpt from “Hurricane!” Hurricane season begins on June 1st and runs through November 30th. Warm, tropical water is necessary for hurricane development. The surface temperature of an ocean must be at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit, or 26 degrees Centigrade. However, hurricanes need more than warm water to develop. Low air pressure, moist ocean air, tropical winds, and warm air temperatures must come together to set the stage for hurricane development.

What factors help a hurricane to form?

• cold water, high air pressure, dry air, and tropical breezes

• warm water, low air pressure, moist air, and wind

• cool water, low air pressure, cool air, and tropical breezes

• warm water, high air pressure, cool air, and wind

Read the following excerpt from the passage, then choose the correct answer.

Excerpt from “Hurricane!” Some tropical storms continue to build strength by feeding on warm, moist air. For a tropical storm to become a hurricane, its winds must strengthen to 74 miles per hour. These winds must be sustained, or steady, rather than gusty or intermittent. A storm at sea has gusts of wind at 74 mph.

The storm is not a hurricane because _________.

• hurricanes have steady winds of 74 mph

• hurricanes have gusts of wind at 73 mph or lower

• hurricanes have steady winds of any speed

• hurricanes have gusts of wind at 75 mph or higher

Read the following excerpt from the passage, then choose the correct answer.

Excerpt from “Hurricane!” Although the very center of the eye is calm, the strongest winds are found in the eye wall. The towering clouds form a wind wall. This wall, surrounding the eye of the storm, contains the strongest winds and the heaviest rains. The strong winds spin like a top around the eye.

Based on this description, the eye of a hurricane is most like a __________.

• blizzard

• earthquake

• tornado

• flood

Read the chart, then choose the correct answer.

Following a hurricane, you see houses along the beach and farther inland damaged by floodwater. Some of the houses are missing roofs. Large buildings have suffered damage. Trees are stripped of leaves and knocked over. Many people are missing their boats. What category hurricane do you think struck the area?

• Category 2

• Category 3

• Category 4

• Category 5

You must catch the 8:02 bus. The bus will leave at ________.

• a definite time

• an intense time

• a sustained time

• an ordinary time

These storms are feared because their strong winds, high tides, and heavy rains threaten life and property.

Which is a nonexample of the word property?

• your backpack

• the queen’s crown

• your jeans

• the clouds in the sky

The meteor that hit the planet 65 million years ago lowered the Earth’s temperature and ________ the survival of the dinosaurs.

• surrounding

• sustained

• threatened

• intense

Which idiom means “to do whatever you have to, to get the job done”?

• once in a blue moon

• go the extra mile

• chip on your shoulder

• don’t count your chickens before they hatch

Hurricane Katrina started out as an _________ storm forming over the Bahamas. It crossed Florida and became more ________ as it strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico.

• intense, ordinary

• ordinary, intense

• surrounding, sustained

• ordinary, threatened