Fossils: A Peek Into the Past Comprehension Test

A 10 year old boy named Jared Post had made a fantastic find.

Which phrase in the sentence above indicates that the statement is an opinion?

• ten-year-old

• boy named

• had made

• fantastic find

What is the author's opinion of woolly mammoths

• They ate plants for food

• They only left behind their teeth as fossils

• They are fascinating

• They are the only extinct mammals

The section under the heading "Imagine a Woolly Mammoth!"

states the opinion that woolly mammoths

• walked around Jared's neighborhood

• most likely used their tusks to scrape snow

• are thought to be related to today's elephants

• left fossils that tell us that they once lived in certain areas

A fact expressed in the article is that the rock Jared found

• was amazing

• had weird markings

• was a fossilized tooth

• created big news in Alaska

Which heading expresses an opinion?

• "Traces of the Past"

• "Nature's Memory Keepers"

• "Imagine a Woolly Mammoth"

• "One Girl's Remarkable Finds"

You can tell that the author has the opinion that children who discover fossils

• will become scientists

• are interesting to learn about

• are smarter than other children

• know a lot about extinct animals

What could prove that the idea that 2007 was a great year for finds is a fact

• If Jared, Sierra, and Kaleb wrote a book about finding fossils in 2007

• if Mary agreed that 2007 was one of the great yeard for finding fossils

• if the author compared the fossil finds to every other year's fossil finds

• if the fossils found in 2007 proved that woolly mammoths were still alive

The phrase that says fossils help us understand what the world was like is an opinion because it

• gives a clue

• expresses a belief

• defines a word

• gives an approximation

An opinion expressed in the article is that Mary Anning

• was the greatest fossilist in the world

• found a fossil of a sea reptile

• was born in England

• discovered a fossil when he was eleven

Which statement from the article expresses an opinion?

• The Ice Age occurred between 1.6 million and 10,000 years ago

• She discovered the skeleton of a giant sea creature when she was 11 years old

• Another super-successful young fossil hunter was Mary Anning who was born on the south coast of England

• Although mammoths roamed throughout much of North America, Europe, Asia and Africa, ther bones and teeth are found mainly in areas with very cold weather