“Day of Doom” Quiz

1. What is the MOST LIKELY reason the author begins the article with a dramatic scene?

• to create suspense
• to write a fiction story
• to create a calm feeling
• to give readers instructions

2. How do scientists know dinosaurs disappeared 66 million years ago?

• All dinosaur bones are 66 million years old.
• Records from 66 million years ago say so.
• They studied animals that have lived in the past 66 million years.
• They found no dinosaur fossils in layers of rock formed after a disaster that happened 66 million years ago.

3. In the sentence “It was well known that animals could become extinct,” the word extinct describes ____________.

• animals that are growing in size
• animals that no longer exist
• animals that are part of a group
• animals moving to another area

3B. Which line from the text best supports the correct answer to question 3?

• “. . . dinosaurs had walked the earth for more than 150 million years.”
• “They started out small and lightweight.”
• “T. rex and other dinosaurs ruled over the land . . .”
• “Some scientists thought that dinosaurs had died out because the planet had gotten too cold.”

4. The sentence “. . . he was known for thinking outside the box,” tells you that Luis Alvarez explored ideas ____________.

• in great detail
• by following the rules
• in new and different ways
• others had already studied

5. What two things did Walter Alvarez find in the layer of clay that formed at the time dinosaurs disappeared? Choose TWO.

• iridium
• dinosaur bones
• seeds and plants
• tiny balls of glass

6. Why did mammals have the chance to take over the world?

• Some birds survived.
• The dinosaurs were gone.
• T. rex ate other kinds of animals.
• Fish and turtles lived underground.

7. Which sentence would be BEST to include in a summary of the article?

• Bones, eggs, claws, and teeth can become fossils.
• Early dinosaurs were small, about the size of dogs.
• Walter Alvarez discovered that an asteroid killed the dinosaurs.
• A T. rex had more than 50 razor-sharp teeth as long as bananas.