The Humpback Whale

Which of the following is an inference that can be drawn from the article?

• Humpback whales are the most intelligent animals living in the ocean

• A single bubble-blowing whale could succeed in trapping all the fish it wanted.

• Scientists are sometimes mistaken about why animals act the way they do.

• Dr. Sharpe's aquarium experiments were more important to his study than observing real whales.

Which sentence from the article best supports the point that scientists are sometimes mistaken about why animals act the way they do?

• "But humpbacks that live near the west coast of North America have a surprising and spectacular way of catching fish."

• "Most researchers thought the humpbacks were fighting over the fish."

• "To find out, Dr. Sharpe and his team placed a school of herring into an aquarium."

• "As the fish are squeezed into a tighter group, the bubble-blowing whale continues to swim in a circle, closing the net and trapping the fish in a bubble corral."

Which sentence from the article shows why scientists thought the whales were fighting each other for food?

• "Most of the time, they plow through the ocean with their huge mouths open, scooping up thousands of tiny shrimp-like creatures called krill."

• "Suddenly, all of the whales explode out of the water at once, right in the middle of the bubble-circle."

• "Whales are known to use bubbles and loud calls when they try to chase away other whales."

• "A single whale swims below the fish, carefully releasing air from its blowhole to create a wall of bubble."

According to paragraph 7, what do "sonar" devices use to "see" under water?

• sound

• bubbles

• cameras

• temperatures

Which paragraph has evidence to support the claim, "The whales were working together"?

• paragraph 4

• paragraph 5

• paragraph 9

• paragraph 13

Select the TWO sentences that should be left out of a summary of this article.

• Humpback whales hunt together to catch schools of herring.

• The Crittercam is a special video camera that attaches to a whale.

• Whales blow bubbles and wave their flippers to trap fish.

• Tiny shrimplike creatures called krill live near the west coast.

• Researchers used sonar to watch the whales at work.

Which sentence below describes the activity of the bubble-blowing whale?

• "makes calls from below that send the fish toward the surface and into the ring of bubbles."

• "swims in a circle, closing the net and trapping the fish in a bubble corral."

• "approaches from the sides or below to trap the fish."

• "makes trumpetlike sounds to alert the other whales."

Which sentence below describes the activity of the lead whale?

• "makes calls from below that send the fish toward the surface and into the ring of bubbles."

• "swims in a circle, closing the net and trapping the fish in a bubble corral."

• "approaches from the sides or below to trap the fish."

• "makes trumpetlike sounds to alert the other whales."

Which sentence below describes the activity of the other whales on the team?

• "makes calls from below that send the fish toward the surface and into the ring of bubbles."

• "swims in a circle, closing the net and trapping the fish in a bubble corral."

• "approaches from the sides or below to trap the fish."

• "makes trumpetlike sounds to alert the other whales."

Read the sentence below:

"Dr. Sharpe had a radical idea for the late 1980s, when he began his research."

Based on how it is used in the sentence above, what is the meaning of the word radical as it is used in this sentence?

• impressive to look at or amazing

• the deepest areas

• majestic

• an extreme change from the ordinary