ELA Benchmark

How do paragraphs 4 and 5 support the central idea that streams are important to urban and rural settings?

• They discuss the importance of both types of streams.

• They elaborate on how streams provide resources to plants.

• They detail similarities and differences of both types of streams.

• They explain why natural streams are better than urban streams.

Read the sentence from paragraph 5. Instead it hits impervious surfaces like hard pavement and rooftops and has no chance to infiltrate the soil. What is the meaning of the word impervious as it is used in the sentence?

• affected

• cracked

• exposed

• resistant

Part A: What is the author’s purpose for using the phrase “Often they lie low” in paragraph 2?

• to provide an example of an urban stream

• to show that urban streams are often polluted

• to contrast an urban stream with a rural stream

• to show that urban streams are not easily seen

Answer explanation

Which quotation from paragraph 2 supports the answer to Part A?

• “ . . . when people, buildings, and streets are around.”

• “ . . . flowing under sidewalks. . . .”

• “ . . . meandering past ball fields. . . .”

• “ . . . rippling by shopping centers.”

Read the sentence from paragraph 3. Streams, stream banks, and the low lands around them provide important habitat for animals and plants that share the urban/suburban landscape with us. What does the word habitat mean as it is used in the sentence?

• area

• environment

• shelter

• territory

How does the author introduce the idea of urban streams?

• by pointing out that urban settings also have streams

• by preparing readers to think only about rural streams

• by getting readers to focus on the characteristics of all streams

• by presenting readers with the transition from rural to urban streams

Read the sentence from paragraph 7. If all this extra water is diverted directly into a stream channel, several important changes will occur. What is the meaning of the word diverted as it is used in the sentence?

• pushed

• sped forward

• brought together

• redirected

Based on the information in paragraph 8, what inference can be drawn about water movement in cities?

• Natural waterways have disappeared.

• Natural waterways are overloaded with rainwater.

• There are fewer natural waterways now than in the past.

• Flooding is caused when man-made waterways overflow.

What is the author’s purpose in this passage?

• to describe to readers the creation of urban and rural streams

• to explain to readers the flooding of streams in rural and urban areas

• to persuade readers that urban and rural streams are important to cities

• to inform readers about the differences between rural and urban streams

Which quotation from the passage supports the answer to Part A? (To inform readers about the difference between rural and urban streams)

• “Streams are an important part of every landscape, no matter whether that landscape is a forest, a city, or a suburb.” (paragraph 2)

• “They are also part of the network of channels that drains rain and melting snow off our streets, parks, and yards.” (paragraph 3)

• “Urban streams tend to carry more water at a faster speed after a storm than their country cousins.” (paragraph 4)

• “Storm water has no choice but to flow downhill into street drains and ditches and then into streams.” (paragraph 5)