In the last paragraph, what does the word damp mean?
Read an Informational Passage · ELPAC Grades 3–5 reading. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
A longer factual text, with questions about the main idea, supporting details and vocabulary.
Read the passage. Then answer the questions.
Drinking the Fog
Coast redwoods are the tallest trees in the world. Some grow more than 300 feet high. A tree that tall has a problem. Water is heavy, and pulling it from the roots all the way to the top takes a great deal of work.
Along the northern California coast, thick fog rolls in from the ocean on summer mornings. The fog drifts through the redwood branches and collects on the needles. Drops form, join together, and fall to the forest floor like light rain. Scientists have measured this. In some forests, fog drip supplies as much as a third of the water the trees receive in a year.
The trees also drink from above. Redwood needles can take in water straight from the fog, so the top of the tree does not have to wait for water sent up from the roots.
The fog helps other living things too. Ferns, banana slugs and young redwood seedlings all depend on the damp ground the fog leaves behind. Drier summers mean less fog, and less fog means a thirstier forest.
The question
Choose the best answer.
In the last paragraph, what does the word damp mean?
- a little bit wetCorrect answer
- very dark
- soft and sandy
- hard and frozen
Why “a little bit wet” is correct
This tests a vocabulary word that can be worked out from the sentence around it. 'Damp' describes the ground the fog leaves behind, and since fog is made of water, the ground must be a little wet. Point the child to the words immediately before and after the unknown word rather than to a dictionary.
Why the other answers are wrong
- very dark — Fog does make a forest dim, so this is a tempting guess, but 'damp' describes moisture rather than light.
- soft and sandy — Nothing in the passage describes the forest soil as sandy.
- hard and frozen — Freezing is never mentioned; the passage is describing summer fog.
Practice more of this
More reading practice for Grades 3–5, or see the ELPAC practice test for grades 3–5. For other grades, see free ELPAC practice tests by grade.
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