1. SOL PREP

2. Rodent Roadmaps If you hate asking people for directions, you might consult a wood mouse instead. Scientists now know how wood mice navigate so well through open fields. Unlike some animals, when the mice go out of their holes, they can’t leave behind any scent to help find their way back home (a mousy odor means dinner to foxes and other predators, who would follow the scent to mouse hiding places). So wood mice have a different strategy. They leave behind piles of leafes and twigs as signs to mark the direction they need to go. How did scientists find out? When several laboratory mice chewed through the wall of their pen, scientists found a leaf near the escape hole. Wondering if the mice deliberately placed the leaf, the scientists set up an experiment, putting plastic disks, instead of grass and leaves, in the mouse pens. They discovered that the mice piled up the disks to mark food and other points of interest. Using a leaf to flag a promising snack, a mouse in the wild may come back to dine at leisure. Even better, if a mouse flees from a predator in mid-nibble, it will know where to return. That’s smart thinking: scientists thought that only humans make movable landmarks. What’s next- birds with compasses?

3. WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT SCIENTISTS LEARNED FROM THE EXPERIMENT DESCRIBED IN THIS SELECTION?  a. Mice seem to like plastic disks.  b. Mice make and use movable landmarks.  c. Wood mice use scent to navigate.  d. Laboratory mice can chew through pen walls.

4. “USING A LEAF TO FLAG A PROMISING SNACK, A MOUSE IN THE WILD MAY COME BACK TO DINE AT LEISURE.” Which word is a synonym for the word flag as it is used in the sentence above?  a. spoil  b. crush  c. mark  d. hide

5. THE AUTHOR WROTE THIS SELECTION MAINLY-  a. to persuade readers to buy pet mice  b. to explain how mice find their way around  c. to inform readers about how to read maps  d. to persuade readers that mice are predators

6. FOR A MOUSE, WHY DOES A LEAF MAKE A BETTER LANDMARK THAN A SCENT?  a. A scent is too hard to find in the wilderness.  b. A scent would spoil a mouse’s food and appetite.  c. A leaf is safer because a scent might attract an enemy.  d. A leaf can be used as a landmark and later as a snack.

7. THE AUTHOR MOST LIKELY INCLUDED THE LAST SENTENCE TO-  a. highlight that many animal behaviors are still a mystery  b. teach that birds can read a compass  c. show that mice and birds are part of a food chain  d. describe birds’ flying patterns

8. WHICH WORDS WOULD FIT ON THE DICTIONARY PAGE WITH THE FOLLOWING GUIDE WORDS? BE SURE TO RECORD THEM IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER. mice navigate movable make landmark pens mousy

9. WHAT CAUSED SCIENTISTS TO PLACE DISKS IN THE MOUSE PENS?  a. The mice needed building supplies for their nests.  b. The mice needed a food source.  c. The scientists were curious if the mice purposefully mark landmarks, such as exits and food sources.  d. The scientists wanted to give the mice some entertainment

10. WHICH TWO SENTENCES BEST SHOW THAT MICE ARE INTELLIGENT? a. “What’s next, birds with compasses?” b. “They leave behind piles of leaves and twigs as signs to mark the direction they need to go.” c. “…a mousy odor means dinner to foxes and other predators, who would follow the scent to mouse hiding places” e. “Using a leaf to flag a promising snack, a mouse in the wild may come back to dine at leisure.”

11. WHAT IS A SYNONYM FOR THE WORD PROMISING AS IT’S USED IN PARAGRAPH THREE?  a. potential  b. swearing  c. oath  d. talented

12. USE THE TERMS BELOW TO FILL IN THE CHART. purposefully quickly accidentally furiously SynonymVocabulary WordAntonym deliberately

13. THE WORD LEAFES IN PARAGRAPH 1 SHOULD BE WRITTEN-  A. leafves  B. Leafs  C. Leaves  D. As it is

14. IN PARAGRAPH 2 THE WORD PEN IS USING WHICH DEFINITION OF THE WORD-  A. Definition1 – A writing utensil  B. Definition 2 – The act of writing a letter  C. Definition 3- The internal cartilage shell of a squid  D. Definition 4- An enclosure for animals

15. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WORDS USE THE PREFIX UN- THE SAME WAY THAT IT IS USED IN UNLIKE IN PARAGRAPH 1 ?  a. understanding  b. unimaginative  c. uninteresting  d. unmemorable