Making Inferences in Nonfiction
This worksheet helps 8th-grade students practice making inferences from nonfiction texts, a key reading comprehension strategy.
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Making Inferences in Nonfiction
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Read each passage carefully and answer the questions that follow by making inferences based on the information provided and your prior knowledge. Remember, an inference is an educated guess or conclusion drawn from evidence and reasoning, not explicitly stated information.
Passage 1: The Impact of Artificial Light
For millennia, human activity was largely dictated by the sun's rhythm. Work ceased or shifted significantly with the setting of the sun, and our ancestors relied on natural light sources like fire. The invention of artificial lighting, particularly electric lights, dramatically altered this pattern. Cities glow brightly through the night, and homes and businesses extend their operating hours far beyond dusk. While this has brought undeniable convenience and productivity, scientists are increasingly studying its less obvious consequences. For instance, studies have shown a correlation between increased exposure to artificial light at night and disruptions in human sleep cycles, potentially leading to various health issues. Beyond humans, nocturnal animals, whose behaviors are intricately linked to natural darkness, face challenges in navigation, hunting, and reproduction due to light pollution. Migratory birds, in particular, often become disoriented by city lights.
1. What can you infer about the importance of natural darkness for nocturnal animals before the widespread use of artificial light?
2. Based on the passage, what might be a potential long-term societal consequence of widespread artificial light exposure?
3. Which of the following can be inferred about the initial primary motivation for developing electric lighting?
To reduce energy consumption.
To extend periods of activity and productivity.
To improve aesthetic appeal of cities.
To create new forms of entertainment.
4. The passage suggests that before electric lights, human daily schedules were largely determined by the .
5. One negative consequence of artificial light mentioned is the disorientation of .
Passage 2: The Silent Language of Trees
For centuries, trees were largely viewed as solitary organisms, competing for resources like sunlight, water, and nutrients. However, recent scientific discoveries have begun to paint a much more complex and interconnected picture of forest ecosystems. Breakthroughs in mycology (the study of fungi) have revealed the existence of vast underground networks of mycorrhizal fungi that connect the roots of different trees. Through these fungal highways, trees can exchange vital resources, such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Even more astonishingly, it appears that trees can also send distress signals through these networks. When one tree is attacked by pests or disease, it can chemically warn its neighbors, prompting them to bolster their defenses. This intricate communication system suggests that forests operate more like a cooperative superorganism than a collection of isolated individuals.
6. What can you infer about the traditional understanding of trees that this passage challenges?
7. Based on the information, what is the primary role of mycorrhizal fungi in a forest ecosystem?
8. True or False: The passage implies that trees are only capable of competing with each other and do not cooperate.
True
False