Reading Questions 1–2 are based on the following passage. Early scientists believed that all dinosaurs, like most reptiles, laid and then immediately abandoned their eggs. The newly hatched young were left to take care of themselves. However, the recent discovery of a group of nests has challenged this belief. The nests, which contained fossilized baby dinosaurs that were not newborn, provided evidence that dinosaur parents actually cared for their young. For some time after birth, the babies would stay at the nest while the parents brought back plant matter for food. The young stayed at home until they were large enough to roam safely on their own. The discovery of a group of dinosaur nests challenged the idea that dinosaurs

What conclusion can be drawn from the data presented in the graph above?

American science-fiction writers produce a large number of novels for young people these days, yet few take advantage of the latitude allowed by the genre. Since the 1970s, young- adult science fiction has had little to do with the wonders of science, intergalactic travel, or new worlds in space. Most of the novels are cautionary tales about regimented, conformist societies or about the social order collapsed into barbarism. This change has resulted in science fiction that is, to me as a reader, much less interesting than science fiction used to be. Which sentence from the passage is most clearly an expression of opinion rather than a statement of fact?

Questions 5–6 are based on the following passage, which students are reading in small groups. The environment in which people live often determines the kind of technology they use. For instance, ancient Mesopotamia had few plants suitable for making paper. But the area had lots of high-quality clay. People used the clay to store information. Modern people store information on paper, computer disks, and CDs. Mesopotamians stored their data on clay tablets—pieces of smooth clay small enough to fit into the palm of an adult’s hand. When a clay tablet was damp, people could scratch pictures and letters into its surface using a sharpened reed. When dried in the hot sun, the clay hardened, preserving the writing and the information. The teacher wants students to understand why the Mesopotamians wrote on clay. What question could a paraprofessional ask a group of students about the passage that would best help the students understand why the Mesopotamians wrote on clay?