Subobjective C: Read paragraphs, passages, and longer works. While 77% of the 9-year-olds were able to recognize that the buttons were scattered when the cat's hind foot was caught in the box, only 81% of the 13-year-olds were able to--a percentage increase of 5, but 19% of the 13-year-olds still failed. Since the sought-after fact is clearly stated, the percentage of failure--especially at age 13--may be largely due to confusion or distraction caused by the form of the poem. There is some indication that some of both 9- and 13-year-olds did not understand the meaning of the prefix "fore." Read the passage and answer the question on the next page. One spring Farmer Brown had an unusually good field of wheat. Whenever he saw any birds in this field, he got his gun and shot as many of them as he could. In the middle of the summer he found that his wheat was being ruined by insects. With no birds to feed on them, the insects had multiplied very fast. What Farmer Brown did not understand was this: A bird is not simply an animal that eats food the farmer may want for himself. Instead, it is one of many links in the complex surroundings, or environment, in which we live. How much grain a farmer can raise on an acre of ground depends on many factors. All of these factors can be divided into two big groups. Such things as the richness of the soil, the amount of rainfall, the amount of sunlight, and the temperature belong together in one of these groups. This group may be called non-living factors. The second group may be called living factors. The living factors in any plant's environment are animals and other plants. Wheat, for example, may be damaged by wheat rust, a tiny plant that feeds on wheat; or it may be eaten by plant-eating animals such as birds or grasshoppers.... It is easy to see that the relations of plants and animals to their environment are very complex, and that any change in the environment is likely to bring about a whole series of changes.* 14.28 0 0 A bird is simply an animal that eats up grain. Wheat rust is similar to the rust on your own bicycle. Only living factors determine how much corn can be raised. How much wheat is grown depends on how much is planted. Any change in the environment 9 13 17 A 9 13 17 A 9 13 17 A 9 13 17 A Objective I: Comprehend what is read. This passage discusses the balance among both living and non-living environmental factors and how an upset in any one of them can affect many others. The author sums this up in the final sentence of the passage, and this is the important fact asked for. Of the individuals at the four age levels, 25%, 69%, 82% and 89%, respectively, stated "Any change in the environment is likely to cause other changes." While 25% of 9-year-olds succeeded on this exercise, 11% of young adults still failed. That is, with regard to this question, 11% of young adults could not do what 25% of 9-year-olds could do. |