activity of text interpretation, aimed at students in the fifth year of elementary school, about tapirs. It is the heaviest land mammal in South America. Shall we get to know the tapir better? So, read the text carefully! Then answer the various interpretative questions proposed!
You can download this Word comprehension activity in editable Word template, ready to print to PDF and also the activity with answers.
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SCHOOL: DATE:
PROF: CLASS:
NAME:
Read:
The tapir is spread in different corners of the world. There are five species: one in Asia, one in Central America and three in South America.
It is the heaviest land mammal in South America. It is 1 meter high and over 2 meters long. It has strong teeth and a small, mobile, touch-sensitive proboscis that helps with feeding. It has poor eyesight but good hearing and a great sense of smell, constantly sniffing the air.
The leather is thick and tough, protecting against predators and dense, often thorny vegetation. It often has scars on the skin resulting from attacks by jaguars, its main predator.
Tapirs live in dense areas, always close to rivers and lakes. They are solitary and have nocturnal habits, resting during the day. They are excellent swimmers, being able to cross large rivers without many problems. They like to get muddy to get rid of ticks and flies. Just like horses, they show their lips whenever they get irritated. They use urine and feces to mark their territory and four types of sounds in their social interactions.
They are herbivores, feeding on fruits and a wide variety of plants, flowers, leaves, bark and even branches, which in a rainforest helps to avoid a large accumulation of toxins from a single plant. They use their sense of smell to find and identify food, running their snouts over any food before eating. They are considered forest gardeners, as they help disperse various seeds of different plant species throughout the forest.
The main threats to tapirs are hunting, deforestation, fragmentation and habitat alteration. In the Pantanal and the Amazon, the situation of these animals is less worrying, however, in biomes such as the Atlantic Forest, few viable populations still exist.
Available in:. (With cuts and adaptations).
Question 1 – In the passage “It is the heaviest land mammal in South America.”, which mammal is the text referring to?
Question 2 – The section “It is 1 meter high and more than 2 meters long.” It is:
( ) a narration.
( ) a description.
( ) an argument.
Question 3 – The text explains that the tapir often has scars on the skin, due to:
( ) of jaguar attacks.
( ) dense vegetation.
( ) of thorny vegetation.
Question 4 – In “[…] they have nocturnal habits, resting during the day.”, the underlined expression indicates:
( ) place.
( ) mode.
( ) time.
Question 5 – Underline the word that introduces a purpose below:
“They use urine and feces to demarcate their territory […]”
Question 6 – In the part “They use smell to find It is identify food, passing their snouts over any food before eating.”, the highlighted term signals:
( ) the sum of facts.
( ) the conclusion of a fact.
( ) the justification of a fact.
Question 7 – According to the text, tapirs are “considered gardeners of the forests”. Why?
Question 8 – Identify the segment that expresses a comparison:
( ) “They are excellent swimmers, being able to cross large rivers without many problems.”
( ) “They like to get muddy to get rid of ticks and flies.”
( ) “Like horses, they show their lips whenever they are irritated.”
Question 9 – According to the text, the situation of tapirs is more worrying:
( ) in the Pantanal.
( ) in the Amazon.
( ) in the Atlantic Forest.
By Denyse Lage Fonseca
Graduated in Letters and specialist in distance education.
