1. The Truth About Tarantulas
Reading Comprehension
Grade 3

2. (1) What is the author’s purpose?

3. (2) What would be a good title?

4. (3) Why are people afraid of tarantulas?

5. (4) What happens when people learn about tarantulas?

6. (5) Why must tarantulas rely on their sense of touch?

7. (6) What is the author’s attitude in this passage?

8. (6 details)
Tarantulas are the largest spiders on Earth. Some of them grow to be the size of a person’s hand. A few get even bigger than that. The largest ones can be the size of a dinner plate. Maybe it’s their size that makes tarantulas so fearsome, or maybe it’s their hairy bodies.

9. Say back 6

10. (5 details)
Their eight beady eyes do nothing to calm the nerves, either. Then there are all those large fangs filled with venom. All in all, tarantulas look quite frightening, so they have been portrayed as killers in movies and on TV.

11. Say back 5

12. (5 details)
Certain folklore may also play a part in the “bad rap” these creatures have received. People once thought a bite from this spider caused a sickness.

13. Say back 5

14. (7 details)
The truth about tarantulas is less frightening than the myths of old would have you think. Tarantulas do kill with their venom, but they don’t kill humans. Their venom is designed mostly for beetles and grasshoppers. It can’t disable anything larger than a mouse or bat.

15. Say back 7

16. (9 details)
Tarantulas rarely bite humans. When they do, the bite is no worse than a wasp sting. Although tarantulas do not hunt humans, they are still fascinating. Scientists have found about 800 kinds, which live mostly in warm climates. They live in the American Southwest, Europe, and Asia.

17. Say back 9

18. 7 details
All tarantulas share certain features. They have long, hairy legs and thick, hairy bodies. Despite their many eyes, tarantulas do not see well. In this case, more is not better. Tarantulas must rely on other senses to help them get what they need. Most important of these is the spiders’ sense of touch. Tarantulas travel by feeling their way along.

19. Say back 7

20. 5 details
Tarantulas find prey by picking up vibrations made by the prey as it moves. All the hairs on the tarantulas’ bodies help them sense these vibrations. The hairs move with the slightest breeze. That motion usually signals something nearby—dinner is on the way.

21. Say back 4

22. 4 details
People say that the more they learn about tarantulas, the more they like them. That may be why tarantulas have become popular in pet stores. More and more people are buying them. Owners praise tarantulas as being wonderful pets.

23. Say back 4

24. (1) What is the author’s purpose?
PREDICT
RI.8

25. (1) What is the author’s purpose?
To prove tarantulas can be dangerous
To show how opinions about tarantulas will become better if people are given accurate information
To describe tarantulas and the way they live

26. (2) Which title would be best?
PREDICT
RI.2

27. (2) Which title would be best?
Tarantulas: Large and Dangerous
Tarantulas: Not as Bad as You May Think
Tarantulas: An Interesting Spider

28. (3) Why are people afraid of tarantulas?
PREDICT
RI.1

29. (3) Why are people afraid of tarantulas?
Some of them are scary because they’re so large.
Some people believe that tarantulas kill humans.
Their bite was once believed to cause a disease.

30. (4) As people learn more about tarantulas, what will happen?
PREDICT
RI.1

31. (4) As people learn more about tarantulas, what will happen?
People may want to have tarantulas as pets.
People will be more afraid of tarantulas.
People will want tarantulas removed from where they live.

32. (5) Why must tarantulas rely on their sense of touch?
PREDICT
RI.1

33. (5) Why must tarantulas rely on their sense of touch?
Some of their prey is too small to be detected by sight.
Tarantulas don’t see well.
A tarantula can catch more prey when it uses both its sense of sight and sense of touch.

34. (6) What is the author’s attitude?
PREDICT
RI.8

35. (6) What is the author’s attitude?
The author fears tarantulas.
The author is excited because he finds tarantulas so interesting.
The author thinks tarantulas do not deserve their bad reputation.