Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources Reading Comprehension Worksheets The United States Grows (1865-1900)

Rails across America - UP Deals with Grasshoppers and Hell on Wheels The United States Grows (1865-1900)

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Rails across America - UP Deals with Grasshoppers and Hell on Wheels
Print Rails across America - UP Deals with Grasshoppers and Hell on Wheels Reading Comprehension


Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 7 to 9
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	6.44

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		actually-by, alighting, briny, drifts-whatever, eastbound, killed-cured, racecourse, tent-towns, tent-villages, track-laying, workforce-Mormon, liquor, swarmed, impassable, spike, promontory
	content words:		Union Pacific, Central Pacific, Missouri River, Big Muddy, Great Plains, Brigham Young, Wasatch Mountains, Great Salt Lake, Promontory Point

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Rails across America - UP Deals with Grasshoppers and Hell on Wheels By Toni Lee Robinson

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¹     When you think of racing, do fast cars come to mind? Or maybe horses? Perhaps people on foot, sprinting around a racecourse, each trying to finish before the others? The railroad race was nothing like any of these. It wasn't even a race between two trains.
 
²     The great railroad race was a contest between teams of workers. The Union Pacific and Central Pacific teams both worked hard to build the most track in the shortest time. But hammering the tracks in place was only part of the task. Getting the supplies and tools to the railroad was one of the biggest headaches of all.
 
³     Almost everything necessary for the UP crews to function had to cross the Missouri River. There were no bridges over the Big Muddy. Rails, ties, spikes, sledgehammers, shovels, everything needed for the construction had to travel by boat. Food, water, all the necessities to keep the men going, had to be shipped in. Even the huge locomotives had to be freighted across the Missouri.
 
⁴     From November to April, the great river was impassable. This meant waiting out the winter months with little progress on the road. In fact, winter on the Great Plains could bring anything to a sudden halt, including the railroad.

Paragraphs 5 to 14:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

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The United States Grows
(1865-1900)

The United States Grows (1865-1900)

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United States

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American Government         Black History and Blacks in U.S. History         Children in History         Government Careers         Hispanic Heritage         How Can I Help?

Immigration         National Parks and Monuments         Native Americans         Presidents of the United States         Women's History

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United States History

A Nation Divided (1840-1861)         A New Nation (1776-1830)         After the Civil War (1865-1870)         American Revolution         Cold War (1947-1991)         Colonial America (1492-1776)         Lewis and Clark (1804-1806)         Pearl Harbor         Spanish American War (1898)         The 1890's         The 1900's         The 1910's         The 1920's         The 1930's

The 1940's         The 1950's         The 1960's         The 1970's         The 1980's         The 1990's         The 2000's         The Civil War (1861-1865)         The Great Depression (1929-1945)         The United States Grows (1865-1900)         The War of 1812         Wild, Wild West         World War I (1914-1918)         World War II

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