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

Cable Cars The United States Grows (1865-1900)

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Cable Cars
Print Cable Cars Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print Cable Cars Reading Comprehension


Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	6.59

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		housing, powerhouse, turntable, popularity, successful, provided, lever, dummy, pliers, obsolete, power, lasted, operator, rails, service, meantime
	content words:		San Francisco, New York, Clay Street Hill Railroad, Andrew Hallidie, Clay Street

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Cable Cars By Sharon Fabian

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¹     If you ever travel to San Francisco, you can take a ride on a cable car. These colorful vehicles, which look a little bit like passenger train cars, carry riders up and down San Francisco's steep hills. People from all over the world make sure to take a ride on a San Francisco cable car when they visit California.
 
²     Cable cars are unusual because they do not run under their own power. Cable cars run on rails, like a train, but in between the rails there is a slot where a strong cable is located. The cable is connected to an engine in the powerhouse, and it is kept moving all the time. The train itself has two cars. Passengers ride in the larger car. The train is operated from the smaller car, called a dummy, or a grip car. The grips are like a pair of large pliers. The operator closes the grips onto the cable to let the cable pull the train. To stop the train, he opens the grips and also sets the brakes. The first cable cars were operated by four or five men. One man operated a lever that controlled the grips, and the other four manned the brakes.
 
³     In the 1880s and 1890s, cable cars were the most popular mode of transportation in San Francisco and other cities, especially those with steep hills. Cities all across the U.S., from California to New York, built cable car lines. So did other countries. Cable cars could travel steep hills that horse-drawn cars had never been able to manage. Cable cars could run all day. Unlike horses, they never needed to stop for food or a rest. They never left a mess in the streets, either.

Paragraphs 4 to 9:
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

United States

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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50 States

Fifty States Theme Unit

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