Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources Reading Comprehension Worksheets Cold War (1947-1991)

The Arms Race Cold War (1947-1991)

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The Arms Race
Print The Arms Race Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print The Arms Race Reading Comprehension


Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.58

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		radiation, atomic, nuclear, stockpile, bomb, insure, testing, operation, instantly, monitor, powerful, necessary, peace, attack, blast, return
	content words:		United States, World War II, Soviet Union, Cold War, Bikini Atoll, Pacific Ocean, Marshall Islands, Operation Crossroads

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The Arms Race By Sharon Fabian

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¹     The United States shocked the world when it dropped an atomic bomb on Japan to end World War II. Then, in 1949, when Russia set off an atomic bomb in a test in Kazakhstan, we found out that the United States was not the only country with nuclear weapons.
 
²     This began the contest between the United States and the Soviet Union known as the arms race. The arms race was a major part of the Cold War. Both countries produced more and more powerful nuclear weapons to try to stay ahead of the other. They knew that this was a dangerous contest. After all, when the US dropped the atomic bombs on Japan, thousands and thousands of people were killed instantly, and the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed. What they did not understand yet was that nuclear weapons had even more hidden dangers.
 
³     The United States would learn about these hidden dangers when it conducted nuclear bomb tests on Bikini Atoll.
 
⁴     Bikini Atoll is a group of 23 small coral islands grouped around a 25-mile wide lagoon in the Pacific Ocean. They are part of the Marshall Islands.

Paragraphs 5 to 11:
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Cold War
(1947-1991)

Cold War (1947-1991)

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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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