Rice
People
all over the world eat rice. Millions of people in Asia, Africa,
and South America eat it every day of their lives. Some people eat almost
nothing but rice.
Rice is a kind of grass. There are more
than seven thousand (7,000) kinds of rice. Most kinds are water plants. Farmers
grow rice in many countries, even in the southern part of the United
States and in eastern Australia.
No one really knows where rice came from. Some
scientists think it started to grow in two places. They think that one kind of
rice grew in southern Asia thousands of years ago. Someone in China wrote about
it almost five thousand (5,000) years ago.
Another kind probably
grew in West Africa. Other scientists think rice came from India,
and Indian travelers took it to other parts of the world.
There are two main ways to grow rice. Upland rice grows in dry soil.
Most rice grows in wet soil. People in many countries do all of the work by
hand. This is the same way farmers worked hundreds of years ago. In some
countries now use machines on their rice farmers. The farmers all use
fertilizer. Some insects are enemies of rice. Farmers poison
them.
People use every part of the rice plant. They make animal feed and rice
oil from it. They also make baskets, brooms, rugs, sandals,
and roofs for their houses. They burn dry rice plants for
cooking.
Photo credit: Rice
A Vocabulary
brooms grass probably West
rice rugs eastern soil
sandals even roofs insects
1. They also make baskets, ____________________, ___________________, _____________, and _____________________ for their houses.
2. Rice is a kind of __________________.
3. People all over the world eat _____________________.
4. Farmers grow rice in many countries, _____________________in the southern part of the United States and in ____________________ Australia.
5. Some _______________________ are enemies of rice.
6. Another kind ________________________ grew in __________________ Africa.
7. Upload rice grows in dry ________________________.
B Vocabulary (new context)
even probably rice eastern
rug sandals grass insects
roof soil West broom
1. In the summer people like to wear _____________ instead of shoes.
2. Chicken, _____________________, and salad make a good dinner.
3. Frank is two years old. He wants to play basketball, but he can’t __________________ pick up the ball.
4. We can have our picnic on the ___________________ under that rice.
5. Paul cleaned the garage floor with a ______________________.
6. The rain comes through the ___________________ of the old house.
7. Korea is in the ____________________________ part of Asia.
8. Some ___________________live together in a group.
9. Lebanon is in _____________________ Asia.
10. There are a lot of black clouds in the sky. It will _________________ rain.
11. Plants must have sun, water, and good _______________________.
12. Mr. and Mrs. Cook have a beautiful new ______________________for the living room floor.
C Vocabulary Review
Match the words that mean the opposite.
Column A
1. already ________________
2. large _________________
3. toward ________________
4. enemy ________________
5. difficult _______________
6. hate __________________
7. cheap ________________
8. collect ________________
9. heat __________________
10. southern _______________
Column B
a. easy
b. cold
c. not yet
d. northern
e. small
f. friend
g. each other
h. away from
i. pass out
j. wood
k. expensive
l. love
D Questions
1. *Why do some people eat almost nothing but rice?
2. *In what countries is rice an important food?
3. What kind of plant is rice?
4. How many kinds of rice are there?
5. Scientists have two ideas about where rice came from. What are they?
6. *What does “upland” mean?
7. *Why do rice farmers use fertilizer?
8. *Why do most farmers grow rice by hand?
9. How do farmers kill insects?
10. People eat rice. Tell other ways people use the rice plant.
E Comprehension: True/False/No Information
_______ 1. Rice is a kind of grass.
_______ 2. Rice grows on dry land and in wet soil.
_______ 3. Scientists know that rice came from India.
_______ 4. Rice grows in the United States.
_______ 5. There are more than 7,000 kinds of rice.
_______ 6. Maybe Chinese travelers took rice to India.
_______ 7. More people grow rice with machines than by hand.
_______ 8. Farmers use fertilizer to kill insects.
_______ 9. Chinese farms need more fertilizer than Indian farms.
_______ 10. People use every part of the rice plant.
F Main Idea
1. Rice is a very important crop, but nobody knows where it came from.
2. People grow rice in many countries.
3. Today rice farmers use machines, fertilizer, and poisons.
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