The 1900 Galveston Hurricane — Reading Comprehension — Answers
Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the 8th Grade reading comprehension comprehension exercise.
Success TutoringWorksheetsAnswer sheet8th Grade · English · Reading ComprehensionThe 1900 Galveston Hurricane — Reading Comprehension — Answers
Part A: Find the facts
Answer: September 8, 1900.
Answer: It was very low: the highest point in the city was less than 9 feet above sea level.
Answer: Any two of: satellites, radar, aircraft that fly into storms.
- Aabout 5 feet
- Babout 9 feet
- Cmore than 15 feet
- Dabout 100 feet
Answer: more than 15 feet
The text says the surge “rose more than 15 feet.”
Answer: True
Paragraph 5 says “The first section, about 17 feet high, was completed in 1904.”
Answer: False
“No one knows exactly how many people died.”
Part B: Analyze the text
Answer: Any two of: the city was very low-lying (highest point under 9 feet) so the 15-foot surge covered the whole island; forecasters had no satellites or radar and could not tell how strong the storm was; many residents did not understand the danger and some even went to watch; wreckage pushed by the water smashed other buildings.
Answer: Because records were lost and many victims were never found, so no one knows the exact number. Giving a range shows the uncertainty instead of pretending to know an exact figure.
Answer: The seawall blocks waves and storm surge from the Gulf before they reach the city. Raising the ground means that if water does get in, the land and buildings sit higher, so flooding is less deep.
Answer: When another powerful hurricane hit in 1915, the city was damaged but far fewer people died than in 1900. The seawall still stands today.
- Aproblem and solution: the disaster, then how the city rebuilt to prevent another
- Bcompare and contrast two different cities
- Ca list of instructions
- Da story told from one survivor's point of view
Answer: problem and solution: the disaster, then how the city rebuilt to prevent another
It moves from the city's weakness and the disaster to the seawall and grade raising.
Answer: To show how much the city had and how much was lost, which makes the destruction more striking; it also shows that even a successful city was vulnerable.
Part C: Words in the text
- Agiving a definition straight after it, set off by commas
- Busing a word with the opposite meaning
- Cincluding a diagram
- Dgiving an example from another city
Answer: giving a definition straight after it, set off by commas
The definition follows the term, between commas (an appositive).
- Aempty and quiet
- Bsuccessful and growing
- Cdangerous
- Dold-fashioned
Answer: successful and growing
The paragraph describes a busy, wealthy, growing city.
- Ascooped up from underwater
- Bbought from a store
- Cwashed by rain
- Dblown by the wind
Answer: scooped up from underwater
The sand came from the bottom of a channel, so it was scooped up from under the water.
Part D: Write about it
Model answer: The most important lesson of the 1900 Galveston hurricane is that communities must prepare before a disaster, not after it. In 1900, Galveston was a wealthy city, but its highest point was less than 9 feet above sea level, and few people worried about this weakness. When a storm surge of more than 15 feet swept across the island, it destroyed thousands of buildings, and between 6,000 and 12,000 people died. Afterward, the city built a seawall and raised more than 2,000 buildings, and when another powerful hurricane hit in 1915, far fewer people died. This shows that planning and investment in protection save lives, which is why coastal communities today improve warnings, build defenses and take evacuation orders seriously.
Success criteria:
- Clear position that answers the question
- At least three accurate pieces of evidence from the text
- Explains how each piece of evidence supports the position
- Logical organization with a concluding sentence
- Formal, precise language
- Correct grammar, spelling and punctuation
Marking tips
- Give credit for correct method even when the final answer slips — the working shows where the thinking went right.
- For open-ended tasks, use the success criteria as a checklist rather than looking for one "right" answer.
- Celebrate what went well first, then pick one thing to work on next.