Reading Standards for Informational Text: Comparing Points of View (CCSS.RI.6.4) Practice Test

In many cities, summer afternoons feel hotter than the weather report suggests. Dark roofs and asphalt soak up sunlight during the day and release it slowly after sunset. This urban heat island forms because hard surfaces store heat while trees and soil do not. On a block lined with parking lots, metal railings shimmer in the glare and the air wavers above the pavement. Just a few streets away, however, a small park can feel different. Under its trees, temperatures drop several degrees, and breezes gather in the shade. A fountain sprays cool mist that drifts over benches. For nearby residents, the park works like an oasis. It offers relief, a place to rest out of the heat, and a buffer from the hard, sun-soaked surroundings. City planners study where to plant more trees and add light-colored roofs so these pockets of coolness link together. When they do, the city can breathe a little easier at the end of a long, hot day.

Along coasts and river edges, wetlands may look like messy puddles, but they do quiet work. During heavy storms, grasses and marsh soils soak up extra water the way a sponge soaks up a spill. That storage slows the rush toward towns downstream. When winds push waves inland, reeds bend and baffle the water, taking some of the punch out of each surge. Scientists often say wetlands act as a buffer between wild weather and human neighborhoods. A good buffer doesn't stop every drop, but it softens blows: it spreads water out, blunts force, and buys time for drains and levees to catch up. Even in dry months, wetlands filter runoff, holding back sediment that might otherwise cloud drinking supplies. Because this natural cushion is wide and living, it can shift and heal after a storm in ways concrete walls cannot. When communities remove wetlands to build parking lots, they lose that flexible shield. The next big storm hits harder because there is nothing to absorb and slow the water before it reaches streets and basements.