eurekami
The Vault at the Top of the World
5th grade reading
Name
Date
Score/ 6
The Vault at the Top of the World
On a frozen island in the Arctic Ocean, between Norway and the North Pole, a narrow concrete doorway sticks out of the side of a mountain. Behind it, a tunnel leads deep into the rock. This is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, and it holds more than a million packets of seeds from almost every country on Earth.
Why keep seeds in a mountain? Farmers all over the world depend on many different varieties of crops, such as types of rice that survive floods or kinds of wheat that resist disease. If a variety disappears because of war, natural disaster or simple accident, it may be lost for ever. The vault is a back-up copy, like saving a precious file in two places.
The location was chosen with care. The vault is high enough above sea level to stay dry even if ice caps melt. Inside, the seeds are kept at about minus 18 degrees Celsius, cold enough to keep many of them alive for decades or even centuries. The surrounding rock is permanently frozen, so even if the power failed, the seeds would stay cold.
The vault opened in 2008. In 2015, it was used for the first time: scientists who had lost access to their own seed bank during a war in Syria withdrew samples, grew new plants and later sent fresh seeds back to the vault. The back-up had worked.
No one hopes the vault will be needed often. But like a fire extinguisher in a school corridor, it is reassuring to know it is there.
Question 1
Read "The Vault at the Top of the World". What is the main idea of the text?
- A. The seed vault protects copies of crop seeds in case they are lost elsewhere.
- B. Wheat is better than rice.
- C. The vault has a concrete door.
- D. Norway is a cold country.
Question 2
Read "The Vault at the Top of the World". The text calls the vault a "back-up copy". What does back-up mean here?
- A. an extra copy kept safe in case the original is lost
- B. a copy that is worse than the original
- C. a seed that grows backwards
- D. a computer game
Question 3
Read "The Vault at the Top of the World". Which sentence best supports the idea that the seeds would stay safe even in an emergency?
- A. The vault opened in 2008.
- B. A narrow concrete doorway sticks out of the side of a mountain.
- C. Farmers all over the world depend on many different varieties of crops.
- D. The surrounding rock is permanently frozen, so even if the power failed, the seeds would stay cold.
Question 4
Read "The Vault at the Top of the World". When was the vault used for the first time?
- A. in 2008
- B. in 2015
- C. in 1956
- D. it has never been used
Question 5
Read "The Vault at the Top of the World". Why does the writer compare the vault to a fire extinguisher?
- A. Both are kept ready for an emergency, and we hope not to need them often.
- B. Both are used every day.
- C. Both are red and heavy.
- D. Both are found in schools.
Question 6
Read "The Vault at the Top of the World". What is the author's main purpose?
- A. to tell a funny story
- B. to inform readers about the seed vault and why it matters
- C. to persuade readers to become farmers
- D. to give instructions for planting seeds
Free from eurekami.com/english/reading