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Year 5 NAPLAN-style reading practice

Read the information text, then answer the 5 questions. They're in the style of the Year 5 NAPLAN reading test.

Name ____________________Date ______________

The Puzzling Platypus

The platypus is one of Australia's most unusual animals. It has a bill like a duck, a tail like a beaver and webbed feet. Even stranger, it is a mammal that lays eggs. Only a few mammals in the world do this.

Platypuses live in rivers and streams in eastern Australia. They hunt underwater with their eyes, ears and nostrils closed. Instead, their soft, rubbery bill senses tiny electric signals made by the muscles of their prey, such as worms, shrimp and insect larvae.

Male platypuses have a sharp spur on each back ankle that can deliver venom. The venom is not deadly to people, but it can be extremely painful.

  1. 1.Which word best describes the platypus, according to the text?
    CommonUnusualDangerousTiny
    Show answer
    Answer: Unusual
    The first sentence calls it "one of Australia's most unusual animals".
  2. 2.How does a platypus find food underwater?
    By looking for itBy smelling itIts bill senses tiny electric signalsBy listening for it
    Show answer
    Answer: Its bill senses tiny electric signals
    Its eyes, ears and nostrils are closed underwater, so it uses its bill to sense electric signals from its prey.
  3. 3.What makes the platypus different from most mammals?
    It has furIt lays eggsIt can swimIt eats insects
    Show answer
    Answer: It lays eggs
    The text says it is a mammal that lays eggs, and only a few mammals do this.
  4. 4.In "a spur that can deliver venom", what does deliver mean?
    Post a letterGive or pass onHideMake
    Show answer
    Answer: Give or pass on
    Here deliver means the spur passes venom into whatever it stabs.
  5. 5.What is the main purpose of this text?
    To entertain with a storyTo inform about the platypusTo persuade people to keep a platypusTo give instructions
    Show answer
    Answer: To inform about the platypus
    It gives facts about how the platypus looks, lives and hunts, so it's an information text.

Answers: Year 5 NAPLAN-style reading practice

  1. Unusual. The first sentence calls it "one of Australia's most unusual animals".
  2. Its bill senses tiny electric signals. Its eyes, ears and nostrils are closed underwater, so it uses its bill to sense electric signals from its prey.
  3. It lays eggs. The text says it is a mammal that lays eggs, and only a few mammals do this.
  4. Give or pass on. Here deliver means the spur passes venom into whatever it stabs.
  5. To inform about the platypus. It gives facts about how the platypus looks, lives and hunts, so it's an information text.

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StudyHop is not affiliated with or endorsed by ACARA, NESA, the NSW Department of Education or any curriculum or exam authority. Names such as NAPLAN, Selective, OC, HSC and VCE describe the style of practice only. All questions here are original StudyHop questions, not official papers.