51405 reading comprehension elephant alert

A Leap f

Elephant Alert!

What makes elephants so fascinating, why they are
in danger and how you can help!
For centuries, elephants have captured our admiration
and imaginations, and it's easy to see why. The planet's
largest _______ _____________ can stand up to 10 feet tall
and weigh up to __________ pounds. But they're not just
about brawn.
With their complex brains, elephants are ______________
clever and sensitive: caring for their families and capable
of ____________________ faraway places and old pals. In
fact, when elephants spot friends, they often show
affection by _______________ their trunks together or
resting them on each other's foreheads.
Trunks come in handy for more than just greeting. (An
elephant trunk has tens of thousands of ____________; the
entire human body has fewer than 650). For instance,
elephant babies suck their trunks for comfort, just as
human babies suck their thumbs. Trunks are also handy
for reaching ____________ hanging food.
And chewing is no problem for these herbivores!
Elephants have back teeth the size of small __________
and, of course, elongated incisor teeth called tusks. They
use tusks to ________ things, pull bark off trees, clear
paths, dig for roots and water, fight enemies and impress
other elephants. Unfortunately, it's those amazing
___________ that put elephants' lives at risk. The desire for
tusk ivory is the reason so many elephants have been

slaughtered.
White Gold

Choose from sentences/ words A
– R to fill the gaps. There are
more sentences than you will
need.
A. ….13,200
B. …. tusks
C. …. land animals
D. ….tails
E. ….China
F. …. giant
G. …. remembering
H. …. trumpeting
I. …. incredibly
J. …. muscles
K. … symbol
L. …. wrapping

From the days of ancient Egypt and Rome, elephant tusk
ivory has been a valuable commodity. More recently, it's
been used to make billiard balls, _________ _________, and
decorative ornaments. In order to get the ivory, elephants
are killed and their tusks are sawed off. In 1979, there
were an estimated 1.3 million elephants in Africa. By 2007
that number had dropped to between 472,000 and
690,000.
Today, in many parts of the world, ivory or "white gold"
remains a ___________ of wealth and status, especially in

Asia. With the spending power of a growing middle class
in countries such as ____________, the demand for illegal
ivory is increasing.
Elephants communicate by grunting, whistling, snorting,
bellowing, rumbling, ________________ and stomping. Some

M. …. fart
N. …. carry
O. ….immediately
P. …. bricks
Q. …. orange
R. …. piano keys
S. …. nervous
T. … high


A Leap f

Elephant Alert!

Key: C – A – I – G – L – J – T
–P–N–B–R–K–E–HNot used: D – F – M – O –
Q–S