The Extermination of the American Bison
by William Temple Hornaday
William Temple Hornaday was a zoologist and conservationist perhaps best known as being the first director of the Bronx Zoo. This passage is from a book he wrote on the American bison, or buffalo, which was published by the Smithsonian Institutiton in 1886 as part of its annual report. Student’s will read the passage and answer questions on the main idea, the vocabulary, and Hornaday’s arguments.
Reading Comprehension Passage
The Extermination of the American Bison
by William Temple Hornaday
Reading Comprehension Questions
Vocabulary List
Vocabulary List
Each of the vocabulary words below are used in the reading passage. As you read the passage, pay attention to context clues that suggest the word’s meaning.
- ignoble
- destitute
- jeopardy
- unparalleled
- phenomena
- manifested
Context Clues
Context Clues
Using context clues from the sentences in the passage, underline the correct meaning of the word in boldface.
1. “Of all the methods that were unsportsmanlike, unfair, ignoble, and utterly reprehensible”
a. dishonorable; shameful b. secret; hidden c. common; frequent d. usually ignored
2. “Destitute of nearly every element of the buoyant excitement”
a. consisting; full b. confident or sure of c. wanting or desiring d. lacking; deprived
3. “not infrequently place his life in considerable jeopardy”
a. upheaval or uproar b. reversal; switch c. trouble or danger d. discussion; spotlight
4. “The buffalo owes his extermination very largely to his own unparalleled stupidity”
a. natural or normal b. straightforward; direct c. occasional d. unmatched; considerable
5. “even in the presence of strange phenomena which he could not understand”
a. sounds or visions b. events or happenings c. new technology d. strange people
6. “Had they shown the same wariness seventeen years ago that the survivors have manifested during the last three or four years”
a. shown or displayed b. rejected or refused c. completed; finished d. wanted; desired