A free interactive reading comprehension for Year 5 KS2 pupils about the extraordinary abilities of animals. Read the passage, then answer questions, match vocabulary, practise grammar and write creatively.
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Read the passage carefully. You may look back at it at any time.
1Animals have evolved some truly remarkable abilities over millions of years. While humans rely mostly on sight and hearing to understand the world around them, many animals possess senses and skills that seem almost like superpowers. Some can navigate in complete darkness, others can change their appearance in an instant, and a few can even detect invisible electrical signals. These abilities are not magic but the result of long and gradual adaptation, helping each animal to survive, hunt and stay safe in its natural environment.
2One of the most impressive abilities in the animal world is echolocation. Bats use this skill to navigate and hunt in complete darkness. They produce high-pitched sounds that travel outwards, bounce off objects and return as echoes. By listening to these echoes, a bat can build up a precise picture of its surroundings and locate tiny insects in mid-air with extraordinary accuracy. Dolphins and whales use a similar system underwater, sending out clicks that help them communicate and find prey even in murky water where visibility is very poor.
3Camouflage is another superpower found in many animals. The octopus is a master of disguise, able to change the colour, pattern and even texture of its skin within a fraction of a second. This is controlled by special cells called chromatophores, which expand and contract to create different colours and patterns. Chameleons are also famous for changing colour, though scientists now believe this is used more for communication than for hiding. Some stick insects and leaf insects are so perfectly shaped and coloured like the plants around them that they are almost impossible to spot.
4Sharks possess one of the most unusual senses in nature: the ability to detect tiny electrical signals produced by the muscles and heartbeats of other animals. Tiny sensors on a shark's snout, called the ampullae of Lorenzini, can pick up these faint signals even when prey is hidden beneath the sand on the seabed. The dung beetle has its own remarkable skill: it is one of the strongest creatures on Earth relative to its size, capable of pulling over 1,000 times its own body weight. This is equivalent to a human pulling six double-decker buses.
5Perhaps the most astonishing superpower of all belongs to the Arctic tern, a small seabird. Every year, Arctic terns make the longest migration of any animal on Earth, flying from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back again, a round trip of roughly 70,000 kilometres. Scientists believe they navigate using the position of the sun, the Earth's magnetic field and visual landmarks. Despite their small size, these birds complete this incredible journey twice a year, generation after generation, without ever getting lost. The natural world is full of abilities that continue to astonish scientists and ordinary people alike.
Statement A: Scientists believe chameleons change colour mainly to hide from predators.
Statement B: The Arctic tern makes its migration journey twice every year.
Match each word from the passage to its correct meaning. Click a word, then click its definition.