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The Rodeo

The Rodeo
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.27

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    rider, all-girl, arena, artery, bronc, bucks, calf-roping, family-oriented, icons, takin, competitive, determination, robbery, stagecoach, competitor, instrumental
     content words:    Civil War, Buffalo Bill Cody, Wild West Show, Independence Day, North Platte, Lane Frost, Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, Nancy Binford, Thena Mae Farr, New Mexico

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The Rodeo
By Tammy Scarbrough 		  
1     The rider nods his head to signal that he's ready. The gate is opened. A large bucking bull and its rider shoot out of the gate. The bull bucks and spins, giving everything it has to get the rider off its back. The rider does everything he can to stay on the bull. It's a battle of strength and determination. The rider knows he has to stay on for at least eight seconds or he will not score any points.
 
2     We can't talk about Wyoming without including the rodeo. We have not always had the excitement of the sport. Some say that the rodeo, which is a Spanish word meaning "to surround," started around the time of the Civil War in 1864. It is said that it started when two groups of cowboys from different ranches had a competition to see who was better and faster at everyday ranching chores.
 
3     In 1882, Buffalo Bill Cody brought attention to the sport by including it in his Wild West Show at the Independence Day celebration in North Platte, Nebraska. He would hire local cowboys and Indians to act out events such as a stagecoach robbery to show what life was like in the "real west." He would also include riding and roping contests which the citizens enjoyed very much.

Paragraphs 4 to 7:
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