Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources Reading Comprehension Worksheets Cold War (1947-1991)

Civil Defense Cold War (1947-1991)

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Civil Defense
Print Civil Defense Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print Civil Defense Reading Comprehension


Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	8.37

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		sheeting, radiation, nuclear, screening, agency, teaching, provided, warning, unsafe, operation, symbol, government, public, natural, entrances, official
	content words:		Cold War, United States, Soviet Union, President Truman, Federal Civil Defense Administration, World Trade, Homeland Security

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Civil Defense By Sharon Fabian

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¹     The symbol was posted at entrances to public buildings all around the country. A black circle with three yellow triangles inside. On the yellow background, below the black circle were arrows to show the people where to go.
 
²     In the 1950s, these signs were posted on public buildings everywhere to show the way to emergency shelters. In case of a nuclear attack, people were to follow the signs.
 
³     Americans feared a nuclear attack in the 1950s because of the Cold War. In the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union were building up supplies of deadly nuclear weapons. It was a dangerous time.
 
⁴     During this time, communities made plans for what to do in case of an attack. These plans were called civil defense. Citizens felt a little safer when they knew what to do if an attack came. If the Soviets ever attacked, Americans were to run into one of the public shelters identified with the yellow and black signs or run down to a basement shelter in their home.
 
⁵     The public shelters were stocked with supplies that people would need while they were in the shelter. There were containers of food, bottles of water, toilets, and medical supplies. Shelters were stocked with supplies that would last for at least two weeks, since radiation would make it unsafe to leave the shelter even after an attack ended.

Paragraphs 6 to 11:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

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Cold War
(1947-1991)

Cold War (1947-1991)

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United States

United States

American Government         Black History and Blacks in U.S. History         Children in History         Government Careers         Hispanic Heritage         How Can I Help?

Immigration         National Parks and Monuments         Native Americans         Presidents of the United States         Women's History

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United States History

A Nation Divided (1840-1861)         A New Nation (1776-1830)         After the Civil War (1865-1870)         American Revolution         Cold War (1947-1991)         Colonial America (1492-1776)         Lewis and Clark (1804-1806)         Pearl Harbor         Spanish American War (1898)         The 1890's         The 1900's         The 1910's         The 1920's         The 1930's

The 1940's         The 1950's         The 1960's         The 1970's         The 1980's         The 1990's         The 2000's         The Civil War (1861-1865)         The Great Depression (1929-1945)         The United States Grows (1865-1900)         The War of 1812         Wild, Wild West         World War I (1914-1918)         World War II

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50 States

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