Reading Comprehension — Clouds and Rain

Read two short passages about clouds, fog and rain and answer ten questions.

What Is a Cloud?

"Do you remember the fog on cold winter mornings?" asked Uncle Paul. "It was like grey smoke. You could hardly see a few steps in front of you."

"We played hide-and-seek in it," said Jules. "We couldn't see each other at all!"

"Well, a cloud and a fog are the same thing," said Uncle Paul. "Fog is a cloud that sits on the ground. A cloud is fog that floats high above us."

"Can people go up as high as the clouds?" asked Emile.

"Yes. Climb a tall mountain and you can look down on the clouds below you. From far away they look like soft white cotton. But if they drift up around you, the beauty disappears. You are standing in cold, damp, grey fog, and you can easily lose your way."

Strange Rain

Water from the ground, lakes and sea rises into the air as an invisible vapour. High up, where the air is cold, the vapour turns into clouds. Tiny drops in a cloud join together until they are heavy enough to fall as rain.

Sometimes people have seen yellow rain, and they were very frightened. They thought it was raining poison!

"Is that true?" asked Jules.

"It is," said Uncle Paul. "But it was only ordinary rain mixed with pollen. In spring, when huge pine forests are flowering, the wind carries clouds of yellow pollen far away. When it rains, the pollen comes down with it."

"Like the yellow dust on my nose when I smell a lily!" said Jules.

"Exactly. Knowing how things work can stop us being afraid."

Adapted from The Story-book of Science by Jean-Henri Fabre (1917).