Choose the word that is spelled correctly and best completes the sentence. I _____ liver and onions.

Store ______ tools on the the shelf.

We left the room in _______.

She will clean her _______ room.

I will_____ the vase I broke.

I had to ______ my homework.

She felt ______ for the stranger.

Try to ______ your computer as soon as possible.

We had an _____ day off.

Rain will ______ our beautiful garden.

The tall tell is _______.

Do you ______ the name of the new student?

______ the kite string and put it away.

They left all of the bills _______ when they moved out f the country.

They need to fix the sidewalk, because it is very ______.

Help your sister______ the groceries from the car.

Living Off the Earth Imagine a life quite different from the one you live. Imagine there are no ready-made houses or clothing. Imagine that you can’t just go out and buy food or medicine, because there are no stores. Instead, you must depend on what nature offers. How would you get along? What would you do? The ways that Native Americans lived can give some answers. Two hundred to three hundred years ago, the people who lived in the area that is now the United States made their homes and clothing from what the earth supplied. They used plants for medicine, and they caught or gathered all their food. Shelters and Clothing Some Native American tribes lived where there was plenty of food. These people stayed in one place and used wood, stones, mud, or clay to build homes that would last a long time. Other tribes, such as the Apache, moved often in search of food. They needed shelters they could take with them, so they built tipis. It was easy to move a tipi. The Native Americans could take down the tipis and put the long poles of wood and buffalo skins onto a travois. This was a sled that a horse pulled. Some Native Americans made clothing and shoes called “moccasins” from animal skins. In the southwestern areas, the Pueblo people made clothing from cotton they grew and wove into yarn. The Navajo people wove wool into blankets and rugs. Along the northwestern coast, the Chinook tribe was one of several tribes that made clothing from the bark of the cedar tree. Native Americans needed tools in order to build shelters, to make clothing, and to grow, hunt, and prepare food. Tool Time Where there were trees, people used wood to create bows, arrows, spears, and digging sticks. A digging stick was a piece of hard wood about three feet long. People stripped the stick of all bark and sharpened one end into a point. They poked holes into the ground for planting seeds. These sticks also lifted out roots and dug up plants that could be eaten. Some people made tools from stone, too. They found rocks along riverbanks, lakeshores, and ocean coasts. From these stones, Native Americans made hammers, farming tools, and the heads of axes and arrows. They used thin, sharp pieces of stone to cut meat. They also scraped animal hides to make leather. Bone was another useful material for making tools. People made sewing needles out of animal bones. They also made awls. An awl had a slim handle and a sharp point. People used awls for punching holes in leather. They could then sew the leather into tipi coverings, clothing, or moccasins. Tying Things Up In order to sew, fish, or tie things together, Native Americans made their own rope, cord, string, and line. Many plants are made of fiber, a material that is like thread. People twisted, rolled, or braided strands of fiber together. More fiber could be twisted to the ends of these strands. The string or rope could be as long as people needed. Some Native Americans also made cords from the sinew of animals. Sinew is the stretchy band of tissue that fastens a muscle to a bone. Plenty of Plants Native Americans ate plants, of course. But they also used many plants as medicine. And when water wasn’t easy to find in the southwestern desert, people in that area knew to cut open a cactus. There would be water inside. A fistful of dry grass could mop up morning dew from rocks and plants. The water would then be squeezed from the grass into a jug or pot. A plant with many uses was the cattail. This plant grows in wet areas. The top of the cattail looks like a brown, fuzzy sausage. The western Paiute tribe was one tribe that twisted the plant’s leaves into rope or wove them into baskets, mats, cradles, and hats. The fluffy part inside the head of the cattail made great diaper material and bandages. Life for most people in the United States is quite a bit different today. With department stores and supermarkets, people don’t have to make many of the things they use. But the Native Americans did, and the earth gave them everything they needed. Why does the author begin by having the readers imagine they are Native Americans?

How were the Navajo and the Paiute tribes similar?

Under the heading, Tool Time, what does the word useful mean?

“They also scraped animal hides to make leather.” In which sentence does the word hide have the same meaning?

What is sinew?

What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

What could another title be for the passage?

What was the author’s purpose for writing the passage?