to jostle with the others.

"
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A Brachiosaurus Rain Storm

By Mary Lynn Bushong
"I'm hot and thirsty, Dad.
Could we get a drink now?"
young Dean asked his
father.
"I know, Son," said the
older dinosaur. "I'm thirsty,
too. If it doesn't rain soon, I
think we will need to move
away from this place. There
is only a little water left in
the great watering hole.
Soon there will be nothing but mud."
The family of brachiosaurs lived in this valley for as long as anyone
could remember. Life used to be very good here for all of the
dinosaurs, but it had been a very long time since rain had come to the
valley. Food was getting hard to find, too. Most of the low-growing
vegetation had been gone for a long time.
Many of the other dinosaurs had left this valley to find food and
water in other places, but word had come back that it was not much
better in the neighboring valleys.
Dean's father stretched his long neck way up into the trees to reach
the few good leaves that remained. Father gave Dean's mother a few
of the leaves and then reached back up into the tree to get Dean a few.
"We will go down to the watering hole now, Dean. I want you to be
very careful when we get there," said Father. "We'll go down to the
water's edge at the rocky end of the watering hole. You stay with your
mother and me. Many of the other dinosaurs who went to the other
end got stuck in the mud. Most never get out of that sticky muck!"
"Yes, Father. I've seen what happens to the ones that get stuck in the
mud, but it's so crowded at the rocky end. I think that with my long
neck, I could reach out past the mud and get a nice drink and not have

"Dean, you must obey me. I know how dangerous it is to get off the
rocks. You can use your long neck to help you get a good drink even
at the rocky end."
The small family joined the crowd of animals searching for the last
drops of water that could be found for miles. As Dean and his family
stretched out their long necks past the others, drops of rain fell from
the sky. At first, the drops soaked into the ground and the hides of all
of the parched animals. Then it started raining harder. No one could
remember when it had rained this hard.
Dean and his family enjoyed the rain, and Dean played in the
puddles. He splashed in the mud and enjoyed the cool rain running
down his neck and back. After a while, the rain was so hard that they
had to find shelter.
It rained for many days, and the watering hole filled up again. Then
the grass and trees started turning a deep dark green, just like they
once had been. Food was plentiful for all of the dinosaurs. The
brachiosaurs would not be leaving this valley any time soon.
A Brachiosaurus Rain Storm

Questions
1. Dean was hot and ______.
A. sweaty
B. tired
C. wet
D. thirsty
2. Dean's father said that if it didn't rain soon, they would need to
do what?
A. move from the valley
B. go to Disney World
C. ask for government assistance
D. dig a well

8. Dean and his family enjoyed the rain, but after awhile, they
needed to find ______.

Name

3. The Brachiosaurs family had just moved to the valley.

A. True
B. False
4. Life used to be very good for the dinosaurs in this valley.
A. True
B. False
5. Dean's father said that they would go down to the watering
hole at the ______ end.

6. What happened to dinosaurs that went to the other end of the

watering hole?
A. They got a nice drink of water.
B. They made friends.
C. They got stuck in the mud.
D. They found food.
7. What happened when Dean and his family stretched out their
necks to get a drink of water?
A. They just got a nice drink.
B. The rain started.
C. They were struck by lightning.
D. The other dinosaurs were upset with them.

What could have happened to Dean if he had gone off on his own at
the watering hole?

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If the rain had not come, what could Dean and his family do to
survive?