Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: Reading with Fluency and Comprehension (TEKS.ELA.8.3) Practice Test

As the canoe slid under the cypress canopy of the Guadalupe, the river changed from chatter to whisper. Sunlight mottled the water, and minnows flashed like coins. I dipped my paddle, then paused, because the bend ahead looked like the one where Dad taught me to read the current. He had said, Keep your eyes where the water darkens; that's the line that carries you. The thought tugged me backward to a different morning—fog lifting, his laugh bouncing off the banks—until a heron snapped me back to now. The bird rose, slow as a page turning, and I felt the river carrying both moments at once. I wanted to hurry to the bend, to see if the eddy still curled there, but I forced my strokes to match the water's pace. The cypress knees reached up like knuckles, warning me not to drift into the shallows. When the current finally drew me around, the eddy tightened and loosened, exactly as I remembered, and my paddle found the dark seam without a splash. Somewhere upstream, a train hummed, a low line beneath the river's quiet song.

City streets soak up heat long after the sun slips behind buildings. This effect, called the urban heat island, occurs because surfaces like asphalt and concrete absorb and hold solar energy more than vegetation does. During the day, these materials store heat; at night, they slowly release it, raising local temperatures. The difference is not trivial: on warm evenings, a neighborhood with few trees can feel several degrees hotter than a park just a mile away. Researchers track this by comparing satellite readings, on-the-ground sensors, and weather station data. They also examine how wind patterns, humidity, and building height interact to trap or disperse heat. Proposed solutions vary. Planting shade trees lowers surface temperatures and provides evaporative cooling, but trees need maintenance and water. Reflective roofs bounce sunlight, yet their effectiveness changes with dust and age. Permeable pavements reduce runoff while cooling the ground, though they cost more upfront. Because each strategy has trade-offs, city planners rarely rely on a single fix. Instead, they layer approaches, mapping the hottest zones and targeting investments where they will help both temperature and health the most.