Name

Date

The Importance of Minerals

The human body needs minerals to survive. Without
minerals, the body could not function properly. The minerals
that make up rocks are the same minerals that someone
might eat in a bowl of cereal! The body needs about 80
different types of minerals to function properly. Iron
enriches the blood, salt maintains fluid balance, calcium
fortifies the bones, and fluorine strengthens the teeth. Most
vital minerals can be absorbed into the body from eating
plants and lean meats. However, many food manufacturers
add minerals to their products to make them more desirable
to consumers. Eating a balanced diet can ensure that the
proper amount of these essential minerals is ingested.

1) According to the passage, salt is a mineral that

A. enriches the blood and provides energy

B. strengthens bones, teeth, and joints
C. absorbs other minerals from the body
D. maintains fluid balance in the body

2) According to the passage, which of the following minerals strengthens teeth?

A. calcium
B. iron
C. fluorine
D. salt
3) Near the end of the passage, the author writes, “However, many food manufacturers add
minerals to their products to make them more desirable to consumers.” From this, we can
conclude that

A. people are more likely to buy products that advertise a lot of minerals
B. natural foods do not contain enough minerals to support bodily function
C. food manufacturers need to add minerals to make their products better
D. manufacturers are bound by law to advertise what is inside of their products

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4) As used in the last sentence of the passage, it can be understood that the word essential
belongs to which of the following word groups?
A. natural, pure, organic
B. extra, supplementary, bonus
C. necessary, crucial, vital
D. expensive, high-priced, costly

5) Each of the following people make changes to their diet. Which of the following changes in
diet would the author of this passage most likely support?

A. Arthur, who decided to only eat fruits and vegetables, because he enjoys their fresh flavors.
B. Quinn, who goes from eating the same thing for breakfast every day to eating a variety
of foods.
C. Chris, who just started a new night job and sleeps most of the day which causes him to
skip lunch and breakfast.
D. Arturo, who used to eat beef, chicken, or fish with every meal but now does not eat any
meat at all.

6) The passage tells us that "many food manufacturers add minerals to their products to make
them more desirable to consumers." Do you think that this is a good idea? What are the pros
and cons?

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 Answers and Explanations

1) D
Core Standard: Key Ideas and Details

In this passage, the author writes, “Iron enriches the blood, salt maintains fluid balance, calcium
fortifies the bones, and fluorine strengthens the teeth.” This lets us know that salt is a mineral that
maintains fluid balance in the body. Therefore (D) is correct.

The passage does not provide information to support choices (A), (B), or (C). Therefore they are
incorrect.

2) C
Core Standard: Key Ideas and Details

In this passage, the author writes, “Iron enriches the blood, salt maintains fluid balance,
calcium fortifies the bones, and fluorine strengthens the teeth.” This lets us know that fluorine
is a mineral that strengthens teeth. This means (C) is correct.

The passage does not provide information to support choices (A), (B), or (D). Therefore they
are incorrect.

3) A
Core Standard: Integration of Knowledge

We know that food manufacturers need people to buy their products to stay in business. At the
end of the passage, the author writes, “However, many food manufacturers add minerals to their
products to make them more desirable to consumers.” If adding minerals makes a product more
desirable to consumers, we can conclude that people are more likely to buy products that
advertise a lot of minerals. This is because we know that food manufacturers need people to buy
their products to stay in business. This lets us know that (A) is correct.

The passage does not provide information to support choices (B), (C), or (D). Therefore they
are incorrect.

4) C
Core Standard: Craft and Structure

essential (adjective): absolutely necessary; extremely important.

At the end of the passage, the author writes, “Eating a balanced diet can ensure that the proper
amount of these essential minerals is ingested.” We can use context clues—hints from known
words or phrases around the unknown word or phrase—to help us figure out what essential most
nearly means. Earlier, the author mentions that minerals are “vital,” and that the “body needs
minerals to survive.” If these minerals are also referred to as essential, we can tell that essential
must mean something like necessary or important. Necessary, crucial, and vital all mean
necessary or important. This lets us know that essential belongs to the word group containing
necessary, crucial, and vital.

Therefore (C) is correct.

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Using the above information, we can tell that essential must mean something like necessary or
important. Natural, pure, and organic all relate to how something is made, not how necessary or
important something is. This lets us know that essential does not belong to the word group
containing natural, pure, and organic. Therefore (A) is incorrect.

Using the above information, we can tell that essential must mean something like necessary or
important. Extra, supplementary, and bonus all relate to something added or extra, not how
necessary or important something is. This lets us know that essential does not belong to the word
group containing extra, supplementary, and bonus. Therefore (B) is incorrect.

Using the above information, we can tell that essential must mean something like necessary or
important. Expensive, high-priced, and costly all relate to how much money it takes to purchase
something. Since this is not the same thing as necessary or important, we can tell that essential
does not belong to the word group containing these words. This means (D) is incorrect.

5) B
Core Standard: Integration of Knowledge

At the end of the paragraph, the author writes, “Eating a balanced diet can ensure that the proper
amount of these essential minerals is ingested.” We know that a balanced diet is a diet that
includes foods from multiple food groups, eaten in healthy amounts. If Quinn had been eating the
same food for breakfast every day, we can tell that her diet would not be balanced, since she
would only be getting the nutrients from that type of food for breakfast daily. We can tell that the
author would most likely approve of Quinn going from eating the same thing for breakfast every
day to eating a variety of foods, because this would make her diet more balanced. Because the
author believes a balanced diet is important, we can tell that Quinn’s change in diet would be
supported by the author. Therefore
(B) is correct.

At the end of the paragraph, the author writes, “Eating a balanced diet can ensure that the proper
amount of these essential minerals is ingested.” We know that a balanced diet is a diet that
includes foods from multiple food groups, eaten in healthy amounts. If Arthur decides to only eat
fruits and vegetables, because he enjoys their fresh flavors, we can tell that Arthur is not eating
from multiple food groups. This lets us know that the author would not most likely feel that Arthur
is eating a balanced diet. Using this information, we could not say that the author would most
likely support the changes Arthur makes to his diet. This means (A) is incorrect.

At the end of the paragraph, the author writes, “Eating a balanced diet can ensure that the proper
amount of these essential minerals is ingested.” We know that a balanced diet is a diet that
includes foods from multiple food groups, eaten in healthy amounts. If Chris just started a new
night job and sleeps most of the day, causing him to skip lunch and breakfast, we can tell that the
author would probably think that he is not getting essential nutrients for his body. Using this
information, we could not say that the author would most likely support the changes Chris makes
to his diet, so (C) is incorrect.
At the end of the paragraph, the author writes, “Eating a balanced diet can ensure that the proper
amount of these essential minerals is ingested.” We know that a balanced diet is a diet that
includes foods from multiple food groups, eaten in healthy amounts. If Arturo, who used to eat
beef, chicken, or fish with every meal now does not eat any meat at all, we can tell that the author
would most likely feel that he is missing some important nutrients provided by eating meat—part of
a balanced diet.
This lets us know that the author would not most likely support the changes Arturo makes to his
diet. Therefore (D) is incorrect.

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