Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

The Silk Road

7th grade nonfiction passage about world history and trade: 253 words, seven questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

7th grade nonfiction world history and trade 253 words

The Silk Road

More than two thousand years ago, trading routes began to link China with the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. We call them the Silk Road, though it was not one road. It was a web of trails, mountain passes, and sea lanes that crossed deserts and mountains. Few people traveled the whole distance. Instead, goods passed from one trader to the next, like a long relay race.

Silk was the most famous good. Chinese farmers raised silkworms and wove the fine thread into cloth, and for a long time no one else knew how to make it. Rich people in distant lands paid high prices for silk. Traders also carried spices, glass, metal goods, and horses, and they brought back items such as gold, silver, and cotton.

Travel was hard and dangerous. Caravans of camels crossed hot, dry deserts and cold mountain passes. Merchants stopped at oasis towns, where they could find water, food, and a safe place to sleep. Some of these towns grew rich by selling supplies and charging fees to travelers.

The routes carried more than goods. Ideas and beliefs traveled, too. Religions such as Buddhism spread along the routes, and so did inventions such as papermaking. Travelers shared stories, music, and foods, and they also spread diseases. Because trade brought people from distant places together, communities learned from one another.

The land routes faded over time, in part because sea routes became easier and cheaper. But the story of the Silk Road shows how trade can connect the world.

Questions

  1. Why is the Silk Road not really one road? in the text

  2. How did goods travel from China to the Mediterranean? in the text

  3. Why was silk so valuable? in the text

  4. What dangers did travelers face? in the text

  5. Why did some oasis towns grow rich? think about it

  6. Besides goods, what traveled along the Silk Road? in the text

  7. What does the last sentence mean? think about it

Words to know

routes
the paths or roads that travelers follow
relay
a race or job in which one person hands off to the next
caravans
groups of travelers and animals who journey together
oasis
a place in a desert where there is water and plants grow
merchants
people who buy and sell goods for a living

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put routes, relay, caravans, oasis and merchants on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 3 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "The Silk Road"?

It was written for 7th grade. It has 253 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.7. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are seven. 5 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 3 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. No sign-in, no ads.