Have you ever looked up at the night sky and seen a sudden flash of light? That glowing streak is a meteor, which is a piece of space rock burning up high in the air above Earth. People often call it a shooting star because of how bright and fast it moves. According to NASA, these space rocks travel at tens of thousands of miles per hour when they enter our atmosphere.

Sometimes you can see dozens of these light streaks in just one night, which means you are watching a meteor shower. This happens when Earth passes through the trail of dust and small pieces left behind by comets. NASA explains that most of these tiny pieces are between the size of a grain of sand and a pea. Fortunately, some of these showers return every single year at predictable times.

It might surprise you to learn how much material comes to us from space. Scientists estimate that about 48.5 tons of space material falls toward Earth every day. However, you do not need to worry about being hit. Most space rocks break apart completely in the air before they ever reach the ground. In fact, NASA states that less than 5% of a rock usually gets down to the surface.

If a space rock actually survives its hot journey and lands on the ground, it receives a new name: a meteorite. Over time, people have discovered more than 50,000 meteorites across Earth. Most of these collected rocks are between the size of a pebble and a fist. NASA reports that 99.8% of them originally come from asteroids wandering in space.

Questions 1–3: True / False / Not Given

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
Write TRUE if the statement agrees with the information, FALSE if the statement contradicts the information, or NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.

1. Space rocks travel at extremely high speeds when they first enter Earth's atmosphere.

2. Most of the comet pieces that cause meteor showers are roughly the size of a human fist.

3. Meteor showers happen more often in summer than in winter.

Questions 4–5: Matching Paragraph Information

Which paragraph contains the following information? Choose the correct letter, A–D.

4. Information about the very small proportion of space rocks that successfully arrives on Earth's surface.

5. Details regarding the primary origin of most meteorites found on Earth.

Questions 6–7: Multiple Choice

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D.

6. According to Paragraph B, what can people on Earth observe when the planet moves through a comet's old path?

7. What can be inferred from Paragraph C about the material falling toward Earth daily?

Question 8: Sentence Completion

Complete the sentence below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for the answer.

✅ Lesson Completed!

You've practiced distinguishing facts from distractor details and scanning paragraph structures for evidence.