Nature · Level 1 · 160 words

Why Leaves Change Color

Original passage © Studio AM, written for Fluency.

In summer, most leaves are green. The green comes from a substance called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll helps the tree make food from sunlight. The tree makes so much of it that green covers every other color. Leaves also hold yellow and orange colors all summer long. We cannot see them. The strong green hides them.

In autumn, the days get shorter and the air gets cold. The tree gets less sunlight, so making food becomes hard. The tree stops making chlorophyll. The old green fades away. Now the yellow and orange show. They were always there.

Some trees, like maples, also make a new red color in autumn. Bright days and cool nights help this red grow strong. Then the tree seals the small tube that joins each leaf to the branch. Water and food stop moving. The leaf dries, and the wind takes it down. The tree rests through the winter. In spring, new leaves open, and the green returns.

Comprehension questions

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4 questions
1. What is the main point of the passage?

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B. Autumn colors appear mostly because the green that hid them fades away.
The text says the yellow and orange are in the leaf all summer but are hidden by the strong green. When the tree stops making chlorophyll, the green fades and those colors show. Red is the one new color, and only in some trees.

2. According to the passage, what does chlorophyll do for the tree?

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D. It helps the tree make food from sunlight.
The third sentence states it directly: chlorophyll helps the tree make food from sunlight. Sealing the tube is a separate step the tree takes later.

3. The passage suggests that a leaf falls mainly because

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A. the tree itself cuts off the leaf's water and food
The tree seals the tube, so water and food stop moving and the leaf dries. The wind only takes down a leaf the tree has already closed off. Weight and insects are never mentioned.

4. In this passage, "fades" means

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C. slowly becomes weaker until it is gone
"The old green fades away" comes right after the tree stops making chlorophyll, and right before the hidden colors show. So the green is slowly weakening and disappearing.

Source: Written for Fluency. Original passage © Studio AM, written for Fluency.