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Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources
Reading Comprehension Worksheets
The 1960's
The Cuban Missile Crisis

The 1960's
The 1960's


The Cuban Missile Crisis
Print The Cuban Missile Crisis Reading Comprehension


Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 7 to 9
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   8.27

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    fiasco, oust, reconnaissance, dictator, brink, happening, lethal, alliance, ally, bombings, advisors, warfare, atomic, blockade, tense, mid-summer
     content words:    United States, Fidel Castro, American-backed Cuban, Soviet Union, John F., Premier Nikita Khrushchev, President Kennedy, On October, Cold War


The Cuban Missile Crisis
By Jane Runyon
  

1     The face of war was changed forever by the United States in 1945. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic weapons opened a new chapter in warfare. No one had ever before used such powerful weapons in battle. Most people in the world hold onto the hope that nuclear weapons will never be used in the future. That hope came very close to being dashed in 1962. The world was on the brink of a war. Life as we know it might have been changed forever.
 
2     Fidel Castro became dictator of Cuba in 1959. He knew that the United States was trying to oust him from office from the time he began. He led a Communist government that the United States didn't particularly want just 90 miles from the country's mainland. The Bay of Pigs had been a fiasco. The weak attempt by American-backed Cuban refugees had been an embarrassing defeat. Castro knew this would not be the last attempt that the United States would make. He was intent on finding a strong country to ally himself with for protection.
 
3     The Soviet Union was in need of someone to form an alliance with also. They were falling behind in the arms race with the United States. They were not able to create as many nuclear weapons as the United States was. Even more disturbing to the Soviets was the concern that the United States had set up nuclear missiles in Turkey. These missiles would have been only 150 miles from the Soviet border. A greater concern was the capability of these missiles. The Soviets' missiles could only reach targets within Europe. The United States' missiles were capable of reaching across oceans to anywhere in the world.

Paragraphs 4 to 7:
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The 1960's
             The 1960's


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United States
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    American Government  
 
    Black History and Blacks in U.S. History  
 
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    Government Careers  
 
    Hispanic Heritage  
 
    How Can I Help?  
 
 
    Immigration  
 
    National Parks and Monuments  
 
    Native Americans  
 
    Presidents of the United States  
 
    Women's History  
 


United States History
    A Nation Divided
(1840-1861)
 
 
    A New Nation
(1776-1830)
 
 
    After the Civil War
(1865-1870)
 
 
    American Revolution  
 
    Cold War
(1947-1991)
 
 
    Colonial America (1492-1776)  
 
    Lewis and Clark
(1804-1806)
 
 
    Pearl Harbor  
 
    Spanish American War (1898)  
 
    The 1890's  
 
    The 1900's  
 
    The 1910's  
 
    The 1920's  
 
    The 1930's  
 
 
    The 1940's  
 
    The 1950's  
 
    The 1960's  
 
    The 1970's  
 
    The 1980's  
 
    The 1990's  
 
    The 2000's  
 
    The Civil War
(1861-1865)
 
 
    The Great Depression
(1929-1945)
 
 
    The United States Grows
(1865-1900)
 
 
    The War of 1812  
 
    Wild, Wild West  
 
    World War I
(1914-1918)
 
 
    World War II  
 


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