As long as we're talking about money,
suppose you had a new $100 bill in one hand, and an old $100
bill in the other. Could you tell which was the new one? Read
"Big Ben vs. Counterfeiters" linked on the
right.
Practice skimming the article for major ideas. Before
you read the article sentence by sentence in order,
first read the title,
then read the first sentence of each paragraph to
get an idea of the major ideas and what the article is about,
note the highlighted phrases at the beginning of
several paragraphs,
spend a minute looking at the graphic and notice
the arrows pointing to certain sections of the dollar
bill.
Now read the question to help focus your reading.
HINT for organizing your thoughts: make two columns
on a piece of notebook paper. Label one column OLD BILL,
and the second column, NEW BILL. Jot down characteristics
of each as you read about them in the article.
Question:
Which of these ideas
does this selection suggest about the old $100 bill?
REMEMBER: Be sure you can find information in the text
to support the answer you choose. If an answer is wrong, you
should be able to find text to make the statement false.
Yes
No
Maybe
Answers
A.
It was easier to counterfeit than the new $100 bill.
B.
It wore out faster than a $1 bill.
C.
It had someone other than Benjamin Franklin on it.
D.
It contained hidden messages.
Is your answer A, B, C or D? Check for the correct answer.
Now if you had a new $100 bill in one hand, and
an old $100 bill in the other, could you tell which was the
new one? With so many of the features visible only with a magnifying
glass, or under ultraviolet light, the easiest way would be
to check the portrait of Franklin and see which was bigger.
The color-shifting ink on the "100" in the corner
would be another way to determine the new bill.
