Animal Athletes

Many people are good athletes, but how do we compare to animals?

Who's the fastest runner?

A cheetah. It can run up to 70 miles per hour—faster than a car speeding on a highway. The fastest human runners aren't even half that fast, reaching only about 25 miles per hour, slower than a car cruising down a city side street.

Who can jump the farthest?

People can jump pretty far. The record is almost 30 feet. That's farther than the length of five men. Only a few animals can beat that. Kangaroos can cover 40 feet in one leap, but the best jumpers for their size are fleas. They can jump more than 150 times their own length.

Just the Facts

Indicate the answer that best completes each statement or answers each question by writing A, B, or C in the blank.

1. Approximately how many children work in India? (A) 12,000, (B) 120,000, (C) 12.6 million

2. India (A) has the world's fastest-growing economy, (B) ranks last on the United Nations Human Development Index, (C) has the world's highest concentration of poor people.

3. What 1938 US. law banned children under 16 from working in hazardous jobs? (A) Family and Medical Leave Act, (B) Fair Labor Standards Act. (C) Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act

4. Title IX protects public school students and employees from (A) gender discrimination. (B) overcrowded classrooms, (C) racial discrimination.

5. Supporters of single-sex schools say they (A) don't prepare kids for the real world, (B) help kids focus more on schoolwork, (C) develop interpersonal skills.

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