Directions: Comparing and contrasting makes a story clearer and more interesting and it also helps to explain how people, events, or things are alike and how they are different. Read the passage below carefully.  Then use the Venn diagram to compare and contrast traveling to New York from Los Angeles by airplane and by train.

Traveling to New York from Los Angeles

One way to get to New York from Los Angeles is by plane. The trip takes about five hours, and the fare is approximately $400. Another way to get to New York from Los Angeles is by train. The trip takes three days, but it cost about $100 less. Both methods of travel will allow you to read, sleep, or look out the window.

A lot of people would rather travel by train, because in a train, they are not confined to their seats for the whole trip.  For example, they can walk around and visit the dining car.  People traveling by train may also talk to one another more and are therefore more likely to become acquainted, especially over meals. Conversely, on a plane, meals are brought to the traveler.  Because the trip on a plane is shorter, there is much less time for someone to become acquainted with a fellow passenger.

The views from a plane in from an airplane are also quite different.  From a train, the traveler can get a good idea with the countryside looks like.  However, in a plane, details of the country's art are very difficult to see.

Now use a separate sheet of paper to write a brief paragraph summarizing how plane and train travel from Los Angeles to New York are different and how they are like.

Name _____________________________________  Date ____/____/____  Score _____

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