Intonation is the rise and fall in the pitch or tone of your voice as you read aloud. Use this passage to practice reading with proper intonation. Print a copy of this passage from InsideNG.com to help you monitor your progress.
Fruits, vegetables, meat, and other food items sometimes carry insects and diseases. Food from foreign countries could infect crops or animals in the United States. To prevent that, the U.S. Department of Agriculture created the Beagle Brigade. Furry, four-legged baggage inspectors sniff purses and bags at international airports. The beagle calmly sits down next to anything that smells suspicious. The hound’s human partner then checks for illegal items.
Why beagles? They’re friendly and cute. They don’t scare people as they sniff through the crowds. Beagles have amazing noses. They can sense odors better than many high-tech machines.
Beagles can work for six to ten years. A Beagle Brigade dog can remember up to fifty different odors by the end of its career. Sometimes harmless products, such as lemon-scented shaving cream, fool the dogs. But not often. The Beagle Brigade sniffs out the truth 84 percent of the time.