GRADE 3 READING - 2011 RELEASED TEST - Passage 4

DRIVEN TO SEE MOVIES

Directions: Read the article and answer the questions that follow.

1 Have you ever thought of a new idea you would like to try? In the 1930s a man named Richard Hollingshead, Jr., did. He thought of an idea that brought together his two favorite interests: cars and movies. Richard wanted to start a business where people could watch movies from their cars.
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2 Richard tested the idea in his driveway. First he put a machine, called a movie projector, on the hood of his car. Then Richard stretched a sheet between two trees. The sheet was like the white screen used in theaters. Richard played a movie on the “screen” using the movie projector. Sound for the movie came from a radio placed behind the sheet. Next Richard wanted to test whether the sound could be heard from the car. He rolled his car windows up and down to find the best way to hear the movie. Finally he aimed his water sprinkler at the car, which tested whether a movie could be seen and heard in the rain. Every test he tried was a success.

3 In 1933 he was ready to open the first drive-in movie theater. The theater was as big as a football field. There was enough room for about 400 cars. The screen was 30 feet high and 40 feet wide. Speakers were placed next to the screen so the sound could be heard.

4 Right away, Richard’s idea of a drive-in movie theater was a hit. The cost to see a movie was just 25 cents per person. Over the years, changes were made to these theaters. By the 1950s there were about 5,000 drive-in movie theaters across the country. They remained popular until television came along.

5 Today there are fewer than 800 drive-in movie theaters. People who live near them, though, still enjoy this fun activity. Today drive-in movie theaters give people the same joy as they did more than 70 years ago.