Read a lease, a contract or terms of service

Grade 11 Reading Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Self-Storage Rental Agreement (invented sample rental agreement)

   [1] This agreement is between Harbor Lane Storage, an invented business in this sample, and the person renting a unit, called "the Tenant." [2] In this agreement, "the Unit" means the space the Tenant rents, "Contents" means everything stored in the Unit, and "Hazardous Item" means anything the posted Rules list as hazardous.

   Section 1: Rent
   [3] Rent is $80, due on the first day of each month, and a late fee of $15 applies if rent is more than seven days late. [4] If rent is unpaid on the fifteenth day of the month, Harbor Lane Storage may lock the Unit, but it may not do so if the Tenant has asked in writing for a payment plan before that day and has made the first payment the plan requires.

   Section 2: Entry
   [5] Harbor Lane Storage may enter the Unit without notice if it reasonably believes that the Tenant has stored a Hazardous Item. [6] In every other case it must give twenty-four hours' notice, unless entry is needed to stop water damage. [7] Despite sentence 6, before opening the Unit to stop water damage, Harbor Lane Storage must call the Tenant, unless two calls have gone unanswered.

   Section 3: Insurance and Loss
   [8] Harbor Lane Storage insures the building, not the Contents. [9] Harbor Lane Storage is liable for damage to the Contents only if its own negligence causes the damage, and then only up to $1,000, except that the limit does not apply to damage caused by its failure to repair a roof leak the Tenant reported in writing. [10] A Tenant who suffers a loss must report it in writing within ten days of discovering it, and a later report will not be paid unless Harbor Lane Storage had already been told of the same damage.

   Section 4: Ending the Rental
   [11] The Tenant may end the rental by giving notice before the first day of the final month. [12] If rent is unpaid for sixty days, Harbor Lane Storage may sell the Contents after sending a written warning at least fourteen days before the sale. [13] A Hazardous Item may be removed and discarded without the warning in sentence 12, but not sold. [14] Sale money beyond what the Tenant owes must be returned.

2. 1.

   A burst pipe floods the Tenant's Unit, and the one call made to the number on file went unanswered. Ari asks which reading of sentences 6 and 7 applies.

   • Harbor Lane Storage may open the Unit now under sentence 5, since the flood is hazardous to nearby Units.
   • Harbor Lane Storage may enter after twenty-four hours' notice, because sentence 7 overrides the water-damage exception.
   • Sentence 6 excuses the notice, but sentence 7 still requires a second call before the Unit is opened.
   • Harbor Lane Storage may open the Unit at once, because sentence 6 excuses notice to stop water damage.
3. 2.

   Rent is unpaid on the twentieth, but on the tenth the Tenant asked in writing for a payment plan and made its first payment on the fourteenth. Bo asks what Harbor Lane Storage may do.

   • It may charge the $15 late fee but not place a lock, since the Tenant asked in time and made the first payment.
   • It may charge the $15 late fee and place a lock, because rent is still unpaid after the fifteenth day of the month.
   • It may place a lock, because the first payment came on the fourteenth, after the seven days in sentence 3.
   • It may neither charge a late fee nor place a lock, because a payment plan suspends the penalties for late rent.
4. 3.

   The Tenant reported a roof leak in writing; it was never repaired. The Contents were soaked, and the Tenant reported that damage twelve days after finding it. Esme asks what the text leaves unsettled.

   • Nothing is open, because sentence 10 plainly bars a report made after ten days, so the claim fails.
   • Whether the $1,000 limit applies, since sentence 9 sets it with no exception for a reported roof leak.
   • Whether telling Harbor Lane Storage of the leak counts as having “already been told of the same damage”.
   • Whether Harbor Lane Storage's insurance covers the Contents, a point the text does not address.
5. 4.

   Rent is unpaid for sixty days, and the Contents include a solvent drum that the posted Rules list. Jun asks which statement separates what Harbor Lane Storage may do from what it must do.

   • It may discard the drum without a warning, must sell the other Contents after the warning, and may keep extra sale money.
   • It may discard or sell the drum without a warning, and may sell the other Contents after the warning.
   • It may discard the drum with no warning, may sell the rest after the written warning, and must return extra money.
   • It may sell the whole of the Contents, the drum too, but after the written warning in sentence 12 has been sent.

6. Quillnote Terms of Service (invented sample terms of service)

   [1] These terms are between Quillnote, an invented note-taking app in this sample, and the person who creates an account, called "the User." [2] In these terms, "Content" means the notes, drawings and files the User saves in the app, and "Shared Content" means Content that the User has made visible to another person through a link.

   Section 1: Ownership and License
   [3] The User keeps ownership of all Content. [4] The User gives Quillnote a license to store Content, to copy it between devices and to show it to the people the User chooses, but only as far as the app needs. [5] Quillnote may also use Shared Content, though not other Content, in a public gallery of examples if the User has turned on the gallery setting, and the license in this sentence lasts for as long as that setting stays on.

   Section 2: Deleting Content
   [6] When the User deletes Content, it is removed from view at once and from Quillnote's servers within thirty days. [7] The license in sentence 4 ends for deleted Content when the backups are erased, which takes ninety days, except that copies already downloaded by other people remain with them. [8] Despite sentence 6, Content shown in the gallery under sentence 5 stays visible there until the gallery is next refreshed, which happens each Monday.

   Section 3: Accounts
   [9] The User must keep the account password private. [10] Quillnote may suspend an account without notice if it finds activity that threatens other users, and otherwise it must give seven days' notice. [11] A suspended User may export Content for sixty days after the suspension begins, but not if the suspension was for activity that threatens other users and the User has refused two written requests to stop.

   Section 4: Changes and Disputes
   [12] Quillnote may change these terms by posting them, but a change that reduces the User's rights takes effect only thirty days after posting, unless a law requires the change, in which case it takes effect when posted. [13] A dispute must first go to Quillnote's support team, and the User may go to court if the team has not answered within twenty days. [14] If a court finds one part of these terms unenforceable, the remaining parts continue.

7. 5.

   On a Tuesday, a User whose gallery setting is on deletes a note shared by link. Kira asks which sentence decides when the note leaves the gallery.

   • Sentence 7, because the license over the note ends when the backups are erased in ninety days.
   • No sentence, because the terms say nothing about the gallery once a note has been deleted.
   • Sentence 8: despite sentence 6, the note stays visible in the gallery until the next Monday refresh.
   • Sentence 6, because the general rule that deleted Content is removed from view at once controls the gallery too.
8. 6.

   On March 1, Quillnote posts a lower free note limit that a new law requires and a shorter export period that no law requires. Luz asks when each change takes effect.

   • Both changes take effect on March 31, because both of them reduce the rights the User holds under the terms.
   • The note limit takes effect March 1, when posted; the shorter export period takes effect March 31, thirty days later.
   • Both changes take effect on March 1, because Quillnote may change the terms by posting.
   • The note limit takes effect March 1, and the shorter export period takes effect March 21, twenty days after it is posted.
9. 7.

   A User deletes a shared note but leaves the gallery setting on. Milo asks which question the terms leave open about Quillnote's license.

   • Nothing is open, because sentence 7 plainly ends the license for deleted Content, so sentence 5 cannot continue it.
   • Whether the note stays visible in the gallery for ninety days, as the backup period in sentence 7 suggests.
   • Whether the gallery license in sentence 5 continues past the ninety-day backup erasure in sentence 7.
   • Whether copies already downloaded by other people must be deleted, which the terms do not address.

10. Catering Contract for a Dinner (invented sample catering contract)

    [1] This contract is between Marlow Table Catering, an invented business in this sample, called "the Caterer," and Ms. Brandt, who is hiring it for a retirement dinner, called "the Client." [2] In this contract, "the Guaranteed Count" means the number of guests the Client confirms in writing, "the Event Date" means the date of the dinner, and "Value" means what a dish costs the Caterer to make, not the price printed on the menu.

    Section 1: Price and Payment
    [3] The price is $40 for each guest in the Guaranteed Count, and the Client must pay a deposit of $500 when signing. [4] The balance is due seven days before the Event Date, and the deposit is credited toward the price.

    Section 2: Guest Count
    [5] The Client must confirm the Guaranteed Count at least ten days before the Event Date, and the Caterer will prepare food for that number plus five percent. [6] If more guests arrive than the Guaranteed Count, the Caterer will serve them as far as the food allows and will charge $40 for each additional guest served. [7] If fewer guests arrive, the Client still pays for the Guaranteed Count.

    Section 3: Menu
    [8] If an ingredient cannot be obtained, the Caterer may substitute a dish of equal or greater Value, provided that it tells the Client before the Event Date. [9] A substitution on the Event Date itself is allowed only if the Caterer has tried twice to reach the Client and has failed.

    Section 4: Cancellation and Delay
    [10] If the Client cancels sixty days or more before the Event Date, the deposit is returned in full. [11] If the Client cancels with fewer than sixty days' notice, the Caterer keeps the deposit, and if the notice is fewer than fourteen days, half of the price based on the Guaranteed Count is owed. [12] The Caterer is not responsible for a delay caused by a road closure or a power failure at the venue, provided that it tells the Client at once. [13] A delay that the Caterer could have prevented by leaving at a reasonable time is not excused by sentence 12. [14] Changes to this contract must be made in writing and signed by both sides.

11. 8.

    The van left forty minutes later than a reasonable time, and a road closure then added forty more. The Caterer told the Client at once. Tala asks how sentences 12 and 13 apply.

    • The whole eighty minutes are excused, because sentence 12 covers a road closure and the Client was told at once.
    • Sentence 12 excuses the closure's forty minutes; sentence 13 leaves the forty from leaving late unexcused.
    • Neither delay is excused until both sides sign a change to the contract under sentence 14.
    • No part of the delay is excused, because sentence 13 removes the excuse once part could have been prevented.
12. 9.

    On the Event Date a tomato delivery fails. The Caterer calls the Client twice with no answer, then serves a dish that costs it less to make. Noah asks whether that substitution was allowed.

    • No: sentence 8 requires notice before the Event Date, and a call on the day cannot meet that rule.
    • No: sentence 9 does not allow a substitution on the Event Date, whatever the Caterer tries.
    • No: sentence 9 adds a condition, but sentence 8 still requires equal or greater Value, and this dish costs less.
    • Yes: sentence 9 allows an Event Date substitution once the Caterer has tried twice to reach the Client, and it did.
13. 10.

    The Client cancels twelve days before the Event Date; the Guaranteed Count is 60 and the $500 deposit was paid. Zee asks what the text settles about sentence 11.

    • Half the price, $1,200, is owed and the deposit is kept; the text does not say if it counts toward the $1,200.
    • The Client owes $1,700 in total, because the Caterer keeps the deposit and the half price is owed on top of it.
    • The Caterer may return the deposit if it chooses, and the Client must pay $1,200 as half the price.
    • The Client owes $1,200 in total, because sentence 4 credits the deposit toward the price.