Prove a reading of the text, not just a fact
Grade 11 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
The Early Run (story)
[1] Captain Mirela Dragan had piloted the Anselm Ferry across the sound for twenty-six years, and when the harbor authority offered her a generous retirement in March, she thanked them and said she would consider it. [2] By April she had considered it aloud to a good part of the dock, in the same sentence each time: the crossing was getting too hard on her knees, and the new diesel engines were too loud for a woman who liked to hear the water. [3] She did not mention the sentence to Anton Pryce, the relief pilot, who had been waiting six years for the wheel and who nodded politely whenever she said it.
[4] In May she scheduled herself for the early run, the one that left the island at five-forty and arrived before the first commuters had finished their coffee. [5] Anton, who preferred to sleep, offered twice to take it, and twice she said that the sunrise was a thing a person ought not to give away. [6] On the second Thursday the fog came down so thickly that she steered by the foghorn at Gull Point and by the sound of the water along the pilings, and when she docked she stood on the deck for a full minute before releasing the lines.
[7] "Quiet crossing," Anton said, stepping aboard. [8] "Quiet enough," she said. [9] In June she sold the cottage she had kept on the mainland, explaining to the realtor that she would not use it, since she lived on the island and had done so for decades. [10] The realtor, who had grown up there, remarked that Mirela had not once been seen on the mainland after dark.
[11] In July the harbor authority withdrew its offer, citing a change in the budget. [12] Mirela read the letter standing on the dock, folded it into her coat and went aboard to check the lines. [13] That evening Anton found her in the wheelhouse after the last run, sitting in the pilot's chair with the engines off, and when he asked if she was well, she said that she was just letting the boat settle. [14] He offered to lock up, and she let him.
Pia is proving a reason the text never states outright. Claim: “Mirela gives her knees and the engines as reasons to retire, but the details suggest that she is reluctant to live away from the water.” Every set is true. Which set proves it?
- [3] She did not mention the sentence to Anton Pryce, the relief pilot, who had been waiting six years for the wheel and who nodded politely whenever she said it. [4] In May she scheduled herself for the early run, the one that left the island at five-forty and arrived before the first commuters had finished their coffee. [5] Anton, who preferred to sleep, offered twice to take it, and twice she said that the sunrise was a thing a person ought not to give away.
- [9] In June she sold the cottage she had kept on the mainland, explaining to the realtor that she would not use it, since she lived on the island and had done so for decades. [10] The realtor, who had grown up there, remarked that Mirela had not once been seen on the mainland after dark. [13] That evening Anton found her in the wheelhouse after the last run, sitting in the pilot's chair with the engines off, and when he asked if she was well, she said that she was just letting the boat settle.
- [6] On the second Thursday the fog came down so thickly that she steered by the foghorn at Gull Point and by the sound of the water along the pilings, and when she docked she stood on the deck for a full minute before releasing the lines. [7] "Quiet crossing," Anton said, stepping aboard. [8] "Quiet enough," she said.
- [1] Captain Mirela Dragan had piloted the Anselm Ferry across the sound for twenty-six years, and when the harbor authority offered her a generous retirement in March, she thanked them and said she would consider it. [2] By April she had considered it aloud to a good part of the dock, in the same sentence each time: the crossing was getting too hard on her knees, and the new diesel engines were too loud for a woman who liked to hear the water. [3] She did not mention the sentence to Anton Pryce, the relief pilot, who had been waiting six years for the wheel and who nodded politely whenever she said it.
Ren is proving a reading that needs the whole text. Claim: “Mirela's excuse about her knees and the engines collapses once the offer is withdrawn and she lets Anton lock up.” Every set is true. Which set proves it from start to finish?
- [1] Captain Mirela Dragan had piloted the Anselm Ferry across the sound for twenty-six years, and when the harbor authority offered her a generous retirement in March, she thanked them and said she would consider it. [2] By April she had considered it aloud to a good part of the dock, in the same sentence each time: the crossing was getting too hard on her knees, and the new diesel engines were too loud for a woman who liked to hear the water. [3] She did not mention the sentence to Anton Pryce, the relief pilot, who had been waiting six years for the wheel and who nodded politely whenever she said it.
- [2] By April she had considered it aloud to a good part of the dock, in the same sentence each time: the crossing was getting too hard on her knees, and the new diesel engines were too loud for a woman who liked to hear the water. [11] In July the harbor authority withdrew its offer, citing a change in the budget. [14] He offered to lock up, and she let him.
- [7] "Quiet crossing," Anton said, stepping aboard. [8] "Quiet enough," she said. [12] Mirela read the letter standing on the dock, folded it into her coat and went aboard to check the lines.
- [4] In May she scheduled herself for the early run, the one that left the island at five-forty and arrived before the first commuters had finished their coffee. [5] Anton, who preferred to sleep, offered twice to take it, and twice she said that the sunrise was a thing a person ought not to give away. [6] On the second Thursday the fog came down so thickly that she steered by the foghorn at Gull Point and by the sound of the water along the pilings, and when she docked she stood on the deck for a full minute before releasing the lines.
The Orchard in February (personal essay)
[1] My grandfather pruned his apple trees in February, when the orchard was a field of gray scaffolding and the neighbors were still indoors, and he did not once explain why he did it that way. [2] I was nine the year he let me carry the loppers, and I remember chiefly that he cut away branches that looked perfectly healthy to an inexperienced child. [3] "That one is spending itself on the wrong thing," he said, and he removed a limb as thick as my wrist, and the wound shone pale and wet against the bark.
[4] I took the sentence for a lesson about thrift, and for years I repeated it as one, usually about money, usually to people who had not asked. [5] The summer I was twenty-three, I returned to the orchard to help him sell it. [6] The trees had been neglected for two seasons, and I noticed first how many suckers had crowded the centers, thin and straight and green, taking everything. [7] I noticed second that he had left his own pruning shears hanging on the nail in the shed, where they had hung since I was nine, oiled and bright.
[8] The buyer's agent walked the rows with a clipboard and counted the trees, and my grandfather walked behind us, naming each one: Winesap, Baldwin, a Northern Spy that had not fruited well. [9] He said nothing about the shears, and neither did I. [10] On the drive back he asked whether I remembered the loppers. [11] I said that I remembered the wrist-thick limb and the sentence about spending, and he nodded as if I had gotten the answer half right.
[12] He was gone by the fall, after the sale had closed. [13] The following February I drove out to look at the orchard from the road and found the new owner's crew at work beneath a colorless sky, cutting with a gas-powered saw, beginning with the center of the oldest tree. [14] I stood on the shoulder with the engine running until they had finished it, and then I drove home, the sentence turning over in my head like something I had finally learned to read.
Zee is proving a reason the text never states outright. Claim: “The grandfather's silence about the shears is a way of admitting what he cannot say: that he has stopped pruning.” Every set is true. Which set proves it?
- [5] The summer I was twenty-three, I returned to the orchard to help him sell it. [8] The buyer's agent walked the rows with a clipboard and counted the trees, and my grandfather walked behind us, naming each one: Winesap, Baldwin, a Northern Spy that had not fruited well. [10] On the drive back he asked whether I remembered the loppers.
- [1] My grandfather pruned his apple trees in February, when the orchard was a field of gray scaffolding and the neighbors were still indoors, and he did not once explain why he did it that way. [2] I was nine the year he let me carry the loppers, and I remember chiefly that he cut away branches that looked perfectly healthy to an inexperienced child. [3] "That one is spending itself on the wrong thing," he said, and he removed a limb as thick as my wrist, and the wound shone pale and wet against the bark.
- [6] The trees had been neglected for two seasons, and I noticed first how many suckers had crowded the centers, thin and straight and green, taking everything. [7] I noticed second that he had left his own pruning shears hanging on the nail in the shed, where they had hung since I was nine, oiled and bright. [9] He said nothing about the shears, and neither did I.
- [4] I took the sentence for a lesson about thrift, and for years I repeated it as one, usually about money, usually to people who had not asked. [10] On the drive back he asked whether I remembered the loppers. [11] I said that I remembered the wrist-thick limb and the sentence about spending, and he nodded as if I had gotten the answer half right.
Ari is proving a reading that needs the whole text. Claim: “The essay moves from reading the grandfather's sentence as advice about money to reading it as a lesson in letting go.” Every set is true. Which set proves it from start to finish?
- [2] I was nine the year he let me carry the loppers, and I remember chiefly that he cut away branches that looked perfectly healthy to an inexperienced child. [3] "That one is spending itself on the wrong thing," he said, and he removed a limb as thick as my wrist, and the wound shone pale and wet against the bark. [4] I took the sentence for a lesson about thrift, and for years I repeated it as one, usually about money, usually to people who had not asked.
- [4] I took the sentence for a lesson about thrift, and for years I repeated it as one, usually about money, usually to people who had not asked. [11] I said that I remembered the wrist-thick limb and the sentence about spending, and he nodded as if I had gotten the answer half right. [14] I stood on the shoulder with the engine running until they had finished it, and then I drove home, the sentence turning over in my head like something I had finally learned to read.
- [8] The buyer's agent walked the rows with a clipboard and counted the trees, and my grandfather walked behind us, naming each one: Winesap, Baldwin, a Northern Spy that had not fruited well. [9] He said nothing about the shears, and neither did I. [12] He was gone by the fall, after the sale had closed.
- [6] The trees had been neglected for two seasons, and I noticed first how many suckers had crowded the centers, thin and straight and green, taking everything. [7] I noticed second that he had left his own pruning shears hanging on the nail in the shed, where they had hung since I was nine, oiled and bright. [13] The following February I drove out to look at the orchard from the road and found the new owner's crew at work beneath a colorless sky, cutting with a gas-powered saw, beginning with the center of the oldest tree.
Bo is proving a reading with a limit. Claim: “The final image suggests that the narrator accepts the cutting of the old tree, yet not without pain.” Every set is true. Which set proves the reading and its limit?
- [3] "That one is spending itself on the wrong thing," he said, and he removed a limb as thick as my wrist, and the wound shone pale and wet against the bark. [13] The following February I drove out to look at the orchard from the road and found the new owner's crew at work beneath a colorless sky, cutting with a gas-powered saw, beginning with the center of the oldest tree. [14] I stood on the shoulder with the engine running until they had finished it, and then I drove home, the sentence turning over in my head like something I had finally learned to read.
- [8] The buyer's agent walked the rows with a clipboard and counted the trees, and my grandfather walked behind us, naming each one: Winesap, Baldwin, a Northern Spy that had not fruited well. [10] On the drive back he asked whether I remembered the loppers. [11] I said that I remembered the wrist-thick limb and the sentence about spending, and he nodded as if I had gotten the answer half right.
- [1] My grandfather pruned his apple trees in February, when the orchard was a field of gray scaffolding and the neighbors were still indoors, and he did not once explain why he did it that way. [2] I was nine the year he let me carry the loppers, and I remember chiefly that he cut away branches that looked perfectly healthy to an inexperienced child. [4] I took the sentence for a lesson about thrift, and for years I repeated it as one, usually about money, usually to people who had not asked.
- [5] The summer I was twenty-three, I returned to the orchard to help him sell it. [6] The trees had been neglected for two seasons, and I noticed first how many suckers had crowded the centers, thin and straight and green, taking everything. [8] The buyer's agent walked the rows with a clipboard and counted the trees, and my grandfather walked behind us, naming each one: Winesap, Baldwin, a Northern Spy that had not fruited well.
The Planet in the Wrong Place (article)
[1] In the early 1900s the businessman and astronomer Percival Lowell became convinced that an unseen planet beyond Neptune was tugging on the orbit of Uranus, and he spent years calculating where it should be. [2] He called it Planet X and built the search at his observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, around his predicted positions, but it was still missing when his own search ended in 1916.
[3] In 1929 the observatory hired Clyde Tombaugh, a twenty-two-year-old from a Kansas farm who had no college degree but had sent in careful drawings of Mars and Jupiter made with telescopes he had built himself. [4] Tombaugh's job was to photograph the same patches of sky several nights apart and then compare each pair of glass plates in a blink comparator, a viewer that flipped between the two images. [5] A star would stay still as the images flipped, while anything moving against the stars would seem to jump back and forth. [6] Some plates held hundreds of thousands of stars, and Tombaugh often spent several days on a single pair, checking each tiny jump to rule out flaws in the glass. [7] On 18 February 1930, comparing plates taken six days apart in January, Tombaugh saw a faint dot shift position and recognized it as a distant world.
[8] The new planet lay within about six degrees of one of Lowell's predicted positions, and the observatory announced it on 13 March, Lowell's birthday. [9] The name Pluto, suggested by Venetia Burney, an eleven-year-old in Oxford, England, was chosen partly because its first two letters were Lowell's initials. [10] Over the following decades, measurements showed that Pluto was far too small to pull Uranus noticeably off course. [11] In 1989 the Voyager 2 spacecraft measured the mass of Neptune more precisely, and the irregularities Lowell had tried to explain largely disappeared. [12] Lowell's prediction, in other words, had rested on errors in the data, and Pluto's position near it was largely a matter of chance.
[13] Tombaugh kept searching the sky for another thirteen years, examining tens of millions of star images, and found no other planet. [14] In 2006 the International Astronomical Union reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet, one of many small icy bodies beyond Neptune.
Esme is proving a reason the text never states outright. Claim: “The article reports that Lowell's prediction rested on errors to suggest that Pluto's discovery near his predicted spot was largely fortune.” Every set is true. Which set proves it?
- [9] The name Pluto, suggested by Venetia Burney, an eleven-year-old in Oxford, England, was chosen partly because its first two letters were Lowell's initials. [13] Tombaugh kept searching the sky for another thirteen years, examining tens of millions of star images, and found no other planet. [14] In 2006 the International Astronomical Union reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet, one of many small icy bodies beyond Neptune.
- [1] In the early 1900s the businessman and astronomer Percival Lowell became convinced that an unseen planet beyond Neptune was tugging on the orbit of Uranus, and he spent years calculating where it should be. [2] He called it Planet X and built the search at his observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, around his predicted positions, but it was still missing when his own search ended in 1916. [8] The new planet lay within about six degrees of one of Lowell's predicted positions, and the observatory announced it on 13 March, Lowell's birthday.
- [10] Over the following decades, measurements showed that Pluto was far too small to pull Uranus noticeably off course. [11] In 1989 the Voyager 2 spacecraft measured the mass of Neptune more precisely, and the irregularities Lowell had tried to explain largely disappeared. [12] Lowell's prediction, in other words, had rested on errors in the data, and Pluto's position near it was largely a matter of chance.
- [3] In 1929 the observatory hired Clyde Tombaugh, a twenty-two-year-old from a Kansas farm who had no college degree but had sent in careful drawings of Mars and Jupiter made with telescopes he had built himself. [4] Tombaugh's job was to photograph the same patches of sky several nights apart and then compare each pair of glass plates in a blink comparator, a viewer that flipped between the two images. [7] On 18 February 1930, comparing plates taken six days apart in January, Tombaugh saw a faint dot shift position and recognized it as a distant world.
Jun is proving a reading that needs the whole text. Claim: “Across the article, the discovery of Pluto is shown to depend on a mistaken idea and on a patient search.” Every set is true. Which set proves it from start to finish?
- [3] In 1929 the observatory hired Clyde Tombaugh, a twenty-two-year-old from a Kansas farm who had no college degree but had sent in careful drawings of Mars and Jupiter made with telescopes he had built himself. [4] Tombaugh's job was to photograph the same patches of sky several nights apart and then compare each pair of glass plates in a blink comparator, a viewer that flipped between the two images. [5] A star would stay still as the images flipped, while anything moving against the stars would seem to jump back and forth.
- [1] In the early 1900s the businessman and astronomer Percival Lowell became convinced that an unseen planet beyond Neptune was tugging on the orbit of Uranus, and he spent years calculating where it should be. [2] He called it Planet X and built the search at his observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, around his predicted positions, but it was still missing when his own search ended in 1916. [8] The new planet lay within about six degrees of one of Lowell's predicted positions, and the observatory announced it on 13 March, Lowell's birthday.
- [9] The name Pluto, suggested by Venetia Burney, an eleven-year-old in Oxford, England, was chosen partly because its first two letters were Lowell's initials. [13] Tombaugh kept searching the sky for another thirteen years, examining tens of millions of star images, and found no other planet. [14] In 2006 the International Astronomical Union reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet, one of many small icy bodies beyond Neptune.
- [1] In the early 1900s the businessman and astronomer Percival Lowell became convinced that an unseen planet beyond Neptune was tugging on the orbit of Uranus, and he spent years calculating where it should be. [6] Some plates held hundreds of thousands of stars, and Tombaugh often spent several days on a single pair, checking each tiny jump to rule out flaws in the glass. [12] Lowell's prediction, in other words, had rested on errors in the data, and Pluto's position near it was largely a matter of chance.
Kira is proving a reading with a limit. Claim: “Tombaugh deserves credit for finding Pluto, yet the article shows that his success did not confirm Lowell's theory.” Every set is true. Which set proves the reading and its limit?
- [1] In the early 1900s the businessman and astronomer Percival Lowell became convinced that an unseen planet beyond Neptune was tugging on the orbit of Uranus, and he spent years calculating where it should be. [2] He called it Planet X and built the search at his observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, around his predicted positions, but it was still missing when his own search ended in 1916. [8] The new planet lay within about six degrees of one of Lowell's predicted positions, and the observatory announced it on 13 March, Lowell's birthday.
- [9] The name Pluto, suggested by Venetia Burney, an eleven-year-old in Oxford, England, was chosen partly because its first two letters were Lowell's initials. [13] Tombaugh kept searching the sky for another thirteen years, examining tens of millions of star images, and found no other planet. [14] In 2006 the International Astronomical Union reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet, one of many small icy bodies beyond Neptune.
- [7] On 18 February 1930, comparing plates taken six days apart in January, Tombaugh saw a faint dot shift position and recognized it as a distant world. [11] In 1989 the Voyager 2 spacecraft measured the mass of Neptune more precisely, and the irregularities Lowell had tried to explain largely disappeared. [12] Lowell's prediction, in other words, had rested on errors in the data, and Pluto's position near it was largely a matter of chance.
- [3] In 1929 the observatory hired Clyde Tombaugh, a twenty-two-year-old from a Kansas farm who had no college degree but had sent in careful drawings of Mars and Jupiter made with telescopes he had built himself. [4] Tombaugh's job was to photograph the same patches of sky several nights apart and then compare each pair of glass plates in a blink comparator, a viewer that flipped between the two images. [5] A star would stay still as the images flipped, while anything moving against the stars would seem to jump back and forth.
The Perfect Record (feature story about an invented district)
[1] When the Hallbrook School District announced its perfect-attendance awards in June, the name at the top of the list surprised no one: Marcus Teller had not missed a day of school since kindergarten, a stretch of thirteen years that the superintendent called, in her remarks, "a model of commitment for each young person in this room." [2] Marcus accepted the plaque, shook her hand and returned to his seat, where he opened a calculus textbook and did not look at the audience again.
[3] The record is less simple than the plaque. [4] In ninth grade, Marcus attended a full week of classes with a fever of 102, sitting in the back row with a jacket zipped to his chin, until the nurse sent him to the office and called his mother, who was working a double shift and did not answer. [5] In eleventh grade he went to school the morning after his grandmother's funeral, arriving at the second bell, and the teacher who greeted him at the door told the school paper that she had "no idea what to say, so I said good morning."
[6] The attendance office keeps a folder for him, which its clerk describes as "the thinnest in the building." [7] It contains no late slips, no doctor's notes and no calls from home, and the clerk admits, with some embarrassment, that she has not been sure what she was supposed to file. [8] Teachers describe him as reliable, quiet and prepared, and several said, in nearly the same words, that they had not seen him look relieved when a day ended.
[9] Marcus himself was asked to comment for this story and declined, but he sent a short note. [10] "Thank the district for the plaque," it read. [11] "I would like to be able to say that it will go on a wall." [12] The note did not say which wall.
Luz is proving a reason the text never states outright. Claim: “Marcus's perfect record seems driven less by devotion to school than by a refusal to let anything interrupt his routine, grief included.” Every set is true. Which set proves it?
- [1] When the Hallbrook School District announced its perfect-attendance awards in June, the name at the top of the list surprised no one: Marcus Teller had not missed a day of school since kindergarten, a stretch of thirteen years that the superintendent called, in her remarks, "a model of commitment for each young person in this room." [2] Marcus accepted the plaque, shook her hand and returned to his seat, where he opened a calculus textbook and did not look at the audience again. [9] Marcus himself was asked to comment for this story and declined, but he sent a short note.
- [4] In ninth grade, Marcus attended a full week of classes with a fever of 102, sitting in the back row with a jacket zipped to his chin, until the nurse sent him to the office and called his mother, who was working a double shift and did not answer. [5] In eleventh grade he went to school the morning after his grandmother's funeral, arriving at the second bell, and the teacher who greeted him at the door told the school paper that she had "no idea what to say, so I said good morning." [8] Teachers describe him as reliable, quiet and prepared, and several said, in nearly the same words, that they had not seen him look relieved when a day ended.
- [2] Marcus accepted the plaque, shook her hand and returned to his seat, where he opened a calculus textbook and did not look at the audience again. [10] "Thank the district for the plaque," it read. [11] "I would like to be able to say that it will go on a wall."
- [6] The attendance office keeps a folder for him, which its clerk describes as "the thinnest in the building." [7] It contains no late slips, no doctor's notes and no calls from home, and the clerk admits, with some embarrassment, that she has not been sure what she was supposed to file. [10] "Thank the district for the plaque," it read.
Noah is proving a reading with a limit. Claim: “The final lines suggest that Marcus may value the plaque, yet not in the way the district hopes.” Every set is true. Which set proves the reading and its limit?
- [2] Marcus accepted the plaque, shook her hand and returned to his seat, where he opened a calculus textbook and did not look at the audience again. [11] "I would like to be able to say that it will go on a wall." [12] The note did not say which wall.
- [4] In ninth grade, Marcus attended a full week of classes with a fever of 102, sitting in the back row with a jacket zipped to his chin, until the nurse sent him to the office and called his mother, who was working a double shift and did not answer. [5] In eleventh grade he went to school the morning after his grandmother's funeral, arriving at the second bell, and the teacher who greeted him at the door told the school paper that she had "no idea what to say, so I said good morning." [8] Teachers describe him as reliable, quiet and prepared, and several said, in nearly the same words, that they had not seen him look relieved when a day ended.
- [3] The record is less simple than the plaque. [6] The attendance office keeps a folder for him, which its clerk describes as "the thinnest in the building." [7] It contains no late slips, no doctor's notes and no calls from home, and the clerk admits, with some embarrassment, that she has not been sure what she was supposed to file.
- [1] When the Hallbrook School District announced its perfect-attendance awards in June, the name at the top of the list surprised no one: Marcus Teller had not missed a day of school since kindergarten, a stretch of thirteen years that the superintendent called, in her remarks, "a model of commitment for each young person in this room." [9] Marcus himself was asked to comment for this story and declined, but he sent a short note. [10] "Thank the district for the plaque," it read.