Prove a reading of the text, not just a fact
Grade 11 Reading Worksheet

Circle the best answer.
Read this first
The Interpreter (story)
[1] Marisol Arden had interpreted at the housing court for nine years, long enough to know that the job was supposed to be invisible, like a pane of glass. [2] On Tuesday the clerk handed her a file that identified a tenant, Mr. Duarte, and a landlord's attorney, Ms. Pell, who spoke quickly and evidently enjoyed being quick. [3] Ms. Pell opened by saying that Mr. Duarte had "ignored four notices," and Marisol rendered the sentence into Portuguese exactly, including the number.
[4] Mr. Duarte answered at length, with his hands, and Marisol listened to the whole of it before beginning, as was her habit. [5] He said that he had received the first notice, mistaken it for a utility bill and put it in a drawer; the second and third had gone to his old address; and the fourth he had found on the hallway floor after the lock was changed. [6] Marisol carried the whole of it into English, keeping the order of his sentences and even the places where he stopped to search for a word.
[7] Ms. Pell frowned at the bench and said, with the patience of a person addressing a slow child, "So he admits he read not one of them." [8] Marisol hesitated for a quarter of a second, the length of a breath, and then rendered the sentence into Portuguese word for word, including the phrase "not one." [9] Mr. Duarte's shoulders dropped, and he said something short and quiet to the table in front of him. [10] The judge looked up from the file, over the rim of her glasses, and waited. [11] "Interpreter?" [12] "He says," Marisol told the court, "that he read the first one the way a person reads a menu in a language that he has not studied." [13] The judge nodded slowly, wrote a line in the file and asked Ms. Pell to submit documentary proof that any of the four notices had actually been delivered to the correct door. [14] At the midmorning break, Marisol rinsed her hands at the sink in the corridor and studied them for a long moment, as though checking whether they were still entirely her own.
Luz is proving how people or ideas relate. Claim: “Marisol renders both speakers with equal precision, yet she reserves one small act of help for Mr. Duarte.” Every set is true. Which set proves every part of this reading?
- [6] Marisol carried the whole of it into English, keeping the order of his sentences and even the places where he stopped to search for a word. [8] Marisol hesitated for a quarter of a second, the length of a breath, and then rendered the sentence into Portuguese word for word, including the phrase "not one." [12] "He says," Marisol told the court, "that he read the first one the way a person reads a menu in a language that he has not studied."
- [2] On Tuesday the clerk handed her a file that identified a tenant, Mr. Duarte, and a landlord's attorney, Ms. Pell, who spoke quickly and evidently enjoyed being quick. [7] Ms. Pell frowned at the bench and said, with the patience of a person addressing a slow child, "So he admits he read not one of them." [13] The judge nodded slowly, wrote a line in the file and asked Ms. Pell to submit documentary proof that any of the four notices had actually been delivered to the correct door.
- [3] Ms. Pell opened by saying that Mr. Duarte had "ignored four notices," and Marisol rendered the sentence into Portuguese exactly, including the number. [6] Marisol carried the whole of it into English, keeping the order of his sentences and even the places where he stopped to search for a word. [8] Marisol hesitated for a quarter of a second, the length of a breath, and then rendered the sentence into Portuguese word for word, including the phrase "not one."
- [4] Mr. Duarte answered at length, with his hands, and Marisol listened to the whole of it before beginning, as was her habit. [5] He said that he had received the first notice, mistaken it for a utility bill and put it in a drawer; the second and third had gone to his old address; and the fourth he had found on the hallway floor after the lock was changed. [9] Mr. Duarte's shoulders dropped, and he said something short and quiet to the table in front of him.
Milo is proving what the whole text suggests. Claim: “The story suggests that faithful translation depends on hearing a whole account before rendering any part of it.” Every set is true. Which set proves every part of this reading?
- [4] Mr. Duarte answered at length, with his hands, and Marisol listened to the whole of it before beginning, as was her habit. [6] Marisol carried the whole of it into English, keeping the order of his sentences and even the places where he stopped to search for a word. [13] The judge nodded slowly, wrote a line in the file and asked Ms. Pell to submit documentary proof that any of the four notices had actually been delivered to the correct door.
- [1] Marisol Arden had interpreted at the housing court for nine years, long enough to know that the job was supposed to be invisible, like a pane of glass. [2] On Tuesday the clerk handed her a file that identified a tenant, Mr. Duarte, and a landlord's attorney, Ms. Pell, who spoke quickly and evidently enjoyed being quick. [3] Ms. Pell opened by saying that Mr. Duarte had "ignored four notices," and Marisol rendered the sentence into Portuguese exactly, including the number.
- [7] Ms. Pell frowned at the bench and said, with the patience of a person addressing a slow child, "So he admits he read not one of them." [10] The judge looked up from the file, over the rim of her glasses, and waited. [11] "Interpreter?"
- [8] Marisol hesitated for a quarter of a second, the length of a breath, and then rendered the sentence into Portuguese word for word, including the phrase "not one." [9] Mr. Duarte's shoulders dropped, and he said something short and quiet to the table in front of him. [14] At the midmorning break, Marisol rinsed her hands at the sink in the corridor and studied them for a long moment, as though checking whether they were still entirely her own.
The Roof (story)
[1] I am not a man who requires credit for his generosity, and I say so to anyone who will listen, which at the Elks lodge means nearly the whole room. [2] When my neighbor Ferris lost his job at the cannery, I was the first to offer him work on my roof, at a rate I will not embarrass him by repeating. [3] I supplied the ladder, the shingles and the advice, and he supplied the labor, which seemed to me a perfectly fair division of the burdens involved.
[4] Ferris was slow at first, as men invariably are who have spent several months sitting at a kitchen table. [5] I corrected his grip on the hammer twice before noon and told him, kindly, that the chalk line was a suggestion he might want to take more seriously. [6] By Thursday I had stopped bringing out the second thermos, since he plainly preferred to work without distractions, and I took my coffee on the porch, where I could watch the angles. [7] On Friday he asked whether Saturday could be a half day, because his daughter had a recital, and I told him that roofs, like opportunities, do not keep a schedule.
[8] He came on Saturday as arranged, and he finished the last course of shingles at six in the evening. [9] I paid him in cash, counted twice, and shook his hand, which he returned with an enthusiasm I attributed to relief. [10] That night my wife remarked that Ferris had not looked up once as he left, but she is a woman who notices what does not matter. [11] The roof, I should add, is a very good roof, and I have been told so by two separate inspectors. [12] Last week Ferris moved to his sister's town, and I was the one man on the street who did not need to be told why.
[13] I mention this simply because certain people at the lodge have suggested that I was less than generous. [14] I have been generous throughout my life, and I intend to go on being generous, as soon as someone gives me the chance.
Noah is proving how something changes. Claim: “Ferris moves from apparent relief to silent resentment, though Walter never sees it.” Every set is true. Which set proves every part of this reading?
- [7] On Friday he asked whether Saturday could be a half day, because his daughter had a recital, and I told him that roofs, like opportunities, do not keep a schedule. [8] He came on Saturday as arranged, and he finished the last course of shingles at six in the evening. [11] The roof, I should add, is a very good roof, and I have been told so by two separate inspectors.
- [2] When my neighbor Ferris lost his job at the cannery, I was the first to offer him work on my roof, at a rate I will not embarrass him by repeating. [3] I supplied the ladder, the shingles and the advice, and he supplied the labor, which seemed to me a perfectly fair division of the burdens involved. [4] Ferris was slow at first, as men invariably are who have spent several months sitting at a kitchen table.
- [9] I paid him in cash, counted twice, and shook his hand, which he returned with an enthusiasm I attributed to relief. [10] That night my wife remarked that Ferris had not looked up once as he left, but she is a woman who notices what does not matter. [12] Last week Ferris moved to his sister's town, and I was the one man on the street who did not need to be told why.
- [4] Ferris was slow at first, as men invariably are who have spent several months sitting at a kitchen table. [5] I corrected his grip on the hammer twice before noon and told him, kindly, that the chalk line was a suggestion he might want to take more seriously. [6] By Thursday I had stopped bringing out the second thermos, since he plainly preferred to work without distractions, and I took my coffee on the porch, where I could watch the angles.
Ren is proving what the whole text suggests. Claim: “The story suggests that a person can believe in his own generosity and remain blind to how his help is received.” Every set is true. Which set proves every part of this reading?
- [1] I am not a man who requires credit for his generosity, and I say so to anyone who will listen, which at the Elks lodge means nearly the whole room. [2] When my neighbor Ferris lost his job at the cannery, I was the first to offer him work on my roof, at a rate I will not embarrass him by repeating. [3] I supplied the ladder, the shingles and the advice, and he supplied the labor, which seemed to me a perfectly fair division of the burdens involved.
- [5] I corrected his grip on the hammer twice before noon and told him, kindly, that the chalk line was a suggestion he might want to take more seriously. [6] By Thursday I had stopped bringing out the second thermos, since he plainly preferred to work without distractions, and I took my coffee on the porch, where I could watch the angles. [7] On Friday he asked whether Saturday could be a half day, because his daughter had a recital, and I told him that roofs, like opportunities, do not keep a schedule.
- [9] I paid him in cash, counted twice, and shook his hand, which he returned with an enthusiasm I attributed to relief. [10] That night my wife remarked that Ferris had not looked up once as he left, but she is a woman who notices what does not matter. [14] I have been generous throughout my life, and I intend to go on being generous, as soon as someone gives me the chance.
- [11] The roof, I should add, is a very good roof, and I have been told so by two separate inspectors. [12] Last week Ferris moved to his sister's town, and I was the one man on the street who did not need to be told why. [13] I mention this simply because certain people at the lodge have suggested that I was less than generous.
Ada Lovelace's Notes (article)
[1] In 1842 an Italian engineer named Luigi Menabrea published an article in French describing the Analytical Engine, a calculating machine that the English mathematician Charles Babbage had designed but not built. [2] The next year Ada Lovelace, a mathematician who had corresponded with Babbage for years, translated the article into English for a British scientific journal. [3] At Babbage's suggestion she added a series of notes, labeled A through G, which ran to roughly three times the length of the article itself. [4] Menabrea had described the engine chiefly as a machine for doing arithmetic and algebra faster and more reliably than people working by hand.
[5] Lovelace's notes went further, arguing that the machine could act on any symbols whose relationships could be stated exactly, beyond numbers. [6] As an example, she suggested that if the relations of musical sounds could be expressed in this way, the engine might compose elaborate pieces of music. [7] She also wrote that the engine wove algebraic patterns just as the Jacquard loom, which used punched cards to control its threads, wove flowers and leaves. [8] In the final note she laid out, step by step, how the engine could calculate a series known as the Bernoulli numbers. [9] That table is often called the first published computer program.
[10] Babbage later wrote that he had offered to work out the algebra for that example himself, and that Lovelace had sent it back after finding a serious mistake in it. [11] The two exchanged dozens of letters while she wrote, arguing over wording, examples and the order of the notes. [12] At the same time, Lovelace warned readers that the engine could not originate anything and could do just what people knew how to order it to perform. [13] She added that the machine had no power of anticipating any truths on its own, and she signed the notes with her initials, A.A.L.
[14] For about a century the notes drew little attention, partly because no Analytical Engine was ever completed. [15] In 1950 the computer scientist Alan Turing discussed her warning about originality, and in 1980 the United States Department of Defense named a programming language Ada in her honor.
Tala is proving how something changes. Claim: “Lovelace's role grows from translator to author as her notes outgrow the article.” Every set is true. Which set proves every part of this reading?
- [8] In the final note she laid out, step by step, how the engine could calculate a series known as the Bernoulli numbers. [14] For about a century the notes drew little attention, partly because no Analytical Engine was ever completed. [15] In 1950 the computer scientist Alan Turing discussed her warning about originality, and in 1980 the United States Department of Defense named a programming language Ada in her honor.
- [1] In 1842 an Italian engineer named Luigi Menabrea published an article in French describing the Analytical Engine, a calculating machine that the English mathematician Charles Babbage had designed but not built. [2] The next year Ada Lovelace, a mathematician who had corresponded with Babbage for years, translated the article into English for a British scientific journal. [4] Menabrea had described the engine chiefly as a machine for doing arithmetic and algebra faster and more reliably than people working by hand.
- [10] Babbage later wrote that he had offered to work out the algebra for that example himself, and that Lovelace had sent it back after finding a serious mistake in it. [11] The two exchanged dozens of letters while she wrote, arguing over wording, examples and the order of the notes. [13] She added that the machine had no power of anticipating any truths on its own, and she signed the notes with her initials, A.A.L.
- [2] The next year Ada Lovelace, a mathematician who had corresponded with Babbage for years, translated the article into English for a British scientific journal. [3] At Babbage's suggestion she added a series of notes, labeled A through G, which ran to roughly three times the length of the article itself. [5] Lovelace's notes went further, arguing that the machine could act on any symbols whose relationships could be stated exactly, beyond numbers.
Zee is proving how people or ideas relate. Claim: “Lovelace and Babbage worked as collaborators who checked each other, not as teacher and student.” Every set is true. Which set proves every part of this reading?
- [1] In 1842 an Italian engineer named Luigi Menabrea published an article in French describing the Analytical Engine, a calculating machine that the English mathematician Charles Babbage had designed but not built. [2] The next year Ada Lovelace, a mathematician who had corresponded with Babbage for years, translated the article into English for a British scientific journal. [4] Menabrea had described the engine chiefly as a machine for doing arithmetic and algebra faster and more reliably than people working by hand.
- [5] Lovelace's notes went further, arguing that the machine could act on any symbols whose relationships could be stated exactly, beyond numbers. [6] As an example, she suggested that if the relations of musical sounds could be expressed in this way, the engine might compose elaborate pieces of music. [7] She also wrote that the engine wove algebraic patterns just as the Jacquard loom, which used punched cards to control its threads, wove flowers and leaves.
- [12] At the same time, Lovelace warned readers that the engine could not originate anything and could do just what people knew how to order it to perform. [13] She added that the machine had no power of anticipating any truths on its own, and she signed the notes with her initials, A.A.L. [15] In 1950 the computer scientist Alan Turing discussed her warning about originality, and in 1980 the United States Department of Defense named a programming language Ada in her honor.
- [3] At Babbage's suggestion she added a series of notes, labeled A through G, which ran to roughly three times the length of the article itself. [10] Babbage later wrote that he had offered to work out the algebra for that example himself, and that Lovelace had sent it back after finding a serious mistake in it. [11] The two exchanged dozens of letters while she wrote, arguing over wording, examples and the order of the notes.
Ari is proving what the whole text suggests. Claim: “The article suggests that Lovelace saw the engine's reach as wide but its originality as nil.” Every set is true. Which set proves every part of this reading?
- [1] In 1842 an Italian engineer named Luigi Menabrea published an article in French describing the Analytical Engine, a calculating machine that the English mathematician Charles Babbage had designed but not built. [4] Menabrea had described the engine chiefly as a machine for doing arithmetic and algebra faster and more reliably than people working by hand. [8] In the final note she laid out, step by step, how the engine could calculate a series known as the Bernoulli numbers.
- [8] In the final note she laid out, step by step, how the engine could calculate a series known as the Bernoulli numbers. [9] That table is often called the first published computer program. [10] Babbage later wrote that he had offered to work out the algebra for that example himself, and that Lovelace had sent it back after finding a serious mistake in it.
- [5] Lovelace's notes went further, arguing that the machine could act on any symbols whose relationships could be stated exactly, beyond numbers. [6] As an example, she suggested that if the relations of musical sounds could be expressed in this way, the engine might compose elaborate pieces of music. [12] At the same time, Lovelace warned readers that the engine could not originate anything and could do just what people knew how to order it to perform.
- [11] The two exchanged dozens of letters while she wrote, arguing over wording, examples and the order of the notes. [14] For about a century the notes drew little attention, partly because no Analytical Engine was ever completed. [15] In 1950 the computer scientist Alan Turing discussed her warning about originality, and in 1980 the United States Department of Defense named a programming language Ada in her honor.
The Man on the Green (feature story about an invented town)
[1] The statue of Josiah Pell has stood on the green in Pellham since 1911, facing the courthouse with one hand raised, as though he were about to correct someone. [2] The plaque calls him "founder and benefactor," and until this spring no one in Pellham thought to ask what he had founded or whom he had benefited.
[3] The question came from a seventh-grade class that had been assigned to research a local landmark and chose the statue because it stood closest to the school. [4] The students learned that Pell had given the land for the green in 1870, and they also found, in the county archive, a deed showing that he had sold the same land to the town for four thousand dollars the year before. [5] They found a fund-raising letter from 1908 in which the statue committee wrote that "no memorial is too large for a man who has done so much for the village," and they noted that the committee's treasurer was Pell's grandson.
[6] The students presented their findings at the March council meeting, in a binder with colored tabs. [7] The council thanked them, and then spent forty minutes arguing about whether the statue should come down, move to the library lawn or stay where it was with a second plaque. [8] A retired history teacher, Mrs. Ostrander, rose to say that a statue is a record of what a town once wished to believe about itself. [9] A man at the back said that this was exactly why it ought to stay.
[10] In June the council voted to leave the statue on the green and to add a second plaque, its text to be decided. [11] The students' binder now sits on a shelf in the library, and the statue's raised hand, the school paper observed, still looks like the beginning of an answer.
Bo is proving how something changes. Claim: “Pellham's relation to its statue shifts from unexamined pride to a deliberate, unfinished reckoning.” Every set is true. Which set proves every part of this reading?
- [3] The question came from a seventh-grade class that had been assigned to research a local landmark and chose the statue because it stood closest to the school. [4] The students learned that Pell had given the land for the green in 1870, and they also found, in the county archive, a deed showing that he had sold the same land to the town for four thousand dollars the year before. [6] The students presented their findings at the March council meeting, in a binder with colored tabs.
- [4] The students learned that Pell had given the land for the green in 1870, and they also found, in the county archive, a deed showing that he had sold the same land to the town for four thousand dollars the year before. [5] They found a fund-raising letter from 1908 in which the statue committee wrote that "no memorial is too large for a man who has done so much for the village," and they noted that the committee's treasurer was Pell's grandson. [8] A retired history teacher, Mrs. Ostrander, rose to say that a statue is a record of what a town once wished to believe about itself.
- [2] The plaque calls him "founder and benefactor," and until this spring no one in Pellham thought to ask what he had founded or whom he had benefited. [7] The council thanked them, and then spent forty minutes arguing about whether the statue should come down, move to the library lawn or stay where it was with a second plaque. [10] In June the council voted to leave the statue on the green and to add a second plaque, its text to be decided.
- [1] The statue of Josiah Pell has stood on the green in Pellham since 1911, facing the courthouse with one hand raised, as though he were about to correct someone. [5] They found a fund-raising letter from 1908 in which the statue committee wrote that "no memorial is too large for a man who has done so much for the village," and they noted that the committee's treasurer was Pell's grandson. [9] A man at the back said that this was exactly why it ought to stay.
Esme is proving how people or ideas relate. Claim: “The council's response suggests that Pellham wants to keep the record of its past while adding a second voice.” Every set is true. Which set proves every part of this reading?
- [6] The students presented their findings at the March council meeting, in a binder with colored tabs. [7] The council thanked them, and then spent forty minutes arguing about whether the statue should come down, move to the library lawn or stay where it was with a second plaque. [9] A man at the back said that this was exactly why it ought to stay.
- [1] The statue of Josiah Pell has stood on the green in Pellham since 1911, facing the courthouse with one hand raised, as though he were about to correct someone. [2] The plaque calls him "founder and benefactor," and until this spring no one in Pellham thought to ask what he had founded or whom he had benefited. [9] A man at the back said that this was exactly why it ought to stay.
- [3] The question came from a seventh-grade class that had been assigned to research a local landmark and chose the statue because it stood closest to the school. [4] The students learned that Pell had given the land for the green in 1870, and they also found, in the county archive, a deed showing that he had sold the same land to the town for four thousand dollars the year before. [5] They found a fund-raising letter from 1908 in which the statue committee wrote that "no memorial is too large for a man who has done so much for the village," and they noted that the committee's treasurer was Pell's grandson.
- [8] A retired history teacher, Mrs. Ostrander, rose to say that a statue is a record of what a town once wished to believe about itself. [10] In June the council voted to leave the statue on the green and to add a second plaque, its text to be decided. [11] The students' binder now sits on a shelf in the library, and the statue's raised hand, the school paper observed, still looks like the beginning of an answer.
Jun is proving what the whole text suggests. Claim: “The article suggests that a monument says as much about the people who raise and keep it as about the person it honors.” Every set is true. Which set proves every part of this reading?
- [5] They found a fund-raising letter from 1908 in which the statue committee wrote that "no memorial is too large for a man who has done so much for the village," and they noted that the committee's treasurer was Pell's grandson. [8] A retired history teacher, Mrs. Ostrander, rose to say that a statue is a record of what a town once wished to believe about itself. [9] A man at the back said that this was exactly why it ought to stay.
- [1] The statue of Josiah Pell has stood on the green in Pellham since 1911, facing the courthouse with one hand raised, as though he were about to correct someone. [2] The plaque calls him "founder and benefactor," and until this spring no one in Pellham thought to ask what he had founded or whom he had benefited. [3] The question came from a seventh-grade class that had been assigned to research a local landmark and chose the statue because it stood closest to the school.
- [6] The students presented their findings at the March council meeting, in a binder with colored tabs. [10] In June the council voted to leave the statue on the green and to add a second plaque, its text to be decided. [11] The students' binder now sits on a shelf in the library, and the statue's raised hand, the school paper observed, still looks like the beginning of an answer.
- [4] The students learned that Pell had given the land for the green in 1870, and they also found, in the county archive, a deed showing that he had sold the same land to the town for four thousand dollars the year before. [6] The students presented their findings at the March council meeting, in a binder with colored tabs. [7] The council thanked them, and then spent forty minutes arguing about whether the statue should come down, move to the library lawn or stay where it was with a second plaque.