Lay out an argument’s premises and test each one

Grade 11 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Fix the Alderwick Clock This Year (letter to the editor)

   [1] For most of the past century, the clock in the tower of the Alderwick town hall has kept accurate time for everyone who crosses the public square, but it stopped in March and has remained motionless ever since. [2] The town council will vote next month on whether to repair it, and I am writing to urge the council to spend $48,000 from the building reserve fund on the repair this year. [3] The engineering firm that inspected the tower in April reported that the gears are seriously worn, while the oak frame that supports them is still structurally sound. [4] The same report found that rainwater is entering through cracked wooden louvers near the top of the tower and soaking the frame every spring. [5] According to the firm, a repair this year would replace the gears and the louvers together for approximately $48,000. [6] If the louvers are left as they are, the firm expects the frame to deteriorate within five years, and a complete reconstruction would then cost approximately $190,000.

   [7] Waiting, in other words, would not save the town money; it would turn a modest repair into a considerably larger bill. [8] The building reserve fund currently holds about $260,000, and the town charter designates it for repairs to buildings that the town owns. [9] Because the tower is part of the town hall, the repair is precisely the kind of work the fund was created to pay for. [10] Paying $48,000 would still leave more than $200,000 in the fund for other repairs that may become necessary. [11] I first noticed the stopped hands while walking my dog to the bakery, and I have missed the hourly chime ever since.

   [12] Some neighbors have suggested replacing the original works with a small electric motor, which the firm estimated at about $20,000. [13] The firm noted, however, that a motor would do nothing about the louvers, so the frame would still be soaked and the larger bill would still arrive. [14] For these reasons, the council should approve the complete repair before another wet spring begins.

2. 1.

   Noah asks what part 7 needs when it says waiting “would not save the town money.” Which unstated assumption must be true?

   • That the hourly chime is worth hearing again after so many silent months
   • That rainwater is entering through cracked louvers near the top of the tower
   • That waiting would leave the louvers cracked for years, not just for a few months
   • That the firm’s cost estimates will be exact to the dollar when the repair is done
3. 2.

   Bo looks for the strongest objection to the plan. Which objection targets the letter’s reasoning, not a detail?

   • The tower’s clock was last repaired many years before the letter was written, by a different firm.
   • The reserve fund might be needed for other repairs that come up later in the same year.
   • The letter weighs the full repair only against doing nothing or a motor, never a louver repair.
   • The writer’s walk to the bakery with a dog is not evidence that the town as a whole needs the clock.
4. 3.

   Luz wants the new fact that would most weaken the claim that the full $48,000 repair is the better choice. Which fact is it?

   • A second engineer checked the firm’s report in April and agreed with its findings on the frame.
   • Other towers in the county have also developed cracked louvers on their old clock towers this decade.
   • The hourly chime would be quieter after the repair than it was before the clock stopped in March.
   • A contractor could fix the louvers alone this year for a few thousand dollars and save the frame.

5. A Seed Library for Every Season (newspaper column)

   [1] Three springs ago, the Birchmont Public Library set out an old card catalog filled with free packets of vegetable and flower seeds, and anyone with a library card could take up to five packets a visit. [2] The library now opens the seed cabinet only from March to May, and I believe it should keep the cabinet open all year. [3] Gardeners in our county plant at least three seasons of crops, because garlic goes into the ground in October and lettuce, peas and spinach can be sown again in late summer. [4] A cabinet that closes at the end of May therefore serves only the spring planting and leaves the late-summer and fall gardener with nothing.

   [5] Last year the cabinet gave out 1,140 packets, and the librarians kept a waiting list of more than sixty people who asked for seeds after it closed. [6] Those requests show that the demand does not end when the library's season does. [7] Keeping the cabinet open would cost very little, since local growers already donate most of the seeds and the cabinet itself sits in a corner that is otherwise empty. [8] The library's own report puts the yearly cost of envelopes and labels at about $90. [9] I have grown tomatoes from the library's seeds for two summers, and the plants were as strong as any I have bought from a nursery.

   [10] Some have worried that seeds stored through a hot summer would stop sprouting, and that concern deserves an answer. [11] Most vegetable seeds stay usable for at least two or three years when they are kept cool and dry, and the library's basement storeroom stays cool all summer. [12] The worry about stale seeds is therefore one the library can solve with the space it already has. [13] The library board meets in January to set the coming year's hours, which gives it time to plan the change. [14] For about $90 a year and a corner that is already free, the library could serve the gardeners of Birchmont through every season.

6. 4.

   Kira asks what the cost claim in parts 7 and 8 needs. Which unstated assumption must be true?

   • That tomatoes grown from the library’s seeds are as strong as plants bought from a nursery
   • That local growers already donate most of the seeds that the cabinet gives out to gardeners in spring
   • That more than a thousand gardeners will use the cabinet in the fall months of each year
   • That the extra months need no more staff time or purchased seed than envelopes and labels cost
7. 5.

   Pia looks for the strongest objection to the evidence in part 3 for fall gardeners. Which objection is strongest?

   • Seeds stored through a hot summer may stop sprouting before the fall planting season starts.
   • The writer grew tomatoes from library seeds, which says nothing about fall crops in the garden.
   • Garlic grows slowly and takes many months to reach harvest, even when planted on time.
   • Garlic is planted from cloves, not seed packets, so it is not a fall need for these seeds.
8. 6.

   Jun wants the new fact that would most weaken the claim that demand continues after May. Which fact is it?

   • The library board meets in January to set the coming year’s hours for the whole building.
   • Many of the sixty people on the waiting list asked for lettuce and spinach seeds in August this year.
   • Most of the sixty people on the waiting list were asking for spring seeds they had missed in May.
   • The writer’s tomato plants did better than nursery plants in one of two summers.

9. Move Two Bike Docks to the Station (letter to the city council)

   [1] When Cedarby opened its bike-share system two years ago, the city placed twelve docks around town, and four of them went to Mill Park, where planners expected recreational weekend riders. [2] I am writing to ask the city to move two of the four Mill Park docks to the plaza outside the train station before the fall. [3] The city's own ride records show that the Mill Park docks average approximately nine rides a day, the lowest of any location in the system. [4] The same records show that the single dock at the station averages approximately seventy rides a day and is frequently empty by eight in the morning. [5] A dock that is empty by eight cannot serve the commuters who arrive on later trains, so riders are being turned away at the location where demand is highest.

   [6] Meanwhile, the two docks remaining in Mill Park would still hold forty bicycles, which is more than four times the number of rides the park currently sees each day. [7] Moving two docks would therefore take bicycles from a location with spare capacity and give them to a location that regularly runs out. [8] The city's transportation office estimates that relocating a dock costs about $3,000, mostly for a new concrete pad and an electrical connection. [9] That is far less than the $45,000 the city would spend to purchase and install a new dock at the station. [10] The plaza also has a coffee cart and a covered bench, which make it a pleasant place to wait for a train.

   [11] Some park visitors may miss the docks on busy summer weekends, and their concern is legitimate. [12] Yet the records show that even the busiest weekend in July brought only twenty-six rides to all four park docks, well within what two docks can hold. [13] A relocation costing about $6,000 for two docks would do more for riders than any new purchase the city could afford this year. [14] I urge the city to make the change before the busy autumn season begins.

10. 7.

    Milo looks for the strongest objection to part 5, “riders are being turned away.” Which objection is strongest?

    • The plaza’s coffee cart and covered bench are not reasons to put bicycles at the station.
    • Concrete pads are cheaper to pour in dry weather than in wet weather, when crews work slowly and carefully.
    • Park visitors may miss the docks on busy summer weekends when the park is crowded.
    • An empty dock at eight does not show riders were turned away, and the letter never counts them.

11. Mornings for Dunmere Community Radio (newspaper column)

    [1] Dunmere Community Radio has broadcast from a room above the post office since 1998, but it is on the air only from six in the evening until midnight. [2] The station's board should add a morning program from six to nine on weekdays, starting in January. [3] A survey the station ran last spring drew 412 replies, and 290 of the listeners who answered said they listen to the radio mainly in the car on the way to work or school. [4] Those numbers suggest that most of the station's own listeners are in their cars in the morning, while the station is silent.

    [5] The station already owns everything a morning show would need, because the transmitter and the studio sit unused for eighteen hours of every day. [6] Its broadcast license allows it to stay on the air at any hour, so no new permission would be required. [7] Twenty-three volunteers now host the evening shows, and eleven of them told the board in March that they would take a morning shift if one were offered. [8] Eleven hosts are enough to cover fifteen morning hours a week, with each host taking a shift of an hour or two. [9] I hosted a jazz program on the station for six years, and I still remember how many letters came in whenever we played a local band.

    [10] A morning program could carry the school-closing notices and road reports that now reach families only through a website that many older residents never check. [11] The added cost would be small, since the station's electricity bill rose by only about $40 a month the last time it added an hour to its schedule. [12] Some board members worry that volunteers will tire of getting up before dawn, and the worry is a reasonable one. [13] The board could test the plan for three months and keep it only if the shifts stay filled, which would answer that worry with evidence rather than guesses. [14] A station that is silent when most of its listeners have their radios on is missing its best chance to serve the town.

12. 8.

    Ari asks what part 4 needs to move from “412 replies” to “most of the station’s own listeners.” Which unstated assumption must be true?

    • That the station’s whole audience was asked to take the survey last spring, at its studio
    • That the 412 people who answered the survey are typical of the station’s listeners
    • That 290 of the people who answered listen mainly in the car, as part 3 reports
    • That the writer enjoyed hosting a jazz program on the station for six years in the 1990s
13. 9.

    Tala looks for the strongest objection to the three-month trial in part 13. Which objection is strongest?

    • The trial would show whether shifts stay filled, but not whether anyone tunes in at six.
    • The transmitter is older than the studio equipment in the room above the post office.
    • Volunteers may tire of getting up before dawn to host a morning show, week after week.
    • The writer’s six years of hosting a jazz program do not show that morning shows succeed.
14. 10.

    Ren wants the new fact that would most weaken the claim in part 11 that the added cost would be small. Which fact is it?

    • The small rise came from one added hour a day, but the morning show adds three hours every weekday.
    • The station’s electricity rate has fallen since it last added an hour to its schedule, over a year ago.
    • The jazz program the writer hosted ran for six years on the station, long before the survey.
    • Eleven of the volunteer hosts have trained as radio technicians at the college downtown last year.