Write a precise, fair argument

Grade 11 Reading Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Restore the Windmill at Halvorsen Heritage Farm (argument draft about an invented county farm)

   [1] The wooden windmill at Halvorsen Heritage Farm, built in 1894 to grind the farm's grain, has stood with its sails locked since a gear in its cap cracked in a 2016 storm. [2] The county parks board should pay to repair the cap and the sails so that the mill can turn on demonstration days, as it did for over a century. [3] A working windmill would teach visitors how farms once used the wind, and repairing it now would probably cost far less than repairing it later.

   [4] First, a turning mill demonstrates something that a locked one cannot: how a breeze pushing against the sails becomes the energy that grinds grain into flour. [5] The farm's education staff report that visiting fourth-grade classes now see the gears only in photographs, and teachers have twice asked whether the mill will turn again. [6] Each school group that leaves without seeing the sails move has learned about wind energy from a poster rather than the machinery itself. [7] The millwright's estimate also includes new canvas for the four sails, which were taken down and stored in the hayloft when the gear cracked.

   [8] Also, there is the money. [9] A millwright from the state mills association inspected the cap in May, estimated the repair at $64,000, and warned that rainwater entering the crack is rotting the main shaft. [10] If the shaft fails, the millwright estimated, the repair would rise to more than $180,000, because the entire cap would have to be lifted off by crane. [11] Once the mill turns again, crowds will fill the farm every weekend, and the farm will no longer need any money from the county.

   [12] Some board members argue that the county should spend its preservation money on the farmhouse roof, which leaks during heavy rain. [13] The roof does need work, but the caretaker has covered the worst section with a tarp that should last the winter, while nothing can slow the rot in the shaft.

   [14] Repairing the mill this year would restore a working machine to the farm's lessons and spare the county a far larger bill. [15] The board should approve the repair in its October budget, before another winter of rain damages the shaft further.

2. 1.

   Ari sees that sentence [8] opens paragraph 3 without linking it to paragraph 2. Which sentence should replace [8]?

   • Beyond its long history as an 1894 landmark on the heritage farm, the windmill deserves the board's attention for the condition it is in today.
   • Even so, a turning mill may matter less to visitors than the price the county would pay to keep it working.
   • Seeing the sails turn would help schools, but the more urgent reason to act this year is what waiting would cost the county.
   • In addition, there is another important reason that the board should approve the repair of the windmill this year.
3. 2.

   Bo thinks sentence [7] is out of place in paragraph 2. Where should it go so that each idea builds on what comes before it?

   • After sentence 9, where the millwright gives the estimate
   • After sentence 8, the opening of paragraph 3
   • After sentence 13, the answer about the roof
   • After sentence 1, which mentions the locked sails
4. 3.

   Esme is checking the reasoning in the draft. Which sentence claims much more than its evidence can support?

   • [10] If the shaft fails, the millwright estimated, the repair would rise to more than $180,000, because the entire cap would have to be lifted off by crane.
   • [11] Once the mill turns again, crowds will fill the farm every weekend, and the farm will no longer need any money from the county.
   • [3] A working windmill would teach visitors how farms once used the wind, and repairing it now would probably cost far less than repairing it later.
   • [12] Some board members argue that the county should spend its preservation money on the farmhouse roof, which leaks during heavy rain.

5. Open the Levee Path to Walkers and Cyclists (argument draft about an invented levee district)

   [1] The six-mile gravel road along the top of the Ruskin River levee connects the towns of Abernathy and Coldbrook, but a locked gate at each end keeps out everyone except the district's inspection trucks. [2] The levee district board should open the road to walkers and cyclists from sunrise to sunset, closing it only during high water and on the two days each month when crews mow the slopes. [3] An open path would give the two towns a safe route between them, and it would add watchful eyes to an embankment the district must inspect.

   [4] First, people who travel between the towns on foot or by bicycle now use the shoulder of Route 9, which has no sidewalk and a fifty-five-mile-an-hour speed limit. [5] The county's traffic counts for last year recorded an average of forty-two cyclists and walkers on that shoulder each summer weekday. [6] A level path set well apart from the highway would likely be safer for those travelers than a narrow shoulder beside fast traffic. [7] Its engineer also credits those reports with finding two burrows that crews filled before spring high water.

   [8] Next, the district. [9] The district's inspectors walk the entire levee only twice annually, so small problems such as animal burrows or wet patches on the slope can go unnoticed for months. [10] The Halden County levee district, which opened its levee path in 2018, now receives about thirty reports a year from walkers who notice something unusual. [11] With walkers on the path each day, the levee would be watched so closely that it could never fail in a flood again.

   [12] Several board members fear that walkers and cyclists would wear ruts in the gravel and delay the inspection trucks. [13] The trucks travel the road at ten miles an hour, however, and the Halden district's records show no delays caused by walkers or cyclists in five years.

   [14] Opening the road would cost the district little more than signs at its two gates, and it would give two towns a safe route and the levee many watchers. [15] The board should vote to open the path this spring, once the high-water season ends.

6. 4.

   Jun sees that sentence [8] gives readers no bridge from paragraph 2 to paragraph 3. Which sentence should replace [8]?

   • Although a safe route would help travelers, it would make the district's inspections of the embankment harder.
   • A level path apart from the highway would give the forty-two daily travelers a far safer way between the two towns.
   • A safe route would serve the travelers, and the same open path would also serve the district, which must watch six miles of embankment.
   • Apart from the locked gates that keep the public off the gravel road today, the board should also consider how often the levee is inspected.
7. 5.

   Luz is testing each claim against its support. Which sentence makes a leap that the draft's evidence cannot support?

   • [11] With walkers on the path each day, the levee would be watched so closely that it could never fail in a flood again.
   • [12] Several board members fear that walkers and cyclists would wear ruts in the gravel and delay the inspection trucks.
   • [6] A level path set well apart from the highway would likely be safer for those travelers than a narrow shoulder beside fast traffic.
   • [5] The county's traffic counts for last year recorded an average of forty-two cyclists and walkers on that shoulder each summer weekday.

8. A Four-Day Summer Schedule at Pell Town Hall (argument draft about an invented town)

   [1] Pell Town Hall keeps its offices open from nine to five, five days a week, which means residents who work daytime hours must take time off to renew a permit, pay a water bill or file a form. [2] The town council should try a four-day schedule from June through August, opening the offices from seven-thirty to six, Monday through Thursday, and closing the building on Fridays. [3] Longer days would make town services easier for working residents to reach, and closing the building one day each week would lower the summer cooling bill.

   [4] First, longer hours at both ends of the day would fit residents' working lives better than the current schedule does. [5] The town clerk's records show that the offices' busiest half hour is the last one, from four-thirty to five, when lines often reach the hallway and some residents are turned away at closing. [6] Opening at seven-thirty and closing at six would let those residents come before or after work instead of crowding into the final minutes.

   [7] Another thing is cooling. [8] The building's cooling system runs all day whenever the offices are open, and the public works director estimates that closing on Fridays would cut the summer electric bill by about $3,400. [9] The clerk also notes that about one resident in five turned away at closing does not return that week. [10] The longer daily hours would add some cooling time, but the director's estimate has already subtracted it. [11] Other towns would soon notice Pell's savings and copy the schedule, until four-day weeks became the rule across the state.

   [12] Some residents worry that they will need town hall on a Friday, especially contractors who must pick up building permits before weekend work. [13] That need is real, so the plan keeps the permit office reachable by telephone and online on Fridays and lets contractors collect approved permits from a locked box by the door.

   [14] A summer trial would give working residents usable hours and the town a lower bill, at no cost beyond rearranging the staff's week. [15] The council should approve the trial in April so that residents have time to learn the new hours before June.

9. 6.

   Milo sees that sentence [7] starts paragraph 3 with no link to paragraph 2. Which sentence should replace [7]?

   • Longer weekday hours would serve residents, and the closed Friday that makes them possible would also lower the building's largest summer bill.
   • Another important reason for the council to approve this schedule has to do with the cost of running the building.
   • Because longer hours would serve residents, the building's cooling system would have to run even more each summer.
   • Opening at seven-thirty and closing at six would end the crowding in the last half hour before the offices close.
10. 7.

    Pia is checking which claims in the draft have support. Which sentence leaps beyond anything the draft can show?

    • [8] The building's cooling system runs all day whenever the offices are open, and the public works director estimates that closing on Fridays would cut the summer electric bill by about $3,400.
    • [12] Some residents worry that they will need town hall on a Friday, especially contractors who must pick up building permits before weekend work.
    • [5] The town clerk's records show that the offices' busiest half hour is the last one, from four-thirty to five, when lines often reach the hallway and some residents are turned away at closing.
    • [11] Other towns would soon notice Pell's savings and copy the schedule, until four-day weeks became the rule across the state.

11. Move the Varden Harvest Festival Downtown (argument draft about an invented town)

    [1] For thirty years the Varden Harvest Festival has been held at the county fairground, three miles outside town, where visitors park in a grass field and the downtown shops sit nearly empty for the entire weekend. [2] The festival committee should move next year's festival to Main Street and Commons Park, closing four blocks of Main Street to cars from Saturday morning to Sunday evening. [3] A downtown festival would bring its visitors to the town's own businesses, and it would spare the committee the considerable cost of renting the fairground.

    [4] First, a festival held among the shops would turn the town's biggest weekend into a gain for local merchants instead of a loss. [5] The downtown merchants association surveyed its members after last year's festival, and twenty-six of its thirty-one members reported lower sales that weekend than on an ordinary October weekend. [6] Holding the festival on Main Street would likely put the crowds at the shops' front doors rather than three miles away. [7] The school district has offered the high school parking lot for that shuttle, and the lot holds about four hundred cars.

    [8] Also, money. [9] The fairground charges $8,500 for the weekend, which is nearly a third of what the festival spends each year. [10] The town allows the committee to use Commons Park and Main Street for the cost of street barriers and cleanup, which the public works department estimates at $2,200. [11] Once visitors discover the downtown shops during the festival, the empty storefronts on Main Street will be filled within a year.

    [12] Some residents worry that closing Main Street would leave nowhere to park and would block the most direct route to the medical clinic on Hale Avenue. [13] The concern deserves an answer, and the plan routes traffic around the closed blocks on Elm Street and runs a free shuttle every fifteen minutes from a lot at the edge of town.

    [14] A downtown festival would keep the town's busiest weekend in the town and cut the committee's largest single expense by three quarters. [15] The committee should vote on the move in January so that vendors and merchants can plan for the new location.

12. 8.

    Ren sees that sentence [8] gives paragraph 3 no link to the merchants in paragraph 2. Which sentence should replace [8]?

    • Thirty years at the county fairground have given the festival a long tradition, but the committee has more than tradition to weigh.
    • A downtown festival would help the merchants, and leaving the fairground would also help the committee's own budget.
    • With the festival held among the shops, twenty-six merchants would no longer lose sales on the town's biggest weekend.
    • Also, there is one more reason that the festival committee should move next year's festival to Main Street.
13. 9.

    Tala sees that sentence [7] mentions "that shuttle" before any shuttle appears. Where should [7] go so that it builds on what comes before?

    • After sentence 1, where visitors park in a field
    • After sentence 13, which introduces the free shuttle
    • After sentence 14, which sums up the gains
    • After sentence 12, the worry about parking at the festival
14. 10.

    Zee is reading the draft as a doubtful committee member would. Which sentence claims more than its evidence shows?

    • [6] Holding the festival on Main Street would likely put the crowds at the shops' front doors rather than three miles away.
    • [11] Once visitors discover the downtown shops during the festival, the empty storefronts on Main Street will be filled within a year.
    • [14] A downtown festival would keep the town's busiest weekend in the town and cut the committee's largest single expense by three quarters.
    • [9] The fairground charges $8,500 for the weekend, which is nearly a third of what the festival spends each year.