Write a precise, fair argument

Grade 11 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   A Nature Play Area on the Ostrander Library Lawn (argument draft about an invented town)

   [1] The Ostrander Public Library sits on nearly an acre of mown grass that is used for two story hours each summer and otherwise stands empty from April through October. [2] The library board should turn the eastern half of that lawn into a nature play area, with stepping logs, a sand table, a path of low boulders and a shaded bench for caregivers. [3] A play area would keep young families at the library longer, it would cost much less than a conventional playground, and it would draw families who do not use the library at all.

   [4] First, families who spend more time at the library tend to borrow more books, and a play area would give them reason to stay after a program. [5] The library's circulation records for last year show that families who attended a children's program borrowed an average of six picture books per visit, while families who only returned books borrowed fewer than two. [6] This is important for the library.

   [7] Second, a nature play area is far less expensive than a traditional playground, because logs, boulders and sand require no rubber surfacing or yearly inspections by an outside contractor. [8] The landscape guy from the parks department said it would be super cheap, way cheaper than that huge climbing thing the board turned down a while back. [9] Because the materials are natural, they weather slowly, and the parks department expects to replace the logs only once every eight to ten years.

   [10] Third, a play area would attract families who are not using the library now, which matters to a board whose card registrations have declined for three consecutive years. [11] One mother told a librarian last spring that her children would visit more often if there were somewhere to play outside.

   [12] Some board members worry that children would carry sand and mud into the children's room and add to the custodian's work. [13] That concern is fair, but the plan places a boot brush and a covered sink beside the east entrance, which the head custodian has approved. [14] For a modest cost, the board could turn an empty lawn into the reason that young families stay, borrow and return.

2. 1.

   Ari sees that sentence [6] never says why the borrowing figures in [5] support the claim. Which sentence should replace [6] to state the link?

   • The figures show that a nature play area is a good plan for the library, and a good plan like this one deserves the board's support.
   • The figures match what the Hollis branch library saw last year, when families at its weekly craft hour borrowed far more picture books than its other visitors did.
   • The figures suggest that programs are what lead families to borrow, so the library should schedule more indoor programs for young children.
   • The figures suggest borrowing comes from time spent at the library, so a lawn that keeps families there longer should raise borrowing too.
3. 2.

   Bo thinks sentence [11] is too slight to support the reason in [10]. Which evidence should replace [11] because it is relevant and sufficient?

   • During last August's trial with loose logs and a sand bin, two fathers told the front desk that the sand bin was the main reason they had finally applied for cards.
   • During a four-week trial with loose logs and a sand bin last August, the front desk recorded 212 new card applications, compared with 64 in August the year before.
   • A brochure from the company that sells the stepping logs reports that libraries with nature play areas see far more families apply for cards.
   • The parks department reports that the logs and boulders of a nature play area need almost no upkeep during their first five years.
4. 3.

   Esme knows a library board expects costs reported the way a planning report gives them. Which version of sentence [8] does that?

   • Per the LA's opinion of probable cost, the east-lawn NPA scope, excluding site furnishings, comes in near $38K, about 0.33 of the 2019 PCS bid.
   • The landscape architect's estimate came in astonishingly low, a mere fraction of the enormous sum that the board once refused to spend on a towering climbing structure.
   • The parks department's landscape architect estimates the cost at about $38,000, roughly a third of the price of the climbing structure the board declined in 2019.
   • The eastern half of the lawn could be finished for about $38,000, roughly a third of the price of the climbing structure the board declined in 2019.

5. An Earlier First Train on Saturdays (argument draft about an invented rail line)

   [1] On Saturdays the first Kessel Valley train leaves Marlow Junction at 8:40 in the morning, more than two hours later than on weekdays, even though many of the valley's hospitals, bakeries and warehouses begin their Saturday shifts at seven. [2] The rail authority's board should add a 6:15 Saturday departure from Marlow Junction to the city terminal, making the weekday stops as far as Brennan Street. [3] An earlier train would let weekend workers reach their jobs without a car, and it could be operated at a modest cost because the equipment and the trained crews already exist.

   [4] First, Saturday workers who depend on the train are now forced either to pay for private rides or to give up shifts that begin before nine. [5] A nurse at Valley General said that getting to work on Saturdays is a real headache for a lot of people on the early shift. [6] Each Saturday shift that a worker cannot reach is lost pay for that worker and an empty post for the employer who scheduled it.

   [7] Second, the authority already owns what an earlier train requires, since the trainset that runs at 8:40 sits idle at the Marlow yard overnight and the weekday crews are qualified on the route. [8] The authority's operations report for last year estimated the cost of one added Saturday round trip at about $1,900 per week, almost entirely for crew wages. [9] So it makes sense.

   [10] Some board members argue that an early Saturday train would run nearly empty, as the 8:40 train often does through its first several stations. [11] That worry deserves a serious answer, because an empty train is a poor use of public money. [12] But tons of people would totally ride it, way more than anyone on the board thinks.

   [13] For roughly the cost of one crew's wages, the authority could give back Saturday work to riders who now lose it. [14] The board should add the 6:15 departure when it approves the spring timetable in February.

6. 4.

   Luz knows a transit board expects survey results reported with their source and size. Which version of sentence [12] does that?

   • But the authority's March survey of 640 riders guarantees that 118 of them will board the new 6:15 train each Saturday morning without fail.
   • But in the authority's March survey of 640 weekday riders, 118 said they work a Saturday shift that begins before 8:30 in the morning.
   • But 118 of the valley's weekday riders work a Saturday shift that begins before 8:30, far more than the board seems to expect.
   • But the March O-D survey (n = 640) puts pre-0830 Saturday shift starts at 18.4 percent, implying robust latent demand for the AM trip.

7. A Shared Bread Oven for Linder Plaza (argument draft about an invented town)

   [1] Since the Tamsworth food cooperative closed its bakery two years ago, the town has had no place where residents can bake bread together, and the brick-paved corner of Linder Plaza has stood empty except for two benches and a bicycle rack. [2] The parks and recreation commission should build a shared brick bread oven on that corner and open it on Saturday mornings to residents who reserve a baking time in advance. [3] An oven would give the plaza a regular weekend use, and it would teach a practical skill that many residents have said they would like to learn.

   [4] First, a weekly event gives a public space a reason to be visited, and the plaza has lacked one since the cooperative closed. [5] Foot counts taken by the town planning office on six Saturdays last summer found an average of thirty-one people crossing the plaza between nine and noon, compared with more than two hundred in the market square two blocks away. [6] That is a big difference.

   [7] Second, residents want to learn to bake, and an oven supervised by trained volunteers would give them a place to practice. [8] Lots of people on the town's online message board said that baking bread together sounded like fun.

   [9] Some commissioners worry that smoke from the oven would bother the residents of the apartments above the shops on the plaza's north side. [10] The worry is reasonable, since several of those apartments have windows facing the corner where the oven would stand. [11] But the oven builder says the smoke is no big deal at all if you do it right. [12] Former members of the cooperative have also offered to run the first season of baking mornings, so the town would not need to hire new staff.

   [13] A shared oven would turn a quiet corner into a weekly gathering place and give residents a skill they have asked to learn. [14] The commission should approve the oven at its March meeting so that it can be built and tested before the summer baking season begins.

8. 5.

   Milo notices that sentence [6] only says the numbers differ. Which sentence should replace [6] to explain why [5] supports the reason in [4]?

   • The difference shows that the plaza needs a bread oven, because an oven is exactly what a plaza like this one needs.
   • Since the market square draws two hundred people, an oven would draw the same two hundred people to the plaza each Saturday.
   • Since the market square draws far bigger crowds, the commission should move the Saturday market into Linder Plaza instead.
   • Since the market square differs from the plaza mainly in having a weekly event, the gap suggests that a scheduled oven could draw some of that crowd.
9. 6.

   Noah thinks sentence [8] is weak support for the reason in [7]. Which evidence should replace [8] because it is relevant and sufficient?

   • The planning office counted an average of thirty-one people crossing Linder Plaza on summer Saturdays, compared with more than two hundred in the busy market square.
   • A shared oven in a city park on the other side of the country has drawn bakers almost every weekend since it opened about ten years ago.
   • Three residents who attended a library baking workshop last winter said afterward that they wished they had a place to keep practicing.
   • When the library offered four bread-baking workshops last winter, all eighty seats were reserved within two days, and the waiting list reached ninety-five names.
10. 7.

    Pia knows a commission expects a safety answer to name the office that checked it. Which version of sentence [11] does that?

    • But a thirteen-foot chimney, used with dry hardwood, would carry the smoke above the second-floor windows of the apartments on the plaza's north side.
    • But the county air-quality office has reviewed the design and certified that no resident will notice any smoke, in any weather, at any hour.
    • But the county air-quality office reviewed the design and found that a thirteen-foot chimney burning dry hardwood would carry smoke above the second-floor windows.
    • But the builder's elegant design would send the smoke drifting harmlessly away, far above the windows of the neighbors on the north side.

11. Wayfinding Signs for Downtown Calloway (argument draft about an invented town)

    [1] Visitors who leave the Calloway train station on foot arrive at a five-way intersection with no signs, and many of them must ask a stranger or consult a phone before they can find the river walk, the history museum or the shops on Ferrier Street. [2] The downtown district board should install twelve wayfinding signs, each showing a simple map, walking times and the direction of the main attractions, at the station and at the busiest corners. [3] Signs would help visitors find what downtown offers and would lead more of them past the shops, at a cost that the district's improvement fund can cover this year.

    [4] First, visitors who cannot find their way around downtown see fewer of its attractions and usually leave sooner than they originally intended. [5] A tourist from out of state told one shop owner that the downtown was confusing. [6] When a discouraged visitor gives up on locating the museum, the town loses a visit that it has already spent considerable money advertising.

    [7] Second, signs that show walking times would send more visitors along Ferrier Street, where most of the downtown shops are located. [8] The district's spending survey from last summer found that visitors who walked the length of Ferrier Street spent an average of $46 downtown, compared with $17 for visitors who stayed near the station. [9] This is why the signs are needed.

    [10] Several shop owners worry that additional signposts would clutter sidewalks that are already narrow and frequently crowded on summer weekends. [11] The concern is fair, since several sidewalks near the station are barely five feet wide. [12] But the signs are skinny, and honestly nobody will even notice them.

    [13] Twelve signs would transform a confusing arrival into a short, clearly marked walk, and they would guide visitors toward the street where they spend the most. [14] The board should approve the signs at its April meeting so that they are installed before the summer visitors arrive.

12. 8.

    Ren sees that sentence [9] does not say why the spending survey in [8] supports the reason in [7]. Which sentence should replace [9] to state the link?

    • If walkers spend $46, then twelve signs would make each visitor to Calloway spend at least $46 downtown.
    • If walking past more shops is what raises spending, then signs that lead visitors down Ferrier Street should raise what they spend downtown.
    • The survey shows that downtown needs signs, because signs are what a downtown like Calloway's needs most.
    • The survey matches what shop owners on Ferrier Street report: their busiest days come when the river walk draws crowds past their doors.
13. 9.

    Tala thinks sentence [5] is weak evidence for the reason in [4]. Which evidence should replace [5] because it is relevant and sufficient?

    • A study of a large city's downtown found that visitors who got lost spent about a third less time there than visitors who did not.
    • Two couples visiting from the coast told the museum's front desk last July that they had walked past the end of Ferrier Street twice before they finally found the building.
    • Last summer the museum's volunteers kept a front-desk tally and found that 214 of 530 visitors, about two in five, had trouble finding the building from the station.
    • A sign company that hopes to win the contract reports that most visitors to small downtowns get lost without wayfinding signs.
14. 10.

    Zee knows a district board expects a reply about sidewalks to give a measurement and who made it. Which version of sentence [12] does that?

    • But the town engineer has confirmed that the fourteen-inch signs will cause no crowding on any sidewalk at any time of year.
    • But per the engineer's ROW review, each 14-inch post leaves a 48-inch clear PAR, so the installs meet the town's sidewalk standard.
    • But the slender signs would blend gracefully into the streetscape, leaving the sidewalks as open and inviting as they are today.
    • But the proposed signs are fourteen inches wide, and the town engineer has confirmed that each location leaves at least four feet of clear sidewalk.