Two authors, one topic, different evidence
Grade 7 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
The Harlan Dam, Told Two Ways (article)
ACCOUNT A: A FISHING GUIDE WRITES
[1] The Harlan Dam, built on the Mill River in 1931, is scheduled for removal next summer. [2] The dam is forty feet high and has no fish ladder, so salmon and trout cannot swim upstream to spawn. [3] Since it was built, the upstream count of spawning fish has dropped by more than ninety percent. [4] Biologists expect the fish to return within a few years of its removal. [5] The river will again support the fish that gave the valley its name.
ACCOUNT B: A TOWN ENGINEER WRITES
[6] The Harlan Dam, built on the Mill River in 1931, is scheduled for removal next summer. [7] The dam also holds back spring floodwater, and the town's riverside streets have not flooded since it was built. [8] The town will need to raise a bridge and build a levee at a cost of eight million dollars to replace that protection. [9] Without that work, a flood as large as the one in 1927 would cover Front Street. [10] The removal should go forward only if the town can pay for flood protection first.
Pia asks why the two accounts leave different impressions of the same removal. Which explanation fits?
- Account B is biased and Account A is fair, because Account B mentions money.
- Each account picks true evidence for its own concern: fish or floods.
- Account A is about the cost of floods, and Account B is about the fish.
- One account has the dam's date or height wrong, so readers are misled.
Tala notes that Account A does not mention floods. Which statement about that is fair?
- It is a choice of focus, not an error, but Account B's evidence matters too.
- It means Account B is right and Account A should be set aside as unreliable.
- It shows that Account A is hiding facts to win readers over to its side.
- It is an error, because Account A says the dam causes no floods at the river.
Electric Buses for Marlow (article)
ACCOUNT A: THE CITY FINANCE OFFICER WRITES
[1] The city of Marlow will buy ten electric buses next year to replace its oldest diesel buses. [2] Each electric bus costs about $750,000, compared with $450,000 for a diesel bus. [3] The charging stations will add another $2 million to the project. [4] The city will have to cut other spending or raise fares to pay for the change. [5] A careful budget should come before a new fleet.
ACCOUNT B: A DAILY RIDER WRITES
[6] The city of Marlow will buy ten electric buses next year to replace its oldest diesel buses. [7] I ride the Route 4 diesel bus each morning, and the engine is so loud that I cannot hear the driver. [8] On cold days the exhaust smells strong at the stop. [9] Electric buses run quietly and give off no exhaust along the street. [10] Riders and neighbors deserve cleaner, quieter buses.
Zee asks why the two accounts leave different impressions of the same purchase. Which explanation fits?
- Account A is about noise and exhaust, and Account B is about the price.
- One writer has the number of buses wrong, so readers are misled.
- Each writer picks true evidence for a different concern: price or noise.
- Account A is biased and Account B is fair, because a finance officer cares about money.
Bo notes that Account B does not give any prices. Which statement about that is fair?
- It is an error, because Account B says the new buses would cost the city nothing.
- It shows that the rider does not care about the city's budget or its taxes.
- It is a choice of focus on the ride, not an error, but cost still matters.
- It means Account A has the facts that matter and Account B has few of them.
How Penicillin Became a Medicine (article)
ACCOUNT A: A SCIENCE WRITER WRITES
[1] In 1928, the Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming noticed a mold growing on a dish where he had been growing bacteria. [2] The bacteria near the mold had broken apart, and Fleming saw that the mold made something that stopped their growth. [3] He named it penicillin and wrote about it in a scientific paper in 1929. [4] His sharp eye turned a spoiled dish into a discovery that changed medicine. [5] Penicillin began with one scientist's careful observation.
ACCOUNT B: A MEDICAL HISTORIAN WRITES
[6] In 1928, the Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming noticed a mold growing on a dish where he had been growing bacteria. [7] Fleming found that penicillin was hard to make in large amounts, and he moved on to other work. [8] In the late 1930s, Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and their team at Oxford found a way to purify and test penicillin. [9] By the mid-1940s, factories were making enough penicillin to treat many patients. [10] Penicillin became a medicine through the work of many people.
Esme asks why the two accounts leave different impressions of the same discovery. Which explanation fits?
- Each account tells a different true part: A the discovery, B the later work.
- One account has the year of the discovery wrong, so readers are misled.
- Account A is about the later factories, and Account B is about the first mold.
- Account A is wrong to credit Fleming, because others did the real work.
Jun needs one statement that is fair to both accounts. Which is it?
- Fleming by himself gave the world penicillin as a medicine for patients.
- Fleming's part was small, since other scientists made the medicine later.
- Penicillin was first made into a medicine by Howard Florey in the year 1928.
- Fleming saw the mold's effect in 1928, and later teams made it a medicine.
Kira notes that Account A does not mention Florey, Chain or their team. Which statement about that is fair?
- It is a choice of focus on the discovery, but Account B shows what came next.
- It shows that Account A wants readers to give Fleming credit for work he did not do.
- It is an error, because Account A says Florey and Chain were not involved.
- It means Account B is right and Account A should be set aside as unreliable.
Sequoyah's Writing System (article)
ACCOUNT A: A BIOGRAPHER WRITES
[1] Around 1821, the Cherokee silversmith Sequoyah finished a writing system for the Cherokee language. [2] He had worked on it for more than ten years, at first alone and against the doubts of his neighbors. [3] He made a symbol for each syllable of spoken Cherokee, and in the end he had eighty-five symbols. [4] To show that it worked, he and his daughter sent messages to each other in writing. [5] The system was the work of one determined inventor.
ACCOUNT B: A HISTORIAN OF THE CHEROKEE NATION WRITES
[6] Around 1821, the Cherokee silversmith Sequoyah finished a writing system for the Cherokee language. [7] Within a few years, thousands of Cherokee people had learned to read and write it, many of them teaching one another. [8] In 1828, the Cherokee Nation began printing a newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix, in both Cherokee and English. [9] Families wrote letters and kept records, and the writing system spread across the Nation. [10] The system mattered because the Cherokee people made it their own.
Luz asks why the two accounts leave different impressions of the same writing system. Which explanation fits?
- One account has the year of the writing system wrong, so readers are misled.
- Each account picks true evidence for a different focus: the inventor or the Nation.
- Account A is biased and Account B is fair, because Account B mentions many people.
- Account A is about the newspaper, and Account B is about the eighty-five symbols.
Milo needs one statement that is fair to both accounts. Which is it?
- Sequoyah created the system with no help or support from anyone in his life.
- The Cherokee people created the system, and Sequoyah merely helped them write it down.
- Sequoyah's system was adopted by other Native nations within ten years.
- Sequoyah created the system, and the Cherokee people then learned and used it.
Noah notes that Account B does not describe how Sequoyah worked out the symbols. Which statement about that is fair?
- It shows that Account B wants readers to forget Sequoyah and his years of work.
- It is an error, because Account B says Sequoyah did not work out the symbols.
- It means Account A is right and Account B should be set aside as incomplete.
- It is a choice of focus on how the system spread, and Account A supplies the rest.