Two authors, one topic, different evidence

Grade 7 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. 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.

2. 1.

   Ren needs one statement that is fair to both accounts. Which is it?

   • The dam has cut the fish count by more than ninety percent, so it should come down whatever it costs.
   • The dam blocks fish and also protects Front Street, so both concerns are real.
   • The two accounts show that the town cannot have both fish and flood protection.
   • The dam protects Front Street, so it should stay and the fish should be moved.
3. 2.

   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 is an error, because Account A says the dam causes no floods at the river.
   • 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.

4. 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.

5. 3.

   Zee asks why the two accounts leave different impressions of the same purchase. Which explanation fits?

   • 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.
   • Account A is about noise and exhaust, and Account B is about the price.
6. 4.

   Ari needs one statement that is fair to both accounts. Which is it?

   • The city should buy the buses now, because the diesel buses are too loud to ride.
   • The city should not buy the buses, because the chargers add $2 million.
   • The city can buy the buses without any change to fares or other spending.
   • The electric buses cost more up front, but they would be quieter and cleaner.

7. 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.

8. 5.

   Esme asks why the two accounts leave different impressions of the same discovery. Which explanation fits?

   • One account has the year of the discovery wrong, so readers are misled.
   • Account A is wrong to credit Fleming, because others did the real work.
   • Account A is about the later factories, and Account B is about the first mold.
   • Each account tells a different true part: A the discovery, B the later work.
9. 6.

   Jun needs one statement that is fair to both accounts. Which is it?

   • Penicillin was first made into a medicine by Howard Florey in the year 1928.
   • Fleming by himself gave the world penicillin as a medicine for patients.
   • Fleming saw the mold's effect in 1928, and later teams made it a medicine.
   • Fleming's part was small, since other scientists made the medicine later.
10. 7.

    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.

11. 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.

12. 8.

    Luz asks why the two accounts leave different impressions of the same writing system. Which explanation fits?

    • Each account picks true evidence for a different focus: the inventor or the Nation.
    • Account A is about the newspaper, and Account B is about the eighty-five symbols.
    • One account has the year of the writing system wrong, so readers are misled.
    • Account A is biased and Account B is fair, because Account B mentions many people.
13. 9.

    Milo needs one statement that is fair to both accounts. Which is it?

    • Sequoyah created the system, and the Cherokee people then learned and used it.
    • The Cherokee people created the system, and Sequoyah merely helped them write it down.
    • Sequoyah created the system with no help or support from anyone in his life.
    • Sequoyah's system was adopted by other Native nations within ten years.
14. 10.

    Noah notes that Account B does not describe how Sequoyah worked out the symbols. Which statement about that is fair?

    • It means Account A is right and Account B should be set aside as incomplete.
    • It is an error, because Account B says Sequoyah did not work out the symbols.
    • It shows that Account B wants readers to forget Sequoyah and his years of work.
    • It is a choice of focus on how the system spread, and Account A supplies the rest.