Two authors, one topic, different evidence

Grade 7 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   The Elm Street Market (two accounts)

   ACCOUNT A: A VENDOR WRITES

   [1] The Elm Street Market opened in May with forty stalls and has been held every Saturday since. [2] On opening day, more than a thousand shoppers walked through, and my stall of jams sold out by noon. [3] Several vendors told me their weekly sales were double what they earned at the old indoor market. [4] The market has turned a quiet street into the busiest place in town on Saturdays. [5] It is the best thing to happen to local farmers in years.

   ACCOUNT B: A NEIGHBOR WRITES

   [6] The Elm Street Market opened in May with forty stalls and has been held every Saturday since. [7] I live on the street, and since the market began, cars parked along both curbs block my driveway until noon. [8] Delivery trucks must take a longer route around the block, and one missed a turn onto my lawn. [9] The shoppers are friendly, but the street was built for quiet mornings, not for crowds. [10] The town should find a better place for the market. Claim and evidence matrix: Author A column holds the details from sentences [1] to [5]; Author B column holds the details from sentences [6] to [10]; a middle band holds the facts both authors give.

2. 1.

   Ari fills the middle band of the matrix. Which fact do both accounts give?

   • The market has made the street safer for the people who live there.
   • Delivery trucks must take a longer route around the block.
   • The market opened in May with forty stalls and meets on Saturdays.
   • More than a thousand shoppers came on opening day.
3. 2.

   Bo checks the matrix. Which detail appears in Account B but not in Account A?

   • Several vendors earned double what they earned at the old indoor market.
   • The market opened in May with forty stalls.
   • The town has already voted to move the market to a new place.
   • Delivery trucks must take a longer route around the block.
4. 3.

   Esme fills the Author A column. Which detail belongs only in that column?

   • Cars parked along both curbs block a driveway until noon.
   • The market meets on Saturdays.
   • The writer plans to open a second stall at the market.
   • Several vendors said their weekly sales were double what they earned at the old market.

5. The First Flight at Kitty Hawk (two accounts)

   ACCOUNT A: A MUSEUM GUIDE WRITES

   [1] On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first powered airplane flights near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. [2] The first flight lasted twelve seconds and covered 120 feet. [3] The brothers designed the airplane themselves, including its propellers, and had a light engine built in their own shop. [4] Before the flights, they tested more than two hundred wing shapes in a homemade wind tunnel. [5] The Wright Flyer was a triumph of careful engineering.

   ACCOUNT B: A HISTORIAN WRITES

   [6] On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first powered airplane flights near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. [7] The first flight lasted twelve seconds and covered 120 feet. [8] The brothers ran a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, and paid for their experiments with the money it earned. [9] They crashed gliders and rebuilt them again and again, and many people doubted that humans could fly. [10] Their story shows how much a person can achieve by refusing to give up. Claim and evidence matrix: Author A column holds the details from sentences [1] to [5]; Author B column holds the details from sentences [6] to [10]; a middle band holds the facts both authors give.

6. 4.

   Jun fills the middle band of the matrix. Which fact do both accounts give?

   • The brothers tested more than two hundred wing shapes in a homemade wind tunnel.
   • The brothers ran a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio.
   • The flights showed that airplanes could carry passengers over long trips within a few years.
   • The first flight, in 1903 near Kitty Hawk, lasted twelve seconds and covered 120 feet.
7. 5.

   Kira checks the matrix. Which detail appears in Account A but not in Account B?

   • The brothers paid for their work with money from a bicycle shop.
   • The brothers tested wing shapes in a homemade wind tunnel.
   • The brothers sold the Wright Flyer to the army that same year.
   • The first flight covered 120 feet.
8. 6.

   Luz fills the Author B column. Which detail belongs only in that column?

   • The brothers crashed gliders and rebuilt them again and again.
   • The brothers became rich from the first flights and bought a large factory.
   • The brothers designed the propellers themselves.
   • The first flight lasted twelve seconds.

9. The Erie Canal (two accounts)

   ACCOUNT A: AN ENGINEER WRITES

   [1] The Erie Canal opened in 1825 and ran 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo, New York. [2] Workers dug most of it by hand, using shovels and horse-drawn plows. [3] The canal needed 83 locks to lift boats over hills, and builders had to carry it across rivers on stone aqueducts. [4] The project cost about seven million dollars, which was an enormous sum at the time. [5] It was one of the great engineering feats of its age.

   ACCOUNT B: A TRADE HISTORIAN WRITES

   [6] The Erie Canal opened in 1825 and ran 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo, New York. [7] Before the canal, shipping goods inland by wagon was slow and expensive. [8] After it opened, farmers in the west could send grain east at a much lower cost, and shipments grew quickly. [9] Towns such as Rochester and Buffalo grew into busy cities along the route. [10] The canal's greatest effect was on trade and on the towns it connected. Claim and evidence matrix: Author A column holds the details from sentences [1] to [5]; Author B column holds the details from sentences [6] to [10]; a middle band holds the facts both authors give.

10. 7.

    Pia fills the Author B column. Which detail belongs only in that column?

    • Shipping goods inland by wagon was slow and expensive before the canal.
    • Workers dug most of the canal by hand with shovels and plows.
    • The canal ran 363 miles.
    • Towns across the whole country grew because of the canal.

11. The Light at Gull Point (two accounts)

    ACCOUNT A: A KEEPER'S GRANDCHILD WRITES

    [1] This spring, the Coast Guard turned the Gull Point lighthouse light over to an automatic system. [2] For ninety years, a keeper lived at the lighthouse and climbed the tower each evening to light the lamp. [3] My grandmother kept the light for twenty of those years, and she wrote in a log about every ship that passed. [4] The tower now stands quiet at night, and the keeper's cottage is empty. [5] Something important about the coast has been lost.

    ACCOUNT B: A COAST GUARD OFFICER WRITES

    [6] This spring, the Coast Guard turned the Gull Point lighthouse light over to an automatic system. [7] The new light turns on by itself at dusk and sends a signal to the Coast Guard station if the lamp fails. [8] A keeper's wages and the cost of repairs had grown each year, and the automatic system costs far less to run. [9] Ships can see the light just as well as before, and a repair crew checks it every month. [10] The change keeps the coast safe and saves public money. Claim and evidence matrix: Author A column holds the details from sentences [1] to [5]; Author B column holds the details from sentences [6] to [10]; a middle band holds the facts both authors give.

12. 8.

    Ren fills the middle band of the matrix. Which fact do both accounts give?

    • The new light sends a signal to the station if the lamp fails.
    • The Coast Guard plans to close the tower for good next year.
    • The Coast Guard turned the Gull Point light over to an automatic system this spring.
    • A keeper lived at the lighthouse for ninety years.
13. 9.

    Tala checks the matrix. Which detail appears in Account B but not in Account A?

    • A repair crew checks the light every month.
    • The keeper's cottage will be turned into a museum.
    • The light was turned over to an automatic system.
    • A keeper's log recorded every ship that passed.
14. 10.

    Zee fills the Author A column. Which detail belongs only in that column?

    • The light is now automatic.
    • The automatic system costs far less to run.
    • The writer's grandmother kept the light for twenty years.
    • The writer plans to work as a lighthouse keeper someday.