How people, events and ideas affect each other
Grade 7 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Tools to Share (article)
[1] When the Calder Creek flood reached the Westfield neighborhood, it soaked the garages along Pine Lane and ruined most of the families' tools. [2] Weeks later, residents faced the cost of replacing drills, saws and ladders that each household used only a few times a year. [3] Maren Quist, who lived at the end of the lane, noticed that nearly every family needed the same few tools at the same few times.
[4] That observation gave her an idea: a lending shelf where neighbors could share tools instead of each buying their own. [5] She wrote the plan on a single page and posted it on the corner mailboxes. [6] Within a week, twelve families had offered to donate tools that had been saved from the water.
[7] The plan also persuaded the community center to give the group a storage room, and the first tool library opened in October. [8] Because members signed out each tool with a card, everyone knew where a ladder or a saw had gone. [9] In the first year, forty families borrowed tools, and several said they had stopped planning to buy new ones.
[10] Visitors from nearby towns heard about the shelf and asked how it worked. [11] Maren answered their questions and shared her one-page plan. [12] Using her plan, two other neighborhoods have since started lending shelves of their own. Ladder with arrows: P1 event: a flood ruins the neighbors' tools → P2 person: Maren notices that families need the same tools → P3 idea: share tools instead of buying them —?→ P4 event: the tool library opens and other neighborhoods copy it
Bo reads the ladder, but the arrow from Maren's lending-shelf plan to the opening of the tool library has no label. Which label fits?
- After Maren posted the plan on the corner mailboxes, the first tool library opened in October.
- Her plan paid for the whole library and its shelves, so the community center had to spend nothing.
- Her plan led twelve families to offer tools, and it persuaded the community center to give the group a room.
- The flood soaked the garages along Pine Lane, and the water ruined most of the tools the families owned.
Tools to Share (article)
[1] When the Calder Creek flood reached the Westfield neighborhood, it soaked the garages along Pine Lane and ruined most of the families' tools. [2] Weeks later, residents faced the cost of replacing drills, saws and ladders that each household used only a few times a year. [3] Maren Quist, who lived at the end of the lane, noticed that nearly every family needed the same few tools at the same few times.
[4] That observation gave her an idea: a lending shelf where neighbors could share tools instead of each buying their own. [5] She wrote the plan on a single page and posted it on the corner mailboxes. [6] Within a week, twelve families had offered to donate tools that had been saved from the water.
[7] The plan also persuaded the community center to give the group a storage room, and the first tool library opened in October. [8] Because members signed out each tool with a card, everyone knew where a ladder or a saw had gone. [9] In the first year, forty families borrowed tools, and several said they had stopped planning to buy new ones.
[10] Visitors from nearby towns heard about the shelf and asked how it worked. [11] Maren answered their questions and shared her one-page plan. [12] Using her plan, two other neighborhoods have since started lending shelves of their own. Ladder with arrows: P1 event: a flood ruins the neighbors' tools → P2 person: Maren notices that families need the same tools → P3 idea: share tools instead of buying them → P4 event: the tool library opens and other neighborhoods copy it
Esme wants to show how Maren's plan affected other neighborhoods. Which choice does that?
- Because of the tool library, the creek has stopped flooding the garages in Westfield.
- Visitors from nearby towns heard about the shelf and asked how it worked.
- Within a week, twelve families had offered to donate tools that had been saved from the water.
- Using her plan, two other neighborhoods have since started lending shelves of their own.
The Rain Barrel Experiment (article)
[1] During a dry summer, the wells near Orchard Bend ran low, and farmers worried that their crops would fail. [2] Kofi Mensah, who grew beans on a small plot, noticed that rain from his barn roof ran straight into a ditch and was wasted. [3] Because the dry summer made every drop count, he placed two large barrels under the roof edge and watched them fill after the next storm.
[4] The water in the barrels was enough to soak his bean rows for a week, so he built six more barrels before autumn. [5] His beans stayed green while others on the road turned brown, and neighbors noticed. [6] Several of them asked Kofi how he had done it.
[7] Kofi showed them how to connect a roof gutter to a barrel with a simple pipe. [8] By the next summer, thirty farms around Orchard Bend were collecting rain from their roofs. [9] The town's water board saw the change and began offering a small payment to farms that installed barrels.
[10] The payment encouraged even more farms to join. [11] When the next dry summer came, the wells fell less than before, because so many farms were using stored rain instead of pumping. [12] Catching roof rain became a local habit. Ladder with arrows: P1 event: a dry summer lowers the wells → P2 person: Kofi sees wasted roof rain and sets out barrels → P3 person: neighbors ask and learn → P4 event: the water board pays farms, and the wells fall less
Jun reads the article and its ladder. The arrow points from the dry summer to Kofi's rain barrels. Which choice tells how the first affected the second?
- The dry summer made water scarce, so Kofi set barrels under his roof to catch the rain he had been wasting.
- The dry summer taught the whole town to catch roof rain at once, and the farms set out barrels within a week.
- Kofi's barrels made the wells near Orchard Bend run low during the dry summer and left his neighbors short of water.
- After the dry summer began, Kofi kept growing beans on his small plot and watching the rain from his barn roof.
Luz wants to show how the water board's payment affected the number of farms with barrels. Which choice does that?
- The payment encouraged even more farms to join.
- The payment ended the town's need for any water from wells, even in the driest summers.
- By the next summer, thirty farms around Orchard Bend were collecting rain from their roofs.
- Kofi showed them how to connect a roof gutter to a barrel with a simple pipe.
The Map in the Drawer (article)
[1] While clearing a drawer at the town hall of Marlow Ford, a clerk found a folded map from more than a hundred years ago. [2] It showed a canal that once ran beside the river, though no one living in town had ever seen it. [3] The clerk showed the map to Ines Duarte, a local history teacher.
[4] Ines compared the map with old photographs and found traces of the canal under a field of tall grass. [5] Her discovery made her wonder whether the canal path could become a walking trail. [6] She described the idea at a town meeting, and several residents asked to help.
[7] Volunteers cleared the grass and marked the old canal edge with stones. [8] As the path took shape, families began to stroll along it on weekends. [9] The walkers brought attention to the town, and a shop owner opened a small café at the trailhead.
[10] The café gave walkers a place to rest and made the trail a stop for visitors. [11] The town council then voted to extend the trail to the next village. [12] Today the old map hangs in a frame at the town hall. Ladder with arrows: P1 event: a clerk finds an old map → P2 person: Ines finds traces of the canal and has an idea → P3 event: volunteers clear a trail and walkers come → P4 person: a café opens, and the council extends the trail
Milo reads the article and its ladder. The arrow points from Ines's discovery of the canal's traces to her idea of a walking trail. Which choice tells how the first affected the second?
- Finding traces of the canal made Ines wonder whether the old path could become a walking trail.
- Her wish for a walking trail led Ines to search for and find traces of the canal under the tall grass.
- After Ines found traces of the canal, she described the idea at a town meeting and several residents asked to help.
- Her discovery turned the whole river valley into a protected park, and the town gave up its plans to build there.
The Map in the Drawer (article)
[1] While clearing a drawer at the town hall of Marlow Ford, a clerk found a folded map from more than a hundred years ago. [2] It showed a canal that once ran beside the river, though no one living in town had ever seen it. [3] The clerk showed the map to Ines Duarte, a local history teacher.
[4] Ines compared the map with old photographs and found traces of the canal under a field of tall grass. [5] Her discovery made her wonder whether the canal path could become a walking trail. [6] She described the idea at a town meeting, and several residents asked to help.
[7] Volunteers cleared the grass and marked the old canal edge with stones. [8] As the path took shape, families began to stroll along it on weekends. [9] The walkers brought attention to the town, and a shop owner opened a small café at the trailhead.
[10] The café gave walkers a place to rest and made the trail a stop for visitors. [11] The town council then voted to extend the trail to the next village. [12] Today the old map hangs in a frame at the town hall. Ladder with arrows: P1 event: a clerk finds an old map → P2 person: Ines finds traces of the canal and has an idea —?→ P3 event: volunteers clear a trail and walkers come → P4 person: a café opens, and the council extends the trail
Noah reads the ladder, but the arrow from Ines's talk at the town meeting to the volunteers' work has no label. Which label fits?
- A clerk found the old map while clearing a drawer at the town hall and showed it to Ines Duarte.
- When Ines described her idea, several residents asked to help, and volunteers cleared the grass.
- After the town meeting ended, volunteers marked the old canal edge with stones along the field.
- Her talk convinced the town council to pay a crew to build the whole trail, so volunteers were not needed.
The Map in the Drawer (article)
[1] While clearing a drawer at the town hall of Marlow Ford, a clerk found a folded map from more than a hundred years ago. [2] It showed a canal that once ran beside the river, though no one living in town had ever seen it. [3] The clerk showed the map to Ines Duarte, a local history teacher.
[4] Ines compared the map with old photographs and found traces of the canal under a field of tall grass. [5] Her discovery made her wonder whether the canal path could become a walking trail. [6] She described the idea at a town meeting, and several residents asked to help.
[7] Volunteers cleared the grass and marked the old canal edge with stones. [8] As the path took shape, families began to stroll along it on weekends. [9] The walkers brought attention to the town, and a shop owner opened a small café at the trailhead.
[10] The café gave walkers a place to rest and made the trail a stop for visitors. [11] The town council then voted to extend the trail to the next village. [12] Today the old map hangs in a frame at the town hall. Ladder with arrows: P1 event: a clerk finds an old map → P2 person: Ines finds traces of the canal and has an idea → P3 event: volunteers clear a trail and walkers come → P4 person: a café opens, and the council extends the trail
Pia wants to show how the café affected the trail. Which choice does that?
- The café gave walkers a place to rest and made the trail a stop for visitors.
- The café earned enough money to pay for the whole trail, so the council spent nothing.
- The walkers brought attention to the town, and a shop owner opened a small café at the trailhead.
- Volunteers cleared the grass and marked the old canal edge with stones.
The Bus That Changed Its Route (article)
[1] For years, the number 14 bus in the town of Harrow Green looped around the hospital and skipped the senior apartments two blocks away. [2] Residents of the apartments had to walk uphill to reach a stop. [3] Tired of watching his neighbors struggle, one of them, Walter Aldous, began keeping a notebook of how many people boarded the bus at each stop.
[4] After three months, his notebook showed that forty people a day climbed the hill from the apartments to the hospital stop. [5] He took the numbers to a transit meeting and asked the planners to move one stop. [6] Because the notebook gave clear proof, the planners agreed to try the change for a season.
[7] The new stop opened in September, and ridership on the number 14 rose by about a fifth. [8] Drivers reported fewer late departures because passengers no longer rushed uphill. [9] Other riders heard what had happened to Walter's idea and began to send in suggestions of their own.
[10] The planners created a simple suggestion form, and over the next year they changed three more stops. [11] Walter was asked to join a small rider advisory group. [12] His notebook now sits in the transit office as an example of useful evidence. Ladder with arrows: P1 event: the bus skips the senior apartments → P2 person: Walter counts riders in a notebook → P3 idea: the planners agree to move one stop → P4 event: ridership rises and riders send in suggestions
Ren reads the article and its ladder. The arrow points from Walter's notebook to the planners' decision to move a stop. Which choice tells how the first affected the second?
- The notebook convinced the planners to redesign the whole bus system around the senior apartments.
- The planners' decision to move the stop led Walter to start keeping the notebook of riders.
- After Walter took his numbers to the transit meeting, the new stop opened in September.
- The notebook's clear proof led the planners to agree to try moving the stop for a season.
The Bus That Changed Its Route (article)
[1] For years, the number 14 bus in the town of Harrow Green looped around the hospital and skipped the senior apartments two blocks away. [2] Residents of the apartments had to walk uphill to reach a stop. [3] Tired of watching his neighbors struggle, one of them, Walter Aldous, began keeping a notebook of how many people boarded the bus at each stop.
[4] After three months, his notebook showed that forty people a day climbed the hill from the apartments to the hospital stop. [5] He took the numbers to a transit meeting and asked the planners to move one stop. [6] Because the notebook gave clear proof, the planners agreed to try the change for a season.
[7] The new stop opened in September, and ridership on the number 14 rose by about a fifth. [8] Drivers reported fewer late departures because passengers no longer rushed uphill. [9] Other riders heard what had happened to Walter's idea and began to send in suggestions of their own.
[10] The planners created a simple suggestion form, and over the next year they changed three more stops. [11] Walter was asked to join a small rider advisory group. [12] His notebook now sits in the transit office as an example of useful evidence. Ladder with arrows: P1 event: the bus skips the senior apartments → P2 person: Walter counts riders in a notebook → P3 idea: the planners agree to move one stop —?→ P4 event: ridership rises and riders send in suggestions
Tala reads the ladder, but the arrow from the new stop to ridership and late departures has no label. Which label fits?
- Walter's notebook showed that forty people a day climbed the hill from the apartments to the hospital stop.
- The new stop doubled ridership on the other bus lines in Harrow Green and ended late departures everywhere.
- The new stop meant passengers no longer rushed uphill, so ridership rose and drivers had fewer late departures.
- After the new stop opened in September, other riders heard what had happened and began to send in suggestions.
The Bus That Changed Its Route (article)
[1] For years, the number 14 bus in the town of Harrow Green looped around the hospital and skipped the senior apartments two blocks away. [2] Residents of the apartments had to walk uphill to reach a stop. [3] Tired of watching his neighbors struggle, one of them, Walter Aldous, began keeping a notebook of how many people boarded the bus at each stop.
[4] After three months, his notebook showed that forty people a day climbed the hill from the apartments to the hospital stop. [5] He took the numbers to a transit meeting and asked the planners to move one stop. [6] Because the notebook gave clear proof, the planners agreed to try the change for a season.
[7] The new stop opened in September, and ridership on the number 14 rose by about a fifth. [8] Drivers reported fewer late departures because passengers no longer rushed uphill. [9] Other riders heard what had happened to Walter's idea and began to send in suggestions of their own.
[10] The planners created a simple suggestion form, and over the next year they changed three more stops. [11] Walter was asked to join a small rider advisory group. [12] His notebook now sits in the transit office as an example of useful evidence. Ladder with arrows: P1 event: the bus skips the senior apartments → P2 person: Walter counts riders in a notebook → P3 idea: the planners agree to move one stop → P4 event: ridership rises and riders send in suggestions
Zee wants to show how the riders' suggestions affected the planners. Which choice does that?
- The suggestions led the planners to hand control of the bus routes over to the riders for good.
- The planners created a simple suggestion form, and over the next year they changed three more stops.
- Other riders heard what had happened to Walter's idea and began to send in suggestions of their own.
- Drivers reported fewer late departures because passengers no longer rushed uphill to the hospital stop.