Spotting slant and loaded words

Grade 8 Reading Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   News article about a pool budget in Hollis Park

   [1] Hollis Park's outdoor pool, built in 1962, would close for good under the budget Mayor Elena Ward presented on Monday. [2] The mayor's office says the pool needs $1.2 million in repairs and would still cost about $190,000 a year to run. [3] The budget would add a splash pad for toddlers at a cost of $240,000. [4] City finance director Paul Okoye called the pool "a nostalgic expense we can no longer justify."

   [5] A group called Save Our Pool collected 1,800 signatures asking the council to keep the pool open. [6] The group's leaders, who are mostly parents of swim team members, say the pool serves more than 300 children each summer. [7] A city survey last year found that 61 percent of residents had not visited the pool in the past two years. [8] Ward said the budget must put "needs before wants."

   [9] Council member Tia Brooks said she would listen to both sides before deciding, and she asked the mayor's office for the repair estimates. [10] The council will hold a public hearing on March 4 at city hall, and residents may sign up to speak for three minutes each.

2. 1.

   Ari asks whose side the slant in this article favors. Which answer is right?

   • The Save Our Pool group, because the article reports its petition count of 1,800 and the number of children the pool serves each summer, which are the strongest numbers in the article.
   • The mayor's plan to close the pool, because the article gives the city's figures and survey and describes the opponents by their own interest.
   • Neither side, because both the mayor and the petition group get numbers and a named speaker, and the council member says she will hear both sides.
   • The county health department, because it inspects public pools and wants them kept in good repair for the swim team and the families who use them.
3. 2.

   Bo wants the article to give a fairer picture. Which missing fact would help most?

   • A statement from a swim coach that the pool is the heart of the summer for hundreds of families.
   • How many residents would use the pool if it were repaired, which the survey did not ask.
   • How old the pool's pumps and filters are and what replacing them would cost the city over the next ten years.
   • Who designed the pool when it was built in 1962 and which company poured its concrete.

4. News article about bike lanes on Maple Avenue

   [1] The Fairview city council will vote Tuesday on a plan to replace parking on Maple Avenue with protected bike lanes. [2] City engineers say the project would cost $2.1 million and take about four months. [3] Advocates for the plan, led by the group Fairview Rides, say the lanes would make the street safer. [4] According to police records, 11 crashes involving bicycles occurred on Maple Avenue over the last three years.

   [5] Shop owner Linda Park, whose store has no parking lot, said customers would "have nowhere to go." [6] The council's own traffic study estimated that bike lanes would remove 46 of the street's 120 parking spaces. [7] Fairview Rides president Colt Mercer called opponents "people stuck in the past." [8] Mercer said that cities with protected lanes see far fewer injuries.

   [9] The same study found that a parking garage three blocks away has 300 empty spaces on weekdays. [10] The mayor has not said how she will vote, and two council members said they are still undecided. [11] Business owners will meet with city staff on Thursday, and a second public meeting is planned for the following week.

5. 3.

   Kira asks whose side the slant in this article favors. Which answer is right?

   • Neither side, because the article reports the lanes' cost, the crashes and the parking that would be removed, and gives each side a named speaker.
   • The state highway department, because it owns Maple Avenue and has asked the city to add the lanes before the repaving planned for next year.
   • The shop owners, because the article names one owner, quotes her, and reports the loss of 46 of the street's 120 parking spaces, which is the most vivid number in the article.
   • The bike-lane plan, because the article gives its crash counts and the empty garage while the opponents get one quote and one line about lost spaces.
6. 4.

   Luz wants the article to give a fairer picture. Which missing fact would help most?

   • How many cities have built protected bike lanes in the last five years and how they paid for them.
   • A statement from Mercer that bike lanes make a city friendlier and a better place to raise children.
   • How many customers of Maple Avenue shops arrive by car or park on the street.
   • What color the bike lanes would be painted and whether the paint would be easy to see at night.
7. 5.

   Pia names the technique in sentence [8]. Which is it?

   • Card stacking, which shows just the facts that help one side and hides the facts that hurt it.
   • Bandwagon, which says that other cities already have protected lanes, so this city should follow them.
   • A comparison with no numbers or source: far fewer injuries cannot be checked.
   • Emotional appeal, which plays on fear of injury instead of giving evidence about the lanes.

8. News article about new lunches in Delmar schools

   [1] After a month of testing, the Delmar school district will replace its pizza and chicken-nugget lunches with a fresh bowls menu in all four elementary schools next fall. [2] District nutrition director Carla Webb said the new menu meets state health guidelines and costs about the same per meal. [3] In a taste test, 120 fourth graders tried the new bowls, and 57 percent said they "liked" or "really liked" them. [4] Webb called that a strong result for a new menu.

   [5] Parents who attended a tasting night praised the bowls' bright colors and fresh vegetables. [6] A few parents said their children would not eat anything on the new menu. [7] Cafeteria worker Marta Gil said that last year more than a third of the pizza was thrown away uneaten. [8] The district has not released the results for the other 43 percent of students.

   [9] Bowls will include rice or noodles, chopped vegetables, and a choice of chicken, beans, or tofu. [10] Chicken nuggets will return once a month on Fridays, and pizza will be served on the last day of each school year.

9. 6.

   Ren wants the article to give a fairer picture. Which missing fact would help most?

   • A statement from the nutrition director that the bowls are delicious and healthy.
   • What time lunch starts in each elementary school and how long the lunch period lasts.
   • How many schools in the state serve a fresh bowls menu and how the students there rate it.
   • How much of the new bowls students actually ate, not only how many said they liked them.
10. 7.

    Tala names the technique in sentence [3]. Which is it?

    • Emotional appeal, which plays on the reader's feelings about children and healthy food.
    • Bandwagon, which says that most students and parents already like the new bowls.
    • Combined answers: two answers are added into one percentage, which raises the number.
    • Card stacking, which shows just the survey answers that help the district and hides the rest.

11. News article about a mural in Garrison

    [1] A mural on the side of the Garrison Hardware building will be painted over next month, the owner announced Friday. [2] The mural, painted in 2009 by local artists, shows farm fields, the river, and the old train depot. [3] Owner Ben Garrison said the wall needs repairs that cost $8,500, and the mural cannot be saved. [4] Garrison said the building has been "falling apart for years" and the mural "is just a coat of paint."

    [5] The historical society, which has 74 members, asked for a delay of 60 days to look for funding. [6] Society president Ann Pruitt said the mural "belongs to the whole town." [7] A repair estimate from a second contractor was lower, at $5,200, according to the society. [8] Garrison said he did not trust that estimate because the contractor "has friends in the society."

    [9] Mayor Tom Bright said the city cannot force a private owner to keep a mural, though he hopes the two sides can talk. [10] Garrison plans to put up a plain white wall with a small plaque that lists the artists' names.

12. 8.

    Jun asks whose side the slant in this article favors. Which answer is right?

    • The owner, because his reasons and repair cost come first and the society's estimate is given only as what the society says.
    • The historical society, because the article reports its request for a delay, its president's quote and a lower repair estimate, all in the second half.
    • The county arts commission, because it paid for the mural in 2009 and wants it protected from being painted over.
    • Neither side, because the owner and the society each get quotes and an estimate, and the mayor says that he cannot force a decision.
13. 9.

    Milo wants the article to give a fairer picture. Which missing fact would help most?

    • How many other buildings the owner has repaired in town and what those repairs cost.
    • What an independent inspector says the wall repair would really cost.
    • Which local artist painted the train depot in the mural and in what year.
    • A statement from Pruitt that the mural is a treasure that the town should keep.
14. 10.

    Ari names the technique in sentence [8]. Which is it?

    • Bandwagon, which says that most people in town agree that the second estimate should be ignored.
    • Name calling, which attaches an insulting label to the contractor to make the estimate sound worthless.
    • Emotional appeal, which tries to make the reader feel anger or fear about the contractor's friends.
    • Attacking the source: the estimate is dismissed because of who gave it, not because of its numbers.