School words and subject words

Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   “Debate assignment: Qualify the claim that homework improves grades, and then support your qualified version with one finding from the study.”

2. 1.

   Ari reads this two-part assignment. Which plan does every part of it?

   • Restate the claim with a limit, such as 'for older students', and stop there, since the limit answers the task.
   • Restate the opposite claim, that homework does not help, with a limit, and back it with one finding.
   • Restate the claim with a limit, such as 'for older students', and back the limited claim with one finding from the study.
   • Show that the claim qualifies as a strong argument, and back it with one finding from the study.

3. Use this

   “Health class: A study found that students who carried water bottles had higher test scores. The teacher said the study showed correlation, not causation.”

4. 2.

   Which statement tells correlation and causation apart in the study Bo is reading about?

   • Correlation: bottles and higher scores appear together. Causation would mean the bottles made scores rise, which the study did not show.
   • Correlation and causation both mean the bottles raised the scores; the teacher simply used two names for one idea.
   • Causation: bottles and higher scores appear together. Correlation would mean the bottles made scores rise, which the study did not show.
   • Correlation: bottles and higher scores appear together. Causation would mean the bottles made scores rise, which this study also showed.

5. Use this

   “Source: A research team weighed the school's food waste daily for a year and found that it fell by 40 percent after lunch moved to after recess. The report prints each daily weight.”

6. 3.

   Esme reports this source in an essay. Which sentence uses the most accurate reporting verb for what the source did?

   • The team demonstrates that food waste fell by 40 percent after lunch moved to after recess.
   • The team establishes that moving lunch after recess will cut food waste at any school in the country.
   • The team alleges that food waste fell by 40 percent after lunch moved to after recess.
   • The team wonders whether food waste might have fallen after lunch moved to after recess.

7. Use this

   “Science assignment: Posit a cause for the drop in the pond's frog count, and then compare two field reports to test your idea.”

8. 4.

   Which plan does every part of this assignment that Jun has been given?

   • Propose one possible cause for the rise in the pond's fish count, and check it against two field reports.
   • Place the frog count beside a photo of the pond, and then compare two field reports.
   • Propose one possible cause, such as warmer water, and present it as the answer without checking any reports.
   • Propose one possible cause, such as warmer water, and then check it against what two field reports recorded.

9. Use this

   “Physics lab: A scale read 251, 251 and 252 grams for a 300-gram weight. The teacher said the scale was precise but not accurate.”

10. 5.

    Which statement tells precision and accuracy apart for the scale in the lab Kira is reading about?

    • Precise: the three readings sit close together. Not accurate: they are far from the true 300 grams.
    • Precise: the three readings sit close together. Not accurate: they are far from the true 251 grams.
    • Accurate: the three readings sit close together. Not precise: they are far from the true 300 grams.
    • Precise and accurate mean the same thing here: the scale gave nearly one number three times.

11. Use this

    “Source: In an opinion column, a retired teacher gives three reasons why the town should keep its library open on Sundays. She cites no study and calls the reasons her own view.”

12. 6.

    Which sentence would Luz use to report this source with the most accurate verb?

    • The columnist argues that the town should keep its library open on Sundays.
    • The columnist half-wonders whether the library could perhaps stay open on Sundays.
    • The columnist demonstrates that the town should keep its library open on Sundays.
    • The columnist admits that the town should keep its library open on Sundays.

13. Use this

    “Project plan: Prioritize the five repairs on the community center's list by cost and urgency, and then explain why your top choice comes first.”

14. 7.

    Milo must follow this project plan. Which plan does every part of it?

    • Rank the five repairs by how costly and urgent each is, and then give a reason for the one ranked first.
    • Describe each of the five repairs in detail, and then give a reason for the one described first.
    • Rank the five repairs by how costly and urgent each is, and hand in the ranked list as it stands.
    • Rank the community center's five programs by cost and urgency, and give a reason for the top one.

15. Use this

    “Physics textbook: Two ferries each travel at 20 kilometers per hour, one heading north and one heading south. Their speeds are equal, but their velocities are not.”

16. 8.

    Which statement tells speed and velocity apart for the two ferries Noah is reading about?

    • Speed and velocity both tell only how fast, so the two ferries match in speed and in velocity.
    • Velocity tells only how fast. Speed tells how fast and in which direction, so north and south differ.
    • Speed tells only how fast. Velocity tells how fast and how far, so the two trips differ.
    • Speed tells only how fast. Velocity tells how fast and in which direction, so north and south differ.

17. Use this

    “Source: After one small trial with 12 volunteers, the researchers write that a short walk after lunch may help people stay alert, and they call for a larger study.”

18. 9.

    Pia is reporting this source. Which sentence uses the most accurate verb for how sure the researchers are?

    • The researchers demonstrate that a short walk after lunch keeps people alert.
    • The researchers suggest that a short walk after lunch may help people stay alert.
    • The researchers doubt that a short walk after lunch could help anyone stay alert.
    • The researchers allege that a short walk after lunch may help people stay alert.

19. Use this

    “Source: In their final paragraph, the study's authors write that their survey covered just one winter and that a longer study is needed.”

20. 10.

    Which sentence would Zee use to report the limit the authors state, with the most accurate verb?

    • The authors confess that their survey covered only one winter.
    • The authors wonder whether their survey might have covered just one winter.
    • The authors demonstrate that one winter is enough to settle the question for good.
    • The authors acknowledge that their survey covered only one winter.