9th grade Whose view is this, and what is left out? worksheet

Whose view is this, and what is left out?

Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Two Reports on Car-Free Saturdays in Underhill (two reports)

   Text A, the Underhill Merchants’ Bulletin, published by the Downtown Merchants’ Association: [1] For the third summer in a row, Main Street will close to cars every Saturday from June through August, and our shops have never been busier. [2] Member stores reported that their Saturday sales rose by an average of 18 percent last summer, compared with the summer before the closings began. [3] Families now stroll from the bakery to the bookshop, and street musicians play on the corner of Main and Oak. [4] “Our Saturday crowds doubled, and many of them were new faces,” said Lena Park, who owns the Underhill Toy Shop. [5] Bring this bulletin to any member store this summer for 10 percent off one item.

   Text B, the Underhill Neighbor, the newsletter of the Underhill Residents’ Council: [6] The Saturday closing of Main Street returns on June 7, and the council asks the town to look again at where the cars go. [7] Drivers who once parked on Main Street now circle the side streets, and people on Birch and Oak Streets say they often cannot park near their homes. [8] The town’s parking office counted 410 cars on the four nearest side streets on a Saturday last July, compared with 160 on a Saturday the year before. [9] Delivery vans for the shops now come on Friday nights instead, and neighbors say the unloading wakes them after ten o’clock. [10] “I am glad the shops are doing well, but my street has become a parking lot,” said Walt Greer, who has lived on Birch Street for thirty years. [11] The Town Council will take public comment on the summer plan at its meeting on May 20. [12] Some residents have asked the town to open the high school parking lot to downtown visitors on Saturdays.

2. 1.

   Ari fills one column for each outlet. What does one outlet leave out about car-free Saturdays, and what does that show about its viewpoint?

   • Text A leaves out the side-street parking, which fits a bulletin published by shop owners.
   • Text A leaves out the side-street parking, which shows it is a neutral report that sticks to numbers.
   • Text A leaves out the parking count, which shows that its 18 percent sales figure is false.
   • Text A leaves out how big the Saturday crowds are, which fits a bulletin that cares about sales.
3. 2.

   Text A comes from shop owners who want the closings to go on. Esme weighs the claim that Saturday sales rose 18 percent at member stores. Which check would settle whether that claim holds?

   • Ask the association’s member stores again whether their Saturday sales went up.
   • Count the cars parked on the side streets on a Saturday this July.
   • Compare the town’s sales-tax records for Main Street stores in the two summers.
   • Find out who pays to print the bulletin, which would show why it praises the closings.

4. Two Reports on the New Field at Lindell Park (two reports)

   Text A, a press release from Kestrel Fieldworks, the company that put in the field: [1] Kestrel Fieldworks has finished installing a new artificial turf field at Lindell Park in Hartwell, replacing an old grass field that often flooded after rain. [2] The new field can be used up to sixty hours a week in any weather, compared with about twenty hours a week on the old grass. [3] “Hartwell’s young players can now play all year without a single game lost to mud,” said company president Roy Vance. [4] The field needs no mowing, no watering and no fertilizer, which saves the town time and money every season. [5] Kestrel Fieldworks has built more than ninety fields across the region, and towns that want a field like this one can ask for a free estimate on its website.

   Text B, the Hartwell Herald: [6] The new turf field at Lindell Park opened on Saturday to a crowd of players and parents, and many of them praised the dry footing after a rainy week. [7] The field cost the town $1.2 million, about four times the cost of rebuilding the old grass field with better drainage. [8] On hot afternoons the turf surface can grow much hotter than grass, and the parks department has posted a sign asking teams to bring extra water. [9] The turf will need to be replaced in about ten to twelve years, at a cost the town has not yet set aside. [10] Youth soccer coach Ana Morales said the extra hours would let her league add two more teams this fall. [11] The Town Council will review the field’s costs after its first full year, next spring. [12] The old grass field was first laid in 1964 and was home to the town’s youth league for decades.

5. 3.

   Jun fills one column for each outlet. What does one outlet leave out about the new turf field, and what does that show about its viewpoint?

   • Text A leaves out the summer heat, which shows that its sixty-hour figure is false.
   • Text A leaves out what the field cost the town, which fits a release written to win new buyers.
   • Text A leaves out the field’s cost, which fits a notice the town wrote to please its voters in Hartwell.
   • Text B leaves out the extra hours of play, which fits a paper that is against the field.
6. 4.

   Kestrel Fieldworks sells turf fields to towns. Luz weighs the claim that the turf saves the town time and money every season. Which check would settle whether that claim holds?

   • Measure the turf’s surface temperature on a hot afternoon in July.
   • Look up how many fields Kestrel Fieldworks has sold, which shows how much it gains.
   • Compare the town’s yearly upkeep costs for the old grass field and for the turf.
   • Ask Kestrel Fieldworks for its own estimate of what the turf saves a town each year.

7. Two Reports on Compost Pickup in Clayton (two reports)

   Text A, a notice from the Clayton Public Works Department: [1] Clayton’s curbside compost pickup has finished its first year, and the Public Works Department is asking the Town Council to make it permanent at its vote on October 14. [2] Households that signed up kept about 1,100 tons of food scraps and yard waste out of the county landfill. [3] The scraps were turned into compost that the town gave away free to residents at the spring garden fair. [4] “Compost pickup is the simplest way any family can shrink its trash,” said Public Works director Ivan Petrov. [5] Residents who support the program are urged to write to the council before the vote, and sign-up forms for next year are at the town hall.

   Text B, the Clayton Courier: [6] Clayton’s compost pickup costs each household that joins $9 a month, on top of the regular trash fee. [7] About 2,300 of the town’s 8,000 households signed up in the first year, fewer than the 4,000 that the department had hoped for. [8] Several residents who dropped out said the green bins drew raccoons and flies during the summer heat. [9] The program’s trucks run on Tuesdays, and the scraps go to a composting site about thirty miles away. [10] “We love the free compost, but nine dollars a month is a lot for a family like ours,” said Brenda Tolliver, a parent of three on Hill Street. [11] The council will vote on October 14 on whether to keep the program and on what the fee should be. [12] Residents who want to join for next year can sign up online or at the town hall until the end of September.

8. 5.

   Milo fills one column for each outlet. What does one outlet leave out about compost pickup, and what does that show about its viewpoint?

   • Text A leaves out the low sign-ups, which shows that its 1,100-ton figure is false.
   • Text A leaves out the monthly fee, which fits a notice written to win the council’s vote.
   • Text A leaves out the fee, which fits a flyer the haulers wrote to sell more green bins to homes.
   • Text B leaves out the free compost, which fits a paper that wants the program to end.
9. 6.

   Noah wants Text A to be fair about compost pickup. Which added sentence would fix what Text A leaves out, without adding a new slant?

   • The free compost given out at the spring garden fair was gone before noon.
   • Sadly, the smelly bins and greedy $9 fee have driven families away from the program in droves.
   • Homes that join pay $9 a month, and about 2,300 of 8,000 signed up in the first year.
   • The county landfill opened in 1979 and now covers about two hundred acres.
10. 7.

    The department wants the council to keep its program. Pia weighs the claim that the program kept 1,100 tons out of the landfill. Which check would settle whether that claim holds?

    • Find out whether the department’s budget grows if the program stays, which shows its aim.
    • Count how many households drop out of the program next summer.
    • Ask the Public Works director to repeat the tonnage figure at the council meeting.
    • Compare the composting site’s weigh records for Clayton’s trucks over the year.

11. Two Reports on the Pond Hollow Road Closing (two reports)

    Text A, the newsletter of the Vernon Nature Club: [1] For the fifth spring in a row, Pond Hollow Road through Vernon Woods will close to cars on rainy nights in March and April so that salamanders can cross it safely. [2] Each spring, spotted salamanders leave the hillside where they spend the winter and walk to the ponds on the other side of the road to lay their eggs. [3] Club volunteers counted more than 1,400 salamanders crossing the closed stretch last spring, up from about 900 in the first year of the closings. [4] “Watching them cross by flashlight is the finest night of the year,” said volunteer Martha Quinn. [5] The closing covers a half-mile stretch, drivers can take Route 9 around the woods, and volunteers can sign up at the club’s table in the library.

    Text B, the Vernon Valley Business Journal: [6] The rainy-night closing of Pond Hollow Road returns in March, and some local businesses are asking whether it needs to last as long as it does. [7] The Route 9 detour adds about four miles to the trip between the east side of Vernon and the business park. [8] Hal Burke, who runs a bakery delivery service, said his drivers lose about twenty minutes on each night the road is closed. [9] The road closes on the nights the town expects rain, and there were nineteen such nights last spring. [10] The club’s count is made by volunteers who walk the closed stretch, and it is the one count of the salamanders in Vernon Woods. [11] The Town Council will decide next month whether to keep the closing for another five years. [12] Signs at both ends of the road tell drivers on which nights the gates will be closed.

12. 8.

    Ren fills one column for each outlet. What does one outlet leave out about the road closing, and what does that show about its viewpoint?

    • Text A leaves out the Route 9 detour, which fits a club that pays no attention to drivers.
    • Text A leaves out the extra miles and lost time for drivers, which fits a club that speaks for wildlife.
    • Text A leaves out the delivery delays, which shows that its count of 1,400 is false.
    • Text A leaves out the drivers’ lost time, which fits a journal written for local businesses.
13. 9.

    Tala wants Text A to be fair about the road closing. Which added sentence would fix what Text A leaves out, without adding a new slant?

    • Sadly, impatient drivers grumble about a few lost minutes while tiny animals struggle across.
    • Vernon Woods covers about six hundred acres and has three marked walking trails.
    • The detour adds about four miles, and one delivery service says its drivers lose twenty minutes a night.
    • Volunteers also heard spring peeper frogs calling from the ponds on the closed nights.
14. 10.

    The Nature Club wants the closings to go on. Zee weighs the claim that more salamanders cross now than in the first year. Which check would best test whether that claim holds?

    • Ask the club’s volunteers to add up last spring’s tally again from their notebooks.
    • Check whether both years' counts covered the same stretch, on the same kinds of nights, in the same way.
    • Time the Route 9 detour on a rainy night to find the true delay for drivers.
    • Find out how many new members the club has signed up since the closings began.