Appeals to trust, feeling and reason
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Keep the Reading Room Open (letter to the school board)
[1] When I started ninth grade at Dunmore High, the reading room was the only place in the building where I never felt rushed, and I know I am not the only student who feels that way. [2] Last year, 412 students checked out books from its shelves, a figure larger than the attendance at any single home football game. [3] Our librarian, Ms. Patel, holds a master's degree in library science and has run the room for twenty-two years. [4] The board now plans to convert the room into a testing center next fall. [5] That change would cost the district about $6,000 in new wiring, and it would remove the one space where students can read in silence. [6] Picture a ninth grader with a library card and nowhere to use it, wandering a hallway that has no door left to open. [7] I ask the board to keep the room open and to hold its tests in the gym, which already has the outlets.
Bo wants the sentence in the letter that mainly builds trust in a source. Which sentence is it?
- [3] Our librarian, Ms. Patel, holds a master's degree in library science and has run the room for twenty-two years.
- [1] When I started ninth grade at Dunmore High, the reading room was the only place in the building where I never felt rushed, and I know I am not the only student who feels that way.
- [2] Last year, 412 students checked out books from its shelves, a figure larger than the attendance at any single home football game.
- [4] The board now plans to convert the room into a testing center next fall.
Esme reads sentence 6. What does that sentence mainly ask board members to do?
- Imagine a student with nowhere to read, so they feel what the change would cost.
- Believe that the board plans to lock the library for good and send students home.
- Show that the room is used by more students than football games.
- Remind students, the other readers of the letter, to protect their reading rooms.
A Fare Worth Paying (speech to a city council)
[1] My name is Dr. Alicia Moreno, and I have studied city transit for nineteen years at the state university. [2] Last spring my team surveyed 640 riders on the Route 9 line, and 71 percent told us they had skipped a doctor's visit or a job interview because the fare was too high. [3] Those numbers describe real people, such as Mr. Henry Cole, a night janitor who walks four miles home after his shift because he cannot spare two dollars for the bus. [4] A pass that was free for riders earning under thirty thousand dollars would cost the city about 1.8 million dollars a year, which is less than one percent of its budget. [5] Some members of this council will say the city cannot afford the program. [6] I say the city cannot afford to keep its workers from reaching their jobs. [7] I urge you to approve the pilot for one year and to judge it on the results.
Jun tags sentence 3 of the speech on a section map. Which appeal does it mainly use, and what shows it?
- Trust (ethos): it shows Dr. Moreno knows the riders personally and has talked with them.
- Reason (logos): it explains the survey results with exact numbers and what they mean.
- Feeling (pathos): it tells of one rider who walks four miles since he cannot spare the fare.
- Reason (logos): it shows the pass would cost under one percent of the budget each year.
Kira wants the sentence in the speech that gives the city's cost in numbers. Which sentence is it?
- [7] I urge you to approve the pilot for one year and to judge it on the results.
- [4] A pass that was free for riders earning under thirty thousand dollars would cost the city about 1.8 million dollars a year, which is less than one percent of its budget.
- [2] Last spring my team surveyed 640 riders on the Route 9 line, and 71 percent told us they had skipped a doctor's visit or a job interview because the fare was too high.
- [3] Those numbers describe real people, such as Mr. Henry Cole, a night janitor who walks four miles home after his shift because he cannot spare two dollars for the bus.
Luz reads sentences 5 and 6. What do they mainly do for the speaker's case?
- They raise the council's likely objection and answer it by calling idle workers the cost.
- They show the speaker's degree and nineteen years of study at the state university.
- They tell riders that the city cannot afford to help them, so they should look elsewhere.
- They show the council has already decided against the program, whatever the speaker says.
Save the Harlan Pond (garden club flyer)
[1] For thirty years the pond behind Harlan Elementary has been the first place that spring arrives in our town, with red-winged blackbirds settling in the cattails before the snow has fully gone. [2] Now the town plans to fill it in for a parking lot, and the first bulldozer is scheduled for June. [3] A study by the county's soil and water office found that the pond holds back about 800,000 gallons of runoff in a heavy storm, water that would otherwise flood the school's lower field. [4] The Harlan Garden Club has tended the pond's banks every spring since 1994, and three of our members are retired biologists. [5] A parking lot would add forty spaces, but the pond protects a field that two hundred children use every day. [6] Come to the town meeting on May 6 and ask the council to think again.
Noah wants the sentence in the flyer that mainly builds trust in the people behind it. Which sentence is it?
- [3] A study by the county's soil and water office found that the pond holds back about 800,000 gallons of runoff in a heavy storm, water that would otherwise flood the school's lower field.
- [1] For thirty years the pond behind Harlan Elementary has been the first place that spring arrives in our town, with red-winged blackbirds settling in the cattails before the snow has fully gone.
- [6] Come to the town meeting on May 6 and ask the council to think again.
- [4] The Harlan Garden Club has tended the pond's banks every spring since 1994, and three of our members are retired biologists.
Pia reads sentence 5. What does that sentence mainly ask the council to weigh?
- Forty parking spaces against a field that two hundred children use daily.
- The age of the pond against the age of the parking lot.
- The cost of building the lot against the cost of keeping the pond for another year.
- Drivers who want more spaces against residents who want a quiet corner of the town.
Think Twice About the Helmet Rule (school newspaper editorial)
[1] The skate park is the one place on our side of town where a teenager can practice a kickflip without being told to leave. [2] The city's proposal to require helmets would cost every rider about thirty dollars, and that is a week of lunch money for many families. [3] Supporters point out that head injuries at the park rose from five in 2021 to eleven in 2023. [4] That figure deserves a close look, because it counts every injury reported to the front desk, and attendance during the same two years more than doubled. [5] Dr. Lena Ruiz, the sports-medicine physician who wrote the city's report, warns that a helmet cuts the risk of serious head injury considerably. [6] We should take her seriously and still ask whether a thirty-dollar rule helps the riders it claims to protect. [7] A free loaner rack by the gate, paid for by the city, would keep every rider safer without pricing anyone out.
Ren tags sentence 4 of the editorial on a section map. Which appeal does it mainly use, and what shows it?
- Feeling (pathos): it makes readers worry about injuries at the park and what they cost.
- Trust (ethos): it names the doctor who wrote the city's report and quotes her view.
- Reason (logos): it rechecks the injury count against attendance that more than doubled.
- Trust (ethos): it shows the writer is careful with facts and can be trusted on the issue.
Tala wants the sentence in the editorial that mainly borrows trust from an expert. Which sentence is it?
- [3] Supporters point out that head injuries at the park rose from five in 2021 to eleven in 2023.
- [5] Dr. Lena Ruiz, the sports-medicine physician who wrote the city's report, warns that a helmet cuts the risk of serious head injury considerably.
- [2] The city's proposal to require helmets would cost every rider about thirty dollars, and that is a week of lunch money for many families.
- [1] The skate park is the one place on our side of town where a teenager can practice a kickflip without being told to leave.
Zee reads sentence 7. What is the main job of that sentence in the editorial?
- To persuade riders to buy a helmet before the new rule takes effect next year.
- To argue that no rider needs a helmet at the park and that the rule should be dropped.
- To offer a plan that answers both the safety concern and the cost concern.
- To show that injuries rose because attendance doubled over the same two years.
