Is the reasoning sound and the evidence enough?
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Remarks by Daniel Abara to the Merritt Town Council (speech transcript)
[1] Good evening; my name is Daniel Abara, and I have ridden the Route 4 bus to my job at the regional hospital for nine years. [2] Tonight I am asking the council to build covered shelters at the eighteen stops on Route 4 that have none, because the shelters would pay for themselves through the fares of new riders. [3] Right now, only two of the twenty stops on the route have any kind of roof, and both are near the hospital.
[4] Last December, the transit office counted an average of 1,150 riders a day on Route 4, the busiest route in the town's system. [5] A shelter of the kind the town has chosen costs $9,000 to build, so eighteen shelters would cost $162,000. [6] In a survey at three stops, 64 of the 80 riders who answered said that standing in the rain was the worst part of their trip. [7] I am confident that ridership on Route 4 will double within a year of the shelters going up. [8] With twice as many riders, the extra fares would cover the cost of the shelters in less than two years.
[9] New shelters would also make Merritt look like a modern, forward-thinking community to visitors. [10] Because most of the riders we asked named the rain as the worst part of the trip, I believe shelters are a fair way to improve Route 4 for the people who ride it now. [11] The town of Holt built shelters on its main route three years ago, and its transit office reports that ridership rose by eight percent. [12] I respectfully ask you to vote for the eighteen shelters tonight, and I thank you for listening so patiently.
Bo checks this part of the claim: the shelters would pay for themselves through the fares of new riders. Which sentence does that part rest on most, and what goes in its flaw column?
- Sentence 7: speculation, since no figure shows that riders would double.
- Sentence 9: unsupported, since nothing shows that shelters make a town look modern.
- Sentence 4: unsupported, since one December count may not show a normal month.
- Sentence 7: false statement, since sentence 11 shows ridership rose eight percent.
Esme rewrites the speaker's claim in sentence 2. Which revised claim keeps what the evidence supports and drops what it does not?
- Merritt should build the eighteen shelters to keep riders out of the rain and to double ridership within a year.
- Merritt should build the eighteen shelters to keep today's riders out of the rain, which most riders surveyed named as the worst part.
- Merritt should add more buses to Route 4 so that riders spend less time waiting in the rain.
- Merritt should study whether riders want shelters before it builds any at the eighteen stops.
Remarks by Pia to the Norwood High Student Council (speech transcript)
[1] Thank you for the chance to speak; I am Pia, a sophomore, and I would like to propose a monthly Fix-It Saturday in the Norwood High shop room. [2] At each one, volunteers would repair broken lamps, bikes, toasters and clothes for free, and the event would keep usable things out of the town landfill, give students real practice at repair, and cost the council very little.
[3] Last fall the Norwood Public Library held one trial Fix-It Saturday, and eight shop students worked beside the adult volunteers that day. [4] According to the volunteers' notes, 31 of the 46 items that people brought in left the room working again. [5] The shop teacher, Mr. Haldane, has agreed to open the room one Saturday a month and to look after the tools. [6] The council would need to pay about $40 a month for spare parts such as bike chains, lamp switches and buttons. [7] Every one of those 31 repaired items would otherwise have ended up in the town landfill.
[8] If the event catches on, other schools in the county might start Fix-It Saturdays of their own within a few years. [9] Because two out of three items left the trial working, I think a monthly event is worth one Saturday of the shop room's time. [10] Students who learn to fix a lamp will feel confident for the rest of their lives whenever something breaks. [11] The shop room has twelve workbenches, and each one has its own set of hand tools. [12] I ask the council to approve three Fix-It Saturdays this spring as a trial.
Jun labels sentences 8, 9 and 11 of the speech as fact, reasoned judgment or speculation. Which set of labels is right?
- 8 speculation, 9 fact, 11 reasoned judgment
- 8 reasoned judgment, 9 speculation, 11 fact
- 8 fact, 9 reasoned judgment, 11 speculation
- 8 speculation, 9 reasoned judgment, 11 fact
Kira checks this part of the claim: the event would keep usable things out of the town landfill. Which sentence does that part rest on most, and what goes in its flaw column?
- Sentence 7: false statement, since sentence 4 shows that 15 items were not fixed.
- Sentence 10: unsupported, since no evidence shows how students will feel years from now.
- Sentence 7: unsupported, since nothing shows the items were headed for the landfill.
- Sentence 4: unsupported, since the volunteers' notes could have miscounted the items.
Luz rewrites the claim in sentence 2. Which revised claim keeps what the evidence supports and drops what it does not?
- Norwood High should add a repair class to the schedule in place of a Saturday event.
- A monthly Fix-It Saturday would repair many broken items, give students practice, and cost the council about $40 a month.
- A monthly Fix-It Saturday would repair many broken items and cost the council about $40 a month.
- A monthly Fix-It Saturday would keep about thirty items a month out of the landfill for $40 a month.
Remarks by Rosa Lindqvist to the Oakhurst Town Council (speech transcript)
[1] Good evening; I am Rosa Lindqvist, and I chair the Oakhurst Tree Committee, a group of volunteers who plant, prune and care for the trees in our public parks. [2] I am here to ask the council to plant sixty shade trees along Main Street this fall, because the trees would cool the sidewalk and would save the town more each year than they cost.
[3] Last July, the town engineer measured the surface of the Main Street sidewalk at 118 degrees at three o'clock in the afternoon. [4] On the same afternoon, the shaded sidewalk in front of the library on Birch Lane measured 92 degrees. [5] A young maple of the size we would plant costs about $350, including the wooden stakes and the first year of regular watering. [6] Sixty trees would therefore cost about $21,000 altogether. [7] The public works report says the town spent $14,000 last year repairing storm drains on Main Street after heavy rains. [8] The same report estimates that street trees, by soaking up rain, would cut those repairs by about half. [9] That means the trees would save the town more each year than the $21,000 they cost to plant.
[10] Because the shaded sidewalk was 26 degrees cooler, I believe trees are a sensible way to make Main Street easier to walk on in July. [11] In time, the trees might draw so many birds that Main Street becomes a stop on the county's spring bird walk. [12] Please vote to plant the trees this fall, while the ground is still soft enough for digging and the young roots have time to settle before winter.
Milo labels sentences 3, 10 and 11 of the speech as fact, reasoned judgment or speculation. Which set of labels is right?
- 3 speculation, 10 reasoned judgment, 11 fact
- 3 reasoned judgment, 10 fact, 11 speculation
- 3 fact, 10 reasoned judgment, 11 speculation
- 3 fact, 10 speculation, 11 reasoned judgment
Noah checks this part of the claim: the trees would save the town more each year than they cost. Which sentence does that part rest on most, and what goes in its flaw column?
- Sentence 5: unsupported, since the speaker gives no source for the $350 price.
- Sentence 9: speculation, since no one can know what drain repairs will cost later.
- Sentence 9: false statement, since half of $14,000 is $7,000, well below $21,000.
- Sentence 11: speculation, since nothing shows that birds would come to the trees.
Pia rewrites the speaker's claim in sentence 2. Which revised claim keeps what the evidence supports and drops what it does not?
- Oakhurst should plant the sixty trees for about $21,000 because they would cool the Main Street sidewalk in July.
- Oakhurst should spend $21,000 painting the Main Street sidewalk a lighter color to keep it cooler.
- Oakhurst should plant the sixty trees to cool the sidewalk and to save more each year than their $21,000 cost.
- Oakhurst should plant the sixty trees to cool the sidewalk, and drain savings of about $7,000 a year would repay them in three years.
Remarks by Martin Ostrowski to the Prescott School Board (speech transcript)
[1] Thank you, members of the board; my name is Martin Ostrowski, and I live two blocks from Prescott High School with my family. [2] I am asking you to open the school track to the public from six to nine each evening, because it would give residents a safe place to walk after dark and would cost the district very little. [3] Many of our neighborhood streets have no sidewalks, and the town's own map shows that Route 9 has no streetlights for a mile and a half north of the school.
[4] The track already has tall lights, which the football team uses for practice three nights a week from August to November. [5] Team practices always have two coaches supervising on the field, and an athletic trainer stands by the bench. [6] In the three years the lights have been in use, the district has received no safety reports at all about the track. [7] So members of the public walking there alone at night would be just as safe as the players. [8] The district says that keeping the lights on until nine would add about $12 a night to its power bill. [9] A custodian already locks the gate at 9:30 each night, so no additional staff would be necessary.
[10] If the track opens, I expect that by next summer it will be the busiest place in Prescott after dark. [11] Because the track is lit and the roads near it are dark, I judge that the track is a more sensible place to walk at night than the side of Route 9. [12] Please give the plan a trial this spring and count the walkers carefully before you make a permanent decision.
Tala checks this part of the claim: the track would give residents a safe place to walk after dark. Which sentence does that part rest on most, and what goes in its flaw column?
- Sentence 10: speculation, since nothing shows the track would be the busiest place.
- Sentence 8: unsupported, since the speaker does not say how the $12 was worked out.
- Sentence 7: irrelevant, since the players' safety has nothing to do with the public at the track.
- Sentence 7: invalid step, since the players had coaches watching and walkers would not.
Zee rewrites the speaker's claim in sentence 2. Which revised claim keeps what the evidence supports and drops what it does not?
- Opening the track until nine would give walkers a lit place away from dark roads for about $12 a night.
- Prescott should put streetlights along Route 9 so that residents can walk there at night.
- Opening the track until nine would give walkers a lit place as safe as team practice for $12 a night.
- Opening the track until nine would give residents a lit place to walk away from the dark roads.