Is the reasoning sound and the evidence enough?
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Solar Panels for Galloway High (newspaper editorial)
[1] For three years, the Galloway school board has talked about putting solar panels on the flat roof of Galloway High School, and it is time to decide. [2] The board should approve the panels, because they would lower the school's power bills, give students a working lesson in energy science, and pay back their cost within twelve years.
[3] A study by an engineering firm that the board hired found that the roof could hold 600 panels without any repairs. [4] The same study estimated that the panels would supply about forty percent of the electricity the school uses in a year. [5] Last year the school's electricity cost $95,000, so a forty percent cut would save roughly $38,000 a year. [6] The panels would cost about $420,000 to install, after a state grant that the district has already been promised. [7] At $38,000 a year in savings, the panels would cover their cost in about eleven years, a year sooner than the board's goal. [8] The county facilities office reports that the four other county schools with rooftop panels have kept them running for at least fifteen years.
[9] Since the panels will cut the electricity bill, they will also make students more interested in their science classes. [10] Some neighbors have asked whether the panels would be seen from the street, and the study says the roof's low wall would hide them. [11] Students will surely learn a great deal from having real panels on their own school. [12] The board meets on May 6, and we urge it to vote yes.
Suppose sentences 4 and 5 are true. Ari asks whether the conclusion in sentence 9 follows from them. Which answer is right?
- Yes: sentences 4 and 5 come from a study, so sentence 9 follows from them.
- No: sentences 4 and 5 are about one year, and sentence 9 is about twelve years, so the step skips ahead in time.
- No: sentences 4 and 5 are about the power bill, and sentence 9 is about interest in science.
- No: the board paid for the study in sentences 4 and 5, so it could be wrong.
Bo splits the claim in sentence 2 into three parts: (1) lower power bills, (2) a working lesson in energy science, (3) paying back the cost within twelve years. Which part does no sentence support?
- Each part has support: sentence 9 backs the lesson part by saying students will grow more interested.
- Each part has support: sentence 11 backs the lesson part by saying students will learn a great deal.
- Part 2, the lesson in energy science: no sentence gives evidence for it.
- Part 3, paying back the cost within twelve years: no sentence gives evidence for it.
Esme learns a new fact: The panels will cost $500,000 to install, not $420,000, because the state grant was smaller than promised. Does it confirm, disprove or call for modifying the position in sentence 2?
- Disprove: with a higher cost, the panels would no longer lower the school's power bills.
- Modify: with the smaller grant, the panels would supply less than forty percent of the power.
- Confirm: the panels would still save $38,000 a year, so the position stands as written.
- Modify: at $500,000 the savings take about thirteen years to repay, so the twelve-year part must change.
Refill Stations for Holt's Parks (news report)
[1] This summer the Holt Parks Department tested a water refill station, a steel post with a spout for filling bottles, at Lindgren Park. [2] The department now proposes stations at all four city parks, saying they would cut plastic bottle trash, cost less to run than the old drinking fountains, and be popular with the summer camps that meet in the parks.
[3] During the ten-week test, a counter on the station recorded 21,400 bottle fills, which the department compares to the same number of plastic bottles not bought. [4] Park crews also reported that the trash cans near the station held about a third fewer plastic bottles than they had the summer before. [5] Leaders of the three summer camps that use Lindgren Park said their campers refilled their bottles at the station twice a day. [6] The department's own rule says that any park with more than 300 visitors a day must have a working water source. [7] The gate counter at Mercer Park recorded an average of 450 visitors a day this summer, and the park's one fountain has been broken since May. [8] Under that rule, then, Mercer Park must be given a working water source.
[9] Supporters say the stations are simply the cheaper choice, since they are newer and shinier than the old fountains. [10] Each station costs about $3,500 to buy and install, and the department has $16,000 left in its equipment budget. [11] Some residents have asked for shade umbrellas beside the stations, which the department says it will consider next year. [12] The city council will hear the proposal at its June meeting.
Suppose sentences 6 and 7 are true. Jun asks whether the conclusion in sentence 8 follows from them. Which answer is right?
- No: the gate counter in sentence 7 could have counted some visitors twice.
- No: the rule in sentence 6 was written for Lindgren Park, not for Mercer Park.
- Yes: if the rule and the count are true, Mercer Park must get a water source.
- Yes: the camps in sentence 5 show that the parks need more water.
Luz learns a new fact: At the three parks without a station, crews found as many plastic bottles in the trash as the summer before. Does it confirm, disprove or call for modifying the position in sentence 2?
- Confirm: the other three parks clearly need stations, since their trash did not improve.
- Disprove: if the other parks had as much trash, the stations change nothing.
- Confirm: the drop came where the station was and not at the parks without one.
- Modify: the trash part should be limited to Lindgren Park, where the test was held.
Movie Nights Move Indoors? (newspaper editorial)
[1] For eleven summers, Kessler has shown free movies on Friday evenings on a large inflatable screen in Bramble Park, and the tradition has become a familiar part of the season. [2] This year the recreation board proposes moving the movie nights into the high school gym, saying the gym cannot be rained out, has better sound, and would draw larger crowds.
[3] Records kept by the board show that four of last summer's ten movie nights were canceled because of rain or thunderstorms. [4] The gym has a new sound system that was installed in January for school concerts, assemblies and graduation ceremonies. [5] At a test showing in March, a sound technician found that the actors' voices were clear from every seat in the gym, even in the back row. [6] The gym holds 450 people on its bleachers and folding chairs, according to the occupancy limit posted beside the entrance. [7] Last summer, the six movie nights that were not rained out drew an average of 380 people to Bramble Park.
[8] Because the gym's sound is clearer than the park's, more families will come to the movies in the gym. [9] The gym is simply the place where Kessler's movie nights would be most popular. [10] In a few years, the gym nights might even grow into a film festival that brings visitors from other towns. [11] Some families say they will miss watching movies from blankets spread across the grass as the sun goes down behind the hills. [12] The recreation board will vote at its April meeting, and we hope it chooses the gym.
Suppose sentences 4 and 5 are true. Milo asks whether the conclusion in sentence 8 follows from them. Which answer is right?
- Yes: a technician tested the sound in sentence 5, so sentence 8 follows from it.
- No: one test showing in March may not match a full gym in July.
- No: sentences 4 and 5 are about the gym, and sentence 8 is about the park.
- No: sentences 4 and 5 show clear sound, not that more families would come for it.
Noah splits the proposal in sentence 2 into three parts: (1) the gym cannot be rained out, (2) it has better sound, (3) it would draw larger crowds. Which part does no sentence support?
- Each part has support: sentence 10 backs the crowd part by saying the nights could become a festival.
- Each part has support: sentence 9 backs the crowd part by calling the gym the most popular place.
- Part 3, the larger crowds: no sentence shows that more people would come.
- Part 1, the rain: no sentence shows that rain has been a problem for movie nights.
Pia learns a new fact: The school says the gym is free on Fridays in June and July but is booked for a basketball camp every Friday in August. Does it confirm, disprove or call for modifying the position in sentence 2?
- Confirm: the gym is still free on most summer Fridays, so the plan can stand as written.
- Modify: the gym holds 450 people, which is too few for the August crowds in the park.
- Disprove: with August booked, the plan to move the movie nights cannot go ahead.
- Modify: the June and July nights can move to the gym, but the August nights must stay in the park.
A Piano for the Larch Bay Station (newspaper editorial)
[1] Travelers in several large cities have discovered pianos in train stations and airports, left there for anyone who wants to sit down and play. [2] Larch Bay should put a piano in its own station waiting room, because travelers would play it, it would cost the town nothing, and it would make the wait for the evening train more pleasant.
[3] The Larch Bay Music Club has offered to donate an upright piano and to pay for its tuning twice a year. [4] In a survey of 120 riders on the evening train, 85 called the wait long and dull, and 70 said music would make it more pleasant. [5] The evening train to the city departs at 6:40, and many riders arrive twenty minutes early to be certain of a seat. [6] The station manager's rules allow any object in the waiting room, as long as it leaves a clear path at least six feet wide to the platform doors. [7] The corner by the east window leaves a path eight feet wide, even with an upright piano in place. [8] So the manager's rules allow a piano in that corner.
[9] Plenty of travelers in Larch Bay would happily sit down and play it. [10] Before long, the piano might become so well known that people ride the train just to play it. [11] The waiting room is quiet most evenings, with little in it except rows of wooden benches, a ticket machine and a large clock. [12] We urge the town to accept the club's generous offer before the cold weather arrives.
Tala splits the claim in sentence 2 into three parts: (1) travelers would play it, (2) it would cost the town nothing, (3) it would make the wait more pleasant. Which part does no sentence support?
- Each part has support: sentence 5 backs the playing part, since riders arrive twenty minutes early.
- Part 2, the cost: no sentence shows that the piano would cost the town nothing.
- Part 1, travelers playing it: no sentence shows that anyone would sit down and play.
- Each part has support: sentence 9 backs the playing part by saying plenty of travelers would play.
Zee learns a new fact: The regional rail authority, which owns the station, bans pianos and other instruments in its waiting rooms. Does it confirm, disprove or call for modifying the position in sentence 2?
- Disprove: travelers in a hurry would not stop to play a piano anyway.
- Modify: the piano should go in a smaller corner so that it fits the rules.
- Disprove: the owner's ban means the town cannot put a piano in the waiting room.
- Confirm: sentences 6 to 8 already show that the rules allow a piano.