Is the reasoning sound and the evidence enough?

Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   A Tool Shelf for the Ashby Library (letter to the editor)

   [1] I am writing to ask the Ashby Public Library to set aside one shelf near the front desk for tools that residents could borrow with a library card. [2] My claim is simple: a tool shelf would save local families money, and it would be used often enough to earn its place in the building.

   [3] Last spring the library in nearby Corwin started a tool shelf with forty items, including drills, ladders, sanders and a pressure washer. [4] According to the Corwin library's own records, residents borrowed those forty tools 310 times between April and September. [5] A new cordless drill costs about ninety dollars at a hardware store, while borrowing one from the library would cost a family nothing. [6] The Ashby library already owns a sturdy steel shelf that has stood empty in its storage room since the old computers were removed. [7] Because the Corwin tools went out 310 times and the shelf would cost Ashby nothing to set up, I believe the plan is a sensible use of one corner of the lobby. [8] In other words, each of Corwin's forty tools went out about twenty times in those six months.

   [9] Within a few years, the tool shelf might bring in so many new visitors that the library would need to hire another librarian. [10] Most families in Ashby own fewer than five tools of their own. [11] The library first opened in 1958 in a former train depot on Canal Avenue. [12] I hope the library board will vote on the tool shelf at its March meeting, and I would gladly help to sort and label the tools.

2. 1.

   Ari labels sentence 7 in the matrix. Is it a fact, a reasoned judgment or speculation, and why?

   • Speculation: it guesses how the lobby will look someday, and no figure backs it.
   • Reasoned judgment: it is an opinion, and sentences 4 and 6 give the reasons for it.
   • Reasoned judgment: it is an opinion, and sentences 9 and 10 give the reasons for it.
   • Fact: the count of 310 checkouts in it could be checked in Corwin's records.
3. 2.

   Bo checks the letter against its own figures. Which sentence do those figures show is false?

   • Sentence 7: other readers might not agree that the plan is a sensible use.
   • Sentence 8: 310 checkouts over forty tools comes to about eight each, not twenty.
   • Sentence 10: the letter gives no count of the tools that Ashby families own.
   • Sentence 5: a free drill sounds too good next to a ninety-dollar one.
4. 3.

   Esme checks sentence 5 against the two-part claim in sentence 2: a tool shelf would save families money, and it would be used often enough. Is sentence 5 relevant, and which part does it cover?

   • Relevant, but it covers how often the shelf would be used and not the money part.
   • Not relevant: it is about a hardware store's prices, not about the library.
   • Relevant, and it covers both parts: the money saved and how often tools go out.
   • Relevant, but it covers the money part and not how often the shelf would be used.

5. A Food-Scrap Pickup for Corwin (opinion column)

   [1] Every Tuesday, Corwin's municipal trucks haul about 40 tons of household trash to the county landfill, and a considerable share of that load is food that could have been turned into rich garden soil. [2] The town should start a weekly food-scrap pickup, because it would shrink the amount of trash we send away and would cost each household less than a dollar a week.

   [3] Two years ago the town of Delmar began such a pickup, and its public works office reports that its weekly trash load fell from 30 tons to 24 tons. [4] That is a decrease of one fifth, and Delmar's collected scraps now become compost that the town distributes to local gardeners each spring. [5] Delmar charges each household $36 a year for the service, which works out to about 69 cents a week. [6] A county study completed last year found that food scraps make up about a quarter of everything Corwin households throw away.

   [7] Most Corwin families would gladly separate their scraps into a special bin if the town council asked them to participate. [8] Since Delmar cut its trash by a fifth for less than a dollar a week, I think a pickup would be a fair bargain for Corwin. [9] Put simply, Delmar's pickup has cut its trash by more than a third at a very small price. [10] Within a few years, a pickup like this might even let Corwin close the old transfer station on Station Road. [11] Corwin's trash trucks were painted bright green when the town purchased them from a regional dealer in 2018. [12] I urge the town council to try a food-scrap pickup for one full year and to publish the results, so that residents can judge the experiment for themselves.

6. 4.

   Jun labels sentence 10 in the matrix. Is it a fact, a reasoned judgment or speculation, and why?

   • Speculation: it guesses at a future change, and sentence 6 shows the guess is wrong.
   • Fact: the transfer station on Station Road is a real place a reader could check.
   • Reasoned judgment: it is the writer's opinion, and sentence 3 gives the reason for it.
   • Speculation: it guesses at a future change, and no figure in the column backs it.
7. 5.

   Kira checks the column against its own figures. Which sentence do those figures show is false?

   • Sentence 8: calling the pickup a fair bargain is the writer's own view.
   • Sentence 9: 30 tons falling to 24 is a drop of one fifth, not more than a third.
   • Sentence 7: the column gives no survey of whether families would sort their scraps.
   • Sentence 5: $36 a year seems too little to pay for a weekly truck.
8. 6.

   Luz checks sentence 11 against the two-part claim in sentence 2: a pickup would shrink the town's trash and cost each household less than a dollar a week. Is sentence 11 relevant, and which part does it cover?

   • Not relevant: the trucks' color says nothing about trash amounts or cost.
   • Relevant, and it covers both parts, since trucks carry the trash and cost money.
   • Relevant, and it covers the trash part, since it is about the town's trash trucks.
   • Not relevant: the trucks were bought years before anyone suggested the pickup.

9. A Longer Walk Signal on Harbor Street (letter to the editor)

   [1] The crosswalk at Harbor Street and Fourth Avenue lies between the Delmar Senior Center and the post office, and hundreds of people use it every day. [2] I ask the town to lengthen its walk signal there from 15 seconds to 25, because the present signal is too short for many walkers, and a longer one would barely slow the cars.

   [3] Harbor Street is 60 feet wide at that corner, according to the town's own street map. [4] A national guide for traffic engineers assumes that a typical walker covers about 3.5 feet per second and that slower walkers cover about 3 feet. [5] At 3 feet per second, a walker needs 20 seconds to cross 60 feet, which is longer than the 15 seconds the signal now allows. [6] Last month I stood at the corner for one hour and counted 41 people who were still in the street when the signal changed. [7] The town's traffic office says the signal now gives cars on Harbor Street 45 seconds of green light in each cycle.

   [8] Even with ten seconds taken from the cars, Harbor Street would keep more than forty seconds of green light. [9] Drivers on Harbor Street are rarely in a hurry at that time of day. [10] Because a slower walker needs 20 seconds and gets only 15, I judge that the present signal is unfair to the people it is meant to protect. [11] A longer signal might even persuade more people to walk to the post office instead of driving. [12] I hope the traffic office will change the signal before winter brings ice to the corner.

10. 7.

    Milo labels sentence 7 in the matrix. Is it a fact, a reasoned judgment or speculation, and why?

    • Fact: the writer timed it while standing at the corner for one hour.
    • Reasoned judgment: it is the traffic office's view of how long cars need.
    • Speculation: it predicts how much green light cars will keep after the change.
    • Fact: the traffic office's timing records for the signal could check it.
11. 8.

    Pia checks sentence 6 against the two-part claim in sentence 2: the signal is too short for many walkers, and a longer one would barely slow the cars. Is sentence 6 relevant, and which part does it cover?

    • Relevant, and it covers both parts: walkers caught short and cars barely slowed.
    • Not relevant: it is one person's count, not a figure from the traffic office.
    • Relevant, but it covers the part about the cars and not the too-short part.
    • Relevant, but it covers the too-short part and not the part about the cars.

12. A Dog Park for Fenwick (opinion column)

    [1] Fenwick has about 3,000 licensed dogs, according to the town clerk's official records, but not one public place where a dog may legally run off its leash. [2] The town should fence two acres of Pell Field as a dog park, because owners need a legal place for off-leash play, and the cost would fit inside this year's parks budget.

    [3] The parks department estimates that a fence, two gates and a drinking fountain would cost $48,000 in all, including installation. [4] This year's parks budget has $60,000 set aside for new projects, and none of that money has been spent yet. [5] Last year, the town's animal control office issued 212 tickets to owners whose dogs were discovered off their leashes in public parks. [6] The north end of Pell Field has not been used for organized games since the town constructed new ball fields on Garnet Road in 2017.

    [7] A dog park might soon become the most popular destination in Fenwick, attracting visitors from neighboring communities on weekends. [8] Since the fence would cost $48,000 and the budget holds $60,000, I think the town can afford the dog park this year without cutting anything else. [9] With 212 tickets a year, animal control writes more than one off-leash ticket every day. [10] Most dog owners in Fenwick would visit the park at least once a week. [11] Pell Field is named for Edwin Pell, a dairy farmer who donated the land to the town in 1931 on the condition that it remain open to the public. [12] Please ask the council to approve the fence at its next meeting, before the spring planting season fills the parks crew's calendar.

13. 9.

    Ren labels sentence 8 in the matrix. Is it a fact, a reasoned judgment or speculation, and why?

    • Reasoned judgment: it is an opinion, and sentence 5 gives the reason for it.
    • Speculation: it guesses about a future budget, and no figure backs it.
    • Fact: the two dollar amounts in it can be checked in the parks budget.
    • Reasoned judgment: it is an opinion, and sentences 3 and 4 give the reasons for it.
14. 10.

    Zee checks sentence 11 against the two-part claim in sentence 2: owners need a legal place for off-leash play, and the cost would fit this year's budget. Is sentence 11 relevant, and which part does it cover?

    • Relevant, and it covers both parts, since the dog park would stand on that field.
    • Relevant, and it covers the need part, since it tells how the town got the field.
    • Not relevant: Edwin Pell gave the land too long ago for it to matter.
    • Not relevant: the field's name says nothing about need or cost.