Explain how the evidence proves the claim

Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Keep the Fernhollow Library Open on Sundays (letter to the editor, invented town and figures)

   [1] The Fernhollow Public Library is open six days a week, but its doors stay locked on Sundays, the one day when many families are free together. [2] The library board should open the building from noon to five on Sunday afternoons, because those are the hours when working families can actually use it.

   [3] Last spring the library asked visitors to fill out a short survey, and 410 of the 600 people who answered said that they wanted Sunday hours. [4] Of those 410 people, more than half said that they work on Saturdays and cannot reach the library on a weekday before it closes at six. [5] During a trial last October, the library opened on four Sunday afternoons, and each of those afternoons drew more visitors than an average Tuesday. [6] My neighbor told me that she would bring her grandchildren each week if the library were open on Sundays. [7] The library also owns a new 3D printer, which students from the middle school and the high school have used this year to build models for the regional science fair. [8] Several people I spoke with at the farmers market said that Sunday hours would be the smartest idea the board has had in years.

   [9] Some board members worry that Sunday hours would cost too much, since the staff would need extra pay for the added shift. [10] However, the October trial was run by two paid workers and three volunteers, and the board's own report found that its cost fit within the current budget. [11] Because the trial Sundays drew more people than a weekday at little added cost, Sunday hours would reach the families who need them without a larger budget. [12] I urge the board to approve Sunday hours when it meets next month. [13] An open door on Sunday afternoons would make the library a place that the whole town can share.

2. 1.

   Bo ranks the evidence. Which sentence is the strongest evidence that working families need Sunday hours?

   • My neighbor told me that she would bring her grandchildren each week if the library were open on Sundays.
   • Several people I spoke with at the farmers market said that Sunday hours would be the smartest idea the board has had in years.
   • Of those 410 people, more than half said that they work on Saturdays and cannot reach the library on a weekday before it closes at six.
   • The library also owns a new 3D printer, which students from the middle school and the high school have used this year to build models for the regional science fair.
3. 2.

   Sentence 10 opens with However. Which transition could replace it and keep the same link to sentence 9, Kira?

   • In addition,
   • As a result,
   • Even so,
   • For example,

4. More Bike Racks at Port Calder Middle School (school newspaper editorial, invented town and figures)

   [1] At Port Calder Middle School, the bike rack beside the front steps holds twenty bikes, and on most mornings every space is taken before the first bell rings. [2] The school should add forty more spaces near the gym door, because the racks we have are full and more students would ride if they had a safe place to lock a bike.

   [3] For two weeks in March, our newspaper staff counted the bikes at the rack each morning at ten minutes before eight. [4] On nine of those ten school days, all twenty spaces were filled, and late riders chained their bikes to the stair railing or to the fence. [5] In a survey of 250 students that our staff ran during the same month, 64 said that they would ride to school if there were safe places to park. [6] One eighth grader said that a bike once tipped over in the wind because it had been leaned against the fence. [7] Our principal has said that she thinks bike racks are a wonderful idea for any school. [8] The school also repainted the gym door last summer, and its new blue color has drawn many compliments from visitors and from the families who come to games.

   [9] Some parents argue that the money would be better spent on new books for the library. [10] Yet the parent group has already offered to pay for the racks from its spring fundraiser, so the library budget would not shrink. [11] The racks fill up on nine days out of ten, and dozens more students say they would ride, so forty new spaces would meet a real and growing need. [12] Adding the racks is a small step that the school can take before the fall term begins. [13] We ask the principal and the parent group to approve the plan at the May meeting.

5. 3.

   Jun fills the link column for sentence 5. Which analysis best explains how sentence 5 supports the claim in sentence 2?

   • The school should add forty more spaces near the gym door, because more students would ride.
   • Sixty-four of the 250 students in the March survey said that they would ride if there were safe places to park.
   • If 64 more students would ride with safe parking, new racks would add riders, not only hold today's bikes.
   • Since 64 students would ride, morning drop-off traffic at the school will soon disappear completely.
6. 4.

   Luz ranks the evidence. Which sentence is the strongest evidence that the current racks are full?

   • Our principal has said that she thinks bike racks are a wonderful idea for any school.
   • One eighth grader said that a bike once tipped over in the wind because it had been leaned against the fence.
   • The school also repainted the gym door last summer, and its new blue color has drawn many compliments from visitors and from the families who come to games.
   • On nine of those ten school days, all twenty spaces were filled, and late riders chained their bikes to the stair railing or to the fence.
7. 5.

   Sentence 11 sums up what the counts show. Which transition would best open it, Milo?

   • In addition,
   • For example,
   • However,
   • Overall,

8. Rain Barrels for the Millbrook Heights Community Garden (garden newsletter column, invented town and figures)

   [1] The Millbrook Heights Community Garden has forty plots, and every one of them is watered with a hose that runs from the town's water line. [2] The garden committee should install rain barrels under the gutters of the tool shed and the picnic shelter, because collecting rain would cut the garden's water bill.

   [3] The two roofs together cover about 600 square feet, and gardeners often use the rule that one inch of rain on 1,000 square feet of roof yields about 600 gallons. [4] By that rule, a single inch of rain on our 600 square feet of roof would fill the barrels with roughly 360 gallons of water. [5] Last summer the garden's water bills came to $480, and the committee's records show that the month of July alone cost $150. [6] A gardener on plot 12 says that her tomatoes taste sweeter when they are watered with rain. [7] Several members have told me that rain barrels simply feel like the responsible thing to do. [8] The garden also won a $50 second prize for its sunflowers at the county fair last August, and the ribbon now hangs in the tool shed.

   [9] Some members worry that standing water in the barrels would attract mosquitoes during the summer. [10] Tight lids and fine screens over each opening keep mosquitoes from laying eggs, and the barrels would be emptied onto the beds once a week. [11] Each inch of rain could replace hundreds of gallons from the town line, so the barrels would trim the summer bills that strain our small budget. [12] The committee could buy four barrels with the money left over from the spring plant sale. [13] Let us vote on the barrels at the June meeting so that they are ready for the dry weeks of July.

9. 6.

   Pia ranks the evidence. Which sentence is the strongest evidence that the garden's water costs are worth cutting?

   • The garden also won a $50 second prize for its sunflowers at the county fair last August, and the ribbon now hangs in the tool shed.
   • Last summer the garden's water bills came to $480, and the committee's records show that the month of July alone cost $150.
   • A gardener on plot 12 says that her tomatoes taste sweeter when they are watered with rain.
   • Several members have told me that rain barrels simply feel like the responsible thing to do.
10. 7.

    Sentence 10 answers the worry in sentence 9. Which transition would best open sentence 10, Ren?

    • However,
    • For instance,
    • Also,
    • Therefore,

11. A Crossing Guard for Elm and Fourth (remarks to the town council, invented town and figures)

    [1] Every school morning, about two hundred children cross the corner of Elm Street and Fourth Avenue on their way to Danby Elementary School. [2] The town council should hire a crossing guard for that corner, because heavy traffic and young walkers meet there at the same time each day.

    [3] In a count taken by the parent group last fall, 340 cars passed through the corner between 7:30 and 8:00 on an average school morning. [4] During that same half hour, the group counted about two hundred children crossing, and many of them were younger than eight years old. [5] The town already pays crossing guards at two other corners near schools, and neither of those corners had more cars in last fall's count. [6] One parent said that a delivery truck once rolled through the crosswalk while her son waited at the curb. [7] A local shop owner told the parent group that a guard would be “the smartest thing the town could do.” [8] The corner also has a new bench and a bus shelter, which the town installed there last year after neighbors asked for a place to wait.

    [9] Some council members say that a four-way stop sign would solve the problem for much less money. [10] A stop sign can control cars, but it cannot help a six-year-old judge whether a driver who has stopped is about to pull forward. [11] The parent group has offered to train two volunteers to stand in for the guard on days when the guard is sick. [12] This corner has more cars than the guarded corners and just as many young walkers, so it meets the same need that the town has already chosen to answer. [13] I ask the council to fund a guard for Elm and Fourth before the spring term begins.

12. 8.

    Tala fills the link column for sentence 5. Which analysis best explains how sentence 5 supports the claim in sentence 2?

    • The town council should hire a crossing guard for the corner of Elm Street and Fourth Avenue.
    • The town pays guards at two other corners, and neither of them had more cars in last fall's count.
    • If the town already guards corners with no more traffic, the same reasoning calls for a guard at this busier corner.
    • Since two other corners have guards, the town should add guards at a dozen more corners this year.
13. 9.

    Zee ranks the evidence. Which sentence is the strongest evidence that the corner has heavy traffic when children walk to school?

    • A local shop owner told the parent group that a guard would be “the smartest thing the town could do.”
    • In a count taken by the parent group last fall, 340 cars passed through the corner between 7:30 and 8:00 on an average school morning.
    • The corner also has a new bench and a bus shelter, which the town installed there last year after neighbors asked for a place to wait.
    • One parent said that a delivery truck once rolled through the crosswalk while her son waited at the curb.
14. 10.

    Which transition would best open sentence 11, Esme?

    • For example,
    • In addition,
    • However,
    • As a result,