Explain how the evidence proves the claim
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
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Start the Seabrook High Day at 8:45 (opinion column, invented town and figures): [1] Seabrook High School starts classes at 7:30 in the morning, which means that many students wake up before six to catch the first bus. [2] The district should move the start time to 8:45, because a later start would help students get more sleep and would cut the number of students who arrive late.
[3] A district survey last fall found that Seabrook students sleep an average of six hours and fifty minutes on school nights. [4] Corwin High, in the next district, moved its start from 7:30 to 8:45 last year, and its students reported sleeping about forty minutes more each night. [5] In the same year, the number of students who arrived late to their first class at Corwin fell by about one third, according to the school's attendance office. [6] One junior admits to falling asleep in a first-period history class twice this month, during lessons that had seemed interesting the day before. [7] A track coach told the school board that teenagers are simply night owls by nature. [8] Seabrook also opened a larger student parking lot this fall, with spaces for sixty more cars.
[9] Some parents worry that a later start would push afternoon sports practices into the dark. [10] Corwin moved its practices to begin at four o'clock and kept each team's full schedule by using field lights, and Seabrook's fields already have the same kind of lights. [11] The district's transport office says that each bus route could stay the same and simply run seventy-five minutes later. [12] A start time that fits how teenagers sleep would help them learn more in each of their classes. [13] The board should vote for the 8:45 start at its March meeting, so that families have the whole summer to plan for the change.
Sentence 9 raises a worry about sports practices. Which analysis best uses sentence 10 to answer it, Esme?
- Because Corwin kept its full schedule, a later start will make Seabrook's teams win more games.
- Since practices would end in the dark, the district should keep the 7:30 start instead.
- Corwin's students slept about forty more minutes a night after the change, which shows that a later start helps students sleep.
- Corwin solved the same practice problem with field lights that Seabrook also has, so the worry need not block a later start.
A reader doubts that a later start would cut late arrivals. Which sentence answers that doubt best, Jun?
- One junior admits to falling asleep in a first-period history class twice this month, during lessons that had seemed interesting the day before.
- Corwin High, in the next district, moved its start from 7:30 to 8:45 last year, and its students reported sleeping about forty minutes more each night.
- A track coach told the school board that teenagers are simply night owls by nature.
- In the same year, the number of students who arrived late to their first class at Corwin fell by about one third, according to the school's attendance office.
Sentences 4 and 10 each need a transition at the start. Which pair fits, in that order, Kira?
- Therefore, / However,
- As a result, / For example,
- For instance, / However,
- For instance, / As a result,
A Tool Library for Linden Falls (letter to the town council, invented town and figures)
[1] In Linden Falls, nearly every garage holds a ladder, a drill and a pile of tools that are used only once or twice a year. [2] The town should open a tool library in the empty storefront on Mill Street, because it would save residents money and keep useful tools out of the landfill.
[3] A volunteer group asked 500 households what tools they had bought in the past year, and the households reported spending an average of $210. [4] The same households said that they had used most of those tools fewer than three times. [5] The town's transfer station collected about four tons of broken or unwanted tools and small machines last year. [6] In the nearby city of Rosemont, a tool library that opened two years ago now lends about 300 tools a month to its members. [7] One resident says that a borrowed saw once saved a whole weekend of shopping. [8] The mayor has said that sharing is “the heart of a small town.”
[9] The storefront on Mill Street also has a bright front window that would suit a small art gallery. [10] Some store owners worry that a tool library would hurt the hardware shop on Main Street. [11] In Rosemont, the hardware store's owner reports that sales of nails, paint and other supplies rose after the tool library opened, because borrowers still buy materials for their projects. [12] According to the volunteer group's budget, a membership of $20 a year would cover insurance and repairs. [13] The town council should approve a one-year trial of the tool library this spring.
A reader doubts that a tool library would get much use. Which sentence answers that doubt best, Milo?
- A volunteer group asked 500 households what tools they had bought in the past year, and the households reported spending an average of $210.
- In the nearby city of Rosemont, a tool library that opened two years ago now lends about 300 tools a month to its members.
- The mayor has said that sharing is “the heart of a small town.”
- One resident says that a borrowed saw once saved a whole weekend of shopping.
Sentences 5 and 11 each need a transition at the start. Which pair fits, in that order, Noah?
- In addition, / Therefore,
- In addition, / However,
- For example, / However,
- In contrast, / For example,
Close Market Row to Cars on Sunday Mornings (letter to the town council, invented town and figures)
[1] Market Row is the oldest shopping street in Vellmar, and on Sunday mornings its narrow sidewalks are crowded while cars inch past the shop windows. [2] The town should close Market Row to cars from eight to noon on Sundays, because it would bring more shoppers to local stores and make the street safer for families on foot.
[3] When the town closed the street for a spring festival last year, the merchants' association reported that shops sold about a quarter more than on an ordinary Sunday. [4] A count by the same association found that about 1,500 people walk along Market Row on a typical Sunday morning, most of them between nine and eleven. [5] Over the past three years, the police department recorded eleven minor crashes on Market Row between cars and people on foot, and seven of them happened on weekends. [6] One shop owner says that a customer's stroller was nearly clipped by a turning van last month. [7] A longtime resident told the council that a quiet street is “simply more pleasant.” [8] Market Row also has three new street lamps that the town installed last winter.
[9] Some drivers worry that closing the street would leave them with nowhere to park near the shops. [10] The parking garage on Bell Street, two blocks away, stands nearly empty on Sunday mornings and is free until noon. [11] The town of Haldane closed its main street to cars on summer Sundays five years ago, and it has kept the plan each year since. [12] A trial of eight Sundays would give the town real numbers before it makes any lasting decision. [13] The council should approve the trial at its April meeting.
Sentence 9 raises a worry about parking. Which analysis best uses sentence 10 to answer it, Pia?
- Drivers would have nowhere to park, so the street should stay open to cars on Sunday mornings.
- Shops sold about a quarter more during the festival, which shows that closing the street to cars brings in more shoppers on a Sunday.
- A free, nearly empty garage two blocks away gives drivers a place to park, so closing the street need not keep them from the shops.
- Because the Bell Street garage is free, the town will no longer need parking on any downtown street.
A reader doubts that Market Row is unsafe for people on foot. Which sentence answers that doubt best, Ren?
- Over the past three years, the police department recorded eleven minor crashes on Market Row between cars and people on foot, and seven of them happened on weekends.
- A longtime resident told the council that a quiet street is “simply more pleasant.”
- One shop owner says that a customer's stroller was nearly clipped by a turning van last month.
- A count by the same association found that about 1,500 people walk along Market Row on a typical Sunday morning, most of them between nine and eleven.
Sentences 6 and 10 each need a transition at the start. Which pair fits, in that order, Tala?
- In contrast, / However,
- Therefore, / For instance,
- For example, / However,
- For example, / In addition,
Shade Trees for the Ridgeway Elementary Playground (letter to the school board, invented town and figures)
[1] The playground at Ridgeway Elementary School is a wide square of blacktop and rubber matting, and no part of it has any shade. [2] The school should plant a row of shade trees along the playground's south edge, because they would keep the play area cooler and let children play outside longer on hot days.
[3] On a sunny afternoon in June, the science club measured the blacktop at 128 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun and 96 degrees in the shade of the gym wall. [4] Last school year, recess was moved indoors on fourteen days because the playground was too hot for safe play, and most of those days came in May and early June. [5] At Fenwick Elementary, across town, staff say that recess moves indoors far less often since trees planted ten years ago grew tall enough to shade the field. [6] One fourth grader says that the metal slide gets so hot on sunny afternoons that few children want to use it after lunch. [7] A parent told the principal that trees make a schoolyard “feel like home.” [8] The school also painted a new hopscotch court near the front doors last fall, and the younger classes use it most mornings before school.
[9] Some teachers point out that young trees take years to grow large enough to give real shade. [10] The county nursery sells trees that are already twelve feet tall, and the science club says that they would shade part of the blacktop in their first summer. [11] Shade sails could be hung over the climbing area while the trees grow, and the parent group has offered to pay for them. [12] Planting this fall would let the trees settle their roots before the heat of next summer. [13] The school board should approve the planting at its September meeting, so that the work can begin before the ground freezes.
Sentence 9 raises a worry about how long trees take to grow. Which analysis best uses sentence 10 to answer it, Zee?
- Since young trees take years to give shade, the school should not plant trees this fall.
- Because the trees are already tall, recess will move indoors on zero days next year.
- The blacktop measured 128 degrees in the sun and 96 in the shade, so shade cools the play area.
- Twelve-foot trees give some shade in their first summer, so the wait for shade is far shorter than the teachers fear.
A reader doubts that shade would make the play area cooler. Which sentence answers that doubt best, Ari?
- Last school year, recess was moved indoors on fourteen days because the playground was too hot for safe play, and most of those days came in May and early June.
- One fourth grader says that the metal slide gets so hot on sunny afternoons that few children want to use it after lunch.
- A parent told the principal that trees make a schoolyard “feel like home.”
- On a sunny afternoon in June, the science club measured the blacktop at 128 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun and 96 degrees in the shade of the gym wall.
