An article and a graphic on the same subject

Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Text A: "Riverside Pool Has Its Busiest Summer in Years" (a news article)
   [1] Riverside Pool in the town of Halford had its busiest summer in at least five years, with 24,800 visits between Memorial Day and Labor Day, according to figures that the town's parks department released on Monday. [2] That total is 4,500 visits more than last summer, and the department's director, Carla Benning, said that two changes probably explain most of the jump. [3] In June, the pool began staying open until eight o'clock on weeknights instead of closing at six, which gave working parents a chance to bring their children after dinner. [4] Then, during a long stretch of July heat, the line at the front gate often reached the parking lot before the doors opened at noon. [5] "We had days when we reached our limit of 300 swimmers by one o'clock and had to ask families to come back later," Benning said.

   [6] The free swim lessons on Saturday mornings also filled every spot, so the department added a second class in August to shorten the waiting list. [7] Several longtime swimmers wrote to the town council that the pool felt too crowded for swimming laps in the evening, and the council has asked the department to set aside one lane for laps next summer. [8] Benning said that the department will also study whether to hire two more lifeguards, because the longer hours stretched the current staff thin. [9] The pool will reopen next May, and the department plans to post a weekly visit count on its website so that residents can follow the numbers as the season goes on.

   Text B: "Visits to Riverside Pool, 2022-2026" (a bar chart from the Halford Parks Department, described in words)
   [10] The chart, which the parks department printed on the back page of its fall newsletter, has five bars standing side by side, one for each summer from 2022 to 2026. [11] Each bar shows the total number of visits for that summer, and the scale on the left side runs from 0 to 25,000 in steps of 5,000. [12] The bars for 2022 and 2023 stand at 18,400 and 19,100 visits, and the bar for 2024 drops to 17,600. [13] A small note under the 2024 bar explains that the pool was closed for two weeks in July of that year while a broken pump was replaced. [14] The bar for 2025 rises to 20,300 visits, and the bar for 2026, colored bright blue while the other four are gray, reaches 24,800. [15] A line of small print at the bottom reads, "Source: daily gate counts kept by pool staff; each visit is one entry through the front gate, so a swimmer who comes twice is counted twice." [16] The newsletter prints the chart under the heading "Our Summer in Numbers," with no other words beside it.

3. 1.

   Ari draws a section map for each text. Which detail appears only in Text B, the chart?

   • The pool had 24,800 visits in the summer of 2026, its busiest in five years.
   • Fewer people swam in 2024 because that summer was cooler than usual.
   • The pool was closed for two weeks in 2024 while a broken pump was replaced.
   • The pool began staying open until eight o'clock on weeknights in June.
4. 2.

   Bo compares the two maps. Which detail does Text A, the article, give that the chart leaves out?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • The summer of 2026 had more visits than each of the four summers before it.
   • The new evening hours brought in exactly 4,500 extra visits this summer.
   • A swimmer who comes to the pool twice is counted as two visits.
   • On some July days, the pool reached its limit of 300 swimmers by one o'clock.
5. 3.

   Esme reads the bars described in sentence 12. How did the number of visits change from 2023 to 2024?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • It fell by 1,500, from 19,100 visits to 17,600 visits.
   • It rose by 1,500, from 17,600 visits to 19,100 visits.
   • It fell by 1,500 because families started going to a newer pool nearby.
   • The 2026 bar is bright blue, while the bars for 2023 and 2024 are gray.
6. 4.

   Jun reads the small print in sentence 15. What does it tell a reader to keep in mind about the 2026 total of 24,800?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • The scale on the left side of the chart runs from 0 to 25,000.
   • It counts entries at the gate, so it is not the number of different people who swam.
   • The town council checked the pool staff's gate counts before they were printed.
   • It counts each swimmer a single time, so 24,800 different people swam at the pool this summer.
7. 5.

   Kira looks at what each version makes stand out. Which detail does Text B, the chart, make stand out most?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • The 2022 total of 18,400 visits, shown as the first bar on the left.
   • The long lines in July that reached the parking lot before noon.
   • A steady rise in visits in each summer from 2022 through 2026.
   • The 2026 total, shown as the tallest bar and the one bar in bright blue.
8. 6.

   Luz counts how many sentences each part gets. Text A, the article, gives most of its sentences to which part of the subject?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • The total number of visits for the summer of 2026.
   • The reasons for the jump in visits and the problems the crowds caused.
   • The date when the pool will open again next year.
   • How this summer's total compares with each of the four summers before it.

9. Use this

   The Millbrook Depot, in an Article and a Flyer Photograph (pair: a news article and a photograph with a caption described in words): Text A: “Millbrook Depot Opens Its Doors as a Museum” (a news article)
   [1] After six years of work by volunteers, the train depot on Water Street in Millbrook opened on Saturday as the Millbrook Rail Museum, almost forty years after the last passenger train stopped there. [2] The depot was built in 1911, and for decades it was the place where townspeople caught trains to the city, picked up packages and met relatives coming home. [3] When passenger service ended in 1987, the building was boarded up, and by 2018 the roof had holes large enough that pigeons nested in the ticket office. [4] A group called the Friends of the Depot raised $640,000 from local donors and a state grant to replace the roof, repair the windows and refinish the floors of the waiting room. [5] About 350 people came to the opening, and many of them lined up to ring the old station bell, which volunteers had found in a barn outside town.

   [6] The museum's director, Walter Pruitt, a retired railroad conductor, said that the waiting room now looks much as it did in the 1920s, down to the oak benches and the brass ticket window. [7] The freight room, which makes up nearly half of the depot, still has a cracked foundation and will stay closed until the group raises about $200,000 more. [8] Pruitt said that the freight room will one day hold a model of the town as it looked in 1920, but he would not guess when the work might be finished. [9] The museum is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from ten to four, and admission is free, though a box by the door takes donations.

   Text B: “Opening Day at the Depot” (a photograph with a caption from the museum's mailed flyer, described in words)
   [10] The photograph fills the top two-thirds of a flyer that the Friends of the Depot mailed to every home in Millbrook the week after the opening. [11] It was taken from inside the waiting room, looking toward the tall front windows, so the morning light falls across the polished floor and the rows of oak benches. [12] In the center, a gray-haired man in a conductor's cap pulls the rope of a brass bell while a crowd of smiling families claps around him. [13] The brass ticket window gleams on the right side of the picture, and a banner above the windows reads, "Welcome Back, Millbrook!" [14] The wall with the doorway to the freight room stands behind the camera, so that doorway does not appear anywhere in the picture. [15] The caption below the photograph reads, "Our depot is restored and ready for you: come see Millbrook's history, open Fridays through Sundays." [16] A smaller line beneath the caption asks readers to "help us finish the job" by mailing a donation. [17] On the back of the flyer, a short list names the volunteers who worked on the depot.

10. 7.

    Milo fills in the compare row under the two maps. Which detail appears in both Text A and Text B?

    • The freight room still needs about $200,000 more in repairs.
    • The museum is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
    • The doorway to the freight room appears at one edge of the photograph.
    • Visitors pay a small fee at the door to enter the museum.
11. 8.

    Noah looks for the boxes that only one map holds. Which detail does Text A give that the photograph and caption leave out?

    • The freight room's model of the town will be finished by next summer.
    • Families gathered around the old station bell at the opening.
    • Morning light falls across the polished floor and the oak benches.
    • The freight room has a cracked foundation and is still closed.
12. 9.

    Pia reads the description of the photograph in sentences 11–14. What is at the center of the picture?

    • The flyer that carries the photograph was mailed to each home in town.
    • The brass ticket window, with the welcome banner hanging just above it.
    • Volunteers carrying the old bell in from the barn where it was found.
    • A man in a conductor's cap ringing a brass bell as families clap around him.
13. 10.

    Zee compares the two section maps. Text A, the article, spends more of its sentences than Text B on which subject?

    • The old station bell that people lined up to ring.
    • The depot's long history and the repair work still left to do.
    • A plan to build a second museum in another part of town.
    • How the restored waiting room looks in the morning light.