Summarize a story without opinions
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
The Meeting Minutes (story)
[1] The town council let one student attend each meeting as a junior secretary, and Zee, who had been chosen for neat handwriting, sat at the end of the long table with a notebook. [2] The council's job that spring was to decide the opening hours for the new skate park, and the room was crowded with people on both sides of the question. [3] Zee's first draft of the minutes described one speaker as rambling, another as admirably calm, and the council chair as impatient, and Zee was pleased with the vivid sentences. [4] Before the minutes were posted, the clerk, Ms. Pruitt, read the draft and asked Zee to circle every word that described a person instead of what the person had said.
[5] Zee circled eleven words and felt defensive, since each had seemed accurate. [6] Ms. Pruitt then asked a question: if the speaker called rambling were reading the minutes next week, what would they tell the town about that speaker's request? [7] Zee reread the draft slowly and saw that the rambling speaker had asked for earlier opening hours for children, and that this request appeared nowhere in the minutes. [8] The vivid words had taken up the room where the request should have been.
[9] Zee rewrote the minutes in a plainer style, recording who spoke, what each person asked for, and how the council voted, which turned out to be seven votes to two. [10] The new draft was half as colorful and twice as useful, and Ms. Pruitt signed it without changing a word. [11] At the next meeting, a woman rose to say that these were the first minutes she had read that included her request. [12] Zee wrote that comment down exactly as spoken, and left out how it made Zee feel.
Ari has room for one sentence. Which single sentence reports the problem, the turn and the change, without opinions?
- Zee's first draft of the council minutes used vivid words about the speakers, but after Ms. Pruitt asked what the draft said about a speaker's request, Zee rewrote the minutes to record who spoke, what each person asked for, and the vote.
- Zee carelessly filled the first minutes with showy opinions about the speakers until a stern clerk forced a rewrite, and the plainer minutes that followed were signed without a single change.
- Zee wrote the final minutes of the council meeting to record who spoke, what each person asked for, and how the council voted, which turned out to be seven votes to two, and Ms. Pruitt signed them.
- Zee wrote a first draft of the council minutes that described one speaker as rambling, another as admirably calm, and the council chair as impatient, and Zee was pleased with the vivid sentences it contained.
The Meeting Minutes (story)
[1] The town council let one student attend each meeting as a junior secretary, and Zee, who had been chosen for neat handwriting, sat at the end of the long table with a notebook. [2] The council's job that spring was to decide the opening hours for the new skate park, and the room was crowded with people on both sides of the question. [3] Zee's first draft of the minutes described one speaker as rambling, another as admirably calm, and the council chair as impatient, and Zee was pleased with the vivid sentences. [4] Before the minutes were posted, the clerk, Ms. Pruitt, read the draft and asked Zee to circle every word that described a person instead of what the person had said.
[5] Zee circled eleven words and felt defensive, since each had seemed accurate. [6] Ms. Pruitt then asked a question: if the speaker called rambling were reading the minutes next week, what would they tell the town about that speaker's request? [7] Zee reread the draft slowly and saw that the rambling speaker had asked for earlier opening hours for children, and that this request appeared nowhere in the minutes. [8] The vivid words had taken up the room where the request should have been.
[9] Zee rewrote the minutes in a plainer style, recording who spoke, what each person asked for, and how the council voted, which turned out to be seven votes to two. [10] The new draft was half as colorful and twice as useful, and Ms. Pruitt signed it without changing a word. [11] At the next meeting, a woman rose to say that these were the first minutes she had read that included her request. [12] Zee wrote that comment down exactly as spoken, and left out how it made Zee feel. Draft summary: (1) Zee wrote the first draft of the minutes with words that described the speakers. (2) A stubborn clerk made Zee cross out the words for no good reason. (3) Zee rewrote the minutes to record who spoke and what each person asked for.
Bo is revising a draft summary. Draft sentence 2 uses an opinion and skips what caused the change. Which rewrite fixes both?
- A stubborn clerk made Zee cross out the words because a speaker's request for earlier hours was missing from the draft.
- Ms. Pruitt asked Zee to cross out the words describing the speakers because the council chair had complained about them to the clerk.
- A clerk read the first draft of the minutes and asked Zee to cross out the words that described the speakers, and Zee did.
- Ms. Pruitt asked Zee to circle the words that described people, and Zee saw that a speaker's request was missing from the draft.
The Meeting Minutes (story)
[1] The town council let one student attend each meeting as a junior secretary, and Zee, who had been chosen for neat handwriting, sat at the end of the long table with a notebook. [2] The council's job that spring was to decide the opening hours for the new skate park, and the room was crowded with people on both sides of the question. [3] Zee's first draft of the minutes described one speaker as rambling, another as admirably calm, and the council chair as impatient, and Zee was pleased with the vivid sentences. [4] Before the minutes were posted, the clerk, Ms. Pruitt, read the draft and asked Zee to circle every word that described a person instead of what the person had said.
[5] Zee circled eleven words and felt defensive, since each had seemed accurate. [6] Ms. Pruitt then asked a question: if the speaker called rambling were reading the minutes next week, what would they tell the town about that speaker's request? [7] Zee reread the draft slowly and saw that the rambling speaker had asked for earlier opening hours for children, and that this request appeared nowhere in the minutes. [8] The vivid words had taken up the room where the request should have been.
[9] Zee rewrote the minutes in a plainer style, recording who spoke, what each person asked for, and how the council voted, which turned out to be seven votes to two. [10] The new draft was half as colorful and twice as useful, and Ms. Pruitt signed it without changing a word. [11] At the next meeting, a woman rose to say that these were the first minutes she had read that included her request. [12] Zee wrote that comment down exactly as spoken, and left out how it made Zee feel. Draft summary: (1) Zee's first draft of the council minutes described the speakers with vivid words. (2) ____ (3) Zee rewrote the minutes to record who spoke, what each person asked for, and how the council voted.
Esme is repairing a draft summary with a gap in sentence 2. Which sentence fills the gap by reporting the turn and what the character noticed or did?
- The council was deciding the opening hours of a new skate park, and the room was crowded with people on both sides of the question.
- Zee rewrote the minutes in a plainer style, recording who spoke, what each person asked for, and how the council voted.
- After Ms. Pruitt asked Zee to circle the words that described people, Zee saw that a speaker's request was missing.
- Ms. Pruitt noticed that a speaker's request was missing, and then Zee circled the words that described people in the draft minutes.
The Potted Orchard (story)
[1] Behind the bakery on Delancey Street stood a vacant lot full of broken concrete, and Milo wanted to fill it with a small orchard of lemon trees. [2] Milo wrote to the city office and received a reply stating that the lot belonged to a company, and that planting anything without the owner's permission was not allowed. [3] Milo felt a surge of annoyance at the letter and drafted a long reply about wasted land, which Mrs. Daley, a neighbor, advised against sending. [4] Instead, Mrs. Daley suggested asking whether the owner would permit large pots on the concrete, since pots could be removed at any time.
[5] Milo found the owner's number, called twice without an answer, and left a message describing the pots, the trees, and a promise to remove everything on request. [6] A week later, the owner's manager, Mr. Shaw, called back and said that the pots were fine provided that nothing was fixed to the ground and that a neighbor kept a note on file. [7] Milo collected twelve large barrels, which the bakery agreed to donate, and neighbors pitched in with soil and young trees over three weekends. [8] By September, twelve potted lemon trees stood along the back wall, each with a hand-painted number.
[9] That autumn, the company posted a notice that it planned to sell the lot in the spring, and Milo wondered whether the orchard had only been a delay. [10] The new owner, a small furniture shop, rolled the barrels to a corner of the lot, built a wide workshop at the other end, and kept the corner open for the trees. [11] Milo had expected an ending in which everything was lost or everything was kept, and had found one in which the trees and the shop shared the land. [12] On the first warm day of March, Milo watered the barrels while the new owner hung a sign on the door that read Orchard in back.
Jun has room for one sentence. Which single sentence reports the problem, the turn and the change, without opinions?
- Milo angrily lashed out at the city office and then cleverly tricked the owner into allowing the pots, and the trees finally shared the lot with a furniture workshop no one had expected.
- Twelve potted lemon trees stood along the back wall, and when a furniture shop bought the lot it built a workshop at one end and kept a corner open for the trees, so that the trees and the shop shared the land.
- Milo wanted to fill a vacant lot behind the bakery with a small orchard of lemon trees, but the city said that planting there needed the owner's permission, and Milo felt a surge of annoyance at the letter.
- After the city said that planting on the company's lot needed the owner's permission, Milo took Mrs. Daley's suggestion to ask permission for large pots, and the lemon trees later shared the lot with the new owner's workshop.
The Potted Orchard (story)
[1] Behind the bakery on Delancey Street stood a vacant lot full of broken concrete, and Milo wanted to fill it with a small orchard of lemon trees. [2] Milo wrote to the city office and received a reply stating that the lot belonged to a company, and that planting anything without the owner's permission was not allowed. [3] Milo felt a surge of annoyance at the letter and drafted a long reply about wasted land, which Mrs. Daley, a neighbor, advised against sending. [4] Instead, Mrs. Daley suggested asking whether the owner would permit large pots on the concrete, since pots could be removed at any time.
[5] Milo found the owner's number, called twice without an answer, and left a message describing the pots, the trees, and a promise to remove everything on request. [6] A week later, the owner's manager, Mr. Shaw, called back and said that the pots were fine provided that nothing was fixed to the ground and that a neighbor kept a note on file. [7] Milo collected twelve large barrels, which the bakery agreed to donate, and neighbors pitched in with soil and young trees over three weekends. [8] By September, twelve potted lemon trees stood along the back wall, each with a hand-painted number.
[9] That autumn, the company posted a notice that it planned to sell the lot in the spring, and Milo wondered whether the orchard had only been a delay. [10] The new owner, a small furniture shop, rolled the barrels to a corner of the lot, built a wide workshop at the other end, and kept the corner open for the trees. [11] Milo had expected an ending in which everything was lost or everything was kept, and had found one in which the trees and the shop shared the land. [12] On the first warm day of March, Milo watered the barrels while the new owner hung a sign on the door that read Orchard in back. Draft summary: (1) Milo wanted to plant lemon trees on a vacant lot, but the city said that planting there needed the owner's permission. (2) A nosy neighbor talked Milo into a silly plan to use pots. (3) The owner allowed the pots, and twelve trees stood along the back wall.
Kira is revising a draft summary. Draft sentence 2 uses an opinion and skips what caused the change. Which rewrite fixes both?
- A neighbor named Mrs. Daley suggested that Milo try pots instead of planting in the ground.
- A nosy neighbor suggested asking the owner for permission to use large pots, which could be removed at any time.
- A neighbor named Mrs. Daley talked Milo into a plan to put the lemon trees in large pots on the concrete of the vacant lot.
- Mrs. Daley suggested asking the owner for permission to use large pots, which could be removed at any time.
The Potted Orchard (story)
[1] Behind the bakery on Delancey Street stood a vacant lot full of broken concrete, and Milo wanted to fill it with a small orchard of lemon trees. [2] Milo wrote to the city office and received a reply stating that the lot belonged to a company, and that planting anything without the owner's permission was not allowed. [3] Milo felt a surge of annoyance at the letter and drafted a long reply about wasted land, which Mrs. Daley, a neighbor, advised against sending. [4] Instead, Mrs. Daley suggested asking whether the owner would permit large pots on the concrete, since pots could be removed at any time.
[5] Milo found the owner's number, called twice without an answer, and left a message describing the pots, the trees, and a promise to remove everything on request. [6] A week later, the owner's manager, Mr. Shaw, called back and said that the pots were fine provided that nothing was fixed to the ground and that a neighbor kept a note on file. [7] Milo collected twelve large barrels, which the bakery agreed to donate, and neighbors pitched in with soil and young trees over three weekends. [8] By September, twelve potted lemon trees stood along the back wall, each with a hand-painted number.
[9] That autumn, the company posted a notice that it planned to sell the lot in the spring, and Milo wondered whether the orchard had only been a delay. [10] The new owner, a small furniture shop, rolled the barrels to a corner of the lot, built a wide workshop at the other end, and kept the corner open for the trees. [11] Milo had expected an ending in which everything was lost or everything was kept, and had found one in which the trees and the shop shared the land. [12] On the first warm day of March, Milo watered the barrels while the new owner hung a sign on the door that read Orchard in back. Draft summary: (1) Milo wanted to plant lemon trees on a vacant lot, but the city said that the owner had to give permission. (2) ____ (3) Twelve potted trees stood along the back wall, and the new owner later kept a corner open for them.
Luz is repairing a draft summary with a gap in sentence 2. Which sentence fills the gap by reporting the turn and what the character noticed or did?
- Twelve lemon trees in large barrels stood along the back wall of the vacant lot by September, each with a hand-painted number.
- Mrs. Daley suggested asking the owner for permission to use large pots that could be removed at any time, and the owner's manager agreed.
- The owner's manager agreed to the pots, and then Mrs. Daley suggested that Milo ask the owner for permission to use them.
- Milo learned that asking for something small usually works better than demanding something big, and that a polite request can change a no.
The Archive Photograph (story)
[1] In the town archive, where Kira volunteered on Wednesdays, a photograph of the old mill sat in a drawer labeled 1920, and Kira had copied that date onto three index cards. [2] The photograph showed the mill beside a street with a hardware store on the corner, and Kira liked it because it matched the mill's reputation as the oldest building in town. [3] One Wednesday, a visitor named Mr. Alvarez, who was researching a family history, asked how the date had been decided, and Kira realized that nobody had written down the source. [4] Kira searched the card catalog and found nothing, and felt uneasy about having repeated a fact that might be false.
[5] Kira spent three Wednesdays reading old directories, and found that the hardware store in the corner of the photograph had opened in 1935. [6] This meant that the photograph could not have been taken in 1920, and that the date on the three cards had been a guess that was copied until it looked like a fact. [7] Kira took the cards to the head archivist, Ms. Okada, expecting to be scolded for not checking sooner. [8] Ms. Okada thanked Kira, and opened a drawer of photographs with dates in pencil, noting that archives are corrected more often than they are cheered.
[9] Together, they changed the label to circa 1935 and added a note on the back saying which directory proved the date and on what page. [10] Kira reprinted the three cards and added a column to the index headed source, which Ms. Okada decided to use for the whole drawer. [11] Mr. Alvarez returned the following month and said that the new date matched a story his grandmother had told about the store's grand opening. [12] Kira wrote this on a fourth card, with the date, the source, and the name of the person who had said it. Draft summary: (1) Kira copied the photograph's date, 1920, onto three cards. (2) Kira nervously dug through dull old directories because a visitor made a fuss. (3) The label became circa 1935, with a note giving the source.
Noah is revising a draft summary. Draft sentence 2 uses an opinion and skips what caused the change. Which rewrite fixes both?
- Kira nervously read dull old directories after a visitor asked how the date had been decided in the first place.
- Kira read old directories after a visitor asked how the date had been decided and no source was written down.
- Kira spent three Wednesdays reading old directories in the town archive.
- Kira read old directories because Ms. Okada had ordered a check of each label in the archive's drawers.
The Archive Photograph (story)
[1] In the town archive, where Kira volunteered on Wednesdays, a photograph of the old mill sat in a drawer labeled 1920, and Kira had copied that date onto three index cards. [2] The photograph showed the mill beside a street with a hardware store on the corner, and Kira liked it because it matched the mill's reputation as the oldest building in town. [3] One Wednesday, a visitor named Mr. Alvarez, who was researching a family history, asked how the date had been decided, and Kira realized that nobody had written down the source. [4] Kira searched the card catalog and found nothing, and felt uneasy about having repeated a fact that might be false.
[5] Kira spent three Wednesdays reading old directories, and found that the hardware store in the corner of the photograph had opened in 1935. [6] This meant that the photograph could not have been taken in 1920, and that the date on the three cards had been a guess that was copied until it looked like a fact. [7] Kira took the cards to the head archivist, Ms. Okada, expecting to be scolded for not checking sooner. [8] Ms. Okada thanked Kira, and opened a drawer of photographs with dates in pencil, noting that archives are corrected more often than they are cheered.
[9] Together, they changed the label to circa 1935 and added a note on the back saying which directory proved the date and on what page. [10] Kira reprinted the three cards and added a column to the index headed source, which Ms. Okada decided to use for the whole drawer. [11] Mr. Alvarez returned the following month and said that the new date matched a story his grandmother had told about the store's grand opening. [12] Kira wrote this on a fourth card, with the date, the source, and the name of the person who had said it. Draft summary: (1) Kira copied a mill photograph's date, 1920, onto three cards without writing down a source. (2) ____ (3) Kira and Ms. Okada changed the label to circa 1935 and added a source column to the index.
Pia is repairing a draft summary with a gap in sentence 2. Which sentence fills the gap by reporting the turn and what the character noticed or did?
- Kira found that the store opened in 1935, and then a visitor asked how the date on the photograph had been decided.
- The photograph showed the old mill beside a street with a hardware store on the corner, and Kira liked it for the mill's reputation.
- Kira learned that a date copied from card to card without a source can come to look like a fact, and that a source column helps.
- After a visitor asked how the date had been decided, Kira found in old directories that the store in the photograph opened in 1935.
The Rain Gauge (story)
[1] Esme kept the rain gauge for the community garden, emptying the glass tube every morning at eight and writing the amount in a ledger that hung on the shed door. [2] The garden club used the ledger to decide when to water, and Esme was proud that the columns had not missed a single day. [3] In late June, the ledger showed three inches of rain in one week, and the club canceled the watering schedule, trusting the numbers. [4] Two weeks later, the lettuce wilted, and a visitor from the county extension office, Dr. Lindqvist, found the cause within minutes.
[5] The gauge had been set up under the edge of the shed roof, so that runoff from the roof had been pouring into the tube, and the three inches were closer to one. [6] Esme felt the warm shame of having been careful about the wrong thing, and wanted to tear the page out of the ledger. [7] Dr. Lindqvist suggested a different step: moving the gauge to an open spot, and writing a note beside the old numbers explaining the problem. [8] Esme moved the gauge to the center of the lawn that afternoon and drew a line through the six affected weeks, with a short sentence about the roof.
[9] The new readings were lower, steadier, and, according to Dr. Lindqvist, believable. [10] At the next meeting, the club reviewed the old numbers beside the new ones and decided to water twice a week, which brought the lettuce back within a month. [11] Esme wrote the rule inside the cover: place the gauge in the open, and record where it stands. [12] The line through the six weeks stayed in the ledger, because the club agreed that a corrected record was more trustworthy than a clean one.
Ren has room for one sentence. Which single sentence reports the problem, the turn and the change, without opinions?
- Esme learned that being careful about the wrong thing can still cause harm, and that a corrected record is more trustworthy than a clean one, which is why the line through the six weeks stayed in the ledger.
- Esme's rain readings were too high because roof runoff had been pouring into the gauge, so after Dr. Lindqvist found the cause, Esme moved the gauge to an open spot and noted the problem beside the old numbers.
- Esme carelessly put the gauge under a roof, ruining the club's lettuce, until a clever expert rescued the garden by pointing at the mistake and telling Esme to move the gauge to the lawn.
- Esme recorded the rainfall in the community garden's ledger each morning at eight, and when the ledger showed three inches in one week, the garden club canceled the watering schedule, trusting the numbers.
The Rain Gauge (story)
[1] Esme kept the rain gauge for the community garden, emptying the glass tube every morning at eight and writing the amount in a ledger that hung on the shed door. [2] The garden club used the ledger to decide when to water, and Esme was proud that the columns had not missed a single day. [3] In late June, the ledger showed three inches of rain in one week, and the club canceled the watering schedule, trusting the numbers. [4] Two weeks later, the lettuce wilted, and a visitor from the county extension office, Dr. Lindqvist, found the cause within minutes.
[5] The gauge had been set up under the edge of the shed roof, so that runoff from the roof had been pouring into the tube, and the three inches were closer to one. [6] Esme felt the warm shame of having been careful about the wrong thing, and wanted to tear the page out of the ledger. [7] Dr. Lindqvist suggested a different step: moving the gauge to an open spot, and writing a note beside the old numbers explaining the problem. [8] Esme moved the gauge to the center of the lawn that afternoon and drew a line through the six affected weeks, with a short sentence about the roof.
[9] The new readings were lower, steadier, and, according to Dr. Lindqvist, believable. [10] At the next meeting, the club reviewed the old numbers beside the new ones and decided to water twice a week, which brought the lettuce back within a month. [11] Esme wrote the rule inside the cover: place the gauge in the open, and record where it stands. [12] The line through the six weeks stayed in the ledger, because the club agreed that a corrected record was more trustworthy than a clean one. Draft summary: (1) The garden club trusted Esme's rainfall ledger and canceled the watering. (2) A smug expert found the gauge's silly mistake in minutes. (3) Esme moved the gauge to the lawn and marked the six affected weeks.
Tala is revising a draft summary. Draft sentence 2 uses an opinion and skips what caused the change. Which rewrite fixes both?
- Dr. Lindqvist found that the gauge sat under the shed roof because Esme had ignored the club's instructions about where to put it.
- Dr. Lindqvist found that the gauge sat under the edge of a shed roof, so runoff had been pouring into the tube.
- A visiting expert from the county found the mistake with the gauge in a matter of minutes and explained it to the club.
- The gauge had been set up under a roof.