Write a precise thesis and topic sentences
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
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A Guard for Mercer and Ninth (argument draft)
[1] Every school morning, about 250 students from Mercer Middle School cross the busy corner of Mercer Avenue and Ninth Street, where four lanes of traffic meet without a signal. [2] After a near miss in September, some parents asked the town to install a full traffic light at the corner, while others asked for a trained crossing guard instead. [3] Both ideas have good points, and the town should do something about the corner soon.
[4] A crossing guard is the better choice in a lot of ways. [5] The town's traffic office estimates that a new signal at the corner would take about eighteen months to design, approve and build. [6] A guard, by contrast, could be hired and trained within a month and could be standing at the corner before winter, when the mornings are darkest.
[7] A guard would make the corner safe at every hour of the day. [8] A guard can see which students are waiting, hold traffic until a whole group has crossed, and wave late runners back to the curb, which a light on a timer cannot do. [9] In the neighboring town of Pell, the school crossing where a guard was placed recorded no student injuries in the five years after the guard started work.
[10] Supporters of the light argue that a signal would keep working after school hours, when drivers and older walkers also use the corner. [11] That is true, but the town can still add a light after its long approval process, while a guard protects students now, at the times when most people cross.
[12] The council should hire a crossing guard for Mercer Avenue and Ninth Street this fall, because a guard can start within weeks and can watch over students in ways a timed light cannot. [13] The safety of 250 students each morning is too important to leave waiting for a year and a half.
Ari sees that sentence [3] does not choose a plan. Which thesis states the writer's claim and sets it apart from the other plan in [2]?
- The town should hire a trained crossing guard for the corner of Mercer Avenue and Ninth Street, because student safety comes first.
- The town should hire a crossing guard rather than install a signal, because a guard would cost the town less to keep each year.
- The town should hire a crossing guard this fall rather than wait for a signal, because a guard can start sooner and watch students as they cross.
- The town should either hire a crossing guard or install a traffic light at the corner, since each would make the crossing safer.
Bo finds sentence [4] vague. Which version uses exact words from the draft without changing the writer's claim?
- A crossing guard could start within a month, so the town should drop the idea of a traffic signal at that corner for good.
- A crossing guard is a much better and much smarter choice than a light for many important reasons.
- A crossing guard could start within a month, and the town should also lower the speed limit on Mercer Avenue.
- A crossing guard could be protecting students within a month, while a signal would take about eighteen months to build.
A reader's note beside [7] says it is too broad, since the paragraph is about the times when students cross. Which revision answers the note and keeps the claim?
- During the crossing times, a guard and a timed light would keep the students about equally safe.
- A trained guard would make the corner of Mercer and Ninth noticeably safer for walkers at any hour of the day or night.
- During the morning and afternoon crossing times, a guard would keep students safer than a timed light could.
- During the morning and afternoon crossing times, about 250 students walk across the busy corner.
A Second Serving Line at Coldwater High (argument draft)
[1] Coldwater High School's 900 students eat lunch in a single thirty-minute period, and nearly all of them reach the cafeteria within its first five minutes. [2] To shorten the wait for food, the student council has proposed splitting lunch into two staggered periods, while the cafeteria staff has proposed opening a second serving line. [3] There are different ways to fix lunch, and the school should choose one of them.
[4] The second line is the better plan for lots of reasons. [5] When cafeteria workers timed the line for two weeks in October, students waited an average of fourteen minutes for their food, which left them about ten minutes to eat. [6] A second line at the unused counter along the east wall would roughly halve that wait without changing a single class schedule.
[7] Changing the schedule would ruin the entire school day for everyone at Coldwater. [8] Splitting lunch would cut fourth period in half for some students, who would leave class for lunch and return afterward to finish the lesson. [9] Science teachers say that a lab cannot be paused for thirty minutes, so four lab sections would have to be moved into other periods of the day.
[10] Council members point out that two lunch periods would also make the cafeteria less crowded and less noisy. [11] That is a fair point, but a second line would shorten the time students spend packed together in line, which is where most of the noise and pushing happens.
[12] The school should open a second serving line along the east wall instead of splitting lunch, because the line would cut the wait without disrupting classes. [13] Students would gain back time to eat, and teachers would keep their lessons whole.
Jun sees that sentence [3] does not choose a plan. Which thesis states the writer's claim and sets it apart from the other plan in [2]?
- Coldwater could either open a second serving line or split lunch into two periods, since both would shorten the long wait.
- Coldwater High School should open a second serving line in its cafeteria, because students now wait far too long for lunch.
- Coldwater should open a second serving line instead of splitting lunch, because the line would cut the wait without disrupting classes.
- Coldwater should open a second serving line instead of splitting lunch, because the line would let the cafeteria offer healthier meals.
Kira finds sentence [4] vague. Which version uses exact words from the draft without changing the writer's claim?
- The second line is clearly the stronger plan, and it would be good for students in many different ways.
- A second serving line would halve the fourteen-minute wait, and the school should also add a salad bar.
- A second serving line would roughly halve the fourteen-minute wait without changing a single class schedule.
- A second serving line would end waiting in the Coldwater cafeteria and give students a full half hour to eat.
A reader's note beside [7] says it is overstated, since the paragraph shows harm only to fourth period and its labs. Which revision answers the note and keeps the claim?
- Staggered lunch periods would disrupt fourth-period classes, especially the science labs that cannot be paused.
- A change to the lunch schedule would seriously disrupt the entire school day for the students and teachers of Coldwater.
- Coldwater High School has four science lab sections that meet during its fourth period.
- Staggered lunch periods would cause small changes to fourth period that teachers could easily handle.
Quieter Lunches at Lowell Middle School (argument draft)
[1] Lunch at Lowell Middle School is so loud that cafeteria aides often have to shout to be heard, and many students say they cannot talk with the person beside them. [2] One group of teachers wants a rule that would keep the first ten minutes of lunch silent, while another group wants the school to cover the cafeteria ceiling with sound-absorbing panels. [3] The noise is a problem, and the school has a couple of choices for dealing with it.
[4] Panels would make the cafeteria better in an important way. [5] The cafeteria has a hard concrete ceiling and tile floors, so the sound of four hundred voices bounces from surface to surface instead of fading. [6] A sound engineer hired by the district measured the room and estimated that panels across the ceiling would cut the echo by more than half.
[7] A silence rule would be terrible in every way. [8] Lunch is one of the few times in the day when students can talk freely with friends, and ten silent minutes would take away a third of that thirty-minute break. [9] Aides would also spend those minutes enforcing the silence instead of helping students who need a napkin, a fork or a seat.
[10] Supporters of the rule say that it would cost nothing, while the panels would cost about 12,000 dollars. [11] That difference is real, but the parent association has already offered to raise half of the cost, and the panels would keep working for years without anyone having to enforce them.
[12] Lowell Middle School should install sound-absorbing panels on the cafeteria ceiling rather than adopt a silence rule, because the panels would lower the noise without taking away students' time to talk. [13] A quieter room would let students and aides hear one another again.
Milo sees that sentence [3] does not choose a plan. Which thesis states the writer's claim and sets it apart from the other plan in [2]?
- Lowell could adopt a silence rule or install ceiling panels, since either choice would make the loud cafeteria quieter.
- Lowell should install ceiling panels rather than adopt a silence rule, because panels would cost the school less than the rule.
- Lowell Middle School should cover its cafeteria ceiling with sound-absorbing panels, because the room is far too loud.
- Lowell should put sound panels on the cafeteria ceiling rather than adopt a silence rule, because panels cut noise and keep time to talk.
A reader's note beside [7] says it is too broad, since the paragraph is about lost talking time and the aides' work. Which revision answers the note and keeps the claim?
- A silence rule would take away a third of students' time to talk and keep aides from helping them.
- The proposed rule would keep the first ten minutes of the thirty-minute lunch silent.
- A silence rule would be a seriously harmful choice for the school in a great many ways, large and small.
- A silence rule would trim some talking time, but the aides could likely manage it well.
A Bookmobile for Eastfield (argument draft)
[1] The Eastfield neighborhood sits more than three miles from the Granton Public Library, and no city bus runs between the two on weekends. [2] To bring books closer, one council member has proposed building a small branch library in Eastfield, while the library board has proposed a bookmobile that would stop there twice a week. [3] Eastfield needs better library service, and there are options that are worth talking about.
[4] The bookmobile would be the smarter way to go in general. [5] The library board estimates that the bookmobile would cost about 250,000 dollars to buy and equip, while the proposed branch would cost about 3 million dollars to build. [6] For the price of one branch, the city could run the bookmobile for many years and still have money left to buy new books for the libraries it already has.
[7] A bookmobile would bring books to everyone in the whole city. [8] The truck could park outside Eastfield Elementary on Tuesday afternoons and outside the senior center on Saturday mornings, reaching the two groups who have the hardest time traveling to the main library. [9] Its schedule could also change as the city learns where readers gather, which a building fixed on one corner could not do.
[10] Supporters of the branch argue that a building would offer a quiet place to read and study, which a truck cannot. [11] That is true, but Eastfield's community center already has an unused reading room, and the bookmobile could leave a rotating shelf of books there between its visits.
[12] The city should fund a bookmobile with two weekly stops in Eastfield instead of building a branch, because it would cost far less and could reach the residents who need it most. [13] Eastfield would then have library service within a year rather than waiting for a building.
Ren sees that sentence [3] does not choose a plan. Which thesis states the writer's claim and sets it apart from the other plan in [2]?
- Granton should fund a bookmobile for Eastfield instead of building a branch, because it would cost far less and reach those who need it most.
- Granton should fund a bookmobile instead of building a branch, because a truck would offer a quieter place to read and study.
- Granton should fund a bookmobile that stops in Eastfield twice a week, because the neighborhood sits far from the main library.
- Granton could build a branch in Eastfield or fund a bookmobile, since each would bring library books closer to the neighborhood.
Tala finds sentence [4] vague. Which version uses exact words from the draft without changing the writer's claim?
- A bookmobile would cost far less than a branch, and the city should also add weekend buses to Eastfield.
- The bookmobile is the smarter, more sensible choice for the city once everything is considered.
- A bookmobile would cost about 250,000 dollars to buy and equip, while a branch would cost about 3 million to build.
- A bookmobile would cost far less than a branch, so Granton should close its other branch libraries too.