Two authors, one topic, two conclusions

Grade 9 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Two Views on Recycling Pickup in Newcombe (a column and a letter)

   Text A, a column by Mr. Simon Treadwell, Newcombe's public works director: [1] Newcombe should collect recycling every other week instead of every week, starting in January. [2] Since the town gave each household a large 96-gallon cart three years ago, our drivers have recorded that the average cart is less than half full on pickup day. [3] Running the recycling trucks half as often would save about $80,000 a year in fuel, wages and repairs. [4] Several towns in the county already collect every other week with carts of the same size. [5] Households that fill their carts early could bring extra boxes to the free drop-off center on Depot Road. [6] The money saved could go toward repaving the town's roughest streets.

   Text B, a letter from Ms. Ada Fenn, who leads a neighborhood recycling team: [7] Newcombe should keep weekly recycling pickup, because every-other-week service has already failed here once. [8] In 2014 the town tried collecting every other week, and within two months the public works office received more than three hundred complaints about overflowing bins. [9] Back then each household used two small 18-gallon crates, and loose paper blew down the streets on windy days. [10] Families also produce more cardboard now that so much of their shopping arrives by mail. [11] If pickups are cut, some residents will simply give up and put their recycling in the trash. [12] Saving $80,000 is not worth undoing the habits that our town has worked so hard to build.

2. 1.

   Ari fills the flaw column of the matrix. On whether every-other-week pickup would work in Newcombe today, whose reasoning holds up better, and why?

   • Text A, because it names a use for the money the town would save on pickups.
   • Text A, because Text B's main evidence is from 2014, when households used small crates, not large carts.
   • Text B, because Text A's evidence comes from a year when households used two small 18-gallon crates.
   • Text B, because protecting the recycling habits the town has built matters more than saving $80,000.
3. 2.

   Bo looks for a matrix row that both columns can fill. Which statement does the evidence in both texts support?

   • Newcombe should keep weekly pickup, even though it costs the town $80,000 a year.
   • Cutting pickups to every other week would save Newcombe about $80,000 a year.
   • The average recycling cart in Newcombe is less than half full on pickup day.
   • Pickup every other week ran smoothly when Newcombe tried it in 2014.
4. 3.

   Esme adds a new fact to the matrix. Which new fact would weaken Ms. Fenn's conclusion but not Mr. Treadwell's?

   • Towns using 96-gallon carts every other week report few complaints about overflowing bins.
   • Complaints to the public works office about overflowing carts have risen this year.
   • Drivers' records this year show that most Newcombe carts are already full by pickup day.
   • The free drop-off center on Depot Road is open on Saturday mornings.

5. Two Views on the Orrin Pool (a column and a letter)

   Text A, a column by Mr. Reuben Sato, Orrin's parks director: [1] Orrin should close its sixty-year-old pool and build a splash pad in its place. [2] The town engineer found last fall that the pool's pipes and pump need about $700,000 in repairs, while a splash pad would cost about $300,000. [3] A splash pad needs no lifeguards, which would save the town about $50,000 each summer, according to the same report. [4] It can also open on any warm day from May to September, while the pool opens only in June, July and August. [5] Young children already love running through the sprinklers at Birch Park on hot afternoons. [6] A splash pad would serve Orrin's families just as well as the pool does, at less than half the price.

   Text B, a letter from Ms. Gwen Talley, who has taught swimming at the Orrin pool for twenty years: [7] The engineer's estimate is a large number, but Orrin should repair its pool rather than replace it. [8] Last summer the pool's gate counted about 14,000 visits, and swim lessons were full every session, with sixty children on the waiting list. [9] A splash pad cannot teach a child to swim, and the nearest other public pool is eighteen miles away. [10] Teenagers and adults, who made up about half of last summer's visits, would have little to do at a sprinkler pad. [11] The extra $400,000 could be spread over two budgets, as the engineer's report itself suggests. [12] The pool should be repaired, even if the town must close it for one summer to do the work.

6. 4.

   Jun fills the flaw column of the matrix. On whether a splash pad would serve Orrin as well as the pool, whose reasoning holds up better, and why?

   • Text B, because Text A backs its claim that a splash pad serves families as well with young children alone.
   • Text A, because paying less than half the price is the wiser choice for a small town.
   • Text B, because it ends by offering to close the pool for one summer.
   • Text A, because Text B gives no support for its claim that the swim lessons were full with a waiting list.
7. 5.

   Kira looks for a matrix row that both columns can fill. Which statement does the evidence in both texts support?

   • Repairing the Orrin pool would cost more than building a splash pad would.
   • The pool's pipes could last several more years without needing repairs of any kind.
   • The pool's gate counted about 14,000 visits last summer.
   • Orrin should repair its pool, even if it must close for one summer.
8. 6.

   Luz adds a new fact to the matrix. Which new fact would weaken Mr. Sato's conclusion but not Ms. Talley's?

   • Few of Orrin's teenagers or adults swam at the pool last summer.
   • In nearby towns, few teenagers or adults use the splash pads that replaced pools.
   • The sprinklers at Birch Park are turned on at nine each morning from May to September.
   • The engineer has raised the estimate for repairing the pool to $900,000.

9. Two Views on Food Trucks on the Palmer Green (a letter and a column)

   Text A, a letter from Ms. Bea Lorne, who has run the Palmer Diner on the town green for fifteen years: [1] The town should not let food trucks park on the Palmer green on weeknights. [2] The three restaurants facing the green pay property taxes all year, while a truck could pay a $200 permit and leave whenever business is slow. [3] On the two weeknights when trucks visited the green last summer as a trial, my diner served about a third fewer dinners than on the same nights a week earlier. [4] The other two restaurant owners on the green say their own receipts show a similar drop on those nights. [5] Trucks would also bring generators, which the neighbors on Pond Row would hear until late in the evening. [6] Palmer's restaurants keep the green lively in every season, and the town should protect them.

   Text B, a column by Mr. Isaac Penn, who chairs the Palmer Downtown Association: [7] Weeknight food trucks would bring new life to the Palmer green without hurting the restaurants around it. [8] A university study of twenty large cities found that restaurants near food-truck areas gained customers over time, because the trucks drew more people downtown. [9] On the two trial nights last summer, the green was full of families on blankets, and many of them stayed for the band concert. [10] Trucks would also let new cooks test their ideas before they risk opening a restaurant of their own. [11] The town could limit trucks to Tuesdays and Thursdays, so that the restaurants keep the other nights to themselves. [12] Palmer should allow food trucks on the green for at least one full summer.

10. 7.

    Milo fills the flaw column of the matrix. On whether trucks would hurt the restaurants on the green, whose reasoning holds up better, and why?

    • Text B, because new cooks deserve a fair chance to test their ideas.
    • Text B, because Text A's figures come from a study of twenty large cities rather than from Palmer.
    • Text A, because its receipts are from Palmer's own trial nights; Text B's study is of large cities.
    • Text A, because it mentions the generators that the neighbors would hear.
11. 8.

    Noah looks for a matrix row that both columns can fill. Which statement does the evidence in both texts support?

    • The diner's dinner sales returned to normal once the trial ended.
    • Trucks should be allowed on the green on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
    • Families on blankets stayed for the band concert on the trial nights.
    • Food trucks parked on the Palmer green on two weeknights last summer.
12. 9.

    Pia adds a new fact to the matrix. Which new fact would weaken Mr. Penn's conclusion but not Ms. Lorne's?

    • A study of small towns found that restaurants lost dinner customers when food trucks arrived.
    • The diner's drop on the trial nights came from a broken oven in its kitchen, not from the trucks.
    • Restaurants in towns the size of Palmer gained customers after trucks arrived.
    • The band concert on the green began at seven o'clock on the trial nights.

13. Two Views on the Kettle Road Crossing (a letter and a column)

    Text A, a letter from Ms. Tess Imani, who leads the Hawthorn School walking group: [1] Redfern should put a traffic signal at the corner of Kettle Road and Fifth Street, where forty children cross on their way to Hawthorn Elementary School. [2] The town's count last October, taken while Kettle Road carried the detour around the closed Wade Street bridge, found about 600 cars an hour passing the corner each morning. [3] With that much traffic, a gap long enough for a group of children to cross can take several minutes to appear. [4] Parents in our walking group have watched drivers speed up to beat the yellow light at the next corner. [5] A signal would give the children a protected walk light at the same time every morning. [6] The town should install a signal before the next school year begins.

    Text B, a column by Mr. Martin Royce, Redfern's traffic engineer: [7] Children crossing at Kettle Road and Fifth Street deserve a safe crossing, and the question is which tool fits the corner. [8] Since the Wade Street bridge reopened in January, our counts have found about 150 cars an hour passing the corner at the morning crossing time. [9] The town's records show two minor crashes at the corner in the past five years, and neither of them involved a person on foot. [10] A signal would cost about $250,000, while a trained crossing guard costs about $15,000 a year. [11] A guard can also stop traffic for a late child at any moment, which a timed signal cannot do. [12] The town should hire a crossing guard this fall and count the traffic again next spring before deciding on a signal.

14. 10.

    Ren fills the flaw column of the matrix. On how much traffic the corner carries now, whose reasoning holds up better, and why?

    • Text B, because a crossing guard costs less than a traffic signal does.
    • Text A, because Text B's count was taken while Kettle Road was carrying the bridge detour.
    • Text A, because nothing matters more than the safety of children walking to school.
    • Text B, because Text A's count of 600 cars an hour was taken during the bridge detour.