Read a work email, a business letter or a notice

Grade 9 Reading Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Membership Renewal Email (recreation center email, invented)

   From: Dana Okafor, Membership Services, Clearwater Recreation Center (invented)
   To: All Clearwater members
   Date: Monday, April 14
   Subject: Good news about your membership

   [1] We are excited to share two changes that will make your membership easier to enjoy and simpler to manage than ever before.

   Nothing to Do
   [2] Beginning this season, every membership will renew itself automatically on June 1, so you will no longer need to wait at the front desk to sign a paper renewal form. [3] Your card on file will be charged on that date at the summer rate of $58 a month, and your access to the pool and the gym will continue without interruption.

   New Hours and Classes
   [4] The lap pool will open at 5:30 a.m. on weekdays, half an hour earlier than it does now, and three new evening swim classes will begin in June. [5] Members may reserve a place in any class online up to seven days ahead.

   If Your Plans Change
   [6] Members who would rather not renew may cancel online or at the front desk, provided that the request reaches us by May 15. [7] A request that reaches us after May 15 will take effect on July 1, after the first summer payment. [8] Members on the student rate will keep that rate after renewal as long as they show a current student card at the desk before June 1.

   A Note on Our Rates
   [9] Like many centers in our region, we have faced rising costs for water, heating and staff over the past two years. [10] The summer rate, our first change since the $49 monthly rate was set in 2023, remains below the average for comparable centers in the county.

   Questions
   [11] Our membership team will be glad to help at 555-0172, weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. [12] We look forward to seeing you at the pool this summer.

   Dana Okafor
   Membership Services

2. 1.

   The subject line says 'Good news,' and the first heading is 'Nothing to Do.' What does the email's order suggest Dana Okafor most wants, Ari?

   • For members to use the earlier pool hours, since that section is the one change in the email that costs nothing.
   • For members to accept the new rate as fair, so the reasons for the cost come first and the price follows them.
   • For members to save time, so the email opens with the end of the paper form, the change it treats as the main news.
   • For members to stay enrolled at the new rate, so ease comes first while the price and the way out come later.
3. 2.

   Luz's neighbor plans to quit the center this summer and reads only the headings. What could 'Nothing to Do' lead the neighbor to miss?

   • That a request sent after May 15 is refused, so the neighbor would stay enrolled and pay until next spring.
   • That the neighbor will be charged $58 on June 1 whatever the neighbor does, since the renewal cannot be stopped.
   • That the student rate ends unless a card is shown before June 1, a limit that sits under a later heading.
   • That leaving takes action: without a request by May 15, the card is charged on June 1 at the new rate.
4. 3.

   Sentence 1 promises 'two changes' that make membership easier. How does that framing shape what a reader notices, Tala?

   • It hides the rate increase completely, since the email states the new summer rate nowhere a member would look.
   • It prepares the reader for the rate note, since 'simpler to manage' refers to the costs explained in sentences 9 and 10.
   • It counts renewal and the new hours as the news, so the rate increase, a third change, reads as a detail.
   • It sums up the email accurately, since renewal and the earlier hours are the two changes the email announces.
5. 4.

   A member cancels on May 20, is charged on June 1 and writes: 'Your email said there was nothing to do, so refund the charge.' Does the email's wording support that, Jun?

   • Supported in part: under sentence 7 the June payment is returned once the request takes effect on July 1.
   • Not supported: sentence 6 refuses any request after May 15, so the member must keep paying for the whole summer.
   • Supported: the heading 'Nothing to Do' is part of the email, so the center is bound by what that heading tells members.
   • Not supported: the heading misleads a leaver, but sentence 7 charges one summer payment for any request after May 15.

6. Makerspace Equipment Agreement (library agreement, invented)

   Harbor Point Public Library (invented)
   Makerspace Use Agreement, revised January 6

   Welcome
   [1] We are glad to offer free use of our machines to every cardholder age fourteen and older, and we hope you will build something great here.

   Your Reserved Time
   [2] Machines may be reserved on the library's website in two-hour blocks, and each cardholder may hold up to two blocks a week. [3] A user who arrives more than fifteen minutes late may lose the block to the next person waiting, if staff so decide.

   Care of Equipment
   [4] By signing below, the user accepts responsibility for any damage to the equipment that occurs during the user's reserved time, whether or not the user caused it. [5] Users should report any problem with a machine to staff before starting, since damage that has not been reported before a block begins will be treated as occurring during that block. [6] Repair costs will be charged to the user's library card.

   Materials and Projects
   [7] The library provides basic printing plastic and scrap fabric, and users may bring their own materials if a staff member approves them first. [8] The library is not responsible for projects left in the makerspace after a block ends, and unclaimed projects will be recycled after seven days.

   Training
   [9] Before using the laser cutter, each user must take a one-hour safety class, which is held on the first Saturday of each month. [10] Users under eighteen may use the laser cutter only when a staff member trained on it is in the room.

   Agreement
   [11] The library may change these rules at any time, and the version posted at the Makerspace Desk is the one that applies. [12] I have read this agreement and accept its terms.

   Signature: ______________ Date: __________

7. 5.

   Sentence 1 is warm, but sentences 4, 6 and 8 do a different job. What unstated purpose do they share, Pia?

   • To move risk onto users, so repair costs and lost projects fall on the cardholder rather than on the library.
   • To accuse users of damage, since sentence 4 assumes that the user caused any damage found during a block.
   • To protect the machines for future users, so the library is mainly asking each cardholder for careful, gentle use.
   • To explain how repairs are paid for, since sentence 6 sends each repair cost to the user's library card.
8. 6.

   Sentence 5 opens with advice: users 'should report any problem.' How does the rest of the sentence change what that advice means, Bo?

   • Its since-clause turns advice into a condition: an unreported problem becomes the user's to pay for.
   • It keeps the advice optional, since 'should' asks politely and the sentence names no cost for staying silent.
   • It makes reporting a rule, so a user who reports a problem late loses the right to reserve equipment.
   • It shifts earlier problems onto the user, even ones that the user reported to staff before starting.
9. 7.

   Milo signed this agreement in January. How do sentences 11 and 12 work together, and what do they mean for which rules apply later?

   • The posted version governs new rules added later, while the rules on the signed page stay as they were signed.
   • The library must tell signers before any change, since sentence 12 makes the agreement binding on both sides.
   • The signer accepts in advance rules that may later differ from the signed page, so the posted version governs.
   • The signed January copy governs, since sentence 12 records the exact terms that the user read and accepted.
10. 8.

    Sentence 4 says the user 'accepts responsibility'; sentence 8 says the library 'is not responsible.' What does that contrast show about the agreement, Zee?

    • It runs one way: users answer for the library's machines, but the library will not answer for users' projects.
    • The wording is mainly formal, since both sentences use 'responsible' to sound official rather than to set terms.
    • The costs are shared: users pay for damage they cause, and the library pays for damage it causes.
    • The duties are balanced: users look after the machines, and the library keeps their projects safe for seven days.

11. Holiday Shift Trades (staff handbook page and work email, invented)

    Lakeside Cinema (invented), Staff Handbook
    Section 4: Changing a Shift

    [1] A "trade" is an exchange in which two employees each work a shift that was scheduled for the other. [2] A "cover" is a change in which one employee works another employee's shift without giving up a shift in return. [3] A trade must be entered in the scheduling app at least 48 hours before the earlier of the two shifts, and it needs no further approval. [4] A cover must be approved by a shift lead, because it changes how many hours each employee works that week. [5] No employee may work more than 28 hours in one week, and a cover that would push an employee past that limit will not be approved.

    From: Rosa Tran, General Manager
    To: All floor staff
    Date: Wednesday, December 10
    Subject: Holiday weeks

    [6] The weeks of December 22 and December 29 are our busiest of the year, so I am asking for everyone's help. [7] If you cannot work a holiday shift, please trade it with a coworker rather than calling out, and enter it in the app as usual. [8] Shift leads will be off on December 25, so any trade or cover for that day must be in place by December 23. [9] Employees who work both December 24 and December 31 will receive an extra $40 in their January pay. [10] As always, thank you for being so flexible with one another.

    Rosa Tran

12. 9.

    Jules cannot work Friday, December 26, and a coworker agrees to work it without giving a shift back. Read with the handbook, what does 'trade it' in sentence 7 require, Kira?

    • A lead's approval, which is automatic as long as the coworker stays under the 28-hour weekly limit.
    • What it says: Jules has traded the shift in Rosa's sense, so entering it in the app 48 hours ahead completes it.
    • More than it says: under sentence 2 this is a cover, so a shift lead must approve it before it counts.
    • Nothing more: Rosa's email sets the holiday rules, so any swap she asks for needs no approval during those weeks.
13. 10.

    Ren finds 'must be in place' in sentence 8 unclear. Which revision removes the doubt without changing the rules either document sets?

    • …so any trade or cover for that day must be entered in the scheduling app by December 23.
    • …so a trade or cover for that day follows the handbook alone: 48 hours ahead for trades, a lead's approval for covers.
    • …so a trade for that day must be entered in the app, and a cover approved by a shift lead, by December 23.
    • …so any trade or cover for that day must be approved by Rosa Tran by December 23.