Write an argument that weighs the other side
Grade 9 Reading Worksheet
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Instrument Cabinets for the Band Room (argument draft)
[1] Members of the Harlow High School band carry trumpets, clarinets and even tubas to and from school each day, because the band room has no secure place to store them during classes. [2] The school council should approve sixty lockable instrument cabinets for the band room, paid for from the music department's equipment fund. [3] Secure storage would protect expensive instruments and make the school day easier for the students who play them.
[4] Instruments that travel through crowded hallways and buses are instruments that break, and repairs are costly for families and for the school. [5] Last year the music department paid for thirty-four repairs, and the repair shop listed dropped cases and crowded hallways as the most common causes of damage. [6] Students who leave their instruments at home to avoid carrying them also lose practice time, and the director counts about a dozen such students each week.
[7] Not everyone likes the idea of cabinets. [8] It is true that sixty cabinets would fill the back wall of the band room, which is exactly where the percussion section now sets up for every rehearsal. [9] That is not a big deal.
[10] The cabinets would take up wall space in the band room. [11] The council should approve the cabinets. [12] Approving the purchase at the next meeting would let the cabinets arrive and be installed before the spring concert season begins in March, when rehearsals run longest.
Ari sees that sentence [7] only says some people disagree. Which sentence should replace it, stating the counterclaim fairly with the reason that gives it strength?
- Some band members argue that the school council should not buy instrument cabinets for the band room this year.
- Some band members argue that sixty cabinets would crowd a band room that is already full when the whole band rehearses together.
- Some band members point out that the cabinets would also keep sheet music and spare reeds together in one safe place.
- Some band members just complain about anything new and would object to the cabinets even if the music department got them free from a donor.
Bo sees that sentence [8] grants the other side a real strength. Which sentence should replace [9] to name the limit of that strength, with evidence?
- However, the director measured the room and found that the percussion section could set up along the side wall with the same floor space it has now.
- However, losing the percussion area would make rehearsals much harder for the band, so the school may be better off leaving the room just as it is now.
- However, the cabinets would be made of steel, so they would last far longer than the old wooden shelves in the hall.
- However, the cabinets would be built into the hallway outside the band room, so they would not touch its back wall.
Esme wants one sentence to join [10] and [11] so readers see the concession and the writer's answer. Which sentence does that?
- Also, the cabinets would take wall space in the band room, and the council should approve them for the music department this spring.
- Because the cabinets would take wall space in the band room, the council should approve them before the spring concert season.
- Although the council should approve the cabinets, they would take so much wall space that the band room might no longer work.
- Although the cabinets would take wall space in the band room, the council should approve them, since the percussion section can move to the side wall.
A Saturday Market in the Bellows High Lot (argument draft)
[1] On Saturday mornings the parking lot at Bellows High School sits nearly empty, while local growers drive forty minutes to the nearest market in Westbury to sell their vegetables and eggs. [2] The school board should allow a Saturday farmers market in the north half of the Bellows High lot from May through October, with the stall fees going to the student activities fund. [3] A market would put an unused space to work, bring fresh food into the neighborhood and raise money for student clubs.
[4] The neighborhood around the school has one small grocery store, and its produce shelf is often nearly bare by the weekend. [5] A survey by the parent association found that two hundred and ten households within a mile of the school would shop at a Saturday market at least twice a month. [6] Twelve growers have already said that they would rent stalls at twenty-five dollars a week, which would bring the activities fund nearly eight thousand dollars each season.
[7] Some people are not sure about the market. [8] It is true that the Bellows lot also serves the football field, and fans need places to park for the Saturday games in September and October. [9] But football is not everything.
[10] The market would use part of the parking lot. [11] The board should allow the market. [12] A Saturday market would turn an empty lot into a place where neighbors meet, buy fresh food and support the school's clubs at the same time.
Jun sees that sentence [7] only says some people are unsure. Which sentence should replace it, stating the counterclaim fairly with the reason that gives it strength?
- Some football parents argue that the market would take parking spaces that fans need when they drive to Saturday games in the fall.
- Some football parents argue that the school board should not allow a farmers market in the Bellows High lot.
- Some football parents care more about parking close to the field than about whether the neighborhood ever eats a fresh vegetable again.
- Some football parents point out that fans arriving early for games could also buy breakfast and fruit at the market stalls.
Rain Barrels for the Linden Street Garden (argument draft)
[1] The Linden Street Community Garden has forty raised beds, and in July and August its gardeners fill their watering cans from a single spigot that the city charges for by the gallon. [2] The garden committee should place six covered rain barrels under the downspouts of the tool shed and the neighboring recreation building. [3] Rain barrels would lower the garden's water bill and give gardeners a source of water much closer to their beds.
[4] The garden's water bill rose sharply last summer, and most of the increase came during the hottest and driest weeks of the season. [5] The committee's records show that the garden paid six hundred and twenty dollars for city water last year, and more than half of that amount was spent in July and August. [6] The roofs of the two buildings are large enough to fill six barrels after a single heavy afternoon storm, which happens several times each summer.
[7] Some gardeners are against the barrels. [8] It is true that standing water is where mosquitoes lay their eggs, and an uncovered barrel could become a breeding pool by the middle of the summer. [9] But mosquitoes are just part of being outside.
[10] Rain barrels could attract mosquitoes. [11] The committee should buy the barrels. [12] Six covered barrels would let the garden use the rain that already falls on its neighbors' roofs instead of paying for each gallon it pours on its beds.
Milo sees that sentence [7] only says some gardeners disagree. Which sentence should replace it, stating the counterclaim fairly with the reason that gives it strength?
- Some gardeners are simply afraid of a few bugs and would rather keep paying for water than try something new.
- Some gardeners point out that barrels placed right beside the beds would save them long walks to the spigot while carrying heavy, sloshing cans.
- Some gardeners argue that the barrels would breed mosquitoes, because containers of still water are where mosquitoes lay their eggs.
- Some gardeners argue that the committee should not put any rain barrels under the downspouts this summer.
Noah sees that sentence [8] grants the other side a real strength. Which sentence should replace [9] to name the limit of that strength, with evidence?
- However, mosquitoes do not lay eggs in rainwater, because rainwater is too clean for their young to survive in it.
- However, the barrels are made of recycled plastic, so they would not rust or crack during the winter cold.
- However, a mosquito problem in the middle of summer would drive gardeners away from their beds, so the committee should keep paying for city water instead.
- However, sealed lids and fine mesh screens keep mosquitoes from reaching the water, and the six barrels the committee priced come with both.
Pia wants one sentence to join [10] and [11] so readers see the concession and the writer's answer. Which sentence does that?
- Also, rain barrels could attract mosquitoes, and the committee should buy six of the barrels for the garden this year.
- Because rain barrels could attract mosquitoes, the committee should buy the barrels before the summer heat arrives.
- Although the committee should buy the barrels, they could attract so many mosquitoes in the hottest weeks that gardeners might stop coming to their beds.
- Although open barrels could attract mosquitoes, the committee should buy the covered barrels, since their sealed lids and screens keep the insects out.
Online Permission Forms for Field Trips (argument draft)
[1] Before each field trip at Brookline High School, teachers hand out paper permission slips, collect them over several days, and then type each family's answers into the office computer by hand. [2] The school office should replace paper permission slips with an online form that families can sign on a phone or a computer, while keeping paper copies for families who ask for them. [3] An online form would save teachers hours of work and bring answers back from families much faster.
[4] Paper slips are slow to return and easy to lose at the bottom of a backpack. [5] For the fall trip to the science museum, teachers spent an estimated thirty hours chasing and entering slips, and forty-one slips were still missing two days before the buses left. [6] A neighboring high school that switched to online forms last year reported that most families answered within a single day of receiving the link.
[7] Some families may not like this change. [8] It is true that the district's technology survey found about one family in twelve without a reliable internet connection at home. [9] But most people have internet now, so it is fine.
[10] Some families lack internet at home. [11] The office should switch to online forms. [12] Online forms, with paper copies still available at the front desk, would give teachers back their time without leaving any family out of a trip or a school activity.
Ren sees that sentence [7] only says some families may object. Which sentence should replace it, stating the counterclaim fairly with the reason that gives it strength?
- Some parents argue that the school office should keep using paper permission slips for field trips next year.
- Some parents argue that an online form would shut out families who have no reliable internet connection at home.
- Some parents are stuck in the past and will complain about any change at school that involves a screen, an app or a password.
- Some parents point out that an online form would also let them check which trips their teenagers have joined.
Tala sees that sentence [8] grants the other side a real strength. Which sentence should replace [9] to name the limit of that strength, with evidence?
- However, the online form would also send families a text message reminder a few days before each trip.
- However, the form opens on any phone with data, which the survey found most of those families have, and paper copies would stay at the office.
- However, the survey was simply wrong, since families across the district now have reliable internet at home.
- However, leaving even one family out would be unfair, so the office may need to keep relying on paper slips alone for its field trips this year.
Zee wants one sentence to join [10] and [11] so readers see the concession and the writer's answer. Which sentence does that?
- Although some families lack internet at home, the office should switch to online forms, since paper copies would remain available for those families.
- Although the office should switch to online forms, so many families lack internet at home that the forms may fail.
- Because some families lack internet at home, the office should switch to online forms before the next field trip.
- Also, some families lack internet at home, and the office should switch to online forms for its field trips this year.
