7.4 Wrtg. Claims and Evidence

1.         The writer is considering deleting the underlined independent clause in sentence 7 , adjusting the punctuation as necessary.

 

In a classic experiment, students who watched their schools compete in a football game subsequently remembered the adversary’s team performing worse than their own: confirmation bias caused the students, who already believed in their own school’s superiority, to interpret what they had seen as support for their preexisting beliefs.

 

Should the writer keep or delete the underlined text?

• A. Keep it, because it provides an example that explains how confirmation bias affects memory.

• B. Keep it, because it contains a personal story about confirmation bias that appeals to a wide audience.

• C. Delete it, because it interferes with the flow of the paragraph by introducing evidence that is not relevant.

• D. Delete it, because it contradicts the claim made earlier in the sentence.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RI.7.2

CCSS.RI.8.2

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

2. The writer wants to combine sentences 11 and 12 (reproduced below) into a single sentence.

But when the stakes are high, the risks of making biased decisions are simply too great. An example of a high-stakes situation would be when jurors are deliberating a defendant’s fate.

 

Which of the following revisions to the underlined portion of sentences 11 and 12 most effectively accomplishes this goal?

• A. high, then the risks of making biased decisions—one example of which would be when jurors are deliberating a defendant’s fate—are simply too great

• B. high, one good example of which is a defendant having his or her fate being deliberated by jurors, the risksof making biased decisions are simply too great

• C. high, such as when jurors are deliberating a defendant’s fate, the risks of making biased decisions are simply too great

• D. high—like a defendant whose fate is being deliberated by jurors—the risks of making biased decisions are simply too great

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RI.8.8

CCSS.RL.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

3. The writer wants to support the line of reasoning in the fifth paragraph (sentences 13-16) with a comment that reflects the complexity of the historical narrative in the passage’s earlier paragraphs. Which version of the underlined text in sentence 14 (reproduced below) most effectively accomplishes this goal?

 

             However, the Sawyer homestead burned to the ground in 2007.

• A. (as it is now)

• B. Sawyer first made the claim at a fund-raiser, where she sold strands of wool from her pet lamb

• C. 60 years after her lamb’s visit inspired Roulstone to write a poem, it is likely Sawyer conflated Roulstone’s poem with Hale’s

• D. Sawyer sincerely believed she was the Mary of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” until her death in 1889

4. The writer wants to avoid expressing the argument of the passage in absolute terms. Which of the following changes should the writer make?

• A. In sentence 2, deleting “according to popular lore” and adjusting the punctuation as needed

• B. In sentence 4, adding “almost” before “everywhere”

• C. In sentence 10, deleting “which she no longer possessed, incidentally” and adjusting the punctuation as needed

• D. In sentence 16, changing “impossible” to “improbable”

5. In sentence 8 (reproduced below), the writer wants to limit the scope of the claim expressed in the sentence so that it is consistent with the main argument of the passage.

 

The problem with most probiotic supplements is that no significant clinical trials have proven that they offer demonstrable benefits to the general public.

 

Which of the following changes to sentence 8 best accomplishes this goal?

• A. Changing “problem” to “issue”

• BChanging “proven that they” to “been confirmed to”

• C. Adding “that can be observed clearly” after “benefits”

• D. Changing “the general public” to “people without gastrointestinal disorders”