Worksheet

Bike Lanes: What Should a Town Test?

Compare two original bike-lane arguments, tracing how evidence, priorities, and interpretations shape different trial plans.

Grade 7ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toRI.7.9

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1 Common Core standard
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13 questions
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Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 7
Subject: ELA
Question types: Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students compare how two authors interpret shared facts about a proposed bike-lane trial.
Students analyze how selected evidence and measures of success shape different recommendations.
Students evaluate whether new evidence addresses the questions emphasized by each author.

How to use

Have students annotate each author's proposed trial and measures of success. Then complete the comparisons, returning to both articles for evidence.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

RI.7.9

Analyze how authors writing on the same topic shape it differently by stressing different evidence or reading the facts differently.

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Name Date

Bike Lanes: What Should a Town Test?

Compare how two writers use shared facts to argue for different plans.

Two Arguments About One Proposal

Read both articles. Bellhaven and its planning documents are fictional; both writers are responding to the same proposed project.

Text A: Test a Route, Not a Fragment

1Bellhaven is considering temporary bike lanes between its recreation center and shopping district. The planning map shows an existing lane near each destination, with an unmarked stretch between them. The town could begin with a short section beside the shops or connect the entire route during one trial. A connected trial would ask the more useful question: can residents make a complete trip by bicycle?

2The map deserves more attention than a count of bicycles on a single block. A missing connection can affect whether someone starts a trip at all. Someone comfortable riding beside the recreation center may hesitate when the marked lane ends. Testing only the shopping block would leave that break in place. A low bicycle count there could then be read as weak demand, even though the incomplete route helped produce the result.

3The planning memo also identifies a delivery entrance along the proposed route. Delivery vans currently stop at the curb beside that entrance. Connecting the lanes would require moving that stopping place around the corner. That inconvenience belongs in the trial report, but it should not automatically determine the trial's boundaries. Temporary loading arrangements could be adjusted while the town observes both delivery activity and bicycle trips.

4The town's draft evaluation sheet asks observers to count bicycles beside the shops. That count would be useful, but it would not reveal where trips begin or end. Observers should also record whether riders continue through the former gap. A brief rider survey could identify which destinations the route makes reachable. These measures would help distinguish a busy isolated block from a connection that serves a larger purpose.

5Temporary materials allow the town to revise the layout before making a permanent commitment. Bellhaven should use that flexibility to test the whole connection and correct specific problems as they appear. This would not guarantee a successful project. It would, however, make failure informative: officials could judge an actual route rather than a fragment that never offered residents the proposed connection.

Text B: Test the Curb Before Expanding

1Bellhaven's proposed bike lanes could make useful connections between the recreation center and shopping district. The planning map shows existing lanes near both destinations and an unmarked stretch between them. Yet a line connecting places on a map does not settle how limited street space should work. Before installing the full connection, Bellhaven should test a short section beside the shops, where several uses compete for the curb.

2The planning memo identifies a delivery entrance along the proposed route. Vans currently stop at the curb beside that entrance; under the connected plan, they would stop around the corner. That change may look minor on a map. Moving the stopping place around the corner would lengthen the path workers use to carry deliveries to the entrance. The memo gives no information about delivery schedules or the size of loads.

3A short trial could answer questions the map cannot. Observers could record when deliveries arrive, how long unloading takes, and whether the proposed stopping place remains available. They could also ask workers which adjustments would help. These observations would not prove that a connected lane is unnecessary. They would show whether a practical loading arrangement is ready to become part of a longer project.

4The town's draft evaluation sheet asks observers to count bicycles beside the shops. Keep that measure, but do not turn it into a verdict on the entire route. With the gap still present, a short trial would not provide a fair test of demand for the completed connection. Its immediate purpose would be narrower: to learn whether bicycle movement and delivery access can share this particular stretch of street.

5Temporary materials make revision possible, but revisions still require attention and staff time. Bellhaven should use a small trial to resolve the curb problem, then use what it learns when designing the connection. A successful first stage would be a workable arrangement, not merely a high bicycle count. Expansion should follow evidence that the local details function, rather than assuming those details can be fixed after the whole route opens.

Trace Each Writer's Reasoning

Choose one answer for each multiple-choice question. For evidence questions, use the precise relationship named in the prompt.

What mistaken conclusion does Text A suggest could result from testing only the shopping block?

A. That delivery workers prefer the proposed stopping place.
B. That few residents want to use the proposed connection.
C. That most bicycle trips begin at the shopping district.
D. That temporary materials cost less than permanent ones.

In paragraph 2 of Text A, underline the ONE sentence that directly explains how an incomplete route could be mistaken for weak demand.

The map deserves more attention than a count of bicycles on a single block.A missing connection can affect whether someone starts a trip at all.Someone comfortable riding beside the recreation center may hesitate when the marked lane ends.Testing only the shopping block would leave that break in place.A low bicycle count there could then be read as weak demand, even though the incomplete route helped produce the result.

How do the writers interpret the flexibility of temporary materials differently?

A. Text A treats temporary lanes as permanent commitments; Text B treats them as alternatives to a connected route.
B. Text A sees little need for delivery observations; Text B sees little need for bicycle observations.
C. Text A sees room for adjustments during a full trial; Text B sees a reason to resolve details before expansion.
D. Text A expects the first layout to remain unchanged; Text B expects the first layout to require replacement.

Which pair of details most directly supports the comparison in question 3?

A. Text A proposes correcting problems as the full route is tested; Text B notes that revisions require staff time.
B. Text A describes two existing lanes; Text B describes an unmarked stretch between destinations.
C. Text A discusses counting bicycles; Text B explains that counts cannot fairly test the completed connection.
D. Text A proposes a rider survey; Text B proposes asking workers which adjustments would help.

Why does Text B stress the delivery information missing from the planning memo?

A. To show that the effects of changing delivery access need closer investigation.
B. To show that delivery workers have already rejected the town's proposed lane.
C. To show that a bicycle count would answer the remaining delivery questions.
D. To show that the memo's map places the delivery entrance on the wrong street.

In paragraph 2 of Text B, underline the ONE sentence that identifies the specific delivery information the memo lacks.

The planning memo identifies a delivery entrance along the proposed route.Vans currently stop at the curb beside that entrance; under the connected plan, they would stop around the corner.That change may look minor on a map.Moving the stopping place around the corner would lengthen the path workers use to carry deliveries to the entrance.The memo gives no information about delivery schedules or the size of loads.

Compare the Tests They Propose

Look across both articles. Distinguish disagreement about a trial's purpose from disagreement about the facts.

Sort each recommendation by the article that explicitly proposes it.

Record how long unloading takes during a short trial.Check whether the proposed delivery stopping place stays available.Survey riders about destinations the route makes reachable.Record whether riders continue through the former gap.Ask delivery workers which adjustments would help.

Text A	Text B

Suppose a short shopping-block trial attracts few riders, but deliveries run smoothly. Which analysis best follows the limits BOTH writers place on bicycle counts?

A. The results have little value because neither writer considers delivery arrangements worth studying.
B. The results establish that a connected route would work because the delivery arrangement works.
C. The results establish that the full connection would attract few riders and should be canceled.
D. The results inform the delivery question but leave demand for the completed connection unresolved.

Which pair of details best supports the limit on interpreting low ridership in question 8?

A. Text A says the draft sheet asks for bicycle counts; Text B says observers could record how long deliveries take to unload.
B. Text A says a remaining gap could contribute to low counts; Text B says a short trial cannot fairly test demand for the completed route.
C. Text A says temporary materials permit layout revisions; Text B says those revisions would require attention and staff time.
D. Text A says the stopping place would move around the corner; Text B says that change would lengthen workers' carrying path.

10.

An editor labels Text B “An Argument Against Connecting Bike Lanes.” Which replacement most accurately represents its position?

A. An Argument for Opening the Full Route Before Gathering Evidence
B. An Argument for Replacing Bicycle Counts with Delivery Counts
C. An Argument for Resolving Curb Access Before Extending Lanes
D. An Argument for Keeping Delivery Parking Where It Is

11.

Which sentence from Text B most directly supports the sequence of actions named in your answer to question 10?

A. “With the gap still present, a short trial would not provide a fair test of demand for the completed connection.”
B. “The planning memo identifies a delivery entrance along the proposed route.”
C. “The town's draft evaluation sheet asks observers to count bicycles beside the shops.”
D. “Bellhaven should use a small trial to resolve the curb problem, then use what it learns when designing the connection.”

12.

The town could collect the evidence below. Sort each item by the question it would answer most directly, not by which author might find it interesting.

Observations of riders traveling from one existing lane through the newly marked gap to the other laneRecords showing how often vans find the proposed unloading space blockedWorker logs comparing unloading time before and during the trialRider surveys describing completed trips between the recreation center and shops

Are riders using the connection?	Does delivery access function?

13.

Both writers read the same map and planning memo, yet they propose different first steps. Explain how their definitions of a useful trial shape their use of evidence. Include one shared fact, each writer's interpretation of that fact, and a different measure of success proposed by each writer. Use details from both articles.