RLA Analyzing Informational Texts 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A policy report recommends increased funding for public transit and includes a table showing cities with high transit funding have lower traffic fatalities. What additional information would MOST strengthen this recommendation?
- The names of the city mayors
- Evidence that the funding caused the lower fatalities, not other factors (Correct answer)
- The total budget of each city mentioned
- How many buses each city operates
Correct answer: Evidence that the funding caused the lower fatalities, not other factors
To strengthen a causal claim, you must rule out alternative explanations for the observed relationship.
Question 2: An informational text repeatedly uses the word 'crisis' to describe a moderate policy challenge. What effect does this word choice have?
- It clarifies the author's neutral stance
- It heightens urgency and may lead readers to perceive the issue as more severe than evidence warrants (Correct answer)
- It signals the author has firsthand experience with the issue
- It helps readers distinguish facts from opinions
Correct answer: It heightens urgency and may lead readers to perceive the issue as more severe than evidence warrants
Charged language like 'crisis' can emotionally amplify a situation beyond what the evidence alone supports.
Question 3: A reader is comparing a primary source (an original speech) with a secondary source (a historian's analysis of the speech). Which statement is accurate?
- Primary sources are always more useful than secondary sources
- Primary sources provide original evidence; secondary sources offer interpretation and context (Correct answer)
- Secondary sources are more reliable because they are written later
- Both types of sources serve identical purposes
Correct answer: Primary sources provide original evidence; secondary sources offer interpretation and context
Primary sources offer original, firsthand evidence while secondary sources analyze and contextualize that evidence.
Question 4: A passage about nutrition ends with: 'Therefore, everyone should adopt a plant-based diet.' The evidence presented only discussed benefits for people with heart disease. What is the flaw in the conclusion?
- The conclusion is too short
- The conclusion overgeneralizes by applying limited evidence to all people (Correct answer)
- The author should have used more scientific terms
- The conclusion contradicts the evidence
Correct answer: The conclusion overgeneralizes by applying limited evidence to all people
Drawing a universal conclusion ('everyone') from evidence about a specific group is a hasty generalization.
Question 5: In informational texts, a sidebar or text box typically serves which function?
- To contradict the main text
- To provide supplementary information without interrupting the main flow (Correct answer)
- To summarize the entire article
- To present the author's personal opinion separately
Correct answer: To provide supplementary information without interrupting the main flow
Sidebars present related but non-essential details that would disrupt the main text's flow if inserted inline.
Question 6: An author writing about water conservation uses statistics from a 1990 government report. Why might a reader question the relevance of this evidence?
- Government reports are never reliable sources
- Data from 35+ years ago may not reflect current conditions or technology (Correct answer)
- Statistics should never appear in informational texts
- The author should have used personal experience instead
Correct answer: Data from 35+ years ago may not reflect current conditions or technology
Outdated data may not account for changes in population, climate, infrastructure, or technology that affect current conditions.
Question 7: When an informational passage transitions from describing a problem to proposing a solution, which signal word or phrase would you MOST likely encounter?
- In contrast
- For example
- As a result
- To address this (Correct answer)
Correct answer: To address this
'To address this' signals a shift from identifying a problem to presenting a proposed response or solution.
RLA Analyzing Informational Texts 4
A policy report recommends increased funding for public transit and includes a table showing cities with high transit funding have lower traffic fatalities.
What additional information would MOST strengthen this recommendation?