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ELA 7

English Language Arts 7 · Worksheets

Paragraphs that explain and persuade

Ten questions of mixed difficulty, covering Paragraphs. Print it, or work through it on screen — the answer key starts on its own page.

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Paragraphs that explain and persuade

English Language Arts 7 · maddyhelps.com

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Circle the best answer for each question. Use the space to note the evidence or reasoning that decided it.

  1. You want to find out what caused the Frank Slide. Which search terms will most likely give you useful results?

    1. a) big rock slide long ago
    2. b) Alberta history
    3. c) Frank Slide 1903 cause
    4. d) why do mountains fall

  2. Read: “Our school garden gives the lunch program fresh vegetables. Every fall, students pick carrots, beans and potatoes. My cousin's school has a swimming pool. The cooks turn the harvest into soup for the whole school.” Which sentence does not belong in this paragraph?

    1. a) the sentence about the school's lunch program
    2. b) the sentence about picking vegetables
    3. c) the sentence about the cousin's school pool
    4. d) the sentence about soup for the school

  3. Put these sentences in the best order for a paragraph: (1) First, pack the snow down flat by stomping on it. (2) Building a backyard rink takes more patience than money. (3) Finally, flood it with thin layers of water on the coldest nights. (4) Next, spray a light coat of water over the snow to make a base.

    1. a) 1, 2, 4, 3
    2. b) 1, 4, 3, 2
    3. c) 2, 1, 4, 3
    4. d) 2, 4, 1, 3

  4. Which research question is focused enough for a one-page report?

    1. a) How do burrowing owls survive on the Alberta prairie?
    2. b) Why are animals so interesting to people everywhere?
    3. c) What is the complete history of every animal in Canada?
    4. d) What is there to know about all the birds in the world?

  5. A paragraph's supporting sentences say that owls can turn their heads very far, can hear a mouse moving under snow, and fly almost silently. Which topic sentence fits best?

    1. a) Owls have several features that make them skilled hunters.
    2. b) There are many kinds of birds living in Alberta.
    3. c) Many people think owls are the most beautiful birds in the world.
    4. d) Owls can turn their heads much farther than people can.

  6. A student is arguing that the school should keep its rule against phones in class. Which sentence best answers the other side?

    1. a) Anyone who disagrees with this rule is probably just addicted to their own phone.
    2. b) There is no other side to this, because the rule is so obviously right.
    3. c) Phones are bad for students, and that is all anyone really needs to know.
    4. d) Some say students need phones for emergencies, but the office phone is right there.

  7. You are writing to your school's parent council to ask for money for a school garden. Which reason is most likely to persuade them?

    1. a) We deserve a garden because we have worked hard all year.
    2. b) Gardening is really fun, and my friends would all love it.
    3. c) My cousin's school has a garden, so our school needs one too.
    4. d) Students would learn science by growing food for the school.

  8. Read: “Our school should add a bike rack at the north door. The only rack holds ten bikes, and on warm days more than twenty students ride to school. Extra bikes lean against the fence, where two were stolen last spring. Everyone knows bikes are the best way to get around.” Which sentence weakens this paragraph most?

    1. a) the claim that everyone knows bikes are best
    2. b) the opening sentence about the north door
    3. c) the sentence about the rack holding ten bikes
    4. d) the sentence about the two stolen bikes

  9. Leah found a fact on a wildlife website and put it completely in her own words in her report. Does she need to name the website as a source?

    1. a) Yes, because the information still came from someone else.
    2. b) No, because she changed the words, so the writing is hers.
    3. c) Only if the website gives the name of the person who wrote it.
    4. d) Only if she copied at least one full sentence word for word.

  10. A source says: “Burrowing owls often nest in holes that ground squirrels and badgers have already dug.” Which is the best paraphrase?

    1. a) For their nests, these owls often take over old ground squirrel and badger burrows.
    2. b) Burrowing owls often nest in holes that badgers and ground squirrels have already dug.
    3. c) Burrowing owls often make their nests in holes that ground squirrels and badgers dug.
    4. d) Burrowing owls dig deep holes of their own in the ground to make their nests.

Answer key · Paragraphs that explain and persuade

English Language Arts 7 · maddyhelps.com

  1. c) Frank Slide 1903 cause — Specific names and dates narrow a search to the event you want. “Alberta history” and “big rock slide long ago” will turn up thousands of pages about other things, and you would have to dig through them to find the one you need.
  2. c) the sentence about the cousin's school pool — Every other sentence is about the school garden and where its food goes. The pool belongs to a different school and a different subject, so it breaks the paragraph's focus, however interesting it is.
  3. c) 2, 1, 4, 3 — The topic sentence (2) goes first because it tells the reader what the paragraph is about, and then “First,” “Next” and “Finally” put the steps in order. Putting the topic sentence last is the usual mistake: the reader would follow three steps without knowing what they were building.
  4. a) How do burrowing owls survive on the Alberta prairie? — The burrowing owl question names one animal, one place and one thing to find out, so a page can answer it. Questions about all the birds in the world or every animal in Canada would take a whole book, and asking why animals are interesting asks for an opinion, not something you can look up.
  5. a) Owls have several features that make them skilled hunters. — A topic sentence names the idea that all the details support. Turning heads, hearing prey and silent flight are all hunting tools, so the first sentence covers them. “Owls can turn their heads” is one of the details, so it is too narrow to lead the paragraph.
  6. d) Some say students need phones for emergencies, but the office phone is right there. — Answering the other side means stating the best argument against you fairly, then showing why your position still holds. Insulting people who disagree, or pretending there is no other side, makes a reader who disagrees stop listening.
  7. d) Students would learn science by growing food for the school. — Parents want to know what students will gain, and learning science while growing food answers that. Fun, fairness and another school's garden all say why students want a garden, not why the council should pay for it.
  8. a) the claim that everyone knows bikes are best — “Everyone knows” is an exaggeration nobody can prove, and it drifts from the point, which is the rack, not bikes in general. A reader who drives to work is likely to stop trusting the paragraph there. The numbers and the stolen bikes are its strongest evidence.
  9. a) Yes, because the information still came from someone else. — Giving credit is about where the idea came from, not whose words are on the page. Changing the words makes a good paraphrase, but it does not make the fact hers; leaving the source out is the most common way students plagiarize without meaning to.
  10. a) For their nests, these owls often take over old ground squirrel and badger burrows. — A paraphrase keeps the meaning but uses your own words and your own sentence. Swapping “badgers” and “ground squirrels” or changing a word or two leaves it the writer's sentence, and saying the owls dig their own holes changes the facts.