Passage The Local Library
The Local Library
(1) According to a 2015 survey, more than two-thirds of Americans own a smartphone, which means that obtaining information or communicating with people is easier than ever before. (2) With the swipe of a finger, the tap of an icon, or a verbal command, people have instant access to articles, blogs, news, and social networking websites. (3) Even with all these immediately available sources of information, one of the best resources for many members of the community also happens to be one of the oldest. (4) The public library is a great place for people to get information.
(5) The public library serves a truly critical role in promoting community. (6) With the explosion of digital media in recent years, people in different locations can now communicate almost instantaneously. (7) And yet many people complain of feeling more isolated and alone than ever before. (8) The library stands in a rare position to help community members meet this universal need for human connection and companionship.
(9) Furthermore, libraries provide certain amenities, such as access to the Internet, for free to all people. (10) A student who does not have a computer at home can research and type a paper for school. (11) Similarly, an unemployed adult without access to the Internet can make use of library resources to find job opportunities. (12) The free items that are found at the library can help people get a lot done.
(13) Public libraries also offer a variety of resources to community members. (14) One important resource is the local librarian, who does far more than check out books and collect fines. (15) Other library resources include free or low-cost tutoring and training programs. (16) Additionally, lectures, book groups, and town meetings promote critical thinking and community engagement. (17) A typical librarian holds a master’s degree and can help library patrons navigate through the flood of information available in print and on the Internet.
(18) The hallmark of a public library is that its materials and services are accessible to all. (19) The library connects people to a network of information and resources and is an important part of a community.
Question
Which sentence would best follow and support sentence 8?
- ALibraries, which have been around for centuries and are found throughout the world today, help preserve the history of a community.
- BThe public library is often used as a place for community leaders and organizers to host community events, such as hearings or town halls.
- CLibraries rely on a combination of local, state, and federal dollars to provide the kinds of services and programs that community members have come to expect.
- DAt a public library, people can interact with others through a variety of programs, including teen book clubs, toddler story times, and senior-citizen exercise classes.
Show the answer
Correct answer: D
The question asks which option would provide the best support for sentence 8. Sentence 8 expresses the idea that the library helps community members meet their need for human connection and companionship.
Option D is correct because it provides support for sentence 8 and strengthens the connection between the information in sentence 8 and the main claim of the passage by listing examples of how people can connect at the library.
Option A is incorrect because it references the history of the library, which does not support the idea in sentence 8 or the main claim of the passage.
Option B is incorrect because, although it introduces the idea of community meetings, it does not support the idea in sentence 8.
Option C is incorrect because it mentions expectations by the community members and brings up a new idea that is unrelated to the main claim of the passage and that does not provide support for sentence 8.
Question analysis
This supporting-details question returns to the library essay and its point that people feel isolated in a digital world. Students pick the sentence that would best follow sentence 8 and back it up. Each option sounds like a fair statement about libraries, which is what makes the choice harder than it first looks.
- NYS standards
- 7W1b supporting claims with evidence
- Grade level
- Grade 7 reading and task
- Compared with grade 7
- At grade 7 Choosing evidence that fits a claim is standard grade 7 argument work. This item sharpens it: all four sentences are believable facts about libraries, so students must match the specific idea in sentence 8 rather than the general topic.
- Estimated difficulty
- Moderate: several steps, or a close reading with one strong distractor.
- Thinking it demands
- Depth of knowledge 2, skills and concepts · mainly evaluate
- What makes it hard
- How sentences fit together moderate
- Evidence
- Answered from one paragraph or stanza
- Reading level
- Passage: about grade 11, 341 words; question and choices: about grade 12, 104 words.
- Students, last 30 days
- Not enough answers yet to show (it takes 10).
Why it is hard, traps and wrong answers (shows the answer)
Why it is hard
Every choice says something favorable about libraries, so a student who asks only whether a sentence fits the essay will find all four acceptable. The question rewards narrowing the test to sentence 8’s own idea, the loneliness of a digital age and the need for company. The teen book clubs, toddler story times and exercise classes for seniors are what make the right sentence a support rather than a new topic.
How sentences fit together moderate Working it out
Sentence 8 ends on “human connection and companionship,” so the sentence after it must give an example of people meeting each other, not just another good thing about libraries. (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Strategy: Restate sentence 8 in a few words, then ask of each choice whether it gives a concrete example of that exact idea or just says something good about libraries.
Traps
- Off the point: Adds or keeps something that does not support the paragraph's or the passage's focus, or an introduction or conclusion that misses the main point.
- Wrong part of the text: A choice is true of another paragraph, stanza or speaker than the one asked about.
The wrong answers, classified
A Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Offers a pleasant general fact about libraries preserving community history, which matches the word “community” but says nothing about loneliness or human connection.
B Wrong part of the text (Kirsch & Mosenthal, 1990)
Describes hearings and town halls, which belong with paragraph 4’s “town meetings” and civic engagement, and concern leaders running events rather than people finding companionship.
C Off the point (Halliday & Hasan, 1976)
Brings in funding from local, state and federal dollars, a new topic that neither illustrates sentence 8’s need for connection nor advances the essay’s claim.
Working it out, step by step
Figure out what the question asks
You need the sentence that would come right after sentence 8 and back it up. To support a sentence means to give an example or a reason that proves it.
Read sentence 8 closely
Sentence 8 says: “The library stands in a rare position to help community members meet this universal need for human connection and companionship.” Just before it, sentence 7 says people feel “more isolated and alone than ever before.”
Put sentence 8 in plain words
“Isolated” means cut off from other people. “Companionship” means having friends and people around you. So sentence 8 says: people feel lonely, and the library can help them spend time with others. The next sentence should show how people meet each other at the library.
Check each choice
- A is wrong. It is about saving a community’s history, not about people meeting.
- B is wrong. Hearings and town halls are about leaders running community business. They are not about lonely people finding company.
- C is wrong. Money for libraries is a new topic. It says nothing about human connection.
- D is right. Book clubs, story times and exercise classes are real ways people “can interact with others.”
Watch out: B mentions community events, so it seems to fit. But its point is public meetings, not friendship. It fits better with the “town meetings” in sentence 16.
Choose the answer
D gives clear examples of people meeting and spending time together. So the answer is D.
Why this answer and not the closest wrong one
B is the closest wrong answer, because it also shows people gathering at the library. But hearings and town halls are public business, run by leaders. Sentence 8 is about loneliness and companionship. D shows people of every age, from toddlers to seniors, meeting and doing things together.
More questions like this
The original DOE question
The passage “The Local Library” as printed (page 120)
