AP English Language and Composition Unit 1: Claims and Evidence in Argument

Passage 1 (excerpt from an original essay on public libraries).

Public libraries are often described as quiet cathedrals of self-improvement, places where one ascends, book by book, toward a fuller life. That image is not wrong, but it is incomplete. The most important work libraries do today happens at the help desk and around the children's tables, not in the silent stacks. A librarian who shows an out-of-work adult how to fill out an online job application has done more for that person's mobility than a shelf of self-help books. A toddler who hears a story read aloud in a public space is acquiring something her parents could not buy at any price: the social experience of being part of a community of readers. We undervalue libraries when we measure them only by the books they hold. Their truer measure is the doors they open into civic life.

The author's central claim in the passage is best summarized as:

Passage 1 (excerpt from an original essay on public libraries).

Public libraries are often described as quiet cathedrals of self-improvement, places where one ascends, book by book, toward a fuller life. That image is not wrong, but it is incomplete. The most important work libraries do today happens at the help desk and around the children's tables, not in the silent stacks. A librarian who shows an out-of-work adult how to fill out an online job application has done more for that person's mobility than a shelf of self-help books. A toddler who hears a story read aloud in a public space is acquiring something her parents could not buy at any price: the social experience of being part of a community of readers. We undervalue libraries when we measure them only by the books they hold. Their truer measure is the doors they open into civic life.

Based on Passage 1, why does the author include the example of the toddler hearing a story?

Passage 3 (excerpt from an original editorial on grade inflation).

When more than half of all college grades are A's, we have to admit that 'excellence' has lost its meaning. The defenders of grade inflation argue that today's students work harder than ever and that high grades reflect that work. The argument is appealing but flawed. The point of a grading scale is not to reward effort; it is to distinguish levels of mastery. A pole vaulter who bends but does not break the bar does not win the meet because she tried hard. To pretend otherwise is to confuse the metric with the encouragement we wrap around it. If the grading scale cannot tell us who has mastered the material best, we will need a new scale — and the students relying on the old one to communicate their achievements to graduate schools and employers will be the ones paying the price.

The author's argument in Passage 3 is best summarized as:

Passage 1 (excerpt from an original essay on public libraries).

Public libraries are often described as quiet cathedrals of self-improvement, places where one ascends, book by book, toward a fuller life. That image is not wrong, but it is incomplete. The most important work libraries do today happens at the help desk and around the children's tables, not in the silent stacks. A librarian who shows an out-of-work adult how to fill out an online job application has done more for that person's mobility than a shelf of self-help books. A toddler who hears a story read aloud in a public space is acquiring something her parents could not buy at any price: the social experience of being part of a community of readers. We undervalue libraries when we measure them only by the books they hold. Their truer measure is the doors they open into civic life.

Based on Passage 1, the author's argument would be MOST WEAKENED by which of the following findings?

Passage 3 (excerpt from an original editorial on grade inflation).

When more than half of all college grades are A's, we have to admit that 'excellence' has lost its meaning. The defenders of grade inflation argue that today's students work harder than ever and that high grades reflect that work. The argument is appealing but flawed. The point of a grading scale is not to reward effort; it is to distinguish levels of mastery. A pole vaulter who bends but does not break the bar does not win the meet because she tried hard. To pretend otherwise is to confuse the metric with the encouragement we wrap around it. If the grading scale cannot tell us who has mastered the material best, we will need a new scale — and the students relying on the old one to communicate their achievements to graduate schools and employers will be the ones paying the price.

If a critic argued in response to Passage 3 that 'grading scales naturally compress over time because students do improve,' how would this affect the author's argument?

Passage 3 (excerpt from an original editorial on grade inflation).

When more than half of all college grades are A's, we have to admit that 'excellence' has lost its meaning. The defenders of grade inflation argue that today's students work harder than ever and that high grades reflect that work. The argument is appealing but flawed. The point of a grading scale is not to reward effort; it is to distinguish levels of mastery. A pole vaulter who bends but does not break the bar does not win the meet because she tried hard. To pretend otherwise is to confuse the metric with the encouragement we wrap around it. If the grading scale cannot tell us who has mastered the material best, we will need a new scale — and the students relying on the old one to communicate their achievements to graduate schools and employers will be the ones paying the price.

In Passage 3, the pole-vaulter analogy is best understood as:

Passage 2 (excerpt from a fictional city-council address by a local resident).

Mr. Chair, the proposal to widen Main Street from four lanes to six is being sold to us as progress. Let me suggest a different word: surrender. Surrender to the assumption that a city's job is to move cars through it as fast as possible. Every block we widen will displace a row of shopfronts. Every shopfront lost is a small business closed, a face removed from the daily life of the street. The drivers we are widening the road for will not stop here. They are passing through to somewhere else. The neighborhood we tear up will not be theirs to miss. I urge the Council to vote no — not because we cannot build for the future, but because the future we are building tonight is one in which Main Street is no longer a street, only a way to leave.

In Passage 2, the closing phrase 'no longer a street, only a way to leave' chiefly functions to:

Passage 3 (excerpt from an original editorial on grade inflation).

When more than half of all college grades are A's, we have to admit that 'excellence' has lost its meaning. The defenders of grade inflation argue that today's students work harder than ever and that high grades reflect that work. The argument is appealing but flawed. The point of a grading scale is not to reward effort; it is to distinguish levels of mastery. A pole vaulter who bends but does not break the bar does not win the meet because she tried hard. To pretend otherwise is to confuse the metric with the encouragement we wrap around it. If the grading scale cannot tell us who has mastered the material best, we will need a new scale — and the students relying on the old one to communicate their achievements to graduate schools and employers will be the ones paying the price.

In Passage 3, the closing claim about graduate schools and employers serves to:

Passage 2 (excerpt from a fictional city-council address by a local resident).

Mr. Chair, the proposal to widen Main Street from four lanes to six is being sold to us as progress. Let me suggest a different word: surrender. Surrender to the assumption that a city's job is to move cars through it as fast as possible. Every block we widen will displace a row of shopfronts. Every shopfront lost is a small business closed, a face removed from the daily life of the street. The drivers we are widening the road for will not stop here. They are passing through to somewhere else. The neighborhood we tear up will not be theirs to miss. I urge the Council to vote no — not because we cannot build for the future, but because the future we are building tonight is one in which Main Street is no longer a street, only a way to leave.

The primary purpose of Passage 2 is to:

Passage 2 (excerpt from a fictional city-council address by a local resident).

Mr. Chair, the proposal to widen Main Street from four lanes to six is being sold to us as progress. Let me suggest a different word: surrender. Surrender to the assumption that a city's job is to move cars through it as fast as possible. Every block we widen will displace a row of shopfronts. Every shopfront lost is a small business closed, a face removed from the daily life of the street. The drivers we are widening the road for will not stop here. They are passing through to somewhere else. The neighborhood we tear up will not be theirs to miss. I urge the Council to vote no — not because we cannot build for the future, but because the future we are building tonight is one in which Main Street is no longer a street, only a way to leave.

In Passage 2, the speaker's argument relies most centrally on the claim that:

Passage 2 (excerpt from a fictional city-council address by a local resident).

Mr. Chair, the proposal to widen Main Street from four lanes to six is being sold to us as progress. Let me suggest a different word: surrender. Surrender to the assumption that a city's job is to move cars through it as fast as possible. Every block we widen will displace a row of shopfronts. Every shopfront lost is a small business closed, a face removed from the daily life of the street. The drivers we are widening the road for will not stop here. They are passing through to somewhere else. The neighborhood we tear up will not be theirs to miss. I urge the Council to vote no — not because we cannot build for the future, but because the future we are building tonight is one in which Main Street is no longer a street, only a way to leave.

In Passage 2, the speaker chooses the word 'surrender' instead of 'progress' primarily to:

Passage 1 (excerpt from an original essay on public libraries).

Public libraries are often described as quiet cathedrals of self-improvement, places where one ascends, book by book, toward a fuller life. That image is not wrong, but it is incomplete. The most important work libraries do today happens at the help desk and around the children's tables, not in the silent stacks. A librarian who shows an out-of-work adult how to fill out an online job application has done more for that person's mobility than a shelf of self-help books. A toddler who hears a story read aloud in a public space is acquiring something her parents could not buy at any price: the social experience of being part of a community of readers. We undervalue libraries when we measure them only by the books they hold. Their truer measure is the doors they open into civic life.

Based on Passage 1, which detail does the author use as EVIDENCE for the claim about libraries' civic role?