ANALYZE CRAFT AND STRUCTURE REASONING AND EVIDENCE
A. DIRECTIONS: Read the passage below. Then, answer the questions that follow.
Our town's Shade Tree Commission is responsible for the care and maintenance of
trees growing on town property, including parks and recreational areas. The Commission
also supposedly reviews and approves plantings around new construction and oversees
tree removal at building sites. Something is going wrong, though. The trees are
disappearing. Our town, once characterized by beautiful greenery, is beginning to look
like a wasteland-all for the sake of commerce.
A new shopping area was just built on a wooded lot. The shade trees on the town's
right-of-way should have been preserved. Instead, all 57 trees on the lot were taken
down. The Shade Tree Commission demanded that the developer be fined and new
trees be planted along the right-of-way. But perhaps the Commission should have paid
attention in the first place! Our town is known for its tree-lined streets and park-like
properties. Should we sit idly by while commerce is allowed to blight the landscape?
1. What is the writer's claim in this argument?
2. What is one piece of evidence supporting the writer's claim?
