Choosing Evidence for a Claim
A class reads a two-paragraph article about a city that added bike lanes. Paragraph one says the city added 12 kilometers of protected lanes and that bike crashes fell from 40 to 25 in one year. Paragraph two says some shop owners complained that parking spots were removed, and one owner said sales dropped. The teacher asks students to write a paragraph arguing that the bike lanes helped the city, using the strongest evidence.
1. Which detail is the strongest evidence that the bike lanes helped, and why?
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The strongest detail is the drop in bike crashes from 40 to 25 in one year. It is a number, it compares before and after, and it connects directly to safety, which is a clear public benefit. It is stronger than the shop owner's complaint because that is one person's report with no numbers. It is also stronger than the 12 kilometers of lanes, because length shows what was built, not what changed. A strong answer explains why the chosen detail beats the others, not just which one it picked.
2. A student wants to ignore paragraph two. Why is that a weak choice?
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Ignoring paragraph two weakens the argument. The shop owners' complaint is real evidence that the change had costs, such as lost parking and possibly lower sales. A reader who knows about it will trust a paragraph more if it addresses it. The student can still argue the lanes helped by saying the safety gain is large and the sales complaint is one owner's report without numbers. That is stronger than pretending the complaint does not exist. Good evidence use means meeting the other side, not hiding it.
3. Write a one-sentence claim and one piece of evidence that supports it, using only the article.
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Example: "The bike lanes made cycling safer, because bike crashes fell from 40 to 25 in the first year after 12 kilometers of protected lanes were added." This works because the claim is specific (safer cycling), the evidence is from the article, and the evidence is the kind that can support the claim: a before-and-after number. A weaker version would say "the bike lanes were good" with no evidence, or would use the shop owner's complaint to support a claim that the lanes helped. The claim and evidence must match.