The Library That Changed Its Reading Room
Ms Rekha is moderating eight scripts for an unseen passage in a Class XII trial exam. The passage reports that a municipal library in Ambala converted its 6–9 p.m. reading room into a twelve-seat digital lab, moved its newspaper rack to the lobby, and extended lending hours by one hour. It quotes the librarian: 'Footfall in the reading room fell by half after 2019, but borrowing rose by 18 per cent.' It also notes that two retired teachers now run a Saturday story hour in the lobby. Question 4 asks: 'What does the writer suggest about the library's attitude to reading?' Script A answers: 'The library no longer values reading; it only wants computers.' Script B answers: 'The library is changing how it supports reading rather than abandoning it.' The marking scheme allots 2 marks for a supported inference. Ms Rekha must decide whether A earns any credit and how to explain the difference to the class.
1. Decide the mark for Script A and Script B, and justify each with evidence from the setup.
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Script B: 2 marks. It makes a controlled inference and is supported by at least two details: borrowing rose by 18 per cent, lending hours were extended, and a Saturday story hour continues. 'Changing how it supports reading' is a fair summary of a shift, not a claim that reading has been abandoned.
Script A: 0 marks. It is not merely weaker; it contradicts the passage. 'No longer values reading' cannot stand against extended lending and the story hour, and 'only wants computers' ignores the newspaper rack and the volunteers. The absolute words 'no longer' and 'only' are the giveaway. If Ms Rekha wants to reward partial awareness, she could note that A recognises a shift, but the inference itself is unsupported, so it should not receive inference marks.
2. Script C writes: 'The library cares more about gadgets than people.' Rewrite it as a defensible inference of no more than 25 words.
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Model rewrite: 'The library is redirecting space and staff toward digital access while trying to keep reading visible through longer lending hours and volunteer story sessions.' (24 words)
The rewrite keeps the idea of a shift but removes the unsupported comparison of 'gadgets' and 'people'. It anchors the claim in three details: the digital lab, extended lending, and the story hour. It also avoids the absolute frame that made Script A unsafe.
3. What instruction should Ms Rekha give before the next practice so students avoid Script A's error?
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She should teach a two-step check. First, ask whether the answer can be proved by two separate details in the passage; if not, it is opinion, not inference. Second, test absolute words such as 'only', 'never' and 'no longer' against counter-evidence. Script A fails both tests: it uses 'only' and ignores the lending and story-hour details. Students should also be told to quote or paraphrase one supporting detail in the answer itself, because an inference without textual anchorage is a guess.