Conflicting Viewpoints · Lesson 5

Reading a three-viewpoint passage fast

A three-viewpoint passage is long, and rereading it for every question wastes a lot of time. Instead, spend about two minutes building a map as you read, then answer from the map and check only the lines you need.

The map is one line per view, in a few words: the cause it blames and its sharpest prediction. Then add one more line, the split: the single question the views answer differently, such as “Where did the water go?” Most questions are about the split or about a prediction.

Mark agreements as you go. When a later view repeats part of an earlier one, note it on both lines (“1 and 3: water from the air”). A “which students agree” question then takes seconds.

When a question names a student, go back to that student’s paragraph to confirm the exact words. The map tells you where to look; the paragraph gives you the proof.

A two-minute map of the dew passage from Lesson 1
ViewCause, in a few wordsSharpest prediction
Student 1Vapor in the air condenses on blades cooled below the dew pointAny surface below the dew point gets dew
Student 2Vapor rises from moist soilA surface sealed off from the soil stays dry
Student 3Tiny droplets settle out of the airSurface temperature does not matter
SplitWhere the dew’s water comes from1 and 3: the air; 2: the soil

The Shrinking Pond

A small pond at a nature center is usually fed by a stream. During a four-week dry spell in which no rain fell, the stream stopped flowing, and the pond’s water level dropped by a total of 20 cm. The pond has a clay bottom, and willows and cattails grow along its shore. Table 1 gives the average afternoon air temperature and the drop in the pond’s water level for each week. Three students proposed explanations for where the water went.

Student 1: Most of the water evaporated from the pond’s open surface. Evaporation is fastest on hot, sunny afternoons, so the pond loses the most water during warm weeks. The clay bottom lets almost no water seep into the ground below. A shallow pan of water set beside the pond would lose about the same depth of water each week as the pond does.

Student 2: Most of the water seeped down through the pond’s bottom into the ground. In a dry spell the water table (the depth below which the soil is soaked with water) sinks, and water drains out of the pond to refill the drier ground beneath it. Evaporation removed only a few centimeters of the pond’s water. Because seepage does not depend on air temperature, the pond loses water at about the same rate by night as by day, and warm weeks should show no larger drops than cool weeks.

Student 3: Most of the water was taken up by the willows and cattails along the shore. Their roots draw water from the edges of the pond, and the plants release it into the air through their leaves. The plants draw water only while their leaves are in sunlight, so the pond’s level falls during the day and stays nearly unchanged at night. The plants draw the most water in warm, sunny weeks, so those weeks should show the largest drops.

Table 1
WeekAverage afternoon air temperature (°C)Drop in water level (cm)
1253
2327
3274
4306
Average afternoon air temperature and drop in the pond's water level for each week: week 1, 25 °C and 3 cm; week 2, 32 °C and 7 cm; week 3, 27 °C and 4 cm; week 4, 30 °C and 6 cm. Warmer weeks had larger drops, and the drops total 20 cm.

Worked example Easy

Show the whole passage

The Shrinking Pond

A small pond at a nature center is usually fed by a stream. During a four-week dry spell in which no rain fell, the stream stopped flowing, and the pond’s water level dropped by a total of 20 cm. The pond has a clay bottom, and willows and cattails grow along its shore. Table 1 gives the average afternoon air temperature and the drop in the pond’s water level for each week. Three students proposed explanations for where the water went.

Student 1: Most of the water evaporated from the pond’s open surface. Evaporation is fastest on hot, sunny afternoons, so the pond loses the most water during warm weeks. The clay bottom lets almost no water seep into the ground below. A shallow pan of water set beside the pond would lose about the same depth of water each week as the pond does.

Student 2: Most of the water seeped down through the pond’s bottom into the ground. In a dry spell the water table (the depth below which the soil is soaked with water) sinks, and water drains out of the pond to refill the drier ground beneath it. Evaporation removed only a few centimeters of the pond’s water. Because seepage does not depend on air temperature, the pond loses water at about the same rate by night as by day, and warm weeks should show no larger drops than cool weeks.

Student 3: Most of the water was taken up by the willows and cattails along the shore. Their roots draw water from the edges of the pond, and the plants release it into the air through their leaves. The plants draw water only while their leaves are in sunlight, so the pond’s level falls during the day and stays nearly unchanged at night. The plants draw the most water in warm, sunny weeks, so those weeks should show the largest drops.

Table 1
WeekAverage afternoon air temperature (°C)Drop in water level (cm)
1253
2327
3274
4306
Average afternoon air temperature and drop in the pond's water level for each week: week 1, 25 °C and 3 cm; week 2, 32 °C and 7 cm; week 3, 27 °C and 4 cm; week 4, 30 °C and 6 cm. Warmer weeks had larger drops, and the drops total 20 cm.

Which student claims that the pond loses water at about the same rate by night as by day?

  1. Student 1
  2. Student 2Answer
  3. Student 3
  4. Students 2 and 3

How to solve it

  1. Map first. Student 1: evaporation, most loss in warm weeks. Student 2: seepage, steady by night and day. Student 3: shore plants, loss only in daylight. Split: where the water went.
  2. The stem is about night and day. The map points to Student 2, and Student 2’s paragraph confirms: “about the same rate by night as by day”.
  3. Choice D is the mix-up trap: Student 3 also talks about night, but says the level holds steady then.

Why each choice is right or wrong

  • A. Incorrect. Student 1 says “Evaporation is fastest on hot, sunny afternoons,” so Student 1 expects more loss by day, not the same rate.
  • B. Correct. Student 2 says “the pond loses water at about the same rate by night as by day,” because “seepage does not depend on air temperature”.
  • C. Incorrect. Student 3 says the opposite: the pond’s level “falls during the day and stays nearly unchanged at night.”
  • D. Incorrect. Student 2 makes this claim, but Student 3 does not; Student 3 says the level “stays nearly unchanged at night.”

Worked example Medium

Show the whole passage

The Shrinking Pond

A small pond at a nature center is usually fed by a stream. During a four-week dry spell in which no rain fell, the stream stopped flowing, and the pond’s water level dropped by a total of 20 cm. The pond has a clay bottom, and willows and cattails grow along its shore. Table 1 gives the average afternoon air temperature and the drop in the pond’s water level for each week. Three students proposed explanations for where the water went.

Student 1: Most of the water evaporated from the pond’s open surface. Evaporation is fastest on hot, sunny afternoons, so the pond loses the most water during warm weeks. The clay bottom lets almost no water seep into the ground below. A shallow pan of water set beside the pond would lose about the same depth of water each week as the pond does.

Student 2: Most of the water seeped down through the pond’s bottom into the ground. In a dry spell the water table (the depth below which the soil is soaked with water) sinks, and water drains out of the pond to refill the drier ground beneath it. Evaporation removed only a few centimeters of the pond’s water. Because seepage does not depend on air temperature, the pond loses water at about the same rate by night as by day, and warm weeks should show no larger drops than cool weeks.

Student 3: Most of the water was taken up by the willows and cattails along the shore. Their roots draw water from the edges of the pond, and the plants release it into the air through their leaves. The plants draw water only while their leaves are in sunlight, so the pond’s level falls during the day and stays nearly unchanged at night. The plants draw the most water in warm, sunny weeks, so those weeks should show the largest drops.

Table 1
WeekAverage afternoon air temperature (°C)Drop in water level (cm)
1253
2327
3274
4306
Average afternoon air temperature and drop in the pond's water level for each week: week 1, 25 °C and 3 cm; week 2, 32 °C and 7 cm; week 3, 27 °C and 4 cm; week 4, 30 °C and 6 cm. Warmer weeks had larger drops, and the drops total 20 cm.

Students 1 and 3 would most likely agree that:

  1. most of the water evaporated from the open surface of the pond.
  2. the pond’s water level stays nearly unchanged during the night.
  3. some of the pond’s water seeps out through its clay bottom.
  4. the pond loses more water in warm weeks than in cool weeks.Answer

How to solve it

  1. Use the map’s agreement note. Students 1 and 3 blame different things (the open surface, the shore plants), but both tie the loss to warm, sunny weather.
  2. Check the choice in both paragraphs. Student 1: “the pond loses the most water during warm weeks.” Student 3: “those weeks should show the largest drops.”
  3. Choices A and B each come from one of the two students, and choice C comes from Student 2. Only choice D has support in both paragraphs.

Why each choice is right or wrong

  • A. Incorrect. Evaporation from the open surface is Student 1’s cause only. Student 3 says “Most of the water was taken up by the willows and cattails along the shore.”
  • B. Incorrect. An unchanged level at night is Student 3’s claim only. Student 1 says nothing about night.
  • C. Incorrect. Seepage is Student 2’s cause. Student 1 says “The clay bottom lets almost no water seep into the ground below”, and Student 3 never mentions seepage.
  • D. Correct. Student 1 says “the pond loses the most water during warm weeks”, and Student 3 says “The plants draw the most water in warm, sunny weeks, so those weeks should show the largest drops.”

Trap Student 2’s words, Student 3’s name

With three views, the classic slip is giving one student’s claim to a neighbor, usually because two students talk about the same thing. In the pond passage, Students 2 and 3 both describe what happens at night, but they say opposite things: a steady rate for Student 2, an almost unchanged level for Student 3. Before you pick a choice that names a student, find the sentence in that student’s own paragraph.