Quiz & test questions Grade 10 English Language Arts

Four Sources on the Yarrowby Well Field PFAS Result

A grade 10 quiz on evaluating and synthesizing four short sources about a PFOA result in a fictional town's wells, with ten items and a full answer key.

Grade: Grade 10
Subject: English Language Arts
Material: Quiz & test questions
Time: 40 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: None

Standards

W.9-10.7 Common Core ELA

Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

How this material aligns: Items 6, 7, and 8 require students to match each source to the question it can answer and to combine two sources into one accurate statement, which is the narrowing and synthesis this standard names.

All materials for W.9-10.7 →

W.9-10.1 Common Core ELA

Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

How this material aligns: Item 10 requires a written position on the research question supported by evidence drawn from at least two of the four sources, with one stated limitation of that evidence.

All materials for W.9-10.1 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-09-04.

Objectives

Students will match each source to the specific question that source is able to answer.
Students will distinguish a reported measurement from an inference drawn about it.
Students will write one sentence that reports two sources accurately without contradiction.
Students will state a position on a research question using evidence from two sources.

Vocabulary

Maximum contaminant level (MCL): A maximum contaminant level, or MCL, is the highest amount of a certain substance that federal rules allow in drinking water. Water systems test regularly to prove their water stays under each limit.

Also: source evaluation, corroboration, inference, hedging, synthesis

Teacher overview

This 40-minute quiz is worth 30 points and asks students to evaluate four short sources that all describe the same drinking-water result. It mixes two multiple-choice items, seven short-answer items, and one extended paragraph. Tenth graders are expected to work across sources rather than inside one, so the items ask which source can answer which question instead of asking which source is good. The misconception worth naming before students begin is that credibility is a property of a whole document: students routinely discard a neighbor's forum post as biased while accepting a news brief as neutral, even though the brief is far vaguer than the laboratory letter about what was actually measured.

Four Sources on the Yarrowby Well Field PFAS Result — Grade 10 English Language Arts

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Assessment

The town of Yarrowby, its wells, its newspaper, and all four sources below are fictional. Read the sources, then answer questions 1 through 10.

Source A. Cover letter from the state drinking water laboratory, March 6

Sample YW-3, collected from the Yarrowby north well field on February 24, was analyzed for six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. PFOA was measured at 12 parts per trillion. PFOS was not detected. The federal maximum contaminant level for PFOA is 4.0 parts per trillion. A single sample does not establish a running annual average, and confirmation sampling is required before a compliance determination is made. Results for the south well field are pending.

Source B. Yarrowby Weekly, news brief, March 9

Test results released this week show a chemical called PFOA in the town's north wells at a level far above the federal limit. Town officials said the wells remain in service while the state reviews the finding. A public meeting is set for March 18 at the community center.

Source C. Post on the Yarrowby Neighbors forum, March 10

My cousin works at the plant and says the town has known about this for years. They kept quiet because fixing it costs money. Everybody on the north side should stop drinking the tap water today. I bought a filter pitcher last night and I already feel better about it.

Source D. Mailer from Clearpath Home Water, March 12

Yarrowby residents, recent testing found a regulated chemical in your drinking water. Our under-sink system removes it. Financing is available for qualified households. Call today for a free in-home test.

Questions

(2 points) Which source states both the amount measured and the date the sample was collected?
- A) Source A
- B) Source B
- C) Source C
- D) Source D
(2 points) Quote the sentence from Source A that states the limit the result is being compared against.
(3 points) Source B describes the result as "far above the federal limit." Explain what a reader of Source B alone cannot determine that Source A makes clear.
(3 points) Source C states that the town "has known about this for years." Identify the evidence Source C offers for that statement, or write "none" and explain what is missing.
(3 points) Which source has the strongest reason to make the risk sound larger than the data support? Name the source and quote the words that show its interest.
(2 points) Which question can be answered only by Source D?
- A) What substance was measured, and on what date?
- B) What limit does the measured result exceed?
- C) What product is being sold to residents, and on what terms?
- D) When will town officials meet with residents?
(3 points) A student's research question is: "Should Yarrowby treat the north wells now, or wait for confirmation sampling?" Name the two sources that give evidence bearing directly on that question, and name one source that does not.
(3 points) Source A states that confirmation sampling is required before a compliance determination. Source B states that the wells remain in service. Write one sentence that reports both facts accurately without suggesting that the town has broken a rule.
(4 points) Rewrite the first two sentences of Source C as a single sentence that reports only what the writer is in a position to know.
(5 points) Write a paragraph of six to eight sentences answering the research question in item 7. Cite evidence from at least two sources, name the source each time, and state one limitation of the evidence available so far.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key

Answer: A) Source A. Only Source A gives both the measured value and the February 24 collection date. Source B gives neither, and Sources C and D give no measurement at all.
Answer: "The federal maximum contaminant level for PFOA is 4.0 parts per trillion." Accept this sentence only; the sentence naming the sample result is not a statement of the limit.
Answer: A reader of Source B cannot tell what was measured numerically, how far above the limit the result sits, or when the sample was taken. Source A supplies the measured value, the limit, and the sample date, so the phrase "far above" can be checked against a number rather than taken on trust.
Answer: None. The only support offered is a secondhand report from a relative, with no record, memo, test result, or date attached. Students who answer "the cousin works at the plant" should be pushed to notice that employment establishes access, not accuracy.
Answer: Source D. The mailer sells the remedy it recommends, shown by "Our under-sink system removes it" and "Financing is available for qualified households." Its interest is served by a reader who feels the risk is urgent.
Answer: C) What product is being sold to residents, and on what terms. Source D is the only source that names a product and mentions financing and a free in-home test.
Answer: Sources A and B bear directly on the question. Source A gives the measurement, the limit, and the requirement for confirmation sampling, while Source B gives the town's current decision and the date of the public meeting. Accept either Source C or Source D as the source that does not, provided the student explains that it offers no evidence about the wells themselves.
Answer: Accept any sentence that keeps both facts and adds no judgment, such as: "The laboratory reported that confirmation sampling is required before a compliance determination, and the town has kept the north wells in service while the state reviews the result." Do not credit sentences that insert "even though" or "despite," which imply wrongdoing that neither source establishes.
Answer: Accept any rewrite that reports the secondhand claim as secondhand and drops the motive, such as: "A relative who works at the plant told me the town learned about this earlier, though I have not seen a record that confirms it." The original sentences assign both knowledge and a motive the writer is not in a position to observe.
Answer: Accept either position when the paragraph names its sources, uses evidence from two of them, and states a limitation. A strong answer for waiting cites Source A on confirmation sampling and Source B on the wells staying in service, then names the limitation that only one sample from one well field exists and the south field results are still pending. A strong answer for treating now cites the size of the result against the limit in Source A and Source B's report that the wells remain in service while the state reviews the finding, then names the limitation that a single sample may not represent the well field. Do not credit paragraphs built on Source C or Source D alone.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students a copy with a four-row table already drawn, headed Source, What it measures, What it claims, and What it wants from me, so that items 1 through 6 begin as sorting rather than searching. Allow items 3 and 5 to be answered in two short sentences, and provide the sentence frame "Source ___ can answer this question because it gives ___" for item 7.

Extension

Ask these students to write the fifth source that is missing from the set: a two-paragraph statement from the town manager that reports the result accurately, explains what confirmation sampling is, and tells households what to do in the meantime without either alarming or reassuring them beyond the evidence. Then have them list the two questions their own statement still cannot answer.

ELL supports

Pre-teach detected, confirmation sample, limit, secondhand, and financing with a paired example sentence for each. Provide a bilingual glossary of the four source labels, and allow items 4, 5, and 7 to be answered first as a bulleted list of phrases and then rewritten as sentences. Item 10 may be drafted as five sentence starters supplied on a separate sheet.

Extensions

Have students find the most recent consumer confidence report published by their own water system and locate the table that lists detected contaminants. Ask them to write one paragraph identifying a question the report answers well and a question it leaves to the reader, then compare their findings with the four fictional sources studied here.