Reading Tasks
What is it?
An “Open Response Short Answer”
question occurs AFTER a reading
selection (informational or narrative
text).
 You are asked an opinion-based
question, which you must support based
on the information from the text you’ve
just read

Remember?
For those of you who wrote the Practice
Literacy Test, you read an article about
tourists placing locks on a bridge’s
lampposts in Rome.
 The Open Response Short Answer question
was: Should city officials in Rome be worried
or pleased about the fad of putting locks on
the lamppost? Explain your answer using
details from the selection and your own
ideas.

Things to Note:

The wording:
 EXPLAIN your answer using…
 DETAILS from the selection and…
 YOUR OWN IDEAS
First things first…
(use rough notes area!)
Decide WHAT your opinion on the
question is. Choose only ONE side of
the argument (ie “worried” or “pleased”)
 Decide WHAT supporting details from
the selection help prove your opinion
 If possible, add one new idea as long as
it is CLOSELY RELATED TO THE
IDEAS IN THE SELECTION (do not get
off-topic)

Next…

Begin your answer by re-wording the question
to ENSURE you are clearly answering what is
being asked of you:
 “City officials in Rome should be
worried/pleased about the fad of putting
locks on the lamppost BECAUSE…..”
 BECAUSE is an important word to use as it
shows you are expressing an opinion
clearly and you will now state evidence to
support it
Then…
Use details DIRECTLY from the
selection to prove your opinion.
 A great idea is to CLOSELY paraphrase
a sentence or even directly quote it,
using quotation marks correctly
 Sum up what you’ve written by
extending the point with your own idea
or concluding with a final thought

Now check it over…
Do you use almost all the space
provided? (Do not write less or more)
 Do you avoid vague language? (like “it”,
“they”…be as specific as possible)
 Do you use language conventions
correctly? (Spelling, punctuation, tenses,
etc.)
 HAVE YOU ANSWERED THE
QUESTION?
