Contents
To the Teacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
To the Student . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
1
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Citing Evidence to Support a Position or Point of View
The Camels Are Coming! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
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A Surprise Ending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
A Winter to Remember . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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Inside a Whale’s Belly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Ceremonial Totem Poles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Wolf Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
A Champion of Good Nutrition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Sacred Cats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
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Tracing the Progress of Medicine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Can Oysters Tell the Time?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
The Mount Pelée Eruption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Identifying Similarities Among People, Objects, Ideas and Events
23
The Unusual Life Cycles of Animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Amazing Insect Societies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Ancient Architectural Wonders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
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Adventures at Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Unusual Creatures of the Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
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Cunning Ways of Gaining Fame and Fortune. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Identifying the Main Idea
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Floating Across the Atlantic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Learning to Survive at Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Living off the Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
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The Birth of the Saxophone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
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The Mystery of the Missing Colony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Facts, Opinions and Probabilities
69
Jumbo the Elephant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
The Lonely Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Race to the South Pole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
An Enormous Will to Live . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Wool Pioneer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
An Australian Heroine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
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Drawing Valid Conclusions from Data Studied
89
Pathfinders of the West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Jane Goodall, the Chimpanzee Scientist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Alfred Nobel’s Peace Prize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
The Magnificent Inca Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Bringing Medical Care to Those in Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
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The Myth of Male Superiority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
The Unsolved Mystery of the Don . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Ducks in Decline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
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Acid Rain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Identifying Sequences of Events
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Dreaming Up a News Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
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A Nightmare That Came True . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
A Master Armourer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Matching Wits with Squirrels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
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Country Music Sensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Making Schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Selecting Criteria to Use in Making Judgments
147
Just Passing Through . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Buried Treasure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
The Song Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
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The Firewalkers of Bora Bora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
The Search for El Dorado . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
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Recognising and Remembering Key Ideas
The Mysteries of Bird Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
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Making Mummies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Young Politicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
The Sun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
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Symbiosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
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Mysteries of the Desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Judging Adequacy of Information for Specific Purposes
183
Do You Believe in Dreams? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
The Call of the Falls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
An Australian Pioneer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Final Exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Winston Churchill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201
© 2012 Hawker Brownlow Education • 9781741700138 • WAL0138
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Critical Thinking: Readings in Nonfiction
To the Teacher
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It has become increasingly obvious to educators, not only in this country but also in
other nations, that we are not effectively helping students identify, develop and utilise
the wide range of thinking and reasoning skills of which they are capable. This is,
today, a truly worldwide concern. Edward de Bono, Director of the Cognitive Research
Trust in Cambridge, England, has noted that Venezuela, Canada, the United Kingdom,
Australia and New Zealand have all launched large programs stressing the teaching
of thinking skills. There are also pilot projects in Bulgaria, Malaysia, New Guinea, India
and Israel.
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As the current wave of social change sweeping Europe is extended to other regions
of the globe, we may witness increasing calls for the teaching of thinking skills.
Democracies demand much higher levels of participatory problem solving on the part
of their citizens than authoritarian regimes. True democracies are rooted in the belief
that a large proportion of the people who reside within their boundaries are capable of
assisting directly in the solution of national and regional problems. Voters must make
decisions on referenda relating to social and economic issues and at every election.
This is a reflection of Thomas Jefferson’s belief that a people cannot be both ignorant
and free.
Three rather interesting findings from research directly impact every program that
purports to teach critical-thinking and reasoning skills:
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A. First, it is important to recognise that 30 per cent of our adolescents and
adults never reach Jean Piaget’s formalistic stage of reasoning. This means, of
course, that this segment of our population has problems manipulating ideas,
thinking abstractly and seeing subtle relationships. In addition, these people
have great difficulty planning for future events and projecting their thoughts
beyond the present. Many of the concepts and problem-solving strategies in
academic programs lie well beyond their levels of comprehension.
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B. Second, it is useful to note that studies conducted by Robert Sternberg
of Yale University clearly demonstrate that people from widely divergent
socioeconomic levels hold very different views regarding the nature of
intelligence. Socially and economically advantaged parents typically emphasise
problem-solving and thinking and reasoning skills with their children, while lessadvantaged parents tend to view intelligence as rote memorisation. This means,
of course, that their children will be inclined to value similar skills and bring
these expectations to school with them.
C. Third, it is important to recognise that there is no consensus regarding which
thinking skills are paramount. There are almost as many lists of skills as there
are researchers in the field. Some investigators stress broad problem-solving
strategies; others emphasise fairly narrow, closely defined competencies. The
test developers who design common examinations obviously tend to focus
on academic skills; other researchers have chosen to emphasise life skills
(competencies related to the solving of everyday problems).
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Critical Thinking: Readings in Nonfiction
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The authors of this book have elected to focus on skills and competencies chosen
by English teachers currently teaching in high schools. A list of 50 thinking skills was
developed from a wide variety of sources (U.S. nationwide tests of critical thinking,
recognised thinking-skills projects and programs, and research studies that delineate
key pupil competencies). The list of 50 skills was then distributed to English teachers.
Each teacher was asked to identify those skills they thought were most important to
student success in English.
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The teachers involved in this survey, as a group, expressed a preference for 9 of the 50
skills. It is interesting to note that the 9 skills they chose included literal-level, inferentiallevel and critical-thinking-level competencies. The selected skills were as follows:
A. Skill in recognising and remembering key ideas
B. Proficiency in identifying the main idea of a paragraph or story
C. Competence in recognising similarities among people, ideas, objects and events
D. Skill in identifying sequences of events within a story
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E. Competence in citing evidence to support a position or point of view
F. Proficiency in recognising differences in statements of fact, probability and opinion
G. Demonstrated ability to judge the adequacy of information for specific purposes
H. Skill in selecting criteria to be used in making judgments
I. Proficiency in drawing valid conclusions from data studied
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The last skill, drawing conclusions, was an overwhelming favourite among the
respondents and it is, therefore, given greater attention in this book than other skills.
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To encourage active application of critical-thinking skills, open-ended and interactive
Follow-up Activities have been added to each section of the book. These activities
appear in this Teacher’s Guide after the Answer Key for each section.
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Any one of these skills could be offered in such a sophisticated setting that it would
challenge the best and brightest of our students. Recognising the key ideas in
transcendentalism, for example, might be well beyond the grasp of the typical early
secondary student.
This book has been organised so that it offers both challenges and successes. The
initial exercises are so clearly presented and carefully paced that every student should
be able to master them easily. Later exercises are much more difficult. They require
higher levels of reading comprehension and better organisational skills on the part of
the student. In addition, challenge questions are offered with every set of exercises.
These require students to synthesise larger issues and express their thoughts in
somewhat broader contexts.
The authors would like to thank Kathy Chin for her work on the question formats in this book.
© 2012 Hawker Brownlow Education • 9781741700138 • WAL0138
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Critical Thinking: Readings in Nonfiction
To the Student
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Secondary-school students have rather diverse preferences. Some of them are avid
joiners and want to be where things are happening; they like social events and the
excitement that is generated by large gatherings. Other students choose quieter
activities; they are more into hobbies, artistic pursuits, or perhaps spending a little
time in a chat room on the Internet. Student preferences also differ in clothing styles.
Some are really into trendy clothing fashions, whatever is new is just right for them;
others are more comfortable with the familiar styles that they have grown to like and
appreciate. There are some personal characteristics, however, that appear to be
appealing to an overwhelming majority of students. Just about everybody would like
to be clever and smart, to do well in school and to be successful in solving everyday
problems. Developing good critical-thinking skills – the subject of this book – is a
must if we are going to meet the challenges that problem solving presents.
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We all recognise that it is critical thinking and reasoning in the major areas of life
(ethics and religion, science and technology, art and literature) that distinguish us
from other animals. Other creatures may have keener senses, swifter legs, greater
endurance, or even longer life spans; but they cannot begin to match our intellectual
powers, particularly our ability to think beyond the present and plan for the future.
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The exercises and activities in this book are carefully chosen to help you clarify
and strengthen nine essential competencies. These fundamental skills are clearly
basic to success in every area of human activity. Wherever problem-solving skills
are needed (school, home or out-of-school activities), we find ourselves making
comparisons, setting up steps to accomplish tasks, identifying key facts or main
ideas, weighing opinions and drawing conclusions. If we have mastered these
essential competencies, we are much more likely to find continuing satisfaction in
both academic studies and out-of-school activities.
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We think you will enjoy the stories and accounts we have prepared for this book.
There are descriptions of unusual creatures, stories of death-defying adventurers and
explorers, accounts of mysterious happenings, and portrayals of little-known events
in the lives of famous people. The stories are both entertaining and informative.
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The descriptions and activities in this book should help you recognise that learning
can be both enjoyable and highly useful. If you discover that you can think and
reason more effectively, this may contribute significantly to your success in the
days and years ahead.
WAL0138 • 9781741700138 • © 2012 Hawker Brownlow Education
Citing Evidence to Support a Position or Point of View
Citing Evidence to Support
a Position or Point of View
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All of us today seem to be swamped by statements – in political campaigns,
advertisements, newspaper editorials and pamphlets – promoting a vast array of
contemporary community programs and projects. Someone is always championing
a new plan or undertaking, and we are faced with the problem of deciding whether
it merits our support. We must expect and demand verification and support for
these statements and plans.
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At one time, snake oil merchants could dupe the public with a variety of worthless
nostrums. Most of the claims these merchants made for their “medications” were
truly absurd, even comical. Today federal and state agencies, as well as private
consumer groups, examine the claims of manufacturers and private entrepreneurs.
Sophisticated scientific tests help us distinguish between legitimate and
questionable claims.
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In the worlds of art and literature, we do not enjoy the luxury of scientific proof. We
cannot demonstrate scientifically that a story or a picture or a musical composition
is superior to another creative work. Instead, we marshal evidence by highlighting
various qualities of character, setting, plot and theme which we feel represent
artistic excellence. We use our powers of analysis rather than objective verification.
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When we want to support a point of view about the underlying meaning of an event
or episode in a story, we follow essentially the same strategy. We cite the actions
of the character that seem to lead logically to the conclusions we seek to draw.
We rely much more on interpretation than proof. We hope that the evidence we
assemble makes our judgments and decisions about the story believable. Other
readers may hold very different views about the significance of the characters’
behaviour and other events in the story. If two people come to different conclusions
about the author’s meaning or about the characters and events in a story, they can
always go back and recheck the details. They can point to specific paragraphs,
sentences or words that support or do not support their personal judgments. You
can practise doing this, too.
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Read the brief historical account that follows. See if you can answer the questions
by citing details in the story that support the five statements that follow the account.
Then go on to read the other passages in this section and answer the questions
about them, as your teacher assigns them.
© 2012 Hawker Brownlow Education • 9781741700138 • WAL0138
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Critical Thinking: Readings in Nonfiction
The Camels Are Coming!
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1. Almost everybody knows that the United States Army once used horses, just like
the Australian army once did, but not many people are aware that the US army once
had a Camel Corps. In 1850, America did not have a coast-to-coast railway. The
army needed a quick, easy way to move supplies in the dry southwestern section
of the nation. These supplies were needed by army troops fighting against Native
American warriors in the areas that would eventually be California, New Mexico,
Arizona and Colorado.
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2. An army lieutenant, Edward Beale, suggested using camels. Congress, the
American parliament, voted $3000 to buy the animals. It sent two officers to Italy
and Africa to study camels and to purchase some for the army. When the two
officers arrived in Europe and learned that camels could carry 135-kilogram loads
and travel nearly 500 kilometres a day, they bought 33 of them. They also hired
three drivers to help with the animals.
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3. At first, many cowboys laughed at the camels. Then they found out how strong
and durable they were. They could travel for kilometres over rocks, deserts and
mountains. They could even swim across large rivers.
4. Lt. Beale was made commander of the United States Camel Corps, and he
quickly set up supply routes to the forts farther west. The camels carried guns and
ammunition, supplies of food and equipment to the troops. The camels really took
over the trails, for when horses smelled them they ran away in terror.
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5. The Camel Corps worked very well until the American Civil War broke out. When
the North and South began fighting, the troops in the west were called east. Some
of the camels were turned loose; others were given to the city of Los Angeles to
carry mail and move other goods back and forth from ships in the harbour. When
railway networks were extended across the continent, the Camel Corps was soon
forgotten.
WAL0138 • 9781741700138 • © 2012 Hawker Brownlow Education
Citing Evidence to Support a Position or Point of View
5
Worksheet
Answer the following questions.
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Paragraph number __________
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2. The American Congress
evidently thought that Lt
Beale’s idea was a good one.
They did two things to get the
camels for the army. Where
in the story are these actions
described?
1. When the cowboys first saw the
camels, they were amused. Which
paragraph provides evidence that
made the cowboys change their
minds?
Paragraph number
__________
Sentence numbers
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_________
3. The camels were not useful
for working with horses. What
sentence provides evidence for
this statement?
Paragraph number __________
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Sentence number __________
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4. Where in the story do we learn
about the value of the camels
during the American Civil War?
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Paragraph number _________
5. What evidence does the
writer of the story provide that
the camels were tough?
Paragraph number
__________
Paragraph number _________
Copyright © 2012 by Hawker Brownlow Education. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Critical Thinking: Readings in Nonfiction, High School. Melbourne, Vic:
Hawker Brownlow Education, www.hbe.com.au. To the extent not permitted by Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968, and subject to the terms of use for this resource, the
purchaser of this resource may photocopy this page for their teaching purposes. Reproduction authorised only for use in the school site that has purchased the book.
38
Critical Thinking: Readings in Nonfiction
Worksheet
Compared with sharks and dolphins, seahorses and barnacles must be considered
rather inactive, yet these two quiet ocean creatures are different in several ways.
Seahorse
Barnacle
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Place a tick after each of the
questions to indicate which
group is the correct answer.
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2. Which is only temporarily
attached to objects?
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1. Which of these sea creatures
goes through the greater number of
physical changes during its life?
3. Which species lives over broader
areas of the ocean?
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4. Which is more troublesome for
shipowners?
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5. Which of these ocean dwellers
varies more in colour and size?
6. Which of these creatures is larger
in size?
7. Which of these aquatic animals
has better protection against
predators?
Copyright © 2012 by Hawker Brownlow Education. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Critical Thinking: Readings in Nonfiction, High School. Melbourne, Vic:
Hawker Brownlow Education, www.hbe.com.au. To the extent not permitted by Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968, and subject to the terms of use for this resource, the
purchaser of this resource may photocopy this page for their teaching purposes. Reproduction authorised only for use in the school site that has purchased the book.