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Study on the flySHSATRevising/Editing — Passage-BasedAdding a supporting sentence or claim

Revising/Editing — Passage-Based

Adding a supporting sentence or claim — SHSAT practice questions

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Practice 185 Adding a supporting sentence or claim questions in the app

What this topic is

Passage-based Revising/Editing questions on adding a supporting sentence or claim give the numbered sentences of a short informational essay and ask which new sentence would best follow a given one.

The strongest addition continues the paragraph's specific point with a fact, an example, or an explanation that the next sentence builds on. A choice can be true and interesting yet still wrong if it drifts to a side topic or repeats what was already said.

Related items reverse the task and ask which sentence should be deleted, or which concluding sentence should be added, so the same test applies: does the sentence serve the paragraph's purpose?

Sample questions

Pick an answer to see whether it is right — nothing is saved, and nothing needs an account.

A Quieter Way to Practice

(1) During lunch, several students at Westbridge Middle School began meeting in an unused music room for ten-minute practice sessions. (2) They were not rehearsing for a concert; instead, they were trying short breathing exercises, quiet stretching, and focus routines before afternoon classes. (3) A typical session lasted no longer than the walk between two classrooms. (4) Students sat on the floor or on folding chairs, and no one talked much. (5) The room was chosen because it was empty at that hour and far from the gym. (6) At first, the meetings were informal, with students reminding one another to arrive quickly and leave the room exactly as they found it. (7) The idea started after a science lesson about how brief pauses can help people reset their attention.

(8) Soon, students from different grades were asking whether they could join. (9) The school cafeteria served soup on Fridays. (10) The group needed a system that would keep the room calm without turning the sessions into another club with officers, speeches, and long meetings. (11) Nobody wanted to spend the ten minutes deciding who would speak first. (12) The room also had a limit, since a crowd would make quiet impossible. (13) The students talked about the problem for a week without agreeing on an answer. (14) A seventh grader named Nia suggested a simple sign-up sheet with only twelve spaces per day. (15) She also proposed that each session begin with a one-minute written goal, such as ‘listen carefully in math’ or ‘finish my reading notes.’ (16) The goals were written on small slips of paper and dropped in a box at the door. (17) No one read them aloud, and no one had to share. (18) Twelve slips a day added up to a small stack by Friday. (19) The sign-up sheet filled every day within the first week. (20) Some students wanted to add music, snacks, and decorations, but others worried that those changes would make the room busier rather than quieter.

(21) After two weeks, the group surveyed participants and found that most preferred the plain format. (22) The survey took one lunch period and used four questions. (23) Nineteen of the twenty-two responses said the sessions should stay exactly as they were. (24) A few asked for a second room so more students could sign up. (25) The group decided to keep one room and one sheet for now. (26) The students then asked the assistant principal for permission to continue using the room through the spring. (27) Their request explained that the short sessions worked best because they were limited, predictable, and easy to clean up.

Question 1Mid

Which sentence would best follow sentence 7 to improve the organization of the passage?

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Answer: C — This connection between the lesson and the lunch meetings helped other students understand the purpose of the sessions.

Sentence 7 explains that the idea started after a science lesson about brief pauses, and the third choice improves organization by linking that origin to the growing interest described in sentence 8. The first choice adds a detail about the lesson itself and does not show how the lesson led to the lunch meetings. The second choice is relevant later, when the students actually make that request at the end of the passage. The fourth choice belongs later, after the group has already recognized that it needs a simple system to keep the room calm.

Question 2Easier

Which sentence presents ideas irrelevant to the topic of the passage and should be deleted?

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Answer: B — sentence 9

Sentence 9 mentions the cafeteria menu, which has no connection to the quiet practice sessions, the need for a simple system, or the later survey. Sentence 3 should be kept because it shows that the sessions were brief, a point the passage later uses to explain why the routine worked. Sentence 18 should be kept because it shows that students used the written-goal system consistently. Sentence 22 should be kept because it explains how the group gathered the survey evidence that follows.

Question 3Mid

Which concluding sentence should be added after sentence 27 to best support the ideas presented in the passage?

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Answer: A — In the end, the group showed that a useful school routine does not have to be complicated to be effective.

The first choice reflects the main idea: the sessions succeeded because they remained brief, calm, and easy to maintain. The second choice focuses only on the sign-up sheet, which was one part of the system rather than the central lesson of the passage. The third choice returns to the science-lesson origin and ignores how the group kept the sessions simple and effective. The fourth choice misstates both the sequence of events and the passage’s point: the students organized the meetings first and asked for permission later, and that request is not the main idea.

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Practice 185 Adding a supporting sentence or claim questions in the app

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