Year 9 Writing – Agreement and Reference 1

Practise finding and fixing shifts in person, subject–verb agreement slips, tense shifts and unclear references that reach back across paragraphs in a persuasive draft. 12 questions. 25 minutes.

Draft A: Should the school day start later for teenagers?

(1) Every morning, thousands of teenagers drag themselves out of bed before the sun has fully risen. (2) At our school the day starts at 8:30, and a survey of 200 students at our school found that most of them felt tired in first period. (3) The list of reasons we gathered over several weeks are persuasive. (4) The timing of the first two lessons is the biggest problem for tired students. (5) When we sat in first period, you could hardly keep your eyes open. (6) Teenagers naturally fall asleep later at night, so an early start cut their sleep short.

(7) Some people argue that a later start would simply push everything back and change nothing. (8) Others worry that parents would struggle to arrange work around a 9:30 start. (9) Neither the principal nor the teachers were convinced when we first raised the idea. (10) Last term our class ran a two-week trial with a 9:30 start for Year 9. (11) Students arrived calmer, and by the second week teachers notice fewer yawns in class. (12) Students in the trial said you could finish homework earlier.

(13) This changed how the whole staff felt about the proposal. (14) If one wants students to learn well, you must first make sure they are awake. (15) A later start costs the school very little, and it gives students the sleep they need. (16) Parents would need to adjust their mornings, but families already adapt to many timetable changes.

(17) We therefore believe the school should adopt a 9:30 start next year. (18) Schools exist to help students learn, and an exhausted student cannot do that. (19) The school board should vote on the change this term.