The following passage is about Benjamin Franklin, a famous eighteenth-century inventor and politician. Select the best evidence to support the statement that it was unusual that Ben learned how to swim.
At a time when surprisingly few people learned to swim, seven-year-old Ben taught himself, using a book called The Art of Swimming. Besides illustrating the basic strokes, it taught him a number of tricks, including how to dive, how to swim while holding one foot, and even how to clip his toenails while under water. Ben remained an avid swimmer for the rest of his life. Years later, when living in London, he exhibited these skills in the Thames River for a cheering, clapping crowd of spectators.
When making claims or other arguable statements in your writing, you should support them with specific details, like facts or quotations. These details are sometimes called supporting evidence.
For example, when writing an essay about the history of the English language, you might support a claim by using a specific fact from a research study:
Claim: Although English is a Germanic language, it has been heavily influenced by Latin.
Supporting Evidence: "A 1973 study showed that almost 30% of English words come from Latin."
The text in bold best supports the statement that it was unusual that Ben learned how to swim.
At a time when surprisingly few people learned to swim, seven-year-old Ben taught himself, using a book called The Art of Swimming. Besides illustrating the basic strokes, it taught him a number of tricks, including how to dive, how to swim while holding one foot, and even how to clip his toenails while under water. Ben remained an avid swimmer for the rest of his life. Years later, when living in London, he exhibited these skills in the Thames River for a cheering, clapping crowd of spectators.
You can tell that swimming was not common in the eighteenth century, since "surprisingly few people" knew how to do it.
IXL O3 - O.3 Identify supporting details in informational texts