Critical Reading Form 1

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/24/nyregion/a-hated-phrase-that-subway-riders-are-hearingmore-sick-passenger.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0
Step #1 - Paraphrase
This New York Times article was about a new epidemic in the subway systems. Sick
passengers are slowing down the trains, delaying others, and making fellow passengers very
aggravated.
Step #2: Explicating
1. The main points of the article is to inform readers of what is causing many of the
hold up, and that the authorities do their best to move it along quickly but they have a
protocol they have to follow.
2. Many of the subway riders have been annoyed with the delays and since they
have heard Sick Passenger as a reason why the trains have been delayed, people
were beginning to question if that was really the case. This is a real world thing, and
passengers have been vocalizing their concerns via twitter to get more attention directed
at the problem to try to fix the situation.
3. Since we do not have subways in Granite Bay and many of us have never ridden
the bus here, we dont understand how crucial it is for it to run on time. But think about
when you carpool to school and the people who are driving that day overslept and are
running twenty minutes late and because of that you will now be late to school. You are
only 14 years old so you cant drive yourself, your parents are already at work so you
have no other way to school besides waiting or walking and walking would take just as
long if not longer. But you needed to get to school on time because you have a test and
you wanted to ask the teacher some questions. That is what it is like for the business
people who are delayed on the subways but in the form of teenagers.
Step #3: Analyzing the Logic of What we are Reading
One important skill for understanding an essay, article or chapter is through the analysis of the
parts of the authors reasoning. Once you have done this, you can then evaluate the authors
reasoning using intellectual standards. Here is a template to follow.
1. The main purpose of this article is to get the word out about sick passengers
and for people to be made aware of the situation that authorities have to deal with. Also,
the author was subtly hinting that people need to be more sensitive to the situation
because it could just as easily happen to them and they would want respect if it did.
2. The author is answering question of Is there really such a thing as a sick
passenger on the subway system?
3. With so many people riding the trains, around 6 million riders a day, it is obvious
that there will be problems. And one that does cause an astonishing amount of around
1,800 a month are sick passengers.
4. The conclusion that this author came to is that people are going to continue to
get sick and that as long as people are riding on the trains, the two will overlap. He

decided that people need to understand that fact but also there needs to be a more
effective way to handle the circumstance when it arises.
5. The important things to note from the article are: people get sick anywhere, and
when it happens on the subway the workers have to follow protocol, also to be respectful
and try to have sympathy. There are rules that the subway workers need to execute and
it is necessary that it gets done otherwise they could be sued. Also many people who are
not the victims tend to be rude and annoyed at the fact that they are delayed, but they
should try to be nice and handle the delay with class.
6. The author skips over the part that many New Yorkers do not have cars and the
subway is their main mode of transportation.
7. A)If we take what the author said seriously, then when passengers here that
there will be a delay due to a sick passenger, then people should remain calm and
understand that someone is going through something that they can not control. B) If
people do not follow what the author is saying then I think that there will be no serious
implications, but people will still be annoyed and it will harder for people to accept the
delays.
8. The main point of view in this article is from a third party but who has
experienced the hardship of being stuck in a delay.

Critical Reading Form 2

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2015/11/05/workers-discovery-19th-century-burial-vault-undernew-york-city-park.html
Step #1 - Paraphrase
There were skeletons found beneath a park in NYC from about 200 years ago.
Step #2: Explicating
4. From two centuries ago, there were skeletons found under a park.
5. This means that the project that was originally started the findings, fixing water
mains will continue south of the burial site.
6. An example of this in the real world is when someone is trying to do their job, and
something gets in the way, they must make the best out of the situation to make it work.
7. An analogy to this is in Crime TV shows that so many people watch, they are
always finding bodies in unexpected places and then having to solve where they came
from and how they got there.
Step #3: Analyzing the Logic of What we are Reading
9. The purpose of this article is to notify readers of the findings of NYC maintenance
workers.

10. The author is addressing the question that many people have, what has caused
all of the commotion in Washington Square Park?
11. So far, they have found a dozen people in the six feet deep, fifteen feet wide and
twenty feet long box. All of this was found by city workers who were just going to work on
some pipes.
12. The conclusion that the writer comes to is that this park is also an ancient burial
site home to about 20,000 people.
13. It is very important to understand that this happened over a century ago, and
people are not being buried there anymore. But also that it is being taken care of by
officials and anthropologists.
14. Something that is not mentioned very much, are the workers who found the
bodies. I just wonder if there was already some news about it, because I personally feel
like that would be a very large moment in my life to find a dozen skeletons when I was at
work and I just wonder how they are doing and if they are the ones who went back to
finish the job.
15. A) The author wants people to be aware of what is happening in their city, and to
be able to make reasonable decisions. B) If people do not take this article seriously, I do
not think anything bad will happen, however I do believe that it is extremely important to
know about the place that you live, especially for the people that literally live right there.
16. The point of view here is a reporter finding interesting facts to share online and
possibly on print. He was doing his job but looking also at the jon that the workers did
and also the burial site separately.

Critical Reading Form 3

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/09/21/uptick-in-murder-rate-has-new-yorkersworried-expert-blames-change-in-police-tactics-and-new-drug-epidemic/72570068/

Step #1 - Paraphrase
This article addresses violence, mostly focusing on shootings, in New York City and how it the
numbers began to drop and then now the numbers are rising again slightly. They are a few
murders ahead of where they were this time last year and they are expecting to rise some more.
Step #2: Explicating
8. The main point of this article to spread awareness about shootings and what the
cops are doing to try to stop them.
9. In other words this is talking about the violence in the city and how the police has
responded.

10. A real world example is when guns are used by people to be violent. It can
happen not only in the city but also in other smaller towns, such as Colorado Springs just
last week.
11. An analogy to this article is the up rising use of video games.
Step #3: Analyzing the Logic of What we are Reading
17. ) The purpose of this is to inform the public about their surroundings and the
measures the police are taking to take care of it.
18. The author is trying to get people to know what is going on and also tell them
about some recent murders.
19. . The most important information in this was when it talked about the recent
murders and how the police responded.
20. The main conclusions of the article is that the police are changing their ways, and
in some cases it is promoting more violence rather than stopping some.
21. . To understand this article, you need to know that violence is happening in New
York City and even though it is more advertised now, it is not happening at too much of a
higher rate. The author is trying to get to point across that we can do something to stop
it, or help to slow down the violence.
22. The author is calling the readers to action to do something to stop crime. If we fail
to do something, then everyone is going to be murdered. Or more people would get hurt.
23. The main point of view is that people are turning more violent but that the police
are doing all that they can do to prevent it.