Examen de práctica mixto de Lenguaje (RLA) 5

MEMORANDUM

To: All Riverside Community Health Center Staff
From: Denise Alvarez, Facilities Manager
Date: April 7
Subject: Parking lot repaving

(1) Starting Monday, April 21, a paving crew will resurface the east parking lot. The work is expected to take four days, weather permitting. During that time, the east lot will be closed to all vehicles, including delivery trucks.

(2) We know that parking is already tight, so we have arranged several options. Staff members may park in the church lot on Elm Street, which is about two blocks away. A shuttle van will run between the church lot and our front entrance every fifteen minutes from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The schedule for the shuttle runs are posted on the break-room bulletin board and on the staff website.

(3) The repaving will not effect patient appointments. Patients will continue to use the west lot, which has 40 spaces and four accessible spots near the main door. To keep those spaces open for patients, we ask all employees, including managers and part-time staff, to use the church lot or the shuttle during the project.

(4) Last spring, the same crew repaired the north lot ahead of schedule, and the results have held up well through the winter. We expect a similar outcome this time. The new surface will have brighter lines, better drainage, and two additional accessible parking spaces.

(5) If you have a question about your shift, a special parking need, or a delivery that cannot be moved, please contact Marcus Bell or I before Friday, April 18. Marcus can be reached at extension 214, and I can be reached at extension 230. We will do our best to find a solution for everyone.

(6) Thank you for your patience. A few days of inconvenience will give us a safer, cleaner lot for years to come.

Willow Creek Neighborhood Association

Dear Neighbors,

(1) Our annual block party will take place on Saturday, August 16 2027, on Willow Creek Drive between Oak Lane and Cedar Avenue. The street will be closed to traffic from noon until 9:00 p.m. so that families can enjoy the afternoon safely. Please move any cars parked on that block by 11:00 a.m.

(2) This year's party includes several new activities. A local bakery will sell pies and cookies, and the fire department will bring a truck for children to explore. The childrens' games will be set up in the empty lot next to the community garden. In the evening, a band from Jefferson High School will play on a small stage near the corner.

(3) We are also pleased to announce that the Mayor will stop by at 4:00 p.m. to thank volunteers. Our block party has grown every year since it began, and the city has noticed how much it brings neighbors together.

(4) Ray Dunn, our treasurer will collect a five-dollar donation from each household at the welcome table. Every dollar goes toward next year's party and a new fence for the community garden. No one will be turned away for being unable to pay.

(5) Many neighbors have asked whether the party will be canceled if it rains? If storms are forecast, we will move the food and music into the fellowship hall at Grace Church, which has offered its space free of charge. We will post any change on the bulletin board at the corner store by Friday evening.

(6) Volunteers are still needed for setup, cleanup, and the welcome table. To sign up, call Linda Park at 555-0148 or reply to this letter by August 1. We hope to see you there!

Sincerely, The Willow Creek Neighborhood Association Board

(1) Nearly every living thing runs on an internal schedule. In humans, this schedule is called the circadian rhythm, a cycle of roughly twenty-four hours that tells the body when to feel alert, when to feel hungry and when to sleep. You cannot see it, but it shapes your day as surely as a wall clock does.

(2) Light is the main signal that keeps this inner clock on time. When morning light reaches the eyes, the brain reads it as a sign that the day has begun. As light fades in the evening, the body starts releasing melatonin, a hormone that makes people feel sleepy. Body temperature, appetite and even reaction speed rise and fall along with this daily pattern.

(3) For the millions of people who work at night, this system creates a problem. A night nurse, a warehouse loader or a long-haul trucker is asking the body to be alert at the very hours it is built to rest, and to sleep when it is built to be awake. Daytime sleep is often shorter and lighter than nighttime sleep. Sunlight leaks around curtains, traffic and lawnmowers make noise, and family life goes on in the next room.

(4) Over months and years, this mismatch can add up. Researchers have linked long-term night work with higher rates of stomach problems, weight gain and low mood. The most immediate danger, however, may be the drive home. After a full night on the job, a worker's reaction time can be slower than usual, and many drowsy drivers do not realize how tired they are until they drift across a lane.

(5) Night workers cannot change their biology, but they can give their inner clock better signals. Sleep experts suggest blackout curtains, earplugs or a fan, and a cool, dark bedroom. Wearing sunglasses on the morning drive home helps, because bright morning light tells the brain that it is time to wake up. Keeping the same sleep times on workdays and days off, when possible, also helps, and so does a short nap before a shift starts.

(6) Employers have a part to play as well. Workers adjust more easily when schedules are posted well in advance and when rotating shifts move forward, from days to evenings to nights, rather than backward. Bright lighting during the shift, real break times and a quiet place to rest can also make a difference.

(7) The body clock cannot simply be switched off. But when workers and employers understand how it works, they can stop fighting it at every turn and start working with it instead.

(1) To: All field staff, Brightwater Home Health
From: Denise Okafor, Finance Manager
Date: April 8
Subject: New process for mileage reimbursement starting May 1

Beginning May 1, Brightwater will use a new process for reimbursing the miles you drive between patient visits. This memo explains what is changing, what is staying the same and how to get help.

(2) Over the past year, the paper mileage log has caused real headaches. Logs were lost between offices, handwriting was sometimes hard to read, and each form had to be checked by hand. On average, staff waited about three weeks to be paid back. Several of you told us that this delay made it hard to cover gas costs, especially at the end of the month.

(3) Under the new process, you will record trips in the RouteLog app on your phone. The app uses your location to measure the distance between visits, so there is nothing to add up. Submit your trips by noon each Monday. Trips submitted on time will be paid in your next paycheck instead of weeks later.

(4) Some things are not changing. The reimbursement rate per mile stays the same. As before, the drive from your home to your first visit of the day and from your last visit back home is treated as a normal commute and is not reimbursed. Personal stops during the day should still be left off your record.

(5) We know that not everyone has a smartphone or wants to use one for work. Staff in that situation may borrow a company tablet from their branch office. We will also hold two paid training sessions, on April 22 at 8:00 a.m. and April 24 at 4:00 p.m., in the main conference room. Each session lasts about forty-five minutes.

(6) Paper logs will be accepted for trips through April 30 only. If you have questions, contact the finance office at extension 214. Thank you for your patience while we make this process faster and easier for everyone.

(1) The radio had sat on Grandma Inez's kitchen windowsill for as long as Teo could remember: a squat, cream-colored box with one cracked knob and a dial that glowed amber when it warmed up. It was older than his mother. It hummed before it spoke. Every morning of every summer he had spent in that house, it had filled the kitchen with baseball scores, weather reports and songs in two languages while Grandma Inez stirred oatmeal and sang along, always a little off-key and never the least bit embarrassed.

(2) Now Grandma Inez had been gone for three weeks, and Teo's mother had asked him to help clear out the house. He had been doing fine. He had boxed up the dishes and the towels and the stacks of church bulletins without stopping. He had carried bags to the curb, joked with his cousin about the forty-year-old jar of buttons and argued cheerfully over who would get the good frying pan.

(3) Then he reached the windowsill.

(4) He picked up the radio, meaning to put it in the box marked Donate. It was heavier than he expected, the way her hands had been heavier than he expected when she squeezed his on the last afternoon in the hospital. The cord dangled. The cracked knob stared up at him like a small, patient eye. The kitchen, stripped of its curtains and calendars, was suddenly a cave of echoes, and every sound he made bounced back at him from the bare walls.

(5) He did not know how long he stood there. Long enough that his cousin called his name twice from the hallway.

(6) Without quite deciding to, Teo plugged the radio in. It hummed — that same low, warming hum — and the amber dial flickered, caught and glowed. Static, then a voice, then music: a trumpet, a bright, brassy song he half recognized. It was one she used to sing. He laughed out loud, a laugh that surprised him, and then he was crying and laughing at the same time, and he did not try to stop either one.

(7) His mother found him like that, standing in the empty kitchen with the radio in his arms. She did not say anything. She just came and stood beside him and, after a moment, began to sing along, a little off-key.

(8) The radio did not go in the Donate box. It sits on Teo's own kitchen windowsill now. He turns it on every morning, and he sings along, never the least bit embarrassed.

Lakeshore Distribution Employee Handbook, Section 7: Reporting a Workplace Injury

(1) Every year, a small number of Lakeshore employees are hurt on the job. Most injuries are minor, such as cuts, strains, or bruises. However, even a minor injury must be reported. A sore back that seems unimportant on Monday can become a serious problem by Friday, and an unreported injury may not be covered by workers' compensation insurance.

Why reporting matters

(2) Workers' compensation pays for medical care and part of your lost wages if you are hurt at work. To receive these benefits, the injury must be documented quickly. Reports also help the Safety Committee find hazards, such as a slippery loading dock or a broken pallet jack, and fix them before someone else is hurt.

What to do if you are injured

(3) Follow these steps in order:

1. Get first aid or medical help right away. In an emergency, call 911 first.
2. Tell your supervisor as soon as possible, and no later than the end of your shift.
3. Fill out an Injury Report Form with your supervisor. Forms are in the break room and on the employee portal.
4. If you see a doctor, give Human Resources (HR) a copy of any work restrictions the doctor writes.

(4) Do not wait to see whether the pain goes away. Report it even if you are not sure the injury happened at work. HR will help sort out the details.

What happens next

(5) Within two business days, HR will contact you to explain your benefits. A member of the Safety Committee will also look at the place where the injury happened. The goal of this review is to prevent future injuries, not to blame anyone.

Your rights

(6) Lakeshore will never punish an employee for reporting an injury in good faith. Any supervisor who discourages an employee from reporting an injury will face discipline. If you have questions or concerns, contact HR at extension 2200.

A post on the website of a member of the Lakeport City Council, a fictional city, followed by a graph from the Lakeport Traffic Department

(1) One year ago, Lakeport installed speed cameras at 10 of its most dangerous intersections. I fought hard for those cameras, and now the first full year of results is in.

(2) Crashes at camera intersections have dropped by half. And the effect keeps growing: every quarter since the cameras went up has been safer than the one before.

(3) The cameras also pay for themselves. In their first year, they brought in $1.3 million in fines, while installing and running them cost $900,000. Each camera photographs the license plate of any car going more than 10 miles per hour over the speed limit, and the owner receives a $75 ticket by mail. Some residents have called the cameras a money grab, but every extra dollar goes into the city's road safety fund.

(4) The cameras weren't the only change last year. The city also repaved Harbor Road, added new crosswalk signals near three schools, and ran a "Slow Down, Lakeport" ad campaign on buses and billboards across the whole city. Together, these steps show what a city can do when it takes safety seriously.

(5) Parents tell me they now feel comfortable letting their children walk to school. One mother on Bay Street told me her son now walks the six blocks to Jefferson Elementary on his own. That is what success looks like.

(6) Next month, I will ask the council to fund cameras at 20 more intersections. Every month we wait is another month of preventable crashes. I hope you will join me in supporting this plan.

The comparison intersections are 10 Lakeport intersections with similar traffic that did not get cameras. Source: Lakeport Traffic Department crash reports (fictional data).

Two texts about the curbside recycling program in Bayview, a fictional city, followed by a graph of city data that both authors refer to

Text 1

From a statement by Bayview's director of sustainability

(1) In 2020, Bayview switched to single-bin recycling. Instead of sorting paper, plastic, glass, and metal into separate containers, residents now put all recyclables into one blue cart. The results have been remarkable. Residents have recycled more than ever: the tonnage we collect rose 55 percent from 2019 to 2024.

(2) Single-bin recycling works because it is easy. When cities make recycling harder, people recycle less. Before the switch, many residents told us that sorting was confusing and that their small kitchens had no room for four containers.

(3) We know the program is not perfect. Contamination, meaning trash or the wrong materials mixed into the blue cart, has risen, and contaminated material must be sent to the landfill. This year we will launch a campaign to teach residents what belongs in the cart, and our crews will tag carts that contain trash.

(4) Bayview residents have shown that they want to recycle. Our job is to make it easy for them to do it right.

Text 2

From a column in the Bayview Courier by a retired manager of the city's recycling plant

(5) Stand at the end of the sorting line at the Bayview recycling plant, as I did for twenty years, and you will see the truth about single-bin recycling: greasy pizza boxes, garden hoses, plastic bags wrapped around the machines, and broken glass ground into every bale of paper.

(6) The city likes to talk about how much it collects. But collecting is not recycling. According to the city's own figures, the share of collected material that is too contaminated to recycle has more than doubled, from 12 percent in 2019 to 26 percent in 2024. More than a quarter of what residents put in their blue carts now goes to the landfill anyway.

(7) Contamination is also expensive. The city pays a contractor $85 a ton to sort out and haul away contaminated material. Mixed loads also lower the price that buyers pay for our paper and plastic.

(8) The city says an education campaign will fix the problem. Maybe. But the simplest fix is the one that worked for years: give residents separate bins again. When people sort at home, far less trash ends up in the recycling.

Source: Bayview Department of Public Works (fictional data).

Text 1 — Eighteen Saves Lives (testimony to the state legislature by Alan Brooks, fictional director of the State Office of Traffic Safety)

(1) Car crashes are one of the leading causes of death for American teenagers. In our state last year, drivers aged 16 and 17 made up 4 percent of licensed drivers but were involved in 11 percent of fatal crashes, according to our office's crash records.

(2) Research helps explain why. The parts of the brain that control impulses and judge risk keep developing into a person's mid-twenties. Experience matters too: a driver's crash risk is highest in the first months after getting a license. Delaying licenses until 18 means new drivers begin that dangerous period with more maturity.

(3) We have already seen what stronger rules can do. When our state added nighttime driving limits for 16-year-olds in 2015, fatal crashes involving those drivers fell by 22 percent over the next five years, while fatal crashes among other age groups stayed roughly level.

(4) I understand that many families, especially in rural areas, depend on teen drivers. That is why this proposal includes a hardship permit for 16- and 17-year-olds who must drive to a job or to school and have no other transportation. Raising the age with this exception would save lives without stranding families.

Text 2 — Don't Punish Responsible Teens (letter to the editor from Walt Hendricks, the fictional owner of a rural farm supply store)

(5) I run a farm supply store, and half of my weekend staff are 16 or 17 years old. If the state raises the driving age, I will lose my best workers, and those young people will lose their paychecks.

(6) My own son started driving at 16 and has never had so much as a parking ticket. Most teens I know are careful drivers. The problem is a few reckless kids, not an entire age group.

(7) And where will this end? If lawmakers raise the age to 18 today, they will raise it to 21 next year, and soon nobody under 25 will be allowed behind the wheel.

(8) Instead of taking away licenses, the state should require more hours of driver's education. Teens who practice more become better drivers. Lawmakers should trust parents to decide when their children are ready.

Text 1 — Let the Sun Help Pay Our Bills (memo from Priya Raman, fictional chair of the Carlow Energy Committee)

(1) Carlow spends about 210,000 dollars a year on electricity for its town hall, library, fire station and public works garage. Installing solar panels on these roofs would cut that bill sharply.

(2) Last year, the committee hired an independent engineering firm to study the four roofs. The firm estimated that panels would supply about 45 percent of the buildings' electricity, saving roughly 95,000 dollars a year. After a federal tax credit for public entities, the system would cost about 760,000 dollars, so it would pay for itself in about eight years. Panels typically last 25 years or more.

(3) Solar would also protect the town from rising rates. Our utility has raised commercial electricity rates three times in the past six years.

(4) Finally, solar panels would show residents that town leaders take the future seriously. Every forward-thinking community is going solar, and Carlow should not be left behind.

Text 2 — Look Before We Leap onto the Roof (letter from Walt Kessler, fictional member of the Carlow Finance Board)

(5) Solar power is a fine idea in general, but this plan has holes.

(6) First, the library and town hall roofs are 24 years old. Our own building inspector's report from March says both will need replacement within five years. Installing panels now means paying to remove and reinstall them when the roofs are replaced, a cost the engineering study does not include.

(7) Second, savings can fall short. Nearby Dunmore installed panels in 2018, and its town manager told our board that the system has produced about 20 percent less power than predicted, partly because of shade from trees that grew taller.

(8) Third, 760,000 dollars is a large amount for a town our size. That money could repair the public works garage, which the inspector also flagged.

(9) I am not against solar. I am asking the town to fix the roofs first, then install panels on a sound foundation.

A student wrote this first draft in response to the two texts about ending overdue fines at the Millbrook Public Library. The draft needs revision.

(1) Should libraries charge fines for late books? This question has caused debate in Millbrook. The library director, Rosa Delgado, wants to end fines, but council member Gary Ott wants to keep them. In this essay I will talk about both texts.

(2) Delgado gives specific numbers to back up her claim. She reports that about 6,200 residents have blocked cards, mostly in the two lowest-income neighborhoods. She also points out that fines brought in about 38,000 dollars, less than 1 percent of the library's budget. My cousin once had her library card blocked, and she was really annoyed. These figures show that fines shut out thousands of people while raising very little money.

(3) After Lakeport dropped fines in 2019, 95 percent of items were still returned within a month of the due date. More than 2,000 residents with blocked cards came back to the library. This answers the worry that people will stop returning books. Delgado adds that the library would still bill patrons for books that are never returned.

(4) Lakeport's results suggest the opposite. Ott's argument is weaker. He says fines teach responsibility, but his only support is a memory of paying a quarter as a boy. For example, he claims that without fines "the library will become a free-for-all," yet he offers no evidence for this prediction.

(5) To be fair, Ott makes one reasonable point. The city budget is tight. Therefore, the fine money is small compared with the staff time that fines require, as Delgado explains. Ott's amnesty day would help a little, but it would leave thousands of cards blocked for the rest of the year.

(6) Libraries are important. Everyone should read more books.

A student wrote this first draft in response to the two texts about protected bike lanes on Riverton's Main Street. The draft needs revision.

(1) Riverton is arguing about bike lanes. Elena Vasquez, a city transportation planner, supports adding protected lanes to Main Street. Hal Dempsey, who owns a hardware store, opposes the plan because it would remove parking. Bike lanes are a topic many people have opinions about.

(2) Vasquez begins with local facts. She cites police crash reports showing 47 crashes involving cyclists or pedestrians on the downtown stretch, including two deaths. She then points to Lakeside, where a state study found that injury crashes fell by 35 percent after protected lanes were added. I rode my bike in Lakeside once, and the lanes were painted green. A state study covering three years is far more reliable than a guess, so her safety claim is strongly supported.

(3) Vasquez notes that the plan removes 40 parking spaces. The city garage one block away is only 55 percent full on average. A survey of 300 shoppers found that 31 percent would bike downtown more often if they felt safe.

(4) Dempsey relies on feelings and secondhand stories. He says one shop owner told him she "would close her shop," but he gives no numbers. As a result, he never explains why a half-empty garage one block away would not work for his customers. He also claims that most people "always will" drive, a prediction with no evidence behind it.

(5) Dempsey does raise one fair point. Customers who buy heavy items need somewhere to load them. Similarly, this problem could be solved with a few loading zones; it is not a reason to reject a plan that would prevent crashes.

(6) In conclusion, bike lanes have good and bad sides. Riverton should think about it.

A student wrote this first draft in response to the two texts about a teen curfew in Easton. The draft has errors in style, grammar and sentence structure.

(1) Easton's police chief wants a curfew for teens under 17, but the director of the town's youth center thinks a curfew would target the wrong hours. Both writers want young people to be safe, yet they disagree about how to protect them. Reyes's argument is way more convincing than Donnelly's.

(2) Donnelly's main statistic is a 30 percent rise in juvenile arrests. Which sounds serious. However, the actual numbers were only 20 and 26. Reyes points out that six extra arrests in a town of 18,000 people could just be a normal change, this weakens Donnelly's whole case.

(3) The data on timing are even more important. According to police records, 57 percent of juvenile incidents happens between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on school days. Only 9 percent happened during curfew hours. When Reyes compared these numbers with Donnelly's plan, she showed that it would miss most of the problem. In other words, the curfew would cover the hours when the fewest problems occur.

(4) Donnelly also leans on stuff like a mayor's comment that the streets "felt calmer". Feelings are not evidence. Reyes, in contrast, relies on research. Looking at a dozen studies, no consistent drop in juvenile crime was found.

(5) Each of the parents at Donnelly's meeting have a real concern, and I get it. But a curfew isn't the answer. Reyes reports that a spring pilot program at her center drew an average of 65 teens each afternoon. Keeping the youth center open later are a more practical solution.