Reading Comprehension Assessment Series
GRADE 5
INFERENCE & SYNTHESIS
Reading Between the Data: Science,
Society & the Ethics of Knowledge
Webb's
Depth of Knowledge · Hess's Cognitive Rigor Matrix
Drawing
Conclusions · Making Predictions ·
Cross-Paragraph Synthesis · Dual-Passage Comparison
Tier
2 & Tier 3 Academic Vocabulary
· Frustration-Level Text
Student
Name: _________________________________
Date: ____________
Teacher:
_________________________________
Period / Class: ____________
SKILL REFERENCE: INFERENCE &
SYNTHESIS QUESTION CATEGORIES
This assessment requires you to read between
the lines—to think like a detective. The table below identifies the eight
inference and synthesis skills you will practice.
|
Inference Category |
Skill Tested |
DOK / CRM |
Detective Move |
|
Implied Main Idea |
Infer the unstated central
claim from evidence patterns |
DOK 2–3 / B-2–C-3 |
What is the author implying
but not saying directly? |
|
Logical Conclusion |
Draw a conclusion that must
follow from stated evidence |
DOK 2–3 / B-2–C-3 |
Given what I know, what must
be true? |
|
Prediction / Projection |
Predict what would likely
happen given the passage's logic |
DOK 3 / C-3 |
If this is true, what comes
next? |
|
Character / Author
Motivation |
Infer unstated reasons for
an action or rhetorical choice |
DOK 3 / C-3 |
Why did they do/say this
without stating why? |
|
Cross-Paragraph Connection |
Connect ideas stated in
different paragraphs to form a new insight |
DOK 3–4 / C-3–D-4 |
How do these two separate
facts relate to each other? |
|
Dual-Passage Synthesis |
Compare, contrast, or
synthesize two passages on related topics |
DOK 3–4 / C-3–D-4 |
What would Passage A say
about Passage B's claim? |
|
Authorial Assumption / Gap |
Identify what the author
assumes without arguing for, or what is missing |
DOK 4 / D-4 |
What has the author left
unsaid or taken for granted? |
|
Evaluative Synthesis |
Assess the strength of an
argument using evidence from across the text |
DOK 4 / D-4 |
Does the evidence actually
prove the claim? |
DIRECTIONS
Read both passages carefully. Annotate as you
go—underline evidence, circle clues, draw arrows between connected ideas across
passages. Every question requires inference: do not look only for sentences
that directly answer the question. The answer is always built from evidence,
but it is never stated outright. For written responses, construct your
reasoning step by step.
PASSAGE A: THE SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF SCIENCE — KNOWLEDGE, BIAS
& PARADIGM
[A1] The
scientific method—the systematic process by which scientists formulate
hypotheses, design controlled experiments, collect data, and draw
conclusions—is often presented to students as a neutral, objective procedure
that yields unbiased truth. This representation, while pedagogically
convenient, is incomplete. Science is conducted by human beings embedded in
particular cultures, institutions, historical moments, and social hierarchies,
and these contexts inevitably shape which questions scientists ask, which
phenomena they consider worth studying, how they interpret ambiguous data, and
whose findings receive institutional support, publication, and citation.
[A2] The
history of science offers many examples of consensus positions that were later
overturned not simply because new data emerged, but because the social
conditions under which science was conducted changed in ways that allowed
previously marginalized questions and perspectives to enter the field. The
exclusion of women from scientific institutions for most of Western history
meant that entire domains of inquiry—many related to reproduction, caregiving,
and women's health—were systematically neglected for centuries. The correction
of these gaps has required not just more data but a different distribution of
who gets to ask scientific questions.
[A3] This
does not mean that scientific findings are arbitrary or that all perspectives
are equally valid. Controlled experiments, peer review, replication, and
falsifiability remain powerful tools for distinguishing well-supported claims
from speculation. The point is more subtle: the social organization of science
influences what gets studied, which findings are taken seriously, and how
quickly errors are corrected. A science conducted by a more diverse community
of researchers, asking a wider range of questions, is likely to produce a more
complete and reliable picture of reality than one conducted by a narrow
demographic.
[A4] The
philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn argued that scientific progress does not
proceed through the gradual accumulation of facts but through periodic
"paradigm shifts"—moments when an entire framework of scientific
assumptions is replaced by a new one. Kuhn's insight implies that what
scientists take for granted as obvious—the background assumptions of normal
science—is itself historically conditioned and subject to revision. The history
of science, on this view, is not a straight march toward truth but a series of
disruptions in which entire worldviews are overturned.
PASSAGE B: HENRIETTA LACKS & THE HELA CELLS — PROGRESS,
ETHICS & EXPLOITATION
[B1] The
discovery of Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cell line represents one of the most
consequential and ethically contested events in the history of modern biology.
In 1951, cells taken from Lacks—an African American woman being treated for
cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital—were cultured without her knowledge
or consent and found to be extraordinarily durable: unlike other human cell
lines that died within days in laboratory conditions, HeLa cells survived,
reproduced, and could be grown indefinitely. They became the foundation of some
of the most important advances in twentieth-century medicine, including the
development of the polio vaccine.
[B2] The
ethical dimensions of this history are multifaceted. Lacks was never informed
that her cells had been taken, studied, or commercialized. Her family received
no compensation for the billions of dollars in medical research value generated
by HeLa cells. The fact that Lacks was a Black woman being treated at a
segregated hospital is not incidental to this history: the norms of medical
practice in 1951 allowed physicians to take tissue samples from patients
without consent, and these norms operated within a broader context of racial
inequality that made Black patients particularly vulnerable to medical
exploitation.
[B3] The
HeLa story also illustrates a profound tension within science between the
pursuit of knowledge that benefits humanity and the ethical treatment of the
individuals whose bodies and biological materials contribute to that knowledge.
The same cells that enabled the polio vaccine—which protected millions of
children from paralysis—were obtained through a process that violated the
bodily autonomy and dignity of the person from whom they came. Science and
ethics, in this case, were not aligned; they were in direct conflict.
[B4] Contemporary
debates about genetic data privacy, biobank consent, and the commercialization
of patient-derived biological materials are direct descendants of the questions
raised by the HeLa case. The scientific community has gradually developed more
robust frameworks for informed consent—but these frameworks emerged in
significant part because the violations they were designed to prevent had
already occurred. The history of medical research ethics is, in substantial
measure, a history of learning from harm.
SECTION A — SINGLE-PASSAGE
INFERENCE (2 pts each)
Questions 1–8: Draw conclusions, infer main
ideas, identify author motivations, and detect authorial assumptions from
within individual passages.
1. [Logical Conclusion] Passage
A states that the exclusion of women from scientific institutions meant that
fields related to reproduction and women's health "were systematically
neglected for centuries." What conclusion can you draw about the
relationship between who conducts research and what is considered worth
researching?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Infer
consequence of institutional exclusion of women from science.
A) The relationship is incidental;
scientific communities choose research questions based purely on what is most
technically challenging, regardless of who is conducting the research
B) The identity, experience, and
social position of those who conduct research directly shapes which questions
are considered worth asking—researchers cannot ask questions they have not
thought to ask, and questions about experiences they have not lived are
systematically less likely to occur to them as priorities
C) The exclusion of women only
affected research in biology and medicine; fields like physics and chemistry
proceeded objectively regardless of who conducted them
D) The systematic neglect of women's
health research was primarily caused by insufficient funding rather than by the
demographic composition of the scientific community
2. [Implied Main Idea] Passage
A never states its central argument in a single thesis sentence. What main idea
do all four paragraphs together imply?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Infer the
unstated main claim of Passage A.
A) The scientific method is
fundamentally flawed and should be replaced by a more subjective,
humanities-based approach to understanding the world
B) Science is a powerful but socially
embedded human practice whose reliability and completeness are shaped—not fully
determined, but meaningfully influenced—by the social conditions under which it
is conducted, including who participates and whose questions receive
institutional support
C) Thomas Kuhn's concept of paradigm
shifts proves that science never actually progresses toward truth and is
therefore no more reliable than any other form of human knowledge
D) The primary problem with
contemporary science is that it is conducted by academic institutions that
prioritize publication and citation over the actual pursuit of knowledge
3. [Authorial Assumption / Gap]
Passage A argues that "a science conducted by a more
diverse community of researchers . . . is likely to produce a more complete and
reliable picture of reality." What assumption does this argument make that
the passage does not fully defend?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Identify
an unexamined assumption in Passage A.
A) The passage assumes that diversity
is a recent political concept with no historical precedent in scientific
communities
B) The passage assumes that diverse
perspectives produce more complete knowledge—but does not fully examine the
mechanisms by which different social identities translate into different
scientific questions, or how conflicting perspectives within a diverse community
are resolved to produce reliable consensus rather than simply a multiplicity of
competing claims
C) The passage assumes that peer
review and replication are insufficient safeguards against bias without a
diverse research community
D) The passage assumes that Thomas
Kuhn was correct in his argument about paradigm shifts, without examining the
scholarly objections to Kuhn's theory
4. [Prediction / Projection]
If Kuhn's theory of paradigm shifts is correct, as Passage A
implies, what should scientists do differently in their daily research practice
compared to a scientist who believes science progresses through simple fact
accumulation?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Predict
what would change if Kuhn is right.
A) Scientists should abandon data
collection entirely and focus on developing new theoretical frameworks through
philosophical reasoning alone
B) A Kuhn-aware scientist would
remain alert to the background assumptions that their "normal
science" takes for granted—actively questioning the framework in which
they work, remaining open to anomalous findings that don't fit the current
paradigm, and recognizing that consensus positions may be historically
conditioned rather than final truths
C) Scientists should conduct research
only on questions that previous generations considered unanswerable, since
those are the areas most likely to require a paradigm shift
D) Scientists should deliberately
avoid collaborating with researchers from other disciplines or demographic
backgrounds in order to maintain the coherence of the current paradigm
5. [Character / Author Motivation]
Passage A paragraph three states: "This does not mean
that scientific findings are arbitrary or that all perspectives are equally
valid." Why does the author include this caveat at this specific point in
the argument?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Infer the
purpose of the caveat in paragraph three.
A) The author includes the caveat
because they disagree with the argument being made in paragraphs one and two
and want to retract those claims before continuing
B) The author anticipates the most
powerful objection to their argument—that critiquing the social conditions of
science implies relativism or anti-scientific skepticism—and preemptively
addresses it to prevent the reader from dismissing the rest of the argument on
this basis; the caveat is a strategic rhetorical move designed to protect the
argument from its most obvious misreading
C) The caveat is legally required in
academic writing about science to prevent the author from being accused of
promoting pseudoscience
D) The caveat signals that the
author's true position is that the scientific method is perfectly reliable and
that social factors have no meaningful effect on scientific outcomes
6. [Logical Conclusion] Passage
B states that medical norms in 1951 "allowed physicians to take tissue
samples from patients without consent." What conclusion can you draw about
the relationship between legal/professional norms and ethical standards?
DOK 2 · CRM
B-2
▸ Infer what
the HeLa case reveals about consent norms.
A) If a practice is permitted by
professional norms, it is by definition ethical, because professional standards
represent the collective moral judgment of an entire field
B) Legal and professional permission
does not automatically constitute ethical justification—norms can permit
practices that cause harm, violate dignity, or exploit power imbalances, and
the fact that a practice was professionally normal does not mean it was morally
acceptable, particularly when the norms themselves reflect broader social
inequalities
C) The norms of 1951 were ethically
acceptable given the medical knowledge available at the time; the ethical
problems only emerged later when the commercialization of HeLa cells was
recognized as unjust
D) Professional norms in 1951 were
entirely determined by racial bias and had no legitimate scientific rationale
7. [Implied Main Idea] Passage
B tells the story of Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cells. What central argument
about science does this story imply without directly stating?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Infer the
central argument of Passage B.
A) The HeLa story primarily argues
that the scientific community should provide financial compensation to the
families of patients whose biological materials contributed to commercially
valuable medical research
B) The HeLa story implies that
scientific progress and ethical practice are not automatically aligned—that the
pursuit of knowledge can produce genuine benefit for humanity while
simultaneously violating the dignity and rights of the individuals whose bodies
made that benefit possible, and that this tension is structural rather than
accidental
C) The HeLa story argues that African
American patients should have had access to better-funded hospitals with more
advanced cancer treatments in 1951
D) The primary argument of Passage B
is that informed consent requirements are now sufficient to prevent future
occurrences of the type of exploitation that occurred with Henrietta Lacks
8. [Authorial Assumption / Gap]
Passage B argues that obtaining Lacks's cells without consent
violated her "bodily autonomy and dignity." What philosophical
assumption about the nature of persons and their relationship to their own
biological material underlies this claim, and is it examined or defended
anywhere in the passage?
DOK 4 · CRM
D-4
▸ DOK 4:
Identify the deepest assumption underlying Passage B's ethics argument.
A) The passage assumes that all
biological material taken from a patient becomes the property of the hospital
or research institution; this is examined in paragraph three through legal
analysis
B) The claim assumes that persons
have a morally significant interest in controlling what happens to their own
biological material—that the body is an extension of the self, not simply a
resource—and that this interest persists even after the material has left the
body; this philosophical premise is not defended, examined, or even identified
as an assumption in the passage; it is treated as self-evident, which means the
entire ethical argument rests on a foundation the passage never examines
C) The claim assumes that violation
of bodily autonomy is the only form of medical ethics violation, which the
passage examines through the discussion of compensation and consent
D) The passage explicitly defends the
concept of bodily autonomy in paragraph two by citing the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights as a foundational document
SECTION B — CROSS-PARAGRAPH &
DUAL-PASSAGE SYNTHESIS (2 pts each)
Questions 9–14: Connect ideas across
paragraphs within and between passages. Evaluate arguments using combined
evidence.
9. [Cross-Paragraph Connection]
Passage A argues that the social conditions of science affect
whose questions get studied and whose findings receive support. Passage B
describes Henrietta Lacks as "a Black woman being treated at a segregated
hospital" and notes this context is "not incidental." What
inference can you draw about the relationship between the social conditions of
science and the HeLa case?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Connect
the social conditions argument from Passage A with the racial context of
Passage B.
A) The two passages are unrelated
because Passage A discusses academic science and Passage B discusses clinical
medicine, which operate under different institutional rules
B) The HeLa case is a concrete
historical instantiation of Passage A's abstract argument: the social
conditions of 1951 medical science—racial segregation, the exclusion of Black
patients from full moral consideration, norms that permitted taking tissue without
consent—were the specific social context that made Lacks's exploitation
possible and unremarkable within its institutional environment, demonstrating
that the social organization of medicine determined whose bodies were
considered available for research
C) The racial context of the HeLa
case is relevant only to understanding the history of civil rights, not to
understanding the philosophy of science
D) Passage A's argument implies that
if more Black scientists had been involved in 1951, Lacks's cells would not
have been taken—a claim that requires additional evidence to support
10. [Cross-Paragraph Connection]
Passage A describes Kuhn's paradigm shifts—moments when
entire scientific frameworks are replaced. Passage B describes the gradual
development of informed consent frameworks as a response to cases like Lacks's.
What inference can you draw about how ethical paradigm shifts differ from
scientific ones?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Connect
Kuhn's paradigm shifts with the development of informed consent frameworks.
A) Ethical paradigm shifts and
scientific ones are identical processes—both are triggered by anomalous data
that cannot be explained by existing frameworks
B) Scientific paradigm shifts may be
triggered by theoretical or empirical anomalies, while ethical paradigm shifts
in medicine appear to be triggered primarily by documented harms—the frameworks
designed to prevent exploitation "emerged in significant part because the
violations they were designed to prevent had already occurred," suggesting
that medical ethics advances reactively through harm rather than proactively
through theoretical innovation
C) Ethical paradigm shifts do not
actually occur; medical ethics simply accumulates more rules over time without
any fundamental change in underlying framework
D) Kuhn's paradigm shift theory
applies only to scientific knowledge and cannot be meaningfully applied to
ethical or institutional change
11. [Evaluative Synthesis] What
unified argument do Passages A and B together make that neither makes
independently? Identify the BEST characterization.
DOK 4 · CRM
D-4
▸ DOK 4:
Evaluate whether both passages together constitute a coherent argument.
A) Together they argue that science
should be conducted by government agencies rather than universities, because
institutional independence leads to the exploitation of vulnerable populations
B) Together they argue that science
is a social practice embedded in power structures—not merely in the abstract
philosophical sense described by Passage A, but in the concrete historical
sense demonstrated by Passage B—and that failures to recognize this lead to
both epistemological gaps (women's health neglected) and ethical violations
(Lacks's exploitation), with both having been driven by the same underlying
social inequalities
C) Together they argue that the
scientific method is fundamentally unreliable and should be replaced by an
ethics-based approach to knowledge production
D) Together they argue that Thomas
Kuhn's paradigm shift theory is the most accurate model of scientific progress
because the HeLa case represents a paradigm shift in medical ethics
12. [Dual-Passage Synthesis] What
can you infer about the relationship between scientific progress and social
justice from reading BOTH passages together—an inference that neither passage
explicitly states?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Identify
what the two passages together reveal that neither alone does.
A) Scientific progress and social
justice are inherently in tension and cannot be simultaneously achieved in the
same institution or time period
B) Scientific progress that ignores
or violates social justice is not only ethically compromised but also
epistemologically incomplete—because the same social conditions that enable
exploitation (exclusion, hierarchy, power imbalances) also narrow the range of
questions asked and perspectives included, meaning that a more just science
would also be a more complete science; justice and epistemological reliability,
on this reading, are not separate goals but deeply interconnected ones
C) Social justice concerns are
external to science and should be addressed by society's legal and political
systems rather than by scientific institutions themselves
D) Scientific institutions have made
sufficient progress toward social justice through informed consent frameworks
that the concerns raised by both passages are primarily historical rather than
contemporary
13. [Cross-Paragraph Connection]
Passage B states that medical ethics "is, in substantial
measure, a history of learning from harm." Passage A argues that paradigm
shifts occur when anomalies accumulate that the current framework cannot
explain. What inference can you draw about what functions as the
"anomaly" that triggers ethical paradigm shifts in medicine?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Connect
the "learning from harm" pattern in Passage B with Passage A's
argument about paradigm shifts.
A) The anomaly that triggers ethical
paradigm shifts is always a theoretical argument published in a peer-reviewed
journal that identifies a logical flaw in existing consent frameworks
B) In medical ethics, documented
cases of harm—like the HeLa case—function as the anomalies that the existing
ethical framework cannot adequately accommodate; these cases create pressure to
replace the existing framework with a new one (informed consent requirements),
just as anomalous experimental results create pressure to replace a scientific
paradigm. The "data" that drives ethical paradigm shifts is primarily
the experience of harm inflicted on patients
C) Ethical paradigm shifts are
triggered by legal rulings from courts rather than by the accumulation of
documented harms within the scientific community
D) The HeLa case was not an anomaly
because taking tissue without consent was professionally normal in 1951; the
ethical paradigm shift was driven by later commercial exploitation, not by the
original tissue collection
14. [Evaluative Synthesis] Passage
B states that "the scientific community has gradually developed more
robust frameworks for informed consent." Based on Passage A's argument
about the social conditions of science, evaluate whether improved consent
frameworks are sufficient to address the structural problems both passages
identify.
DOK 4 · CRM
D-4
▸ DOK 4:
Evaluate the claim that contemporary consent frameworks are sufficient.
A) Yes—robust informed consent
frameworks directly address all the concerns raised by both passages by
ensuring that individuals control their own biological materials
B) No—while informed consent
frameworks address individual exploitation (the specific violation Lacks
experienced), Passage A's argument implies that deeper structural issues
remain: if the distribution of who conducts science, asks scientific questions,
and receives institutional support remains socially unequal, then consent
frameworks—which operate at the level of the individual researcher-patient
interaction—cannot correct the epistemological gaps produced by structural
exclusion; the frameworks fix the symptom without addressing the cause
C) Yes—informed consent frameworks
are sufficient because Passage B explicitly states they emerged from the HeLa
case and were designed specifically to prevent its repetition
D) Informed consent frameworks cannot
be evaluated as sufficient or insufficient without empirical data about how
often they are violated in contemporary medical research
SECTION C — PREDICTION &
PROJECTION (2 pts each)
Questions 15–18: Use the logic and evidence
of both passages to predict likely outcomes, policy implications, and future
developments.
15. [Prediction / Projection]
Based on Passage A's argument, what specific change in
scientific research would MOST likely occur if scientific institutions became
significantly more demographically diverse over the next fifty years?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Predict
what would change if science were more demographically diverse.
A) Scientific research would become
more politically motivated and less objective, since diversity introduces
competing social agendas into the research process
B) The range of phenomena considered
worth studying would expand—particularly in domains related to the lived
experiences of previously excluded groups—producing research that addresses
gaps currently invisible to the existing scientific community, and potentially
correcting systematic errors produced by those gaps
C) Scientific progress would slow
because more diverse teams require more coordination and consensus-building
before reaching research conclusions
D) The peer review process would
become more rigorous because diverse reviewers would challenge established
findings more frequently
16. [Prediction / Projection]
Based on Passage B's account of the HeLa case and its claim
that medical ethics is a "history of learning from harm," what
prediction can you make about how future bioethical frameworks are most likely
to develop?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Predict
contemporary implications of the HeLa case pattern.
A) Future bioethical frameworks will
be developed proactively through philosophical and legal reasoning before harms
occur, since the scientific community has learned from past failures
B) Future bioethical frameworks will
most likely continue to be developed reactively—triggered by new documented
harms in emerging areas like genetic data privacy, AI-driven medical diagnosis,
and biobank commercialization—since the pattern Passage B identifies (learning
from harm) reflects a structural tendency of ethical frameworks to follow
rather than precede new forms of exploitation
C) Future bioethical frameworks will
be developed primarily by patients' advocacy organizations rather than by
scientific institutions or governments
D) Future bioethical frameworks will
focus exclusively on economic compensation to harmed individuals rather than on
preventing the harms themselves
17. [Prediction / Projection]
A scientist who has read both passages decides to redesign
her research team and protocols based on what she has learned. Based on the
combined evidence of both passages, what TWO changes would be MOST consistent
with addressing the problems identified?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Predict
what a Kuhn-informed scientist would do differently.
A) She would adopt a strictly
quantitative research methodology to eliminate all subjective bias, and would
avoid studying topics related to social inequality to prevent political
contamination of her findings
B) She would actively recruit
researchers from diverse demographic and disciplinary backgrounds to expand the
range of questions her team considers worth asking (addressing Passage A's
epistemological concern) AND implement rigorous informed consent protocols that
treat participants as full moral agents rather than resources (addressing
Passage B's ethical concern)
C) She would focus exclusively on
replicating previously published studies to ensure all findings are
well-established before new research is conducted
D) She would publish her research
findings in open-access journals and donate all commercial proceeds from any
patentable discoveries to the families of research participants
18. [Prediction / Projection]
What topic would a third passage MOST need to address in
order to complete the argument implied by both passages?
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
▸ Predict
what a third passage would be most needed to address.
A) A detailed scientific explanation
of how HeLa cells reproduce and why they are more durable than other human cell
lines
B) A concrete proposal for how
scientific institutions could structurally reorganize themselves to
simultaneously expand demographic diversity in research, implement robust
consent frameworks, and create mechanisms for distributing the benefits of
research to affected communities—since both passages diagnose problems but
neither offers a systematic institutional solution
C) A historical survey of other cases
in medical research history in which patients' biological materials were used
without consent
D) A philosophical analysis of Thomas
Kuhn's theory of paradigm shifts and its implications for the sociology of
science
SECTION D — SHORT ANSWER (10 pts each)
DOK 3–4
| CRM C-3 / D-4 |
Complete sentences and evidence from BOTH passages required.
19. [Cross-Passage Inference — Analysis] Passage A argues that the social
conditions of science affect what gets studied. Passage B shows that Henrietta
Lacks's race and the social conditions of 1951 medicine affected how she was
treated. Drawing on evidence from BOTH passages, construct a specific inference
about how the same social forces that shape which research questions are
pursued also shape who gets to be treated as a full moral agent within
scientific and medical institutions. Your inference must go beyond summarizing
either passage individually. (DOK 3 | CRM C-3)
DOK 3 · CRM
C-3
20. [Evaluative Synthesis] Passage
B acknowledges that HeLa cells contributed to the development of the polio
vaccine, which protected millions of children from paralysis. Yet it also
argues that obtaining Lacks's cells violated her dignity and autonomy. Based on
the evidence in BOTH passages, evaluate the following claim: "When a
scientific or medical advance produces benefits great enough to save millions
of lives, it retroactively justifies the ethical violations that made it
possible." Construct a specific argument for or against this claim using
evidence from both passages, and explain what your position implies about how
science should navigate the tension between progress and ethics. (DOK 4 | CRM
D-4)
DOK 4 · CRM
D-4
SECTION E — EXTENDED SYNTHESIS
ESSAY (20 pts)
DOK Level 4
| CRM D-4 |
Minimum 10 sentences. Draw on BOTH passages. Construct original
inferences—do not simply summarize.
21. [Full Synthesis — Extended Response] Full Synthesis: Passage A argues
that the social organization of science shapes its epistemological outputs.
Passage B demonstrates through the HeLa case that the social organization of
medicine shaped its ethical practices. In a well-organized extended response
drawing on BOTH passages: (1) construct a single unified inference about the
relationship between epistemological reliability and ethical integrity in
scientific practice—can a science be reliable without being just?; (2) identify
the specific detail from each passage that you consider the most powerful
evidence for the combined argument, and explain why each detail is necessary
rather than merely illustrative; (3) evaluate whether Thomas Kuhn's concept of
paradigm shifts—as described in Passage A—is an adequate framework for
understanding the ethical transformation described in Passage B, or whether
ethical change requires a different model; and (4) construct your own original
inference, not stated by either passage, about what the HeLa case reveals about
the nature of scientific institutions as social structures with their own
embedded values and hierarchies.
DOK 4 · CRM
D-4
SECTION F — DETECTIVE JOURNAL (4 pts each)
DOK 2–3
| CRM B-2 / C-3 | The
detective journal trains the habit of inference. For each prompt, write 2–4
sentences explaining your reasoning. Show your "clues → conclusion"
thinking.
Clue File
1: Passage A states that science's
reliability is shaped by who gets to ask the questions. List two specific
scientific research areas today where the demographic composition of the
research community might still be producing systematic gaps in knowledge.
Clue File
2: Passage B states that Henrietta
Lacks's family received no compensation from the billions generated by HeLa
cells. What inference can you draw about the relationship between who benefits
from scientific progress and who contributes to it?
Clue File
3: Both passages describe situations
where harm was committed not out of individual malice but through the normal
operation of institutional systems. What inference can you draw about the
relationship between individual intentions and institutional outcomes?
ASSESSMENT SCORING GUIDE
|
Section |
Possible |
Earned |
DOK |
CRM Cell |
|
Sec A: Single-Passage
Inference MC (×8) |
16 |
___ |
2–4 |
B-2 / C-3 / D-4 |
|
Sec B: Cross-Paragraph
Synthesis MC (×6) |
12 |
___ |
3–4 |
C-3 / D-4 |
|
Sec C: Dual-Passage
Synthesis MC (×6) |
12 |
___ |
3–4 |
C-3 / D-4 |
|
Sec D: Short Answer (×2) |
20 |
___ |
3–4 |
C-3 / D-4 |
|
Sec E: Extended Synthesis
Essay |
20 |
___ |
4 |
D-4 |
|
Sec F: Prediction &
Projection (×4) |
8 |
___ |
3 |
C-3 |
|
Sec G: Detective Journal
(open) |
12 |
___ |
2–3 |
B-2 / C-3 |
|
TOTAL |
100 |
___ |
— |
— |
Grade 3
— Ocean Plastics / The Plastisphere
Section A — Single-Passage
Inference MC (Q1–8):
Q1: B
Q2: B
Q3: B
Q4: B
Q5: B
Q6: B
Q7: B
Q8: B
Section B — Cross-Paragraph
& Dual-Passage Synthesis MC (Q9–14):
Q9: B
Q10: B
Q11: B
Q12: B
Q13: B
Q14: B
Section C — Prediction &
Projection MC (Q15–18):
Q15: B
Q16: B
Q17: B
Q18: B
Sections D, E,
F, G: Apply DOK/CRM open-response rubric below.
Grade 4
— Mongol Empire / Pax Mongolica
Section A — Single-Passage
Inference MC (Q1–8):
Q1: B
Q2: B
Q3: B
Q4: B
Q5: B
Q6: B
Q7: B
Q8: B
Section B — Cross-Paragraph
& Dual-Passage Synthesis MC (Q9–14):
Q9: B
Q10: B
Q11: B
Q12: B
Q13: B
Q14: B
Section C — Prediction &
Projection MC (Q15–18):
Q15: B
Q16: B
Q17: B
Q18: B
Sections D, E,
F, G: Apply DOK/CRM open-response rubric below.
Grade 5
— Social Conditions of Science / HeLa Cells
Section A — Single-Passage
Inference MC (Q1–8):
Q1: B
Q2: B
Q3: B
Q4: B
Q5: B
Q6: B
Q7: B
Q8: B
Section B — Cross-Paragraph
& Dual-Passage Synthesis MC (Q9–14):
Q9: B
Q10: B
Q11: B
Q12: B
Q13: B
Q14: B
Section C — Prediction &
Projection MC (Q15–18):
Q15: B
Q16: B
Q17: B
Q18: B
Sections D, E,
F, G: Apply DOK/CRM open-response rubric below.
Grade 6
— Architecture of Tragedy / Antigone
Section A — Single-Passage
Inference MC (Q1–8):
Q1: B
Q2: B
Q3: B
Q4: B
Q5: B
Q6: B
Q7: B
Q8: B
Section B — Cross-Paragraph
& Dual-Passage Synthesis MC (Q9–14):
Q9: B
Q10: B
Q11: B
Q12: B
Q13: B
Q14: B
Section C — Prediction &
Projection MC (Q15–18):
Q15: B
Q16: B
Q17: B
Q18: B
Sections D, E,
F, G: Apply DOK/CRM open-response rubric below.
Grade 7
— Sovereignty & R2P / Syria Trilemma
Section A — Single-Passage
Inference MC (Q1–8):
Q1: B
Q2: B
Q3: B
Q4: B
Q5: B
Q6: B
Q7: B
Q8: B
Section B — Cross-Paragraph
& Dual-Passage Synthesis MC (Q9–14):
Q9: B
Q10: B
Q11: B
Q12: B
Q13: B
Q14: B
Section C — Prediction &
Projection MC (Q15–18):
Q15: B
Q16: B
Q17: B
Q18: B
Sections D, E,
F, G: Apply DOK/CRM open-response rubric below.
Grade 8
— Economic Paradigms / 2008 Crisis
Section A — Single-Passage
Inference MC (Q1–8):
Q1: B
Q2: B
Q3: B
Q4: B
Q5: B
Q6: B
Q7: B
Q8: B
Section B — Cross-Paragraph
& Dual-Passage Synthesis MC (Q9–14):
Q9: B
Q10: B
Q11: B
Q12: B
Q13: B
Q14: B
Section C — Prediction &
Projection MC (Q15–18):
Q15: B
Q16: B
Q17: B
Q18: B
Sections D, E,
F, G: Apply DOK/CRM open-response rubric below.
DOK / CRM Inference &
Synthesis Rubric
|
Score |
DOK |
Inference Quality |
Evidence Use |
Synthesis & Register |
|
18–20 |
4 |
Original insight; goes
beyond both passages; identifies unstated implications |
Cites specific evidence from
both passages; no unsupported claims |
Tier 3 vocabulary; formal
register; cross-passage synthesis |
|
14–17 |
3 |
Strong inference; connects
passages; mostly beyond summary |
Mostly accurate citations;
strong use of at least one passage |
Tier 2; generally formal;
partial cross-passage work |
|
9–13 |
2 |
Some inference; partially
beyond summary; may conflate with stated content |
General references; may
paraphrase rather than cite |
Mixed register; one passage
only or surface synthesis |
|
0–8 |
1 |
Restates passage content; no
genuine inference |
Vague or absent evidence |
Informal language; no
cross-passage engagement |
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