StudyBrixFree worksheets, study guides and courses

Reading & writing · Grades 7–10

The empty folder

An original passage with comprehension questions and a teacher key.

Make a worksheet

The empty folder

A local archive contained detailed records from the town's large workshops but almost none from people who worked at home. A student initially wrote that home-based work had been rare. The archivist explained that workshops often had offices that stored documents, while private papers were more easily scattered or discarded. The empty folder showed a gap in preserved evidence, not a reliable count of workers. The student looked for indirect traces in household accounts and advertisements, keeping a note of what each source could and could not reveal.

Try it yourself

  1. What mistaken conclusion did the student first draw?

    1. More sources might help.
    2. Home-based work had been rare.
    3. The archive had gaps.
    4. Workshop records existed.

  2. Why might workshop records survive more often?

  3. What did the empty folder directly show?

    1. the wages of all residents
    2. proof that nobody worked at home
    3. a gap in preserved evidence
    4. the exact number of home workers

  4. Name two kinds of indirect evidence the student investigated.

  5. Why should the limitations of each new source be recorded?

  1. Which theme best fits the passage?

    1. Surviving records may not represent all past activity equally.
    2. Every empty folder proves an event never occurred.
    3. Official records answer everything.
    4. Advertisements have no possible historical value.

Answers and marking notes

Answers and marking notes
  1. Home-based work had been rare.

    The absence of records was treated as evidence of absence.

  2. Offices stored documents, while private papers could be scattered or discarded.

    Use the preservation difference stated in the passage.

  3. a gap in preserved evidence

    It describes the archive, not the whole historical population.

  4. Household accounts and advertisements.

    Credit both sources named in the passage.

  5. Indirect evidence also has selective coverage and cannot automatically answer every question.

    Credit source-specific interpretation.

  6. Surviving records may not represent all past activity equally.

    The story emphasizes preservation bias and cautious inference.

Preview material · independent educational review required. Grade bands are approximate, not official curriculum alignment.