Pets in Class: A Great Idea Studies have shown that playing with animals can help calm children’s nervousness. Being less nervous improves a child’s health. Children with disabilities and health problems benefit most from being around animals. Being around animals also helps children learn better. A study by the University of California supports this idea. In the study, third graders read to a dog for 10–15 minutes once a week for 10 weeks. Their reading skills improved greatly. Bringing pets to class is definitely a great idea that will help all kids.

Pets in Class: Leave Them at Home
Many pet owners and animal lovers say that having pets in school is a good idea. They claim that pets help calm children’s nervousness. It’s true that many studies have shown this benefit of pets. But these studies ignore the fact that some students may have allergies. For these children, their health problems may get worse around animals. Also, pets such as dogs and cats may give kids bites and scratches. People who support bringing pets to school say that pets will improve kids’ reading skills. But studies only show the benefits of reading with a specially trained reading dog. That’s not the same as bringing an untrained family pet to school. Pets in school will only disturb the class and increase the teacher’s work. They will end up distracting kids and decreasing their learning.

3
Select the correct answer.
How are the two arguments made in the passages different?
A.
The first passage claims that pets in class will help children with health problems; the second passage says pets will make some health problems worse.
B.
The first passage claims that students’ nervousness will decrease around pets; the second says that students’ nervousness will increase around pets.
C.
The first passage claims that pets will make the teacher’s work easier by keeping students busy; the second passage says pets will make the teacher’s work harder.
D.
The first passage claims that pets in school will be good for kids’ mental health; the second passage says pets will be bad for kids’ mental health.