Match a claim to its evidence
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
Damp trails beside the toy-boat course were circumstantial evidence that someone had tested a model early, but no observer had seen the trial. The continuous competition recording made it incontestable that the blue boat crossed the finish line before the red boat in the official race. An unbiased judge compared every model with the same published criteria, including a design built by a close friend. The student organizers kept those three observations separate when preparing the afternoon's results.
The organizers examined the circumstantial evidence about the earlier test and found that a spilled cleaning bucket could also explain the damp floor. The recorded order of the official finish remained incontestable because the complete view showed both boats crossing the same line. To preserve an unbiased comparison, the judge scored the disputed model's actual performance using the same criteria as the others. The organizers noted the unresolved early-test question separately instead of treating a possible explanation as an established event.
Before you move on
Look away from the passage. Can you explain each focus word in your own words?
Original fictional passages for vocabulary practice.