Study Guide

Section 4: Sample Multiple-Choice Questions
WEST–B Reading (895)

The sample test questions in this study guide are designed to give you an introduction to the nature of the questions included in the Washington Educator Skills Test–Basic (WEST–B). They represent the various types of questions you may expect to see on the actual test; however, they are not designed to predict your performance on the test as a whole.

Work through the sample questions carefully before referring to the answers. The correct response and test objective being assessed are provided for each question. When you are finished with the sample questions, you may wish to review the test objectives and descriptive statements provided in the test framework for this test field.

In addition to reading and answering the sample questions, you should also utilize the following preparation materials available in this study guide:

• Read Section 2: WEST–B Test-Taking Strategies to understand how test questions are designed to measure specific test objectives and to learn important test-taking strategies for the day of the test.
• Review Section 3: Test Summary and Framework to familiarize yourself with the structure and content of the test. This section also contains general testing information.

Practice Questions

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Reading

Read the selection below; then answer the questions that follow.

Of the approximately seven thousand languages spoken on Earth, one becomes extinct every two weeks. This is an incalculable loss. When people stop using a language, the world loses access to centuries of accumulated wisdom and culture. Languages are not only forms of communication; they also provide knowledge about geography, mathematics, astronomy, and other sciences. For example, one tribe in the Philippines has forty expressions for various types of soil. Another language used by a group of healers in Southeast Asia identifies the medicinal properties of 6,500 species of plants. Words for these properties do not exist in other languages. Languages also are our most important means of conveying cultural traditions. Language captures a community's stories, worldview, and human relationships, and enables those distinctive perspectives to be passed on through generations. For example, the Cherokee language has no word for goodbye; instead, the people say, "We will meet again."

Objective 0001: Understand the main idea and supporting details of a reading selection.

1. Which sentence, if inserted in the blank line at the end of the paragraph, would most strengthen the main idea of the selection?

1. As we make efforts to protect endangered plants and animal species, perhaps we should also work to preserve the uniquely human creation that is language.
2. Governments around the world must investigate the reasons languages die and do something about it.
3. The differences in human languages are so interesting, and most people have no understanding at all how much they impact human behavior.
4. One wonders which languages should be saved and which allowed to pass into quietly into history.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: A. The writer describes the loss of languages as "incalculable" and concludes that languages should be preserved. Response A reinforces this message and supports the idea that the loss of a language is a loss to us all. The reasons languages die (Response B) is of importance, but is beyond the purpose of the selection, and the sentence leaves readers hanging rather than provides an effective conclusion. Responses C and D are both vague and introduce entirely new ideas.

Objective 0002: Analyze the relationships among ideas or information within one or more reading selections.

2. According to information presented in the selection, which of the following words best characterizes the relationship between a people's language and their culture?

1. causal
2. intertwined
3. hypothetical
4. incidental

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: B. The selection makes clear that in a myriad of ways—from naming physical phenomena to defining human behavior—the relationship between language and culture is profound and inseparable (Response B). Language expresses rather than creates culture (Response A). Nothing in the selection suggests that the writer questions the relationship between language and culture (Response C) or believes that relationship is accidental or unimportant (Response D).

Read the selection below; then answer the questions that follow.

During the 1870s, when most women in the United States who worked outside the home were employed as teachers, domestics, or factory workers, Victoria Woodhull became one of the first female stockbrokers in the country. She achieved great success on Wall Street and eventually used her earnings to start a newspaper called Woodhull & Clafin's Weekly. The newspaper found some success, reaching a total readership of over 20,000 people. It was controversial, however, for focusing mainly on suffrage and other political issues that affected women. The paper also functioned as a springboard for Woodhull's campaign as the first female candidate for president of the United States.

Woodhull launched her candidacy by addressing the House Judiciary Committee in 1871 about women's rights. She asserted that "women are the equals of men before the law and are equal in all their rights," including the right to run for president. During her campaign, she used her newspaper to publicize her views and attack the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, an eminent religious figure who had denounced Woodhull's views on free love, with accusations of adultery. A few days before the election, she was arrested on the charge of publishing obscene material and spent election night in jail. Many polling places discarded ballots cast for Woodhull, so her share of the popular vote remains unknown. She unsuccessfully ran for president again in 1892 but maintained that "If Congress refuse[s] to listen and to grant what women ask, there is but one course left to pursue. What is there left for women to do but to become the mothers of the future government?"

Objective 0002: Analyze the relationships among ideas or information within one or more reading selections.

3. According to information presented in the selection, which of the following developments occurred first?

1. Victoria Woodhull used her newspaper to make allegations about public figures.
2. Victoria Woodhull was arrested on charges of publishing obscene material.
3. Victoria Woodhull made the decision to run for president of the United States.
4. Victoria Woodhull addressed members of Congress about women's rights.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: C. The writer's statement that "Woodhull launched her candidacy by addressing the House Judiciary Committee". (Response D) clearly implies that Woodhull's decision to run for president (Response C) occurred before she addressed the House Judiciary Committee. Her arrest for printing obscene material (Response B) occurred as the result of her newspaper's allegations about a long-time critic (Response A), which both occurred during her presidential campaign.

Objective 0003: Use critical reasoning skills to evaluate a reading selection.

4. Which of the following statements best assesses the objectivity of the writer's account of Woodhull's career and presidential campaign?

1. The writer's account is objective because the selection presents the facts of Woodhull's career and presidential campaign without commentary.
2. The assertion that Woodhull & Clafin's Weekly was a "controversial" publication indicates a lack of objectivity in the writer's account.
3. The writer's account is objective because the selection presents the arguments made by both Woodhull and those who opposed her views.
4. The emphasis on Woodhull's arguments in favor of women's equality in the United States indicates a lack of objectivity in the writer's account.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: A. The writer presents an unbiased account of Woodhull's professional life and presidential campaign (Response A) without offering opinions on either. Noting that Woodhull's newspaper was "controversial" (Response B) does not bring into question the writer's objectivity given that this characterization is supported by facts such as Woodhull's championing of women's rights—a controversial topic in the 1870s. While the selection alludes to Reverend Beecher's attacks on Woodhull's views regarding free love, the writer does not offer any summary of Beecher's view or that of any other of Woodhull's critics (Response C). The quotation from Woodhull about women's second-class status in the United States during the nineteenth century (Response D) emphasizes Woodhull's perspective, which is not necessarily the writer's.

Objective 0004: Analyze the writer's purpose, intent, and point of view in a reading selection.

5. Which of the following statements best describes the writer's opinion of Victoria Woodhull?

1. Woodhull was a victim of her opponents and the authorities who arrested her.
2. Woodhull was a cynical opportunist who should not have published material attacking a respected clergyman.
3. Woodhull inspired future generations of women to run for office in the United States.
4. Woodhull was a significant historical figure whose campaign for president focused the country's attention on women's rights.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: D. The writer does not make a value judgment about Woodhull but rather recognizes that her run for president was a significant event in the women's rights movement in the United States (Response D). The writer does not take sides between Woodhull and her opponents (Response A). The writer explains that Woodhull's attacks on her critics had negative consequences (Response B) but does not argue that Woodhull was wrong to have published the articles that got her in trouble (Response B). The writer does not claim that Woodhull inspired women in the United States to take a more active political role (Response C).

Read the selection below; then answer the questions that follow.

Street art programs in some cities in the United States are embracing traffic control boxes as a way for local artists to bring color and pride to drab, urban landscapes. These unassuming boxes may contain simple clockwork mechanisms or sophisticated computer and control systems. They are located at traffic intersections and crosswalks and tend to blend into the background. However, because they are so prevalent and not easily removed, they are ideal canvases for community art.

To promote the local arts scene and increase civic pride, many street art programs require the artists to live in the area where the work they create will be displayed. Artists submit proposals start underline with end underline a committee, which is usually assembled by the local government. The committee members select the applicants start underline whose end underline ideas best fit the goals of the program and provide stipends to the artists for supplies, and sometimes for start underline their end underline time and skill as well. Then the hands-on creative work begins. In some communities, artists paint directly on the utility boxes. In others, they create art with a separate medium, such as digital work, fabric, or drawings, and then photograph the finished product using high-resolution cameras. The artists print the images on vinyl wraps designed to fit the boxes perfectly and to withstand harsh weather conditions, thus ensuring that residents and passers-by will enjoy the transformed traffic control boxes start underline for end underline years to come.

Objective 0001: Understand the main idea and supporting details of a reading selection.

6. Which sentence from the selection fails to support the development of the main idea of the selection?

1. "These unassuming boxes may contain simple clockwork mechanisms or sophisticated computer and control systems."
2. "They are located at traffic intersections and crosswalks and tend to blend into the background."
3. "However, because they are so prevalent and not easily removed, they are ideal canvases for community art."
4. "In others, they create art with a separate medium, such as digital work, fabric, or drawings, and then photograph the finished product using high-resolution cameras."

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: A. The main idea of the selection is that traffic boxes can provide artists with an opportunity to display their skills and make art an integral part of city neighborhoods. Information on how traffic control boxes operate (Response A) does not support development of this idea. Descriptions of where traffic control boxes are located and why they make good spaces for community art (Responses B and C) are integral to the main idea. Descriptions of the steps in the work process (Response D) also support development of the main idea by showing how artists use the traffic boxes.

Objective 0002: Analyze the relationships among ideas or information within one or more reading selections.

7. Based on information presented in the selection, it is reasonable to infer that:

1. the competition to be selected as an artist is often fierce.
2. artists selected for the program have years of experience.
3. the technology used to create the vinyl wraps is complicated and time-consuming.
4. communities use government funds to finance the stipends given to the artists.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: D. Because local governments give approval to and/or manage the street art programs, a reasonable inference is that government funds are the source of the stipends (Response D). The level of competition for such programs (Response A) will vary from one community to another. While some artists may have extensive experience (Response B), others might be new to the art world or still students. No information is given about the technology that creates the vinyl wraps (Response C), so it cannot be inferred that the technology is complicated or time-consuming.

Objective 0005: Determine the meaning of words and phrases in context.

8. Which underlined word in the second paragraph of the selection is used incorrectly?

1. with
2. whose
3. their
4. for

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: A. To indicate that artists submit proposals for a committee to review, the correct preposition is the word to as in "submit proposals to." The possessive pronoun whose (Response B) is used correctly in the phrase "the applicants whose ideas" to indicate that the ideas are those of the applicants, as is the adverb their (Response C) referring to the artists. The preposition for (Response D) is used correctly in the last sentence of the paragraph.

Read the selection below; then answer the questions that follow.

Like most women scientists in the early 1900s, Barbara McClintock faced many challenges in her pursuit of a career in science. The first obstacle was her mother, who refused to allow Barbara to attend college. Mrs. McClintock thought college study was an improper pursuit for a young lady and that it would hurt her daughter's chances of marrying. Eventually her father intervened, and McClintock enrolled at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, at the age of 17.

At the university, McClintock excelled in her academic work and began studying botany. During her sophomore year, she took a class in the new field of genetics. She wanted to pursue this new scientific frontier, but women were not allowed to enroll in Cornell's genetics program. McClintock's professor was so impressed with her work, however, that he recommended she be allowed to take graduate-level courses in the new discipline. Though she ended up studying genetics during the rest of her time at Cornell, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in botany because women were not awarded degrees in genetics at that time. McClintock went on to earn a PhD in botany with plant genetics as the main focus of her research.

Throughout most of her long career, McClintock studied the genetics of maize (corn). Her research revealed that genes were responsible for switching the physical traits of an organism on and off. In 1948, she also discovered that genes could physically move from one part of a chromosome to another. While McClintock's research was start underline groundbreaking, it was so far ahead of its time that other scientists did not recognize its true significance, and her work was largely ignored. It was not until decades later that scientists were able to confirm her theory and eventually found these "start underline jumping genes" in many species, including humans. Finally, in 1983, at the age of 81, McClintock received the Nobel Prize for her discovery of mobile genetic elements. Despite obstacles at home, at school, and within the scientific community, she had persevered to become the first woman awarded an unshared Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.

Objective 0003: Use critical reasoning skills to evaluate a reading selection.

9. Which of the following assumptions most clearly influenced the writer's discussion in the selection?

1. Genetics is a more difficult field of study than botany.
2. The work of female scientists is more valuable than the work of male scientists.
3. Recognition of McClintock's work was delayed, in part, because she was a woman.
4. McClintock worked harder than her male colleagues.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: C. All three paragraphs describe challenges that McClintock faced as a woman in a male-dominated field, and the final paragraph notes that it took 35 years for others to acknowledge the significance of her discoveries and award her a Nobel Prize. Therefore, a reasonable assumption is that the writer believes that McClintock's gender played a role in the delayed recognition of her work (Response C). The writer does not imply that genetics is a more difficult field of study than botany (Response A), that the work of women scientists is more valuable than that of men (Response B), or that McClintock worked harder than her male colleagues (Response D).

Objective 0004: Analyze the writer's purpose, intent, and point of view in a reading selection.

10. The writer most likely uses the term "jumping genes" in the last paragraph of the selection for which audience?

1. botanists who are unfamiliar with McClintock's work
2. Cornell geneticists building on McClintock's research
3. readers with a general interest in scientific discoveries
4. committees responsible for awarding scientific prizes

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: C. The writer uses the term "jumping genes" to help a general reader understand McClintock's scientific discovery (Response C). For audiences familiar with genetic research, including botanists (Response A), geneticists (Response B), and committees involved in making scientific awards (Response D), the scientific terminology—"mobile genetic elements"—would be more appropriate.

Objective 0005: Determine the meaning of words and phrases in context.

11. Which word is the best synonym for the word groundbreaking as it is used in the last paragraph of the selection?

1. surprising
2. innovative
3. trendsetting
4. emerging

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: B. The adjective "groundbreaking" connotes that something is new, pioneering, or innovative (Response B). While a groundbreaking discovery may be a surprise to some (Response A), "surprising" is not the primary meaning of the word. The word "trendsetting" (Response C) refers to popularizing new ways of doing things or new styles or fashions, while "emerging" (Response D) is most often applied to something that is beginning or coming into existence, which is not synonymous with the word "groundbreaking" in the context of the selection.

Objective 0006: Apply study skills to aid in understanding reading selections, graphs, tables, and charts.

12. Use the table of contents below to answer the question that follows.

1. Chapter 1: Early Life
2. Chapter 2: The University Years
3. Chapter 3: Postgraduate Studies in Europe
4. Chapter 4: The Research Years
5. Chapter 5: Rediscovery
6. Chapter 6: Honors and Recognitions
7. Chapter 7: Later Years
8. Chapter 8: Legacy

Information on McClintock's investigations of genetic changes in indigenous strains of Central American maize would most likely be found in which chapter?

1. Chapter 2: The University Years
2. Chapter 4: The Research Years
3. Chapter 6: Honors and Recognitions
4. Chapter 7: Later Year

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: B. Since McClintock's work on genetic changes in Central American maize was at the heart of her scientific research, Chapter 4 (Response B) is the most logical place to look for detailed information on those investigations. Chapter 2 (Response A) would include information on McClintock's life in college and the beginning of her research interests, but not describe the central work of her career. Chapter 6 (Response C) would provide information on the recognition of McClintock's work, years after her research had concluded, while Chapter 7 (Response D) would include information about McClintock's life at the end of her career.

Read the selection below; then answer the questions that follow.

The Dust Bowl crisis of the 1930s was one of the greatest tragedies in the history of U.S. agriculture. Its origins can be traced to the 1880s, when large numbers of settlers began growing wheat on the Great Plains. Life on the plains has never been easy. During this period, however, the region's fertile soils and adequate rainfall compensated for its cold winters, blizzards, tornadoes, and scorching summer heat. By century's end, land-hungry farmers had spread out across the plains, cutting the sod and tilling the soil on lands extending from North Dakota to the Texas Panhandle. Regional transformation accelerated during World War I, as the price of wheat skyrocketed and farmers bought tractors and combines to increase production. In a short period of time, the last of the drought-resistant prairie grasses that had once covered the Great Plains had been plowed under to make way for wheat.

As wheat output continued to increase during the 1920s, prices collapsed and farmers found it increasingly more difficult to make ends meet. Conditions deteriorated further with the onset of the Great Depression at decade's end. Worse, the region's unpredictable semi-arid climate added to the farmers' growing misery. The previous fifty years had been a period of above-average rainfall on the plains. To be sure, farmers had experienced some dry years, but they were nothing like the extended drought that began in the summer of 1932. Accompanying winds turned a bad situation into a social and ecological catastrophe. Stripped of the drought-resistant grasses that had held prairie soils in place, the plains could offer no resistance to the increasingly powerful gusts that blew across the region. The resulting dust storms darkened the skies, covered houses, buried equipment, and in some places removed up to three feet of soil. By the time adequate rains returned in the late 1930s, the storms had seriously impaired the region's agricultural potential and devastated the lives of thousands of farm families.

As part of its response to the crisis, the federal government formed the Soil Conservation Service. One of the agency's primary tasks was to introduce conservation practices that would help prevent farmland erosion. In the Great Plains, these measures included the creation of windbreaks to reduce wind velocity, the construction of irrigation systems, and the planting of winter cover crops that could be plowed under in the spring to enrich soils. Although wind erosion remains a problem, these and other conservation measures have significantly reduced the resulting soil loss. They are widely credited with helping to lessen the adverse effects of a serious drought that struck the plains during the 1950s. This does not mean, however, that another Dust Bowl is impossible. As farmers learned during the 1930s, once the soil begins to blow, there is not much that can be done to stop it.

Objective 0001: Understand the main idea and supporting details of a reading selection.

13. Which statement best expresses the main idea of the third paragraph of the selection?

1. Conservation measures have reduced, but not eliminated, the problems that caused the Dust Bowl crisis of the 1930s.
2. The Soil Conservation Service was formed to help Great Plains farmers deal with wind erosion.
3. The creation of windbreaks was the most important of the various conservation measures introduced by the Soil Conservation Service.
4. The drought of the 1950s caused considerably less damage than did the Dust Bowl crisis of the 1930s.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: A. After describing how the introduction of various conservation measures has helped prevent farmland erosion, the writer cautions that despite these steps another Dust Bowl is still possible (Response A). While it mentions the formation of the Soil Conservation Service (Response B), this paragraph is primarily about what the Service did to alleviate the results of the Dust Bowl, and there is nothing in the paragraph to suggest that the construction of windbreaks was more important or effective than other measures introduced by the Soil Conservation Service (Response C). The writer's observation concerning the drought of the 1950s (Response D) is a supporting detail intended to show the effectiveness of the conservation measures discussed in the preceding sentences of the paragraph, but it is not the main idea of the paragraph.

Objective 0002: Analyze the relationships among ideas or information within one or more reading selections.

14. Based on information presented in the selection, it is reasonable to infer that:

1. the damage caused by the Dust Bowl crisis was most extensive in the summer of 1932.
2. wheat prices continued to decline throughout the 1930s.
3. the Dust Bowl crisis of the 1930s was most serious in North Dakota and the Texas Panhandle.
4. wheat production in the Great Plains declined during the 1930s.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: D. After noting that continued increases in wheat output during the 1920s contributed to collapsing wheat prices, the writer describes how adverse climatic conditions throughout much of the 1930s crippled farm operations on the Great Plains. It is therefore reasonable to infer that wheat production declined during that decade (Response D). According to the selection, the summer of 1932 witnessed the beginning of an extended drought, not the period of greatest damage (Response A). If anything, declining wheat production during the 1930s would have increased rather than reduced wheat prices, as less and less wheat was available for purchase (Response B). And there is no evidence in the selection showing that the Dust Bowl crisis was most serious in North Dakota and the Texas Panhandle (Response C).

Objective 0003: Use critical reasoning skills to evaluate a reading selection.

15. Which illustration would be most relevant to the writer's argument in the second paragraph of the selection?

1. a table showing changes in wheat prices during the 1920s and 1930s
2. a topographical map of the Great Plains
3. a table showing changes in rainfall for the Great Plains from 1880 to 1940
4. a natural resources map of the Great Plains

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: C. A table showing changes in rainfall for the Great Plains between 1880 and 1940 would effectively complement the writer's discussion in the second paragraph of the region's abnormally severe drought conditions during the 1930s (Response C). A table providing information on wheat prices (Response A) or maps showing the topography (Response B) or natural resources of the Great Plains (Response D) would add little to the central discussion of the second paragraph—the changing climatological conditions on the Great Plains.

Objective 0004: Analyze the writer's purpose, intent, and point of view in a reading selection.

16. The writer's main purpose in the selection is to:

1. describe the causes and consequences of the Dust Bowl crisis of the 1930s.
2. analyze the effect of the Dust Bowl crisis of the 1930s on wheat production in the Great Plains.
3. evaluate the government response to the Dust Bowl crisis of the 1930s.
4. raise questions about the plight of farm families hurt by the Dust Bowl crisis of the 1930s.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: A. The first two paragraphs are devoted largely to a description of the causes of the Dust Bowl crisis, while the final paragraph describes an important consequence: the conservation measures introduced to deal with the crisis (Response A). Although the writer does suggest that wheat production declined as a result of the Dust Bowl crisis (Response B), this is clearly a secondary theme of the selection. Similarly, the assessment of the government's response in the third paragraph (Response C) forms only one element of the larger story presented in the selection. Given the brief mention of the Dust Bowl's effect on farm families in the second paragraph, it does not appear that raising questions about their plight (Response D) was the writer's major aim.

Objective 0006: Apply study skills to aid in understanding reading selections, graphs, tables, and charts.

17. Which outline best organizes the main topics addressed in the selection?

1. • weather conditions in the Great Plains
   • the semi-arid climate of the plains
   • constructing irrigation systems on the plains
2. • expansion of farming on the Great Plains, 1880– to 1920
   • the Dust Bowl crisis of the 1930s
   • conservation measures to prevent a recurrence of the Dust Bowl crisis
3. • reasons that farmers moved to the Great Plains
   • the Great Plains drought of 1932
   • the Great Plains drought of the 1950s
4. • effect of World War I on Great Plains agriculture
   • wheat prices during the 1920s and 1930s
   • formation of the Soil Conservation Service

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: B. In the first paragraph, the writer discusses how farmers brought ever-larger areas of the Great Plains under cultivation between 1880 and World War I. Paragraph two describes conditions created by the Dust Bowl crisis, while paragraph three focuses on the conservation measures later introduced to avert another such crisis (Response B). Sentences concerning weather and climatic conditions on the Great Plains and the construction of irrigation systems in the region (Response A) are introduced as supporting details; these topics do not form major themes of the selection. Although the selection devotes some attention to the drought of the 1930s, the writer says little about the reasons that farmers moved to the Great Plains and makes only passing mention of the drought of the 1950s (Response C). Similarly, although the discussion of the effect of World War I on Great Plains agriculture is an important element of the first paragraph, information about wheat prices during the 1920s is no more than a supporting detail in the second paragraph, no direct mention is made of wheat prices during the 1930s, and the third paragraph focuses much more on what the Soil Conservation Service did in response to the crisis than on how it came into existence (Response D).

Read the selection below; then answer the questions that follow.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the most important civil rights measure ever passed by the U.S. Congress. Its main provision outlawed racial, religious, and sexual discrimination in both the workplace and public facilities. Other provisions authorized the government to cut off federal funding to organizations for programs administered on a discriminatory basis and to bring suit against segregated schools and public facilities. The bill not only set new standards but contained sanctions that could be used to compel compliance with those standards. The fact that it had teeth in it meant that the legislation would quickly make itself felt in a serious way. The era of real reform had finally begun.

Objective 0003: Use critical reasoning skills to evaluate a reading selection.

18. Which sentence from the selection expresses an opinion rather than a fact?

1. "The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the most important civil rights measure ever passed by the U.S. Congress."
2. "Its main provision outlawed racial, religious, and sexual discrimination in both the workplace and public facilities."
3. "Other provisions authorized the government to cut off federal funding to organizations for programs administered on a discriminatory basis and to bring suit against segregated schools and public facilities."
4. "The bill not only set new standards but contained sanctions that could be used to compel compliance with those standards."

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: A. Response A is an expression of opinion because the statement does not represent an absolute certainty; it could be argued that other civil rights measures were at least as important as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. By contrast, responses B, C, and D all are verifiable statements of factual information without expressions of opinion.

Objective 0005: Determine the meaning of words and phrases in context.

19. In the context of the selection, the phrase had teeth in it is used to communicate the fact that the legislation:

1. addressed important issues.
2. had an effective means of enforcement.
3. was well funded.
4. had widespread support from the public.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: B. In the context of the preceding sentence, which talks about "sanctions that could be used to compel compliance with [the bill's] standards," the phrase had teeth in it is used to convey the idea that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 contained an effective means of enforcement (Response B). Neither response A, nor C, nor D makes sense in the context of the last three sentences of the selection.

Use the table below to answer the question that follows.

[Public Domain Source: United States Census Bureau. 2010 Census Population Change Data. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2010/dec/popchange-data-text.html]

Objective 0006: Apply study skills to aid in understanding reading selections, graphs, tables, and charts.

20. Given the information provided in the table, which of the following statements is correct?

1. The South experienced a more significant population change than the Midwest during each decade.
2. The South experienced a greater population loss than the Midwest between 1910 and 1920.
3. The South saw a less significant population change than the Midwest between 1920 and 1930.
4. The South gained more residents than the Midwest between 1930 and 1940.

AnswerEnter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded

Correct Response: D. Between 1930 and 1940 the South gained a little over 2 million more residents than the Midwest (Response D). The South actually experienced a smaller population change than the Midwest between 1910 and 1920 (Response A). Neither the South nor the Midwest experienced a population loss between 1910 and 1920 (Response B), while the South had a greater population change than the Midwest between 1920 and 1930 (Response C).