501 Critical Reading Questions

(Sean Pound) #1

  1. The author implies that the catalyst(line 26) behind the spread of
    American textile mills in the early 1800s was
    a. Slater’s invention of a water-powered spinning machine.
    b.the decline in the ideal of the self-sufficient American farm
    family.
    c. the expertise of the workforce trained in Slater’s prototype mill.
    d.an increased willingness to employ child laborers.
    e.the support of British manufacturers who owned stock in
    American mills.

  2. In line 29, modeledmost nearly means
    a. posed.
    b.displayed.
    c. arranged.
    d.illustrated.
    e.fashioned.

  3. Which of the following techniques is used in the last paragraph of
    the passage (lines 40–49)?
    a. explanation of terms
    b.description of consensus reached by historians
    c. contrast of different viewpoints
    d.generalized statement
    e.illustration by example


Question 84–91 are based on the following passage.
The following passage describes the Great Depression and the relief policies
introduced under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that aimed to mitigate
the effects of the crisis.
The worst and longest economic crisis in the modern industrial world,
the Great Depression in the United States had devastating conse-
quences for American society. At its lowest depth (1932–33), more
than 16 million people were unemployed, more than 5,000 banks had
closed, and over 85,000 businesses had failed. Millions of Americans
lost their jobs, their savings, and even their homes. The homeless built
shacks for temporary shelter—these emerging shantytowns were nick-
named “Hoovervilles,” a bitter homage to President Herbert Hoover,
who refused to give government assistance to the jobless. Farmers
were hit especially hard. A severe drought coupled with the economic
crisis ruined small farms throughout the Great Plains as productive

(1)


(5)


(10)

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