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Question 1
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
15%
(low)
Question Stats:
80% (03:10) correct
20%
(03:15) wrong
based on 536
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 2
D
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
15%
(low)
Question Stats:
79% (01:20) correct 21%
(01:25) wrong
based on 677
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 3
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
15%
(low)
Question Stats:
73% (01:16) correct 27%
(01:37) wrong
based on 670
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 4
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
45%
(medium)
Question Stats:
62% (01:25) correct 38%
(01:30) wrong
based on 666
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 5
E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
55%
(hard)
Question Stats:
47% (01:08) correct 53%
(01:12) wrong
based on 653
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 6
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
45%
(medium)
Question Stats:
50% (01:00) correct 50%
(01:01) wrong
based on 644
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 7
E
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
25%
(medium)
Question Stats:
71% (01:05) correct 29%
(01:23) wrong
based on 610
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
The English who in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries inhabited those colonies that would later become the United States shared a common political vocabulary with the English in England. Steeped as they were in the English political language, these colonials failed to observe that their experience in America had given the words a significance quite different from that accepted by the English with whom they debated; in fact, they claimed that they were more loyal to the English political tradition than were the English in England.
In many respects the political institutions of England were reproduced in these American colonies. By the middle of the eighteenth century, all of these colonies except four were headed by Royal Governors appointed by the King and perceived as bearing a relation to the people of the colony similar to that of the King to the English people. Moreover, each of these colonies enjoyed a representative assembly, which was consciously modeled, in powers and practices, after the English Parliament. In both England and these colonies, only property holders could vote.
Nevertheless, though English and colonial institutions were structurally similar, attitudes toward those institutions differed. For example, English legal development from the early seventeenth century had been moving steadily toward the absolute power of Parliament. The most unmistakable sign of this tendency was the legal assertion that the King was subject to the law. Together with this resolute denial of the absolute right of kings went the assertion that Parliament was unlimited in its power: it could change even the Constitution by its ordinary acts of legislation. By the eighteenth century the English had accepted the idea that the parliamentary representatives of the people were omnipotent.
The citizens of these colonies did not look upon the English Parliament with such fond eyes, nor did they concede that their own assemblies possessed such wide powers. There were good historical reasons for this. To the English the word “constitution” meant the whole body of law and legal custom formulated since the beginning of the kingdom, whereas to these colonials a constitution was a specific written document, enumerating specific powers. This distinction in meaning can be traced to the fact that the foundations of government in the various colonies were written charters granted by the Crown. These express authorizations to govern were tangible, definite things. Over the years these colonials had often repaired to the charters to justify themselves in the struggle against tyrannical governors or officials of the Crown. More than a century of government under written constitutions convinced these colonists of the necessity for and efficacy of protecting their liberties against governmental encroachment by explicitly defining all governmental powers in a document.
In many respects the political institutions of England were reproduced in these American colonies. By the middle of the eighteenth century, all of these colonies except four were headed by Royal Governors appointed by the King and perceived as bearing a relation to the people of the colony similar to that of the King to the English people. Moreover, each of these colonies enjoyed a representative assembly, which was consciously modeled, in powers and practices, after the English Parliament. In both England and these colonies, only property holders could vote.
Nevertheless, though English and colonial institutions were structurally similar, attitudes toward those institutions differed. For example, English legal development from the early seventeenth century had been moving steadily toward the absolute power of Parliament. The most unmistakable sign of this tendency was the legal assertion that the King was subject to the law. Together with this resolute denial of the absolute right of kings went the assertion that Parliament was unlimited in its power: it could change even the Constitution by its ordinary acts of legislation. By the eighteenth century the English had accepted the idea that the parliamentary representatives of the people were omnipotent.
The citizens of these colonies did not look upon the English Parliament with such fond eyes, nor did they concede that their own assemblies possessed such wide powers. There were good historical reasons for this. To the English the word “constitution” meant the whole body of law and legal custom formulated since the beginning of the kingdom, whereas to these colonials a constitution was a specific written document, enumerating specific powers. This distinction in meaning can be traced to the fact that the foundations of government in the various colonies were written charters granted by the Crown. These express authorizations to govern were tangible, definite things. Over the years these colonials had often repaired to the charters to justify themselves in the struggle against tyrannical governors or officials of the Crown. More than a century of government under written constitutions convinced these colonists of the necessity for and efficacy of protecting their liberties against governmental encroachment by explicitly defining all governmental powers in a document.
1. Which one of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
(A) The colonials and the English mistakenly thought that they shared a common political vocabulary.
(B) The colonials and the English shared a variety of institutions.
(C) The colonials and the English had conflicting interpretations of the language and institutional structures that they shared.
(D) Colonial attitudes toward English institutions grew increasingly hostile in the eighteenth century.
(E) Seventeenth-century English legal development accounted for colonial attitudes toward constitutions.
(A) The colonials and the English mistakenly thought that they shared a common political vocabulary.
(B) The colonials and the English shared a variety of institutions.
(C) The colonials and the English had conflicting interpretations of the language and institutional structures that they shared.
(D) Colonial attitudes toward English institutions grew increasingly hostile in the eighteenth century.
(E) Seventeenth-century English legal development accounted for colonial attitudes toward constitutions.
2. The passage supports all of the following statements about the political conditions present by the middle of the eighteenth century in the American colonies discussed in the passage EXCEPT:
(A) Colonials who did not own property could not vote.
(B) All of these colonies had representative assemblies modeled after the British Parliament.
(C) Some of these colonies had Royal Governors.
(D) Royal Governors could be removed from office by colonial assemblies.
(E) In these colonies, Royal Governors were regarded as serving a function like that of a king.
(A) Colonials who did not own property could not vote.
(B) All of these colonies had representative assemblies modeled after the British Parliament.
(C) Some of these colonies had Royal Governors.
(D) Royal Governors could be removed from office by colonial assemblies.
(E) In these colonies, Royal Governors were regarded as serving a function like that of a king.
3. The passage implies which one of the following about English kings prior to the early seventeenth century?
(A) They were the source of all law.
(B) They frequently flouted laws made by Parliament.
(C) Their power relative to that of Parliament was considerably greater than it was in the eighteenth century.
(D) They were more often the sources of legal reform than they were in the eighteenth century.
(E) They had to combat those who believed that the power of Parliament was absolute.
(A) They were the source of all law.
(B) They frequently flouted laws made by Parliament.
(C) Their power relative to that of Parliament was considerably greater than it was in the eighteenth century.
(D) They were more often the sources of legal reform than they were in the eighteenth century.
(E) They had to combat those who believed that the power of Parliament was absolute.
4. The author mentions which one of the following as evidence for the eighteenth-century English attitude toward Parliament?
(A) The English had become uncomfortable with institutions that could claim absolute authority.
(B) The English realized that their interests were better guarded by Parliament than by the King.
(C) The English allowed Parliament to make constitutional changes by legislative enactment.
(D) The English felt that the King did not possess the knowledge that would enable him to rule responsibly.
(E) The English had decided that it was time to reform their representative government.
(A) The English had become uncomfortable with institutions that could claim absolute authority.
(B) The English realized that their interests were better guarded by Parliament than by the King.
(C) The English allowed Parliament to make constitutional changes by legislative enactment.
(D) The English felt that the King did not possess the knowledge that would enable him to rule responsibly.
(E) The English had decided that it was time to reform their representative government.
5. The passage implies that the colonials discussed in the passage would have considered which one of the following to be a source of their debates with England?
(A) their changed use of the English political vocabulary
(B) English commitment to parliamentary representation
(C) their uniquely English experience
(D) their refusal to adopt any English political institutions
(E) their greater loyalty to the English political traditions
(A) their changed use of the English political vocabulary
(B) English commitment to parliamentary representation
(C) their uniquely English experience
(D) their refusal to adopt any English political institutions
(E) their greater loyalty to the English political traditions
6. According to the passage, the English attitude toward the English Constitution differed from the colonial attitude toward constitutions in that the English regarded their Constitution as
(A) the legal foundation of the kingdom
(B) a document containing a collection of customs
(C) a cumulative corpus of legislation and legal traditions
(D) a record alterable by royal authority
(E) an unchangeable body of governmental powers
(A) the legal foundation of the kingdom
(B) a document containing a collection of customs
(C) a cumulative corpus of legislation and legal traditions
(D) a record alterable by royal authority
(E) an unchangeable body of governmental powers
7. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) expose the misunderstanding that has characterized descriptions of the relationship between seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England and certain of its American colonies
(B) suggest a reason for England’s treatment of certain of its American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
(C) settle an ongoing debate about the relationship between England and certain of its American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
(D) interpret the events leading up to the independence of certain of England’s American colonies in the eighteenth century
(E) explain an aspect of the relationship between England and certain of its American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
(A) expose the misunderstanding that has characterized descriptions of the relationship between seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England and certain of its American colonies
(B) suggest a reason for England’s treatment of certain of its American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
(C) settle an ongoing debate about the relationship between England and certain of its American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
(D) interpret the events leading up to the independence of certain of England’s American colonies in the eighteenth century
(E) explain an aspect of the relationship between England and certain of its American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
04 Jul 2019, 04:46
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Explanation
1. Which one of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
Explanation
...and no sooner said than done, we are rewarded with a point for choice (C) in this main idea question. This question is probably one that you could have answered correctly after reading Paragraph 1 and a cursory skim of the rest, but even if you waited till late to answer it, the choice of (C) should be pretty much Q.E.D.
Many answers to main idea questions go wrong because they’re too broad or too narrow in scope — particularly the latter. Some wrong choices will refer to only a small segment of the passage, while others won’t seem to refer to the specific content of the passage at all.
Choice (B) , for instance, sums up Paragraph 2 only, while Colonial attitudes, the subject of (D), come up only in Paragraph 4 (not to mention the fact that “increasing 18th century hostility” is something we carry with us from our outside knowledge of the American Revolution, not from the passage itself). (A) and (E), meanwhile, contradict or at least distort the text. Contrary to (A), the colonists and English did too share a common political vocabulary, though they differed over the meanings of the political terms they shared. And contrary to (E), as Paragraph 4 suggests, colonial attitudes toward constitutions were influenced by the contents of the charters granted to the colonies by England, not by English legal developments in the 17th century.
Answer: C
Explanation
...and no sooner said than done, we are rewarded with a point for choice (C) in this main idea question. This question is probably one that you could have answered correctly after reading Paragraph 1 and a cursory skim of the rest, but even if you waited till late to answer it, the choice of (C) should be pretty much Q.E.D.
Many answers to main idea questions go wrong because they’re too broad or too narrow in scope — particularly the latter. Some wrong choices will refer to only a small segment of the passage, while others won’t seem to refer to the specific content of the passage at all.
Choice (B) , for instance, sums up Paragraph 2 only, while Colonial attitudes, the subject of (D), come up only in Paragraph 4 (not to mention the fact that “increasing 18th century hostility” is something we carry with us from our outside knowledge of the American Revolution, not from the passage itself). (A) and (E), meanwhile, contradict or at least distort the text. Contrary to (A), the colonists and English did too share a common political vocabulary, though they differed over the meanings of the political terms they shared. And contrary to (E), as Paragraph 4 suggests, colonial attitudes toward constitutions were influenced by the contents of the charters granted to the colonies by England, not by English legal developments in the 17th century.
Answer: C
Hope it helps
07 Jul 2019, 06:56
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Explanation
6. According to the passage, the English attitude toward the English Constitution differed from the colonial attitude toward constitutions in that the English regarded their Constitution as
Explanation
We know that the issue of a constitution comes up in Paragraph 4 only, so you might well want to skim the relevant paragraph before proceeding back to the answer choices. How did the English attitude toward their Constitution differ from the colonists’ attitude toward constitutions in general? Signals like “whereas” (l. 36) and “This distinction in meaning” (l. 38) pinpoint the location, and probably anyone who’s ever taken Civics 101 was not surprised to learn that the English constitution is an unwritten set of precedents and conventions, while the colonists wanted the thing on paper. The former is summed up in (C), of course, and notice once again that right answers tend to use paraphrase to put a bit of a spin on the passage text, although you’re hardly going out on a limb by deciding that “a cumulative corpus of legislation and legal traditions” is a pretty close equivalent of “the whole body of law and legal custom,” l. 35.
That notwithstanding, many students erred and chose (A), because the rhetoric just cited, describing the English Constitution, certainly sounds lofty enough to justify (A). However, noting that that body of laws and customs dates back to the beginning of the kingdom is not to say that it was seen as the “legal foundation” of that kingdom. Indeed, the very fact that the English were willing to allow Parliament to change the Constitution suggests that they did not view it as such.
(B), a limp distillation of (C), leaves out the entire legal issue. (As worded, (B) describes a copy of Emily Post’s Etiquette more accurately than any constitution.) Finally, that 18th-century Englishmen acknowledged Parliament’s right to change the English Constitution indicates that they didn’t regard the Constitution as “an unchangeable body of governmental powers” (E), although we can’t be sure whether they had ever accepted that the King possessed the same right (D).
Answer: C
Explanation
We know that the issue of a constitution comes up in Paragraph 4 only, so you might well want to skim the relevant paragraph before proceeding back to the answer choices. How did the English attitude toward their Constitution differ from the colonists’ attitude toward constitutions in general? Signals like “whereas” (l. 36) and “This distinction in meaning” (l. 38) pinpoint the location, and probably anyone who’s ever taken Civics 101 was not surprised to learn that the English constitution is an unwritten set of precedents and conventions, while the colonists wanted the thing on paper. The former is summed up in (C), of course, and notice once again that right answers tend to use paraphrase to put a bit of a spin on the passage text, although you’re hardly going out on a limb by deciding that “a cumulative corpus of legislation and legal traditions” is a pretty close equivalent of “the whole body of law and legal custom,” l. 35.
That notwithstanding, many students erred and chose (A), because the rhetoric just cited, describing the English Constitution, certainly sounds lofty enough to justify (A). However, noting that that body of laws and customs dates back to the beginning of the kingdom is not to say that it was seen as the “legal foundation” of that kingdom. Indeed, the very fact that the English were willing to allow Parliament to change the Constitution suggests that they did not view it as such.
(B), a limp distillation of (C), leaves out the entire legal issue. (As worded, (B) describes a copy of Emily Post’s Etiquette more accurately than any constitution.) Finally, that 18th-century Englishmen acknowledged Parliament’s right to change the English Constitution indicates that they didn’t regard the Constitution as “an unchangeable body of governmental powers” (E), although we can’t be sure whether they had ever accepted that the King possessed the same right (D).
Answer: C
7. The primary purpose of the passage is to
Explanation
Sometimes passages will come with two main idea questions associated with them. When this is the case, one question will usually be more abstract (and, hence, more difficult) than the other. Use your answer to the easier question to help you answer the more difficult one.
Well, we’ve already seen that the big idea of the passage is that the colonists and English gave different meanings to the same political terms, which, in turn, led them to assign very different roles to similar political institutions, causing some political debate and disagreement between them. In more abstract terms, the passage explains a dimension of the relationship between the American colonies and England in the 17th and 18th centuries. So, choice (E) is the correct answer.
(A) sounds like something carried over from poor Goody and his misinterpretation of Athenian democracy in the previous passage. This passage discusses only the author’s views, not those of other scholars; therefore, it can’t be said to expose a misunderstanding about anything. Nor, for that matter, is there any hint that the author is trying to “settle a debate” about anything, so (C) can be just as quickly rejected. (B) is too narrow in scope:
The brief glimpse we get of England’s treatment of the colonies (and the reason for it) in the last paragraph can hardly be called the main focus of the passage. Finally, one wonders if anyone chose (D) and, if so, whether that person ever really read (D). “Interpret the events leading up to independence”? American independence is maybe, maybe hinted at by line 2 , but that’s it. At best, one might say that this passage explains some of the attitudes that later contributed to the development of the American Constitution. But that was 1789, and (D) points us to 1776, and the author is interested in neither one.
Answer: E
Explanation
Sometimes passages will come with two main idea questions associated with them. When this is the case, one question will usually be more abstract (and, hence, more difficult) than the other. Use your answer to the easier question to help you answer the more difficult one.
Well, we’ve already seen that the big idea of the passage is that the colonists and English gave different meanings to the same political terms, which, in turn, led them to assign very different roles to similar political institutions, causing some political debate and disagreement between them. In more abstract terms, the passage explains a dimension of the relationship between the American colonies and England in the 17th and 18th centuries. So, choice (E) is the correct answer.
(A) sounds like something carried over from poor Goody and his misinterpretation of Athenian democracy in the previous passage. This passage discusses only the author’s views, not those of other scholars; therefore, it can’t be said to expose a misunderstanding about anything. Nor, for that matter, is there any hint that the author is trying to “settle a debate” about anything, so (C) can be just as quickly rejected. (B) is too narrow in scope:
The brief glimpse we get of England’s treatment of the colonies (and the reason for it) in the last paragraph can hardly be called the main focus of the passage. Finally, one wonders if anyone chose (D) and, if so, whether that person ever really read (D). “Interpret the events leading up to independence”? American independence is maybe, maybe hinted at by line 2 , but that’s it. At best, one might say that this passage explains some of the attitudes that later contributed to the development of the American Constitution. But that was 1789, and (D) points us to 1776, and the author is interested in neither one.
Answer: E
Hope it helps
