The Importance of Muhammad Ali

What sport did Muhammad Ali (also known as Cassius Clay) pursue as his career?

• boxing

• tennis

• baseball

• golf

What does the first paragraph of the text mostly describe?

• the typical jobs and career expectations of African Americans during the 1940s

• the values and principles that Cassius Clay Jr.'s parents taught him when he was young

• the details of Cassius Clay Jr.'s childhood in Louisville, Kentucky

• the history of racial tension between blacks and whites in Louisville, Kentucky

Read these sentences from the text.

"On April 28, 1967, citing his religious beliefs, he refused induction into the United States Army at the height of the war in Vietnam. Ali's refusal followed a blunt statement, voiced fourteen months earlier: 'I ain't got no quarrel with them Vietcong.' And the American establishment responded with a vengeance, demanding, 'Since when did war become a matter of personal quarrels? War is duty. Your country calls; you answer.'"

Based on this evidence, what can you conclude about Ali's sense of duty?

• Ali felt a strong duty to his own personal beliefs.

• Ali felt a strong duty to his family.

• Ali felt a strong duty to America.

• Ali felt a strong duty to help the people of Vietnam

Based on the information in the text, which action of Ali's was probably the most controversial among both blacks and whites?

• defeating Charles Liston and becoming heavyweight champion of the world

• returning to professional boxing after being sentenced to prison and barred from fighting

• joining the Nation of Islam and accepting its teachings of black separatism

• beginning to focus on Orthodox Islam after preaching the ideas of the Nation of Islam

What is the main idea of this text?

• Muhammad Ali is an important figure because he became the boxing heavyweight champion of the world three times, against all odds.

• Muhammad Ali is an important figure not just because of his success in boxing, but also because of his refusal to back down from his principles.

• Muhammad Ali is an important figure because he joined the Nation of Islam, a black separatist religion that was not aligned with the ideas of the Civil Rights Movement leaders.

• Muhammad Ali is an important figure because he refused to fight in the Vietnam War, causing some other Americans to question the war as well.

Read these sentences from the text.

"Ali downplayed his role. 'I'm not no leader. I'm a little humble follower,' he said in 1964. But for millions of people, the experience of being black changed because of Muhammad Ali."

Why might the author have included this quote from Muhammad Ali?

• to emphasize that Ali was pretending to be something that he was not

• to hint that Ali was vain and only looked out for himself

• to show that Ali actually followed other people's beliefs, actions, and examples

• to indicate that Ali was a leader even though he did not actively choose to be one

Choose the answer that best completes the sentence.

When Ali appeared on the scene in the 1960s, it was popular among those in the vanguard of the Civil Rights Movement to take the "safe," nonthreatening path. _________, Ali preached not "white American values," but freedom and equality of a kind rarely seen anywhere in the world.

• Therefore

• In contrast

• Consequently

• Similarly