Common Lit: The PATRIOT Act: Protection over Privacy

PART A: Which statement best identifies the central idea of the text?

• The government blatantly overstepped its boundaries when it implemented the PATRIOT Act.

• The government's use of the PATRIOT Act was created to protect citizens from dangerous acts of terrorism.

• The governments disregarded the constitutional rights of citizens when it implemented the Freedom Act.

• The government's decision to pass the PATRIOT Act proves the security is more important than personal freedoms.

PART B: Which detail from the text supports the answer to Part A?

• "In recent years, some of these laws that were passed for the protection of the American people came under severe and often emotionally charged scrutiny for their alleged threat to personal freedom." (Paragraph 4)

• "The specific complaint was that this provision violated the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that deals with the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures'..." (Paragraph 9)

• "...it struck the right balance between intelligence needs and privacy, and that the program was a necessary information tool for national security." (Paragraph 12)

• "...for more than 100 years, we Americans have trusted government experts to strengthen the safety of our food, drinks, medicines and a myriad of other products..." (Paragraph 22)

PART A: What is the meaning of "infringe" in paragraph 11?

• to suppress

• to protect

• to seize

• to overstep

PART B: Which quote from the text supports the answer to Part A?

• "this provision violated the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution" (Paragraph 9)

• "under The PATRIOT Act the phone records were turned over to NSA in bulk" (Paragraph 11)

• "although it did not reveal anything that was aid in any of the phone calls" (Paragraph 11)

• "the program was a necessary information tool for national security" (Paragraph 12)