Always Wanting More

Select two central ideas of the passage.

• A. Many people have many possessions, but nothing pleases them.

• B. In the past, wealthy rulers sought a simpler life because they felt bored by their many possessions.

• C. Americans lack emotional connections to their possessions.

• D. People are never satisfied with just meeting their needs.

• E.It’s wasteful to have more stuff than you need.

Which statement best describes the use of the word “appetite” in this text.

• A. Americans want to eat more healthy foods.

• B. Americans desire for new items and consumer products.

• C. Americans want to conserve money in case of emergency.

• D. Eating fast food leads to health problems.

Which is the central idea of lines 65-74?

• A. Spending money on things is a way to increase wealth and prosperity.

• B. A high standard of living can’t last for Americans and the rest of the planet.

• C. Inexpensive goods give low-wage workers new opportunities.

• D. Super-store shoppers are taking over the planet.

Which is the best summary of the "serious questions” in lines 65-78?

• A. The serious questions have to do with those that disagree with the massive deficit that the U.S. runs with other countries.

• B. The serious questions have to do with the U.S. appetite for inexpensive goods from overseas exploiting low-wage workers.

• C. The serious questions have to do with the negative effects of Americans’ desire to consume the continuation of the U.S. trade deficit because imported, low-priced goods.

• D. The serious questions have to do with lack of resources in the world and how it isn’t enough clean air and water to sustain the U.S. lavish lifestyle.

What does the word acquire mean as it is used in the following sentence?

We go to a super store to acquire things that prove our own power. It is a place where people really do get to choose.

• A. Sell

• B. Transfer

• C. Buy

• D. Observe

According to Hine, why do Simon Patten's ideas about a high standard of living make people uneasy?

• A. They promote waste and misuse of resources.

• B. They were revolutionary for their time.

• C. They are obstacles to progress.

• D. They are too abstract for most people to understand.

Which two statements best express Thomas Hine's main idea in this essay?

• A. As people have acquired more possessions, they have become less attached to the objects they own.

• B. Wanting and owning many objects is considered a high standard of living.

• C. Thomas Hine feels like a mindless consumer when he shops in superstores.

• D. Ironically, the more objects people own, the more they are driven to acquire more possessions.

• E. In the past, people used to own very few possessions and had very little desire to acquire more.

What does the word deficit mean as it is used in the following?

Can the massive deficit that the United States runs with other countries, which is driven by our hunger for ever more low-priced goods, be sustained indefinitely?

• A. Abundance

• B. Plenitude

• C. Surplus

• D. Shortage

What does the word entranced mean as it is used in the following sentence?

Now, as I move, mildly entranced, behind my cart at a super store, grabbing items I feel for a moment that I need, I am assumed to be increasing the prosperity not merely of my own country, but of the entire world.

• A. Bewitched

• B. Tired

• C. Distracted

• D. Repulsed

What does the word inexpensive mean as it is used in the following sentence?

Does our appetite for inexpensive goods from overseas exploit the low-wage workers who make them, or does it give them new opportunities?

• A. Cost a lot of money

• B. Affordable

• C. Lack experience

• D. Overpriced