Hidden Figures Review

The organization of paragraphs 1 through 8 contributes to the author’s main idea by —

• highlighting special achievements

• explaining what computing is

• providing background information

• focusing on different employees

This helped the engineers to test airplane parts as well as whole aircraft, examining them for any problems, like air disturbance and uneven wing geometry. What does disturbance mean?

• an interruption of flow

• an altering of order or position

• an upset natural balance

• a destruction of tranquility

Which is the best prediction about what might be included in the “Victory through Air Power!” section?

• Examples of the advances of black female mathematicians

• Concluding remarks about the inclusion of black women in scientific fields

• Scientific explanation of how airplanes work

• Background on the production of airplanes during World War II

After reading the WANTED: Female Mathematicians section of the text, the reader can predict that —

• the lab will continue to include women in its workforce

• after the war ends the need for computers will end and the women will be fired

• segregation of white and black employees will continue despite changes in society

• black female computers will completely replace white female computers within a few decades

Which detail from the selection best supports the idea that President Roosevelt gave the NACA a unique and important mission to develop the best airplanes?

• African American women could be computers.

• Women were classified as “subprofessionals.”

• Women had been working at Langley since 1937.

• African American women were assigned to work in areas separate from others.

Read paragraph 15. Which word best describes the working conditions at Langley Laboratories?

• Segregated

• Sexist

• Crowded

• Nondiscriminatory

Which is the best description of the author’s organizational structure?

• She describes the job of a computer at Langley and then other jobs available at the facility.

• She discusses how women and African Americans could not work at Langley during different decades

• She presents a history of America’s efforts to build an air force and then how women helped in this.

• She jumps back and forth in time to explain events first and then provide historical background.

The purpose of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) during World War II was to —

• train mathematicians

• provide jobs for women

• mass produce airplanes to be used in war

• help the airline industry develop good airplanes

Female mathematicians had worked at Langley since

• it began its operations in 1917

• 1935, a few years before the start of World War II

• the beginning of World War II

• just after World War II

Which idea is most important in the selection?

• The U.S. needed good aircraft in World War II.

• The first female mathematicians at Langley were white.

• President Franklin Roosevelt believed in air power.

• African American women were successful mathematicians at Langley.