American Government - The Branches of Government: A Closer Look

1. What is the number of representatives a state has in Congress based on?

• a. the number of senators the state has in Congress

• b. the state's population

• c. the state's number of square miles

• d. the state's number of cities

2. What are the three branches of government described in the passage?

• a. congressional, executive, judicial

• b. congressional, executive, legislative

• c. executive, judicial, legislative

• d. judicial, legislative, professional

3. Which of the following details is LEAST important to an understanding of the three branches of government?

• a. the highest court in the nation is the United States Supreme Court

• b. the president is elected to serve for four years

• c. each state has two senators

• d. New York has 27 representatives

4. Read the following sentence: "These three branches divide the work of creating, interpreting, and enforcing the laws of the United States."

In this sentence, the word enforcing means

• a. getting rid of laws

• b. make sure laws are followed

• c. creating laws

• d. ruling a country

5. What is the passage mainly about?

• a. the origins of the three branches of American government

• b. the importance of the separation of powers in government

• c. the roles of the three branches of American government

• d. What is the U.S. Supreme Court's most important role

6. What is the U.S. Court's most important role?

7. What does it mean for a law to be unconstitutional? Use evidence from the passage to support your answer.

8. Choose the word that best completes the sentence.

Senators serve six-year terms, _____ representatives serve two-year terms.

• a. so

• b. while

• c. after

• d. which