6th STAAR U.S. Currency Has a Rich History and Coins and Change

In paragraph 4 of the article “U.S. Currency Has a Rich History,” the word portrayal means —

• the freedom to choose

• the first instance of something

• a wise saying

• an artistic likeness

In the article “Coins and Change,” the author most likely organizes the section titled “The End of Silver and Gold” by —

• presenting details about the coins from most to least important

• using cause and effect to discuss the conditions that damage coins

• listing a series of scientific facts about the benefits of certain metals

• using contrast to show differences among the coins over time

Based on the information in the article “U.S. Currency Has a Rich History,” the Coinage Act of 1792 was significant because it —

• created a national system of money, along with ways to produce and regulate it

• made it very easy to buy and sell items anywhere in the United States

• made it illegal to use foreign money within the United States

• allowed banks to produce a special ink, protecting currency from counterfeiters

In the article “U.S. Currency Has a Rich History,” which statement best explains the organizational pattern used in paragraphs 8 and 9?

• The problem of preventing counterfeiters was solved by using a special ink which has influenced the appearance of American currency ever since.

• The color of the original American bills is compared to the color of modern currency to emphasize their similarities and differences over time.

• The process followed to design and publish American currency is explained along with a description of how that process changed.

• The classification of ink properties is used to show how changing needs for American currency resulted in differences in appearance.

Which sentence from the article “U.S. Currency Has a Rich History” supports the idea that only certain people have the authority to make changes to money?

• The bills were also called “greenbacks,” a name Civil War soldiers came up with. (paragraph 8)

• Throughout history, paper bills have been redesigned primarily to protect them. (paragraph 11)

• Because our currency was such a complicated system, there is plenty of history behind it. (paragraph 12)

• The decision to flip it came from the highest level of government. (paragraph 12)

25 What is the controlling idea of the article “Coins and Change”?

• The first pennies produced in the United States were made of copper

• Some people feel that the United States should stop making pennies.

• Coins have been made from different types of metals over the years

• Silver is too precious and expensive to use when making common coins.

26 Read paragraph 9 of the article “U.S. Currency Has a Rich History.”

“What chemists were looking for was a way to create an ink that could not be erased,” Noll said. “And so one chemist in the 1840s came up with this ink that couldn’t be removed and has a special chemical layer. It happened to be green.”

In the paragraph, which choice does the author of the article “U.S. Currency Has a Rich History” make that the author of the article “Coins and Change” does NOT make?

• The choice to state the fact that currency had specific colors based on the materials used to make it

• The choice to cite historical information about when certain changes were made to currency

• The choice to quote an expert to help explain why currency was made in a certain way

• The choice to include information about why different materials were used to make currency

27 What is SIMILAR about the organizational structures in the articles “U.S. Currency Has a Rich History” and “Coins and Change”?

• They both have problem-and-solution structures describing how the Treasury Department made the currency system less complicated.

• They both have cause-and-effect structures explaining what prompted Congress to come up with paper bill currency.

• They both have compare-and-contrast structures showing the differences between minting coins and printing paper bills.

• They both have chronological structures documenting events relating to changes made to United States currency over time.

28 Which statements express ideas found in BOTH the article “U.S. Currency Has a Rich History” and the article “Coins and Change”?

• The process of making the first coins presented some challenges.

• Permanent ink was used to make dollar bills more secure.

• The Civil War motivated the government to start producing paper money

• Silver and gold were replaced by less expensive materials for creating money.

• Pennies are a bad choice of money because they are too costly to mint.

29 What is the MOST effective way to revise sentence 3?

• It is an enormous, crescent-shaped trench in the Pacific Ocean.

• In the Pacific Ocean it is an enormous, crescent-shaped trench.

• A crescent-shaped trench is in the Pacific Ocean that is enormous.

• It is in the Pacific Ocean, being an enormous, crescent-shaped trench.