America's Constitution: A Biography

Which of the following is the best example of a conclave?

• Colleagues meet in the conference room for a policy discussion.
• Friends meet at a train station before boarding the train together.
• Students gather in groups to practice for a debate competition.
• Tourists gather outside a museum waiting to take a guided tour.

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CCSS.SL.11-12.1

What is the most likely meaning of eminent in the following sentence? Napoleon quickly became the most EMINENT miliatry leader of his era.

• respected, admired
• noble, aristocratic
• fortunate, wealthy
• sneaky, clever

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CCSS.L.11-12.4

CCSS.L.11-12.4A

CCSS.L.11-12.5

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

If a family vacation is planned in a populist manner, which of the following must be true? Base your answer on the meaning of populist.

• Each person gets an equal say in the vacation planning.
• Each person contributes money toward the vacation fund.
• One person decides where the family will go on the vacation.
• One person takes responsibility for planning vacation activities.

Which sentence from America’s Constitution: A Biography best supports the idea that the Preamble to the Constitution emphasizes that the citizens have decided how they will be ruled?

• Ordinary citizens would govern themselves … under rules that the populace would ratify and could revise.
• No one could be certain how the American people would ultimately respond to the competing appeals.
• In many states, sitting legislatures … revised constitutions … sometimes without even waiting for new elections that might have given their constituents more say.…
• This Constitution had never been … voted on by the British people or even by Parliament.

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CCSS.RI.11-12.1

CCSS.RI.11-12.9

Which sentence from America’s Constitution: A Biography best supports the idea that the crucial difference between ancient governments and the American government is that ancient democracies did not ask citizens to design a government?

• Before the American Revolution, no people had ever explicitly voted on their own written constitution.
• The vaunted English Constitution … was an imprecise hodgepodge of institutions, enactments, cases, usages, maxims, procedures, and principles...
• With the word fiat, Wilson gently called to mind the opening lines of Genesis.
• … [N]ew state governments began to take shape, filling the void created by the ouster of George III.

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CCSS.RI.11-12.1

In America’s Constitution: A Biography, the author says that during the Revolutionary War, while the individual states were writing their constitutions, “conditions often made it impossible to achieve inclusive deliberation or scrupulous tabulation.” Which of the following is the best paraphrase of this statement?

• With the new nation under military attack, state governments were unable to hold debates on new laws or count votes accurately.
• With the new nation under military attack, state governments were unable to write, debate, or vote on new constitutions.
• With the new nation under military attack, state legislatures decided not to let the people debate or vote on the new laws.
• With the new nation under military attack, state legislatures were extra-careful to hold debates and ensure access to polling places.

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CCSS.RI.11-12.1

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

In America’s Constitution: A Biography, the author states the following: Like the phrases “I do” in an exchange of wedding vows and “I accept” in a contract, the Preamble’s words actually performed the very thing they described. What is the main effect of the author’s use of analogy in describing the Preamble?

• The analogy helps readers understand that the Preamble was both a statement of intention and a binding document.
• The analogy helps readers keep track of the chronological order of events.
• The analogy helps readers recognize that the Preamble offers a solution to a problem.
• The analogy helps readers remember that the Preamble can be easily summarized by restating it as a main idea.

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CCSS.L.11-12.5

CCSS.RI.11-12.4

CCSS.RI.11-12.9

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

Which of the following excerpts from America’s Constitution: A Biography is the clearest example of an analogy?

• As the ultimate sovereign of all had once made man in his own image, so now the temporal sovereign of America, the people themselves, would make a constitution in their own image.
• Prior to 1787, only two states, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, had ever brought proposed state constitutions before the people to be voted up or down in some special way.
• Even England featured a limited monarchy and an entrenched aristocracy alongside a House of Commons that rested on a restricted and uneven electoral base.
• Many patriots saw Crown loyalists in their midst not as fellow citizens free to vote their honest judgment with impunity, but rather as traitors deserving tar and feathers, or worse.

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CCSS.L.11-12.5

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

The word pragmatist comes from the Latin root word pragmaticus, meaning “busy, active, practical.” Use this information as well as your knowledge of the suffix -ist to choose the correct definition of pragmatist.

• a person who believes in practical action
• a practical, useful activity
• a practical, useful system
• the quality of practicality and usefulness

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CCSS.L.11-12.4

CCSS.L.11-12.4A

The word anarchist comes from the Greek root word anarkhos, meaning “without a ruler.” Choose the person who most clearly could be defined as an anarchist. Base your answer on your knowledge of the suffix -ist.

• Midori thought that all organized government was unnecessary.
• Ben knew that he could graduate with honors if he studied hard.
• Luis wished that he had chosen an easier topic for his senior thesis.
• Helga hoped that the candidate of her choice would win the election.