Bessie Coleman

What does the author believe is most important about Bessie Coleman?

• She was the first African-American female pilot.

• She influenced and inspired other African-American aviators.

• She proved that poor education does not prevent success.

• She fought European prejudice against African Americans.

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CCSS.RI. 9-10.6

CCSS.RI.11-12.6

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Which statement best explains why Bessie Coleman went to Europe?

• She wanted to learn to fly the French Nieuport Type 82 biplane.

• She had met one of the world’s top aircraft designers, who was German.

• The text states that Coleman “decided to take her dream abroad” after “countless rejections” from U.S. flight schools.

• She wanted to prove to her brother that French women were no better than American women.

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What can the reader mainly infer about Coleman from the following passage (paragraph 15)?

Coleman's funeral in Jacksonville on May 2, 1926, was attended by more than 5,000 mourners, many who were prominent members of black society. Three days later her body arrived in Orlando, Fla., where thousands more attended a funeral at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church. Her final journey took her back to Chicago, where more than 10,000 people filed past her coffin to pay final respects before her burial in the Lincoln Cemetery.

• She lessened discrimination against African Americans.

• She had always craved attention.

• She was widely popular in America.

• She was practically unknown in her homeland.

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Which sentence best summarizes the following passage (paragraph 18)?

In the years following her death, Bessie Coleman aero clubs would spring up throughout the country and, on Labor Day in 1931, these clubs sponsored the first all-African-American Air Show, attracting more than 15,000 spectators. That same year, a group of African-American pilots established a fly-over of her gravesite, and her name began appearing on buildings in the Harlem area of New York City.

• The African-American community honored Coleman in many ways after her death.

• White and black Americans respected Coleman to the same degree.

• People began to lose interest in Coleman after her death.

• Coleman was the best female pilot to ever fly.

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CCSS.RL.9-10.2

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Which inference about Coleman is best supported by the passage below (paragraphs 10-11)?

In February of 1922, Coleman appeared in her first American airshow, an event honoring veterans of the all black 369th Infantry Regiment of World War I. The show, held at Curtiss Field on Long Island, N.Y., billed Coleman as "the world's greatest woman flier," and featured aerial displays by some of America's top ace pilots of the first world war.
Soon after her New York performance, she returned to Chicago where she dazzled huge crowds with daredevil maneuvers that included figure eights, loops and near-ground dips at the Checkerboard Airdrome, now Midway Airport.

• She loved the excitement of traveling.

• She was a very skillful pilot.

• She was a better pilot than some ace pilots of World War I.

• She was not treated as she deserved in America.

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Which passage from the text best supports the correct answer to Question 5?

• “Coleman left Texas when she turned 18 and headed slightly north to Oklahoma, where she enrolled in the Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University in Langston.”

• . “With support from Chicago Defender publisher Robert Abbott and a local banker, Coleman took a crash course in French from the Berlitz language school and headed to Paris in late 1920.”

• “In February of 1922, Coleman appeared in her first American airshow, an event honoring veterans of the all black 369th Infantry Regiment of World War I.”

• “Soon after her New York performance, she returned to Chicago, where she dazzled huge crowds with daredevil maneuvers that included figure eights, loops and near-ground dips at the Checkerboard Airdrome, now Midway Airport.”

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Which inference about Coleman’s death is best supported by the passage below (paragraphs 13-14)?

On April 30, 1926, Coleman was in Jacksonville, Fla., preparing to fly in an airshow there using a newly purchased Curtiss biplane, despite safety concerns from family and friends. With her mechanic and publicity agent, William Wills, flying the plane, Coleman was in the other seat scouting the terrain for a parachute jump the next day—with her seatbelt unfastened.
About 10 minutes into the flight, the plane began to spin rather than pull out of an intended dive. Coleman was thrown from the plane from a height of about 500 feet and died instantly upon impact. Unable to gain control, Wills also plummeted to the ground and died on impact. It was later discovered in the wreckage that a wrench had slid into the gearbox, causing it to jam.

• Coleman died bravely while performing.

• William Wills’s lack of flying experience caused Coleman’s death.

• Coleman was likely not concerned enough about her safety.

• Coleman’s plane had many defects that made it crash.

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Which passage from the text best supports the correct answer to Question 7?

• “Coleman was in the other seat scouting the terrain for a parachute jump the next day—with her seatbelt unfastened.”

• “About 10 minutes into the flight, the plane began to spin rather than pull out of an intended dive.”

• “Coleman was thrown from the plane from a height of about 500 feet and died instantly upon impact.”

• “It was later discovered in the wreckage that a wrench had slid into the gearbox, causing it to jam.”

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Which meaning of media most closely matches its meaning in the following excerpt (paragraph 9)?

Coleman's return to the U.S. caused a media sensation and catapulted her to stardom as one of the country's top stunt pilots. Over the next five years, "Queen Bess," as she was known, flew the Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" biplanes to stunt shows across the country.

• | noun | material an artist uses to create with, such as oil paint or bronze

• | noun | material in which something is grown artificially

• | adjective | relating to channels of mass communication, such as newspapers and television

• | adjective | relating to data storage devices such as CDs, DVDs, and disk drives

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