A Very Messy Tea Party - Comprehension Questions

What did the British government and the East India Company agree on in a deal made in the early 1700s?

• The East India Company would lower the price of tea in Britain and its colonies.

• The East India Company would standardize the price of tea in Britain and its colonies.

• Only the East India Company was allowed to sell tea in Britain and its colonies.

• Britain would not tax the East India Company on tea sold in Britain and its colonies.

One of the main causes of the high price of tea in the American colonies was the monopoly held by the East India Company. What was the effect?

• The East India Company sold more tea.

• The British started buying less tea.

• The East India Company grew less tea.

• Colonists bought tea from Dutch smugglers.

The colonists' major issue with the Townshend Acts was not the higher cost of tea. What evidence from the passage best supports this conclusion?

• A. Colonists had to spend more money on other goods such as paper.

• B. Colonists still would not buy British tea after the price was lowered.

• C. Colonists dumped 342 chests of British tea into the Boston Harbor.

• D. Colonists did not have representation in the British Parliament.

Why did Parliament pass the Tea Act of 1773?

• to try to get the colonists to buy British tea again

• to raise the profits the British government made on tea taxes

• to give the East India Company a monopoly on tea

• to allow the East India Company to sell tea in the colonies

What is this passage mostly about?

• why the British love high-quality tea

• the beginning of the Revolutionary War

• the development of the East India Company

• the lead-up to the Boston Tea Party

As used in the passage, what does "assured" mean?

• A. dangerous

• B. guaranteed

• C. popular

• D. unlikely

Choose the answer that best completes the sentence below. (a)   the East India Company was able to charge high prices for tea, it was losing hundreds of thousands of pounds per year by the 1760s.

• Even though

• Ultimately

• For instance

• In the end

What did the Townshend Acts do?

• Imposed taxes on paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea imported into the colonies

• Abolished the Stamp Act

• Established the first Continental Congress

• Granted independence to the American colonies

The colonists thought that taxation by the British was unfair because:

• they had representation in the British Parliament.

• they were taxed without their consent.

• the taxes were lower than expected.

• they wanted to pay more taxes.

The colonists were not pacified by the discounted cost of tea after the Tea Act of 1773 because:

• They wanted complete independence from British rule.

• They were concerned about the monopoly of the British East India Company.

• They were not interested in tea.

• They preferred coffee over tea.