Mother Jones Studysync

What does the author say was Mother Jones’s greatest ability?

• A. Raising money for her planned march

• B. Speaking to audiences about her cause

• C. Making friends with powerful businessmen

• D. Convincing children to fight for their rights

What is most likely the author’s purpose for including paragraph 4 in the excerpt?

Nationwide, eighty thousand children worked in the textile industry. In the South, Mother Jones had seen how dangerous their jobs were. Barefooted little girls and boys reached their tiny hands into the treacherous machinery to repair snapped threads or crawled underneath the machinery to oil it. At textile union headquarters, Mother Jones met more of these mill children. Their bodies were bone-thin, with hollow chests. Their shoulders were rounded from long hours spent hunched over the workbenches. Even worse, she saw “some with their hands off, some with the thumb missing, some with their fingers off at the knuckles”—victims of mill accidents.

• A. To point out how skilled the children were at the jobs they held in the factories

• B. To emphasize the poor pay that the children received for the hours they worked

• C. To encourage children to be more careful when working with powerful machinery

• D. To show the effect that factory jobs had on the health and wellness of child workers

Which sentence from the excerpt most closely shows Mother Jones’s effort to obtain sympathy for child workers?

• A. “‘Well, I’ve got stock in these little children,’ she said, ‘and I’ll arrange a little publicity.’”

• B. “‘Philadelphia’s mansions were built on the broken bones, the quivering hearts, and drooping heads of these children,’ she said.”

• C. “‘Some day the workers will take possession of your city hall, and when we do, no child will be sacrificed on the altar of profit.’”

• D. “‘Here’s a textbook on economics.’”

According to information from the excerpt, which inference can be best made about President Theodore Roosevelt?

• A. He thinks Mother Jones should run for an official office so she will have a platform to influence change in the textile industry.

• B. He considers the concerns of business owners of the factories more valid than the concerns of child workers.

• C. He encourages Mother Jones to march even though he must hide his support for her from his voters.

• D. He believes the power to resolve child labor resides with states rather than the federal government.

From the author’s point of view, was Mother Jones’s march most likely a success or a failure?

• A. A success because she brought national attention to unsafe child labor conditions in factories

• B. A failure because President Theodore Roosevelt refused to meet with her and the children

• C. A success because she was able to persuade the federal government to pass an immediate law against child labor

• D. A failure because there were only three children that continued to the final destination of the march

Which sentence from the excerpt most strongly supports the answer to Question 5?

• A. “The president would not see them.”

• B. “In early August, Mother Jones finally took the last three children home.”

• C. “Though she did not meet with the president, Mother Jones had drawn the attention of the nation to the problem of child labor.”

• D. “The federal government finally passed a child labor law (part of the Fair Labor Standards Act) in 1938—thirty-five years after the march of the mill children.”

How did Mother Jones best draw a connection between the children who work in the factories and the people that live in the cities, according to the excerpt?

• A. She explains there are laws that can charge a fee to people in the community when children are injured in factory jobs.

• B. She writes a public letter to the president to remind him that the children who work in the factories are just like his children.

• C. She explains how the possessions that people enjoy are made in factories by children who work long hours under poor conditions.

• D. She explains that the federal government can force any child to work in a factory whether the child is from a poor or wealthy family.

What is the definition of the word "dormitory"?

• very damaged or destroyed; crippled

• attention that is given to someone or something by the public, media attention or coverage

• the condition of being wealthy

• a large room where many people can sleep

What is the definition of the word "treacherous"?

• attention that is given to someone or something by the public, media attention or coverage

• untrustworthy; dangerous

• the condition of being wealthy

• very damaged or destroyed; crippled