Revising Central Ideas

According to the following text, what is mainly the significance of Barbara Jordan being chosen as a keynote speaker (paragraphs 2-4)?

But there is something different about tonight. There is something special about tonight. What is different? What is special?

I, Barbara Jordan, am a keynote speaker.

A lot of years passed since 1832, and during that time it would have been most unusual for any national political party to ask a Barbara Jordan to deliver a keynote address. But tonight, here I am. And I feel that notwithstanding the past that my presence here is one additional bit of evidence that the American Dream need not forever be deferred.

• She dislikes giving speeches.

• She is emphasizing that she could never have spoken at the Republican National Convention.

• She plans on running for President.

• She is acknowledging the significance of an African-American woman giving a keynote address at a national convention.

Which of these inferences is best supported by the following passage (paragraphs 7-8)?

But this is the great danger America faces—that we will cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: city against suburb, region against region, individual against individual; each seeking to satisfy private wants. If that happens, who then will speak for America? Who then will speak for the common good?

This is the question which must be answered in 1976: Are we to be one people bound together by common spirit, sharing in a common endeavor; or will we become a divided nation?

• She is concerned Americans will become too divided to work together.

• She thinks America is too troubled to save.

• She feels only Democrats can solve America’s problems.

• She wants each region to become its own country.

Which of the following best summarizes Jordan’s remarks about “public servants” (paragraph 13)?

And now, what are those of us who are elected public officials supposed to do? We call ourselves “public servants” but I’ll tell you this: We as public servants must set an example for the rest of the nation. It is hypocritical for the public official to admonish and exhort the people to uphold the common good if we are derelict in upholding the common good. More is required of public officials than slogans and handshakes and press releases. More is required. We must hold ourselves strictly accountable. We must provide the people with a vision of the future.

• She is identifying herself as a citizen and not as an elected official.

• She is bragging about her record as evidence of her trustworthiness.

• She is telling the public they must be smarter than politicians.

• She is telling politicians to lead by example and be more responsible.

Why might Barbara Jordan quote both Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln in her speech?

• She thinks Jefferson and Lincoln are unintelligent.

• She uses their quotes to help support the message of unity and harmony.

• She wishes to emphasize the dark history of slavery.

• She wants to prove she is smarter than the audience.

What is most likely a central idea of Barbara Jordan’s speech?

• Democracy was a terrible idea.

• The public needs to set an example for elected officials, not the other way around.

• It is up to the American people to decide what they collectively want, and work together toward those goals.

• The country is too divided to work together, so we should re-start the Civil War.

Which sentence from the text most strongly supports the correct answer to Question 5 (It is up to the American people to decide what they collectively want, and work together toward those goals)?

• “We cannot improve on the system of government handed down to us by the founders of the Republic.”

• “This is the question which must be answered in 1976: Are we to be one people bound together by common spirit, sharing in a common endeavor; or will we become a divided nation?”

• “If we promise as public officials, we must deliver.”

• “There is something special about tonight. What is different? What is special?”

Which of these inferences about the “common endeavor” is best supported by the text?

• It states that democracy will never work.

• It proves unity is a silly goal.

• It is only possible now because we have arrived in a world where she can be a keynote speaker.

• If the people come together, they can be more powerful than any individual candidate.

Which sentence from the text most strongly supports the correct answer to Question 7 (If the people come together, they can be more powerful than any individual candidate)?

• “And I feel that notwithstanding the past that my presence here is one additional bit of evidence that the American Dream need not forever be deferred.”

• “This we must do as individuals, and if we do it as individuals, there is no President of the United States who can veto that decision.”

• “A nation is formed by the willingness of each of us to share in the responsibility for upholding the common good.”

• “We are a people trying not only to solve the problems of the present, unemployment, inflation, but we are attempting on a larger scale to fulfill the promise of America.”