ACT Reading Practice Test 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In this passage a Mexican American historian describes a technique she used as part of her research. Doña Teodora offered me yet another cup of strong, black coffee. The aroma of the big, paper-thin Sonoran tortillas filled the small, linoleum-covered kitchen, and I Line knew that with the coffee I would receive a buttered tortilla 5 straight from the round, homemade comal (a flat, earthen- ware cooking pan) balanced on the gas-burning stove. For three days, from ten in the morning until early evening, I had been sitting in the same comfortable wooden chair, taking cup after cup of black coffee and consuming hot 10 tortillas. Doña Teodora was ninety years old, and although she would take occasional breaks from patting, extending, and turning over tortillas to let her cat in or out, it appeared that I was the only one exhausted at the end of the day. But once out, as I went over the notes, filed and organized the 15 tape cassettes, exhilaration would set in. The intellectual and emotional excitement I had previously experienced when a pertinent document would suddenly appear now waned in comparison to the gestures and words, the joy and anger doña Teodora offered. 20 She had not written down her thoughts; but the ideas, recollections, and images evoked by her lively oral expres- sion were jewels for anyone who wanted to know about the life of Mexicanas * in booming mining towns on both sides of the Mexico-United States border in the early twentieth 25 century. She never kept a diary. The thought of writing a memoir would have been put aside as presumptuous. But all her life doña Teodora had lived amidst the telling and retelling of family stories. Genealogies of her own family as well as complete and up-to-date information of the 30 marriages, births, and deaths of numerous families that made up her community were all well-kept memories. These chains of generations were fleshed out with recollec- tions of the many events and tribulations of these families. Oral history had proven to be a fertile field for my research 35 on the history of Mexicanas. My search had begun in libraries and archives—reposi- tories of conventional history. The available sources were to be found in census reports, church records, directories, and other such statistical information. These, however, as 40 important as they are, cannot provide one of the essential dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human experience that defies quantification and classification. In certain social groups this gap can be filled with diaries, memoirs, letters, or even reports from others. In the case of 45 Mexicanas in the United States, one of the many devastating consequences of defeat and conquest has been that the traditional institutions that preserve and transfer culture (the documentation of the past) have ignored these personal written sources. The letters, writings, and documents of 50 Mexican people have rarely, if ever, been included in archives, special collections, or libraries. At best, some centers have attempted to collect newspapers published by Mexicans, but the effort was started late. The historian who tries to reconstruct the past from newspapers is constantly 55 frustrated because, although titles abound, collections are scarce and often incomplete. Although many hours of previous study and preparation had taken me to doña Teodora's kitchen, I was initially unsure of my place. Was I really an insider or were the 60 experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana, I was still an outsider? I realized, nonetheless, that the richness and depth of the spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models 65 of the social sciences. Mexican history challenges social- science models derived solely from victorious imperialistic experiences. Our history cannot be written without new sources. These sources will determine which concepts are needed to 70 illuminate and interpret the past, and these concepts will emerge from the people themselves. This will permit the description of events and structures to assume a culturally relevant perspective, thus emphasizing the point of view of the Mexican people. The use of theoretical constructs must 75 follow the voices of the people who live the reality, con- sciously or not. For too long the experiences of women have been studied according to male-oriented sources and constructs. These must be questioned. For the history of Mexican people, the sources primarily exist in our own 80 worlds. And it is here where we must begin. I often found that as the memory awakened, other sources would emerge. Boxes of letters, photographs, and even manuscripts and diaries would appear. Long-standing assumptions of illiteracy were shattered and had to be reexamined. I saw 85 that constant reevaluation became the rule rather than the exception. I entered women's worlds created on the margin —not only of Anglo life, but of, and outside of, the lives of their own fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or priests, bosses, and bureaucrats. The author's comments in the third paragraph (lines 36-56) suggest that her research project resembles more conventional research in its
- attention to the details of everyday life in certain communities
- use of written public materials as a starting point (Correct answer)
- adoption of family memories of past events as data
- reliance on church and state records to test new theories
- assumption that conventional sources are accurate but incomplete
Correct answer: use of written public materials as a starting point
The third paragraph explicitly states, 'My search had begun in libraries and archives—repositories of conventional history.' It then lists 'census reports, church records, directories, and other such statistical information' as the initial 'available sources.' This indicates that, like conventional research, her project started by consulting established written public records, even if she later found them insufficient for her full narrative.
Question 2: In this passage a Mexican American historian describes a technique she used as part of her research. Doña Teodora offered me yet another cup of strong, black coffee. The aroma of the big, paper-thin Sonoran tortillas filled the small, linoleum-covered kitchen, and I Line knew that with the coffee I would receive a buttered tortilla 5 straight from the round, homemade comal (a flat, earthen- ware cooking pan) balanced on the gas-burning stove. For three days, from ten in the morning until early evening, I had been sitting in the same comfortable wooden chair, taking cup after cup of black coffee and consuming hot 10 tortillas. Doña Teodora was ninety years old, and although she would take occasional breaks from patting, extending, and turning over tortillas to let her cat in or out, it appeared that I was the only one exhausted at the end of the day. But once out, as I went over the notes, filed and organized the 15 tape cassettes, exhilaration would set in. The intellectual and emotional excitement I had previously experienced when a pertinent document would suddenly appear now waned in comparison to the gestures and words, the joy and anger doña Teodora offered. 20 She had not written down her thoughts; but the ideas, recollections, and images evoked by her lively oral expres- sion were jewels for anyone who wanted to know about the life of Mexicanas * in booming mining towns on both sides of the Mexico-United States border in the early twentieth 25 century. She never kept a diary. The thought of writing a memoir would have been put aside as presumptuous. But all her life doña Teodora had lived amidst the telling and retelling of family stories. Genealogies of her own family as well as complete and up-to-date information of the 30 marriages, births, and deaths of numerous families that made up her community were all well-kept memories. These chains of generations were fleshed out with recollec- tions of the many events and tribulations of these families. Oral history had proven to be a fertile field for my research 35 on the history of Mexicanas. My search had begun in libraries and archives—reposi- tories of conventional history. The available sources were to be found in census reports, church records, directories, and other such statistical information. These, however, as 40 important as they are, cannot provide one of the essential dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human experience that defies quantification and classification. In certain social groups this gap can be filled with diaries, memoirs, letters, or even reports from others. In the case of 45 Mexicanas in the United States, one of the many devastating consequences of defeat and conquest has been that the traditional institutions that preserve and transfer culture (the documentation of the past) have ignored these personal written sources. The letters, writings, and documents of 50 Mexican people have rarely, if ever, been included in archives, special collections, or libraries. At best, some centers have attempted to collect newspapers published by Mexicans, but the effort was started late. The historian who tries to reconstruct the past from newspapers is constantly 55 frustrated because, although titles abound, collections are scarce and often incomplete. Although many hours of previous study and preparation had taken me to doña Teodora's kitchen, I was initially unsure of my place. Was I really an insider or were the 60 experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana, I was still an outsider? I realized, nonetheless, that the richness and depth of the spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models 65 of the social sciences. Mexican history challenges social- science models derived solely from victorious imperialistic experiences. Our history cannot be written without new sources. These sources will determine which concepts are needed to 70 illuminate and interpret the past, and these concepts will emerge from the people themselves. This will permit the description of events and structures to assume a culturally relevant perspective, thus emphasizing the point of view of the Mexican people. The use of theoretical constructs must 75 follow the voices of the people who live the reality, con- sciously or not. For too long the experiences of women have been studied according to male-oriented sources and constructs. These must be questioned. For the history of Mexican people, the sources primarily exist in our own 80 worlds. And it is here where we must begin. I often found that as the memory awakened, other sources would emerge. Boxes of letters, photographs, and even manuscripts and diaries would appear. Long-standing assumptions of illiteracy were shattered and had to be reexamined. I saw 85 that constant reevaluation became the rule rather than the exception. I entered women's worlds created on the margin —not only of Anglo life, but of, and outside of, the lives of their own fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or priests, bosses, and bureaucrats. In what sense are "census reports, church records, directories" (line 38) inadequate?
- They place too great a reliance on political factors.
- They blur the distinction between the political and the religious realm.
- They are not of sufficient accuracy to be of use to historians.
- They do not tell the human side of the story. (Correct answer)
- They are often too difficult to obtain.
Correct answer: They do not tell the human side of the story.
The author explicitly states that conventional sources like 'census reports, church records, directories' 'cannot provide one of the essential dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human experience that defies quantification and classification.' This means these sources lack the personal, qualitative details and subjective experiences that truly tell the 'human side of the story,' focusing instead on quantifiable data.
Question 3: In this passage a Mexican American historian describes a technique she used as part of her research. Doña Teodora offered me yet another cup of strong, black coffee. The aroma of the big, paper-thin Sonoran tortillas filled the small, linoleum-covered kitchen, and I Line knew that with the coffee I would receive a buttered tortilla 5 straight from the round, homemade comal (a flat, earthen- ware cooking pan) balanced on the gas-burning stove. For three days, from ten in the morning until early evening, I had been sitting in the same comfortable wooden chair, taking cup after cup of black coffee and consuming hot 10 tortillas. Doña Teodora was ninety years old, and although she would take occasional breaks from patting, extending, and turning over tortillas to let her cat in or out, it appeared that I was the only one exhausted at the end of the day. But once out, as I went over the notes, filed and organized the 15 tape cassettes, exhilaration would set in. The intellectual and emotional excitement I had previously experienced when a pertinent document would suddenly appear now waned in comparison to the gestures and words, the joy and anger doña Teodora offered. 20 She had not written down her thoughts; but the ideas, recollections, and images evoked by her lively oral expres- sion were jewels for anyone who wanted to know about the life of Mexicanas * in booming mining towns on both sides of the Mexico-United States border in the early twentieth 25 century. She never kept a diary. The thought of writing a memoir would have been put aside as presumptuous. But all her life doña Teodora had lived amidst the telling and retelling of family stories. Genealogies of her own family as well as complete and up-to-date information of the 30 marriages, births, and deaths of numerous families that made up her community were all well-kept memories. These chains of generations were fleshed out with recollec- tions of the many events and tribulations of these families. Oral history had proven to be a fertile field for my research 35 on the history of Mexicanas. My search had begun in libraries and archives—reposi- tories of conventional history. The available sources were to be found in census reports, church records, directories, and other such statistical information. These, however, as 40 important as they are, cannot provide one of the essential dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human experience that defies quantification and classification. In certain social groups this gap can be filled with diaries, memoirs, letters, or even reports from others. In the case of 45 Mexicanas in the United States, one of the many devastating consequences of defeat and conquest has been that the traditional institutions that preserve and transfer culture (the documentation of the past) have ignored these personal written sources. The letters, writings, and documents of 50 Mexican people have rarely, if ever, been included in archives, special collections, or libraries. At best, some centers have attempted to collect newspapers published by Mexicans, but the effort was started late. The historian who tries to reconstruct the past from newspapers is constantly 55 frustrated because, although titles abound, collections are scarce and often incomplete. Although many hours of previous study and preparation had taken me to doña Teodora's kitchen, I was initially unsure of my place. Was I really an insider or were the 60 experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana, I was still an outsider? I realized, nonetheless, that the richness and depth of the spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models 65 of the social sciences. Mexican history challenges social- science models derived solely from victorious imperialistic experiences. Our history cannot be written without new sources. These sources will determine which concepts are needed to 70 illuminate and interpret the past, and these concepts will emerge from the people themselves. This will permit the description of events and structures to assume a culturally relevant perspective, thus emphasizing the point of view of the Mexican people. The use of theoretical constructs must 75 follow the voices of the people who live the reality, con- sciously or not. For too long the experiences of women have been studied according to male-oriented sources and constructs. These must be questioned. For the history of Mexican people, the sources primarily exist in our own 80 worlds. And it is here where we must begin. I often found that as the memory awakened, other sources would emerge. Boxes of letters, photographs, and even manuscripts and diaries would appear. Long-standing assumptions of illiteracy were shattered and had to be reexamined. I saw 85 that constant reevaluation became the rule rather than the exception. I entered women's worlds created on the margin —not only of Anglo life, but of, and outside of, the lives of their own fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or priests, bosses, and bureaucrats. The "gap" referred to in line 43 can best be described as the distance between the
- politically motivated view of reality and the personally motivated view of reality
- abundance of concrete facts and the shortage of scholarly interpretation of them
- pictures presented by traditional historical sources and by subjective personal accounts (Correct answer)
- information contained in libraries and the information that has been lost
- story of one person and the history of a nation as a whole
Correct answer: pictures presented by traditional historical sources and by subjective personal accounts
The 'gap' is introduced immediately after the author explains that conventional historical sources 'cannot provide one of the essential dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human experience.' The passage then suggests this gap 'can be filled with diaries, memoirs, letters, or even reports from others,' which are subjective personal accounts. Therefore, the gap represents the missing human narrative that traditional, quantifiable sources fail to capture, contrasting with the richness of personal stories.
Question 4: In this passage a Mexican American historian describes a technique she used as part of her research. Doña Teodora offered me yet another cup of strong, black coffee. The aroma of the big, paper-thin Sonoran tortillas filled the small, linoleum-covered kitchen, and I Line knew that with the coffee I would receive a buttered tortilla 5 straight from the round, homemade comal (a flat, earthen- ware cooking pan) balanced on the gas-burning stove. For three days, from ten in the morning until early evening, I had been sitting in the same comfortable wooden chair, taking cup after cup of black coffee and consuming hot 10 tortillas. Doña Teodora was ninety years old, and although she would take occasional breaks from patting, extending, and turning over tortillas to let her cat in or out, it appeared that I was the only one exhausted at the end of the day. But once out, as I went over the notes, filed and organized the 15 tape cassettes, exhilaration would set in. The intellectual and emotional excitement I had previously experienced when a pertinent document would suddenly appear now waned in comparison to the gestures and words, the joy and anger doña Teodora offered. 20 She had not written down her thoughts; but the ideas, recollections, and images evoked by her lively oral expres- sion were jewels for anyone who wanted to know about the life of Mexicanas * in booming mining towns on both sides of the Mexico-United States border in the early twentieth 25 century. She never kept a diary. The thought of writing a memoir would have been put aside as presumptuous. But all her life doña Teodora had lived amidst the telling and retelling of family stories. Genealogies of her own family as well as complete and up-to-date information of the 30 marriages, births, and deaths of numerous families that made up her community were all well-kept memories. These chains of generations were fleshed out with recollec- tions of the many events and tribulations of these families. Oral history had proven to be a fertile field for my research 35 on the history of Mexicanas. My search had begun in libraries and archives—reposi- tories of conventional history. The available sources were to be found in census reports, church records, directories, and other such statistical information. These, however, as 40 important as they are, cannot provide one of the essential dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human experience that defies quantification and classification. In certain social groups this gap can be filled with diaries, memoirs, letters, or even reports from others. In the case of 45 Mexicanas in the United States, one of the many devastating consequences of defeat and conquest has been that the traditional institutions that preserve and transfer culture (the documentation of the past) have ignored these personal written sources. The letters, writings, and documents of 50 Mexican people have rarely, if ever, been included in archives, special collections, or libraries. At best, some centers have attempted to collect newspapers published by Mexicans, but the effort was started late. The historian who tries to reconstruct the past from newspapers is constantly 55 frustrated because, although titles abound, collections are scarce and often incomplete. Although many hours of previous study and preparation had taken me to doña Teodora's kitchen, I was initially unsure of my place. Was I really an insider or were the 60 experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana, I was still an outsider? I realized, nonetheless, that the richness and depth of the spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models 65 of the social sciences. Mexican history challenges social- science models derived solely from victorious imperialistic experiences. Our history cannot be written without new sources. These sources will determine which concepts are needed to 70 illuminate and interpret the past, and these concepts will emerge from the people themselves. This will permit the description of events and structures to assume a culturally relevant perspective, thus emphasizing the point of view of the Mexican people. The use of theoretical constructs must 75 follow the voices of the people who live the reality, con- sciously or not. For too long the experiences of women have been studied according to male-oriented sources and constructs. These must be questioned. For the history of Mexican people, the sources primarily exist in our own 80 worlds. And it is here where we must begin. I often found that as the memory awakened, other sources would emerge. Boxes of letters, photographs, and even manuscripts and diaries would appear. Long-standing assumptions of illiteracy were shattered and had to be reexamined. I saw 85 that constant reevaluation became the rule rather than the exception. I entered women's worlds created on the margin —not only of Anglo life, but of, and outside of, the lives of their own fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or priests, bosses, and bureaucrats. In line 59, "place" most nearly means
- home
- duty
- role (Correct answer)
- appropriate moment
- geographical location
Correct answer: role
In the context of the author questioning, 'Was I really an insider or were the experiences... such that... I was still an outsider?', 'place' refers to her position or function within the research dynamic. She is pondering her 'role' in relation to her interviewees and the community she is studying, specifically whether she is perceived as an accepted member or an external observer.
Question 5: In this passage a Mexican American historian describes a technique she used as part of her research. Doña Teodora offered me yet another cup of strong, black coffee. The aroma of the big, paper-thin Sonoran tortillas filled the small, linoleum-covered kitchen, and I Line knew that with the coffee I would receive a buttered tortilla 5 straight from the round, homemade comal (a flat, earthen- ware cooking pan) balanced on the gas-burning stove. For three days, from ten in the morning until early evening, I had been sitting in the same comfortable wooden chair, taking cup after cup of black coffee and consuming hot 10 tortillas. Doña Teodora was ninety years old, and although she would take occasional breaks from patting, extending, and turning over tortillas to let her cat in or out, it appeared that I was the only one exhausted at the end of the day. But once out, as I went over the notes, filed and organized the 15 tape cassettes, exhilaration would set in. The intellectual and emotional excitement I had previously experienced when a pertinent document would suddenly appear now waned in comparison to the gestures and words, the joy and anger doña Teodora offered. 20 She had not written down her thoughts; but the ideas, recollections, and images evoked by her lively oral expres- sion were jewels for anyone who wanted to know about the life of Mexicanas * in booming mining towns on both sides of the Mexico-United States border in the early twentieth 25 century. She never kept a diary. The thought of writing a memoir would have been put aside as presumptuous. But all her life doña Teodora had lived amidst the telling and retelling of family stories. Genealogies of her own family as well as complete and up-to-date information of the 30 marriages, births, and deaths of numerous families that made up her community were all well-kept memories. These chains of generations were fleshed out with recollec- tions of the many events and tribulations of these families. Oral history had proven to be a fertile field for my research 35 on the history of Mexicanas. My search had begun in libraries and archives—reposi- tories of conventional history. The available sources were to be found in census reports, church records, directories, and other such statistical information. These, however, as 40 important as they are, cannot provide one of the essential dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human experience that defies quantification and classification. In certain social groups this gap can be filled with diaries, memoirs, letters, or even reports from others. In the case of 45 Mexicanas in the United States, one of the many devastating consequences of defeat and conquest has been that the traditional institutions that preserve and transfer culture (the documentation of the past) have ignored these personal written sources. The letters, writings, and documents of 50 Mexican people have rarely, if ever, been included in archives, special collections, or libraries. At best, some centers have attempted to collect newspapers published by Mexicans, but the effort was started late. The historian who tries to reconstruct the past from newspapers is constantly 55 frustrated because, although titles abound, collections are scarce and often incomplete. Although many hours of previous study and preparation had taken me to doña Teodora's kitchen, I was initially unsure of my place. Was I really an insider or were the 60 experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana, I was still an outsider? I realized, nonetheless, that the richness and depth of the spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models 65 of the social sciences. Mexican history challenges social- science models derived solely from victorious imperialistic experiences. Our history cannot be written without new sources. These sources will determine which concepts are needed to 70 illuminate and interpret the past, and these concepts will emerge from the people themselves. This will permit the description of events and structures to assume a culturally relevant perspective, thus emphasizing the point of view of the Mexican people. The use of theoretical constructs must 75 follow the voices of the people who live the reality, con- sciously or not. For too long the experiences of women have been studied according to male-oriented sources and constructs. These must be questioned. For the history of Mexican people, the sources primarily exist in our own 80 worlds. And it is here where we must begin. I often found that as the memory awakened, other sources would emerge. Boxes of letters, photographs, and even manuscripts and diaries would appear. Long-standing assumptions of illiteracy were shattered and had to be reexamined. I saw 85 that constant reevaluation became the rule rather than the exception. I entered women's worlds created on the margin —not only of Anglo life, but of, and outside of, the lives of their own fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or priests, bosses, and bureaucrats. What is the effect of the question in lines 59-62?
- It suggests that sharing ethnicity and language might not be enough to make one an insider. (Correct answer)
- It eliminates the distinction between insider and outsider.
- It refutes the claim that being an outsider is an important criterion for doing research.
- It suggests that only those with an outsider's perspective can see things objectively.
- It suggests that human sympathy is more important than ethnicity or language.
Correct answer: It suggests that sharing ethnicity and language might not be enough to make one an insider.
The author asks, 'Was I really an insider or were the experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana, I was still an outsider?' The phrase 'although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana' highlights that these shared characteristics were not necessarily sufficient to guarantee an insider status. This suggests that deeper experiential differences might still create a barrier, even with shared ethnicity and language.
Question 6: In this passage a Mexican American historian describes a technique she used as part of her research. Doña Teodora offered me yet another cup of strong, black coffee. The aroma of the big, paper-thin Sonoran tortillas filled the small, linoleum-covered kitchen, and I Line knew that with the coffee I would receive a buttered tortilla 5 straight from the round, homemade comal (a flat, earthen- ware cooking pan) balanced on the gas-burning stove. For three days, from ten in the morning until early evening, I had been sitting in the same comfortable wooden chair, taking cup after cup of black coffee and consuming hot 10 tortillas. Doña Teodora was ninety years old, and although she would take occasional breaks from patting, extending, and turning over tortillas to let her cat in or out, it appeared that I was the only one exhausted at the end of the day. But once out, as I went over the notes, filed and organized the 15 tape cassettes, exhilaration would set in. The intellectual and emotional excitement I had previously experienced when a pertinent document would suddenly appear now waned in comparison to the gestures and words, the joy and anger doña Teodora offered. 20 She had not written down her thoughts; but the ideas, recollections, and images evoked by her lively oral expres- sion were jewels for anyone who wanted to know about the life of Mexicanas * in booming mining towns on both sides of the Mexico-United States border in the early twentieth 25 century. She never kept a diary. The thought of writing a memoir would have been put aside as presumptuous. But all her life doña Teodora had lived amidst the telling and retelling of family stories. Genealogies of her own family as well as complete and up-to-date information of the 30 marriages, births, and deaths of numerous families that made up her community were all well-kept memories. These chains of generations were fleshed out with recollec- tions of the many events and tribulations of these families. Oral history had proven to be a fertile field for my research 35 on the history of Mexicanas. My search had begun in libraries and archives—reposi- tories of conventional history. The available sources were to be found in census reports, church records, directories, and other such statistical information. These, however, as 40 important as they are, cannot provide one of the essential dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human experience that defies quantification and classification. In certain social groups this gap can be filled with diaries, memoirs, letters, or even reports from others. In the case of 45 Mexicanas in the United States, one of the many devastating consequences of defeat and conquest has been that the traditional institutions that preserve and transfer culture (the documentation of the past) have ignored these personal written sources. The letters, writings, and documents of 50 Mexican people have rarely, if ever, been included in archives, special collections, or libraries. At best, some centers have attempted to collect newspapers published by Mexicans, but the effort was started late. The historian who tries to reconstruct the past from newspapers is constantly 55 frustrated because, although titles abound, collections are scarce and often incomplete. Although many hours of previous study and preparation had taken me to doña Teodora's kitchen, I was initially unsure of my place. Was I really an insider or were the 60 experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana, I was still an outsider? I realized, nonetheless, that the richness and depth of the spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models 65 of the social sciences. Mexican history challenges social- science models derived solely from victorious imperialistic experiences. Our history cannot be written without new sources. These sources will determine which concepts are needed to 70 illuminate and interpret the past, and these concepts will emerge from the people themselves. This will permit the description of events and structures to assume a culturally relevant perspective, thus emphasizing the point of view of the Mexican people. The use of theoretical constructs must 75 follow the voices of the people who live the reality, con- sciously or not. For too long the experiences of women have been studied according to male-oriented sources and constructs. These must be questioned. For the history of Mexican people, the sources primarily exist in our own 80 worlds. And it is here where we must begin. I often found that as the memory awakened, other sources would emerge. Boxes of letters, photographs, and even manuscripts and diaries would appear. Long-standing assumptions of illiteracy were shattered and had to be reexamined. I saw 85 that constant reevaluation became the rule rather than the exception. I entered women's worlds created on the margin —not only of Anglo life, but of, and outside of, the lives of their own fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or priests, bosses, and bureaucrats. Which statement most accurately presents the author's sense of the relationship between the "spoken word" (line 64) and the "theories and models of the social sciences" (lines 64-65)?
- Theories and models must come first in order to make sense of the spoken word.
- The spoken word makes general theories and models unnecessary.
- Theories and models cannot account for quantitative data as well as the spoken word can.
- The spoken word is more likely to introduce errors into the historical record than are theories and models.
- The spoken word can yield greater insight than presently accepted theories and models can. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: The spoken word can yield greater insight than presently accepted theories and models can.
The author states that 'the richness and depth of the spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models of the social sciences.' This implies that oral histories offer a more profound understanding that existing academic frameworks may not fully capture. She further emphasizes that new concepts for interpreting history 'will emerge from the people themselves,' indicating the spoken word's superior capacity for generating relevant insights.
Question 7: In this passage a Mexican American historian describes a technique she used as part of her research. Doña Teodora offered me yet another cup of strong, black coffee. The aroma of the big, paper-thin Sonoran tortillas filled the small, linoleum-covered kitchen, and I Line knew that with the coffee I would receive a buttered tortilla 5 straight from the round, homemade comal (a flat, earthen- ware cooking pan) balanced on the gas-burning stove. For three days, from ten in the morning until early evening, I had been sitting in the same comfortable wooden chair, taking cup after cup of black coffee and consuming hot 10 tortillas. Doña Teodora was ninety years old, and although she would take occasional breaks from patting, extending, and turning over tortillas to let her cat in or out, it appeared that I was the only one exhausted at the end of the day. But once out, as I went over the notes, filed and organized the 15 tape cassettes, exhilaration would set in. The intellectual and emotional excitement I had previously experienced when a pertinent document would suddenly appear now waned in comparison to the gestures and words, the joy and anger doña Teodora offered. 20 She had not written down her thoughts; but the ideas, recollections, and images evoked by her lively oral expres- sion were jewels for anyone who wanted to know about the life of Mexicanas * in booming mining towns on both sides of the Mexico-United States border in the early twentieth 25 century. She never kept a diary. The thought of writing a memoir would have been put aside as presumptuous. But all her life doña Teodora had lived amidst the telling and retelling of family stories. Genealogies of her own family as well as complete and up-to-date information of the 30 marriages, births, and deaths of numerous families that made up her community were all well-kept memories. These chains of generations were fleshed out with recollec- tions of the many events and tribulations of these families. Oral history had proven to be a fertile field for my research 35 on the history of Mexicanas. My search had begun in libraries and archives—reposi- tories of conventional history. The available sources were to be found in census reports, church records, directories, and other such statistical information. These, however, as 40 important as they are, cannot provide one of the essential dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human experience that defies quantification and classification. In certain social groups this gap can be filled with diaries, memoirs, letters, or even reports from others. In the case of 45 Mexicanas in the United States, one of the many devastating consequences of defeat and conquest has been that the traditional institutions that preserve and transfer culture (the documentation of the past) have ignored these personal written sources. The letters, writings, and documents of 50 Mexican people have rarely, if ever, been included in archives, special collections, or libraries. At best, some centers have attempted to collect newspapers published by Mexicans, but the effort was started late. The historian who tries to reconstruct the past from newspapers is constantly 55 frustrated because, although titles abound, collections are scarce and often incomplete. Although many hours of previous study and preparation had taken me to doña Teodora's kitchen, I was initially unsure of my place. Was I really an insider or were the 60 experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana, I was still an outsider? I realized, nonetheless, that the richness and depth of the spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models 65 of the social sciences. Mexican history challenges social- science models derived solely from victorious imperialistic experiences. Our history cannot be written without new sources. These sources will determine which concepts are needed to 70 illuminate and interpret the past, and these concepts will emerge from the people themselves. This will permit the description of events and structures to assume a culturally relevant perspective, thus emphasizing the point of view of the Mexican people. The use of theoretical constructs must 75 follow the voices of the people who live the reality, con- sciously or not. For too long the experiences of women have been studied according to male-oriented sources and constructs. These must be questioned. For the history of Mexican people, the sources primarily exist in our own 80 worlds. And it is here where we must begin. I often found that as the memory awakened, other sources would emerge. Boxes of letters, photographs, and even manuscripts and diaries would appear. Long-standing assumptions of illiteracy were shattered and had to be reexamined. I saw 85 that constant reevaluation became the rule rather than the exception. I entered women's worlds created on the margin —not only of Anglo life, but of, and outside of, the lives of their own fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or priests, bosses, and bureaucrats. The author indicates that the "concepts" mentioned in lines 69-70 originate in
- informal records and information provided by ordinary people (Correct answer)
- comments of senior members of a community on the ways the community has functioned
- patterns of social behavior that have been exhibited by previously studied cultures
- personal experiences of historians who have interviewed many people
- systematic categories devised by historians for various types of sources
Correct answer: informal records and information provided by ordinary people
The author explicitly states that 'new sources' are needed and that the 'concepts' to illuminate and interpret the past 'will emerge from the people themselves.' Throughout the passage, she champions oral history and personal accounts from individuals like Doña Teodora as these vital new sources, which are essentially informal records and information provided by ordinary people, rather than academic constructs.
ACT Reading Practice Test 3
In this passage a Mexican American historian describes a technique she used as part of her research.
Doña Teodora offered me yet another cup of strong, black coffee.
The aroma of the big, paper-thin Sonoran tortillas filled the small, linoleum-covered kitchen, and I Line knew that with the coffee I would receive a buttered tortilla 5 straight from the round, homemade comal (a flat, earthen- ware cooking pan) balanced on the gas-burning stove.
For three days, from ten in the morning until early evening, I had been sitting in the same comfortable wooden chair, taking cup after cup of black coffee and consuming hot 10 tortillas.
Doña Teodora was ninety years old, and although she would take occasional breaks from patting, extending, and turning over tortillas to let her cat in or out, it appeared that I was the only one exhausted at the end of the day.
But once out, as I went over the notes, filed and organized the 15 tape cassettes, exhilaration would set in.
The intellectual and emotional excitement I had previously experienced when a pertinent document would suddenly appear now waned in comparison to the gestures and words, the joy and anger doña Teodora offered. 20 She had not written down her thoughts; but the ideas, recollections, and images evoked by her lively oral expres- sion were jewels for anyone who wanted to know about the life of Mexicanas * in booming mining towns on both sides of the Mexico-United States border in the early twentieth 25 century.
She never kept a diary.
The thought of writing a memoir would have been put aside as presumptuous.
But all her life doña Teodora had lived amidst the telling and retelling of family stories.
Genealogies of her own family as well as complete and up-to-date information of the 30 marriages, births, and deaths of numerous families that made up her community were all well-kept memories.
These chains of generations were fleshed out with recollec- tions of the many events and tribulations of these families.
Oral history had proven to be a fertile field for my research 35 on the history of Mexicanas.
My search had begun in libraries and archives—reposi- tories of conventional history.
The available sources were to be found in census reports, church records, directories, and other such statistical information.
These, however, as 40 important as they are, cannot provide one of the essential dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human experience that defies quantification and classification.
In certain social groups this gap can be filled with diaries, memoirs, letters, or even reports from others.
In the case of 45 Mexicanas in the United States, one of the many devastating consequences of defeat and conquest has been that the traditional institutions that preserve and transfer culture (the documentation of the past) have ignored these personal written sources.
The letters, writings, and documents of 50 Mexican people have rarely, if ever, been included in archives, special collections, or libraries.
At best, some centers have attempted to collect newspapers published by Mexicans, but the effort was started late.
The historian who tries to reconstruct the past from newspapers is constantly 55 frustrated because, although titles abound, collections are scarce and often incomplete.
Although many hours of previous study and preparation had taken me to doña Teodora's kitchen, I was initially unsure of my place.
Was I really an insider or were the 60 experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana, I was still an outsider? I realized, nonetheless, that the richness and depth of the spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models 65 of the social sciences.
Mexican history challenges social- science models derived solely from victorious imperialistic experiences.
Our history cannot be written without new sources.
These sources will determine which concepts are needed to 70 illuminate and interpret the past, and these concepts will emerge from the people themselves.
This will permit the description of events and structures to assume a culturally relevant perspective, thus emphasizing the point of view of the Mexican people.
The use of theoretical constructs must 75 follow the voices of the people who live the reality, con- sciously or not.
For too long the experiences of women have been studied according to male-oriented sources and constructs.
These must be questioned.
For the history of Mexican people, the sources primarily exist in our own 80 worlds.
And it is here where we must begin.
I often found that as the memory awakened, other sources would emerge.
Boxes of letters, photographs, and even manuscripts and diaries would appear.
Long-standing assumptions of illiteracy were shattered and had to be reexamined.
I saw 85 that constant reevaluation became the rule rather than the exception.
I entered women's worlds created on the margin —not only of Anglo life, but of, and outside of, the lives of their own fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or priests, bosses, and bureaucrats.
The author's comments in the third paragraph (lines 36-56) suggest that her research project resembles more conventional research in its