prerogatives and independence of the Northern States by enacting such laws as the Fugitive Slave Law. By this law every Northern man was obliged, when properly summoned, to turn out and help apprehend the runaway slave of a Southern man. Northern marshals became slave-catchers, and Northern courts had to contribute to the support and protection of the institution. This was a degradation which the North would not permit any longer than until they could get the power to expunge such laws from the statute books. Prior to the time of these encroach- ments the great majority of the people of the North had no particular quarrel with slavery, so long as they were not forced to have it themselves. But they were not willing to play the role of police for the South in the protection of this particular institution. In the early days of the country, before we had railroads, telegraphs and steamboats—in a word, rapid transit of any sort—the States were each almost a separate nationality. At that time the subject of slavery caused but little or no disturbance to the public mind. But the country grew, rapid transit was established, and trade and commerce between the States got to be so much greater than before, that the power of the National government became more felt and recognized and, therefore, had to be enlisted in the cause of this institution. It is probably well that we had the war when we did. We are better off now than we would have been without it, and have made more rapid progress than we otherwise should have made. The civilized nations of Europe have been stimulated into unusual activity, so that commerce, trade, travel, and thorough acquaintance among people of different nationalities, has become com- mon; whereas, before, it was but the few who had ever had the privilege of going beyond the lim- its of their own country or who knew anything about other people. Then, too, our republican institutions were regarded as experiments up to the breaking out of the rebellion, and monarchi- cal Europe generally believed that our republic was a rope of sand that would part the moment the slightest strain was brought upon it. Now it has shown itself capable of dealing with one of the greatest wars that was ever made, and our people have proven themselves to be the most formi- dable in war of any nationality. But this war was a fearful lesson, and should teach us the necessity of avoiding wars in the future. The conduct of some of the European states during our troubles shows the lack of con- science of communities where the responsibility does not come upon a single individual. Seeing a nation that extended from ocean to ocean, embracing the better part of a continent, growing as we were growing in population, wealth and intelligence, the European nations thought it would be well to give us a check. We might, possibly, after a while, threaten their peace, or, at least, the perpetuity of their institutions. Hence, England was constantly finding fault with the adminis- tration at Washington because we were not able to keep up an effective blockade. She also joined, at first, with France and Spain in setting up an Austrian prince upon the throne in Mexico, totally disregarding any rights or claims that Mexico had of being treated as an independent power. It is true they trumped up grievances as a pretext, but they were only pretexts which can always be found when wanted. – ACT READING TEST PRACTICE– 234 (15) (20) (25) (30) (35) (40) (45) (50) 71. According to the passage, which of the following statements is/are true: I. The North was always against slavery. II. The North was indifferent toward slavery as long as they were not forced to support it. III. The North always supported slavery. a. I only b. II only c. II and III d. III only 72. According to the passage, which factors contributed to the North’s rejection of slavery? I. the introduction of rapid transit II. the legal obligations to support slavery III. their moral obligation to defend what is right f. I and II g. II only h. III only j. II and III 73. Once of the main points the author makes in the first paragraph is: a. slavery must be abolished. b. the entire country must either be for or against slavery. c. the North and the South can never live in peace. d. slavery was an accepted practice. 74. According to the second paragraph, what were the effects of the Fugitive Slave Act? f. It freed the slaves. g. It angered the South h. It forced the North to enforce laws it did not necessarily believe were right. j. It forced the North to fight the South. 75. As it is used in line 19, the word expunge most closely means: a. law. b. holding one against his will. c. powerlessness. d. remove. – ACT READING TEST PRACTICE– 235 76. According to the passage, the South enacted the Fugitive Slave Law because: f. they had too many runaway slaves. g. slavery was important to the livelihood of the North. h. the South was afraid that slavery would be abolished. j. they needed help from the North in keeping slavery alive. 77. According to the second to last paragraph, one of things that changed after the war was: a. slavery was abolished. b. Europeans were exposed to different cultures. c. runaway slaves were captured without the help of the North. d. the North and the South were united. 78. According to the last paragraph, the author believes that the European countries felt: f. threatened by our unified strength. g. slavery was wrong. h. they owed us money. j. betrayed by the United States. 79. The phrase “rope of sand” in line 36, most nearly means: a. weakly connected. b. shackled. c. broken in two. d. tightly bound. 80. The author believes that war: f. should be avoided at all costs. g. is the best way to end disputes. h. can have beneficial results but should be avoided. j. is morally wrong. – ACT READING TEST PRACTICE– 236  Practice Questions Answers and Explanations BABBITT 1. Question type: detail Choice c is correct. The best way to handle this question is to go through the possible answers and eliminate the incorrect ones. The first line states that “there is nothing of the giant” in Babbitt, which eliminates choice d, because he was not tall. Line 9 says he was not fat, but he was “well fed,” which eliminates his being overweight (choice a) or skinny (choice b). 2. Question type: detail Choice h is correct. The passage rattles off a number of occupations that Babbitt does not perform, but lines 5–6 says what he does do: sell houses. 3. Question type: inference Choice a is correct. The reader knows that on this particular day, Babbitt is having a difficult time get- ting out of bed. Does this mean he is lazy? It could, but later we learn that the poker game he went to the night before may have something to do with it. We are never given any indication that Babbitt works hard at his job, but lines 5–6 say he was “nimble in the calling of selling houses for more than people could afford to pay.” In other words, that he was good at his job, not that he worked hard at it. 4. Question type: inference Choice j is correct. This question asks that you infer something about the relationship that Babbitt has with his wife by paying attention to how they interact. We know that they do not openly dislike each other because Babbitt’s wife tries to wake him by cheerfully calling him “Georgie boy.” But in the same line Babbitt refers to this cheerfulness as detestable to him, so we know it is not romantic and passion- ate, but that Babbitt has strong feelings about his wife (thus eliminating choices f and h as possible answers). Line 43 comes the closest to stating Babbitt’s feeling toward his wife (and family), saying that he disliked them and disliked himself for feeling that way. 5. Question type: vocabulary Choice d is correct. The biggest clue that the meaning of patina is color is the fact that the word gold immediately precedes it. 6. Question type: cause and effect Choice g is correct. There are many things that wake Babbitt from his sleep, but the first one can be found on line 20. We know that the noise of the milk truck wakes him because the next line is “Babbitt moaned; turned over; struggled back toward his dream.” All the other options may have woken Bab- bitt, but choice g is the first and therefore correct. 7. Question type: generalization Choice a is correct. It is perfectly clear that Babbitt wishes to return to sleep, but this fact has nothing to do with his blanket. His blanket may indeed offer him warmth and comfort, but the passage does not say as much and we know that Babbitt bought this blanket for a camping trip he never took. – ACT READING TEST PRACTICE– 237 8. Question type: cause and effect Choice f is correct. When the alarm goes off, what keeps Babbitt in bed is stated in lines 42–43, that he “detested the grind of the real-estate business.” This makes it clear that Babbitt hates his job. And although the next line refers to his dislike of his family, we cannot assume that he is in a fight with his wife (she seems cheerful enough when she calls him “Georgie boy” to wake him). We also learn in the lines immediately following that he went to a poker game and drank too much beer, so it is safe to assume that he has a hangover. 9. Question type: inference Choice b is correct. Lines 14–19 give the best clues as to the meaning of Babbitt’s dream. The fairy sees Babbitt as nobody else: a “gallant youth,” or young. He also escapes from his wife and friends who attempt to follow him in this dream (he is free). 10. Question type: generalization Choice f is correct. This question asks you to find a more succinct way of stating lines 32–33, which basically say that as a boy Babbitt was more interested in life. Even if you do not know what the word credulous means here, you can still assume that it is something different from the way he is now just from the way the sentence is phrased. We know that now he is not interested in life, or “each new day.” D IABETES 11. Question type: detail Choice b is correct. The answer to this question lies in line 7 of the passage, which states that people with Type II diabetes “may feel tired or ill without knowing why, a circumstance which can be particu- larly dangerous because untreated diabetes can cause damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.” Therefore choice b is correct. Choices a and c are incorrect because they are not examples of the danger of diabetes, but rather facts relating to the disease. Choice d is an incorrect statement; the passage states that diabetes does not interfere with digestion. 12. Question type: comparison Choice f is correct. The first paragraph of the passage discusses both types of diabetes and the last line states: “both types can cause the same long-term health problems.” 13. Question type: detail Choice d is correct. There are a lot of organs doing a lot of different things in this passage, which means that if you do not read carefully you may confuse them. Lines 17–18 state that “glucose that the body does not use right away is stored in the liver, muscle, or fat,” and the only one of these that is a possible answer is choice d, the liver. 14. Question type: detail Choice h is correct. The last paragraph of the passage discusses the dietary recommendations for peo- ple with diabetes. Line 39 specifically says that “50 to 60 percent” of their diet should come from car- bohydrates (and 12 to 20 from protein and a maximum of 30 percent from fat), making choice h the correct answer. The passage also says that raw foods are better than cooked (choice j), but not that the diet should be dominated by them. – ACT READING TEST PRACTICE– 238 15. Question type: detail Choice a is correct. Using the information given in the passage that glucose is sugar, the answer to this question can be found in lines 16–17: “insulin is released into the bloodstream and signals the body tissues to metabolize or burn the glucose for fuel.” 16. Question type: main idea Choice g is correct. From statements made in the last paragraph, we know that choices f and j are fac- tually incorrect. Choice h may be a true statement, but it is not the main idea of the passage because a majority of the passage is about Type II diabetes, and not about the consequences of not taking insulin shots. 17. Question type: detail Choice d is correct. The answer to this detail question can be found in line 31: “a defect in the recep- tors may prevent insulin from binding.” 18. Question type: cause and effect Choice f is correct. Cause and effect questions do not necessarily have to use the words cause or effect, which you can see is true in this question. It is basically asking what the immediate effects of glucose are on the body. The answer can be found in lines 14–15: “the normal digestive system extracts glucose from some foods. The blood carries the glucose or sugar throughout the body, causing blood glucose levels to rise,” or simply put, blood sugar levels rise. 19. Question type: generalization Choice c is correct. This question is asking you to sort through the information given about Type I diabetes and decide on the most concise way of describing them. We know that choices a and d are factually incorrect, so they can be eliminated as possible answers. Choice b is a true statement, but because it refers to both types of diabetes and is not the most important aspect of the disease, it too can be eliminated. Therefore, the best answer is choice c. 20. Question type: vocabulary Choice f is correct. We know from reading the entire paragraph that the point of changing person with diabetes’s diet is to “alleviate its symptoms.” Therefore, we can figure out that a different diet would counteract “the effects” of diabetes. HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES 21. Question type: main idea Choice a is correct. The first part of the paragraph explains how the rich were unaware of the plight of the poor and therefore did not care “ ‘one half of the world does not know how the other half lives.’ That was true then. It did not know because it did not care.” But the paragraph goes on to say that it was only when conditions became so bad did it become “no longer an easy thing” for the rich to ignore them. Although choices b, c, and d may be correct statements, they do not sum up the main idea of the whole paragraph. – ACT READING TEST PRACTICE– 239 . drank too much beer, so it is safe to assume that he has a hangover. 9. Question type: inference Choice b is correct. Lines 14– 19 give the best clues as to the meaning of Babbitt’s dream. The fairy. unified strength. g. slavery was wrong. h. they owed us money. j. betrayed by the United States. 79. The phrase “rope of sand” in line 36, most nearly means: a. weakly connected. b. shackled. c “there is nothing of the giant” in Babbitt, which eliminates choice d, because he was not tall. Line 9 says he was not fat, but he was “well fed,” which eliminates his being overweight (choice a) or